The Tamil Tigers said on Saturday they were pulling out of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government as two blasts killed seven servicemen, fuelling fears of renewed civil war on the island. The Tigers said their withdrawal from talks in Geneva aimed at saving a faltering 2002 ceasefire was due to problems with a requested safe-conduct transport of rebel commanders. The Tigers were concerned about Sri Lankan navy plans to monitor a boat that was to have taken the commanders based in the east and their Nordic escorts on Saturday to the Tigers' northern base, the head of the Tiger peace secretariat said. "It is very important we meet our commanders," S. Puleedevan told Reuters. "We have cancelled the transport. If we cannot meet them, Geneva is off." The army accused the rebels of then carrying out two attacks with claymore fragmentation mines that killed seven servicemen and wounded several in the Tamil-dominated north and east.
