The military said Friday its soldiers killed 27 Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, as the island nation's president urged the separatist insurgents to lay down their weapons and help end decades of bloodshed, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The fighting occurred Thursday in Batticaloa district, said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. There was also no mention of the reported losses in the rebels' Web site and no independent confirmation. The call for rapprochement came from President Mahinda Rajapakse during a speech in Parliament where he urged the rebels to renounce violence, surrender their arms, and «work toward promoting peace, democracy and development in the interest of building a new Sri Lanka.» Rajapakse, who is also the finance minister, was presenting his administration's annual budget for 2007, which saw a sharp 45 percent increase in defense spending.
