Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Foreign Secretary David Miliband also said Tuesday after a meeting in Washington that they want a political solution to the conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people since the Tamil Tiger rebels began fighting for a separate homeland.

The diplomats said in a statement that ``the time to resume political discussions is now.''

In recent months, government troops have routed the rebels from much of the de facto state they controlled.Discuss this story Published: Tue Feb 3 20:40:49 EST 2009

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka’s key international financial backers called on the rebel Tamil Tigers to surrender, saying it may be “only a short period of time” before the army routs them from the last vestiges of their northern territory.

The U.S., Japan, the European Union and Norway, the so- called co-chairs of international donors for Sri Lanka, said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lanka government “should recognize that further loss of life -- of civilians and combatants -- will serve no cause.” More...>Discuss this story Published: Tue Feb 3 17:32:39 EST 2009