amil Tigers are open to restarting peace talks

with the government, despite the continuing military offensive aimed at

crushing the group, a senior rebel official said.

A

new military push deep into the rebel heartland in recent months has

forced the Tamil Tigers to retreat from vast swaths of land they once

controlled, and the government has said it expects to finish off the

group in the coming months.

Rebel political chief Balasingham Nadesan told The Associated Press the

rebels did not believe they were facing imminent defeat. "We have made

several strategic withdrawals in order to save the lives of our people

and maintain the strength of our forces. When the time and place is

conducive, we will regain the land we have lost," he said in an e-mail

sent to the AP late Tuesday.

Nadesan said the rebels remained confident they would not be driven out

of their heartland, but implied that if they were, the conflict would

continue anyway. "We are used to all types of wars," he said, adding

that the Tamil Tigers began as a guerrilla group. "We will struggle on

with the help of our people until their political aspirations are met."Nadesan said the rebels had not abandoned hopes for new peace talks.

"We have always been ready for peace talks, but the Sri Lankan

government has been always insisting on a military solution," he said.

The government said it would only consider new peace moves if the

rebels agreed to disarm.

Meanwhile, "For three decades we were trying to convince (rebel leader

Velupillai) Prabhakaran and his terror group to come to some sort of

reasonable arrangement, but they failed," Cabinet minister Keheliya

Rambukwella said.

If the group refuses to lay down its weapons, "we will not move an inch from our position," he said.