``This is a big opportunity for the Tigers to return to the negotiating table,'' President Mahinda Rajapakse told reporters in Vaharai, a hamlet captured from rebels last month after three months of fighting.

``I will offer them a political solution and they should come for talks,'' he said.

When asked what the government would do if the rebels refuse, Rajapakse said his government ``will have to tame the Tigers.''

``I don't believe in a military solution but I believe in defending my country and believe that we all are Sri Lankans.''

There was no immediate response from the Tigers to Rajapakse's fresh peace overtures, and phonelines to their northern stronghold were out. A rebel leader had previously dismissed as the president's call for disarmament a ``joke.''

Accompanied by army, navy and air force commanders and top defense officials, Rajapakse flew in a helicopter to Vaharai, part of a seaside stretch held by the Tigers for 11 years.

In Vaharai, a town in Batticaloa district some 220 kilometers (140 miles) east of the capital, Colombo, Rajapakse traveled in an armored personnel carrier as soldiers carrying machine pistols stood guard every few meters (yards).

Government troops captured a strategic seaside stretch that included Vaharai on Jan. 19. Fresh clashes between government troops and Tamil Tigers broke out last year, undermining a Norway-brokered cease-fire was signed in 2002.

Rajapakse also visited Sampur village north of Vaharai, which in September became the first territorial change since the truce fell apart.

Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam rebels have been fighting for an independent state for the country's ethnic minority Tamils since 1983 after decades of discrimination by majority Sinhalese.

More than 68,000 people have been killed in the fighting. Some 3,600 people have died since early last year. Discuss this story Published: Sat Feb 3 05:41:59 EST 2007