Sri Lanka President rules out all-out war against LTTE

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has ruled out an all-out war with Tamil Tigers despite the military capturing a key town from the rebels and raising the prospect of a "new hope in the battlefield."

Rajapakse told a party convention that the military captured Sampur in the north-east of the island eliminating an artillery threat on the strategic port of Trincomalee, which is home to a naval base and an airfield. The Indian Oil Company also has a storage facility there.

"Our troops have captured Sampur... that is for the benefit and the good of the people there," he said amid applause at a rally to mark the 55th anniversary of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

"This is not war, we are only responding to an attack on us," the President said.

The rebels had said weeks ago that if the army tried to take control of the town it would lead to a collapse of a ceasefire in place since 2002.

Rajapakse said his appointment of Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka to lead the military was paying dividends.

He said Fonseka was set to retire when he took office as the President and Commander-in-Chief of armed forces in November and decided to give Fonseka the top job.

"Today we have a new hope in the battlefield," he said.

At the same time, he reiterated that he wanted a negotiated political settlement to the island's drawn-out separatist conflict and wanted an "honourable peace."