In an apparent softening of its stand,
"The (Sri Lankan) President has already announced that he is ready to talk (with the LTTE)," Basil Rajapaksa, powerful Special Advisor to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said.
On whether the President has specified that he will not talk unless the LTTE lays down arms, Basil merely said, "Those are conditions that have to be worked out.”
"The government is always open to talks but the government needs to have a certain environment in which we can talk," Basil, an MP and brother of the Sri Lankan President, told the Daily Mirror newspaper.
On being asked whether the LTTE represented the Tamil people, the senior advisor said, "Yes, they represent the Tamil people but they are not the only ones. That has been proved.
"But this doesn't mean they don't have the strength or that they represent no Tamils," he said.
"They (the LTTE) do represent a fair amount of Tamil people. Unfortunately their way of doing it can't be approved. Otherwise the President is always willing to have negotiations and a settlement. The best scenario is where we negotiate and settle it with the LTTE," Basil said.
The two sides had six rounds of talks after the 2002 ceasefire but the LTTE pulled out in 2006 citing bias.
The peace process received a crushing blow in January this year when the government scrapped the tattered ceasefire, a move that unleashed a fresh wave of violence as the military intensified its offensive against the Tamil Tigers in the north.
On whether the government will respond positively if the Tigers offer a ceasefire on Friday, Basil said, "That's like thinking of attaining Nirvana on Friday. That takes time and effort."
"You can't just decide today and go for it tomorrow. Its too far way to think about at this stage. We have to be realistic," he added.
"We are meeting the needs of the people and crushing terrorism while inviting the LTTE for negotiations. We are willing to look into their grievances," Basil Rajapaksa said.
