COLOMBO: Sri Lanka said on Sunday it had received an offer of peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels and was keen to oblige after the first ground fighting and heaviest violence since a 2002 ceasefire.   
 
Head of the government's peace secretariat Palitha Kohona said the offer was received through truce monitors on Friday, shortly before fighting erupted on the northern Jaffna peninsula.
 
There had been no contact since, he said.   
 
โ€œA message was received that the Tigers offered peace talks,โ€ he said.
 
โ€œWe accepted. The Tigers also wanted to know if there were any conditions. We said there would be no conditions but since then there had been no response.โ€