COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka warned Thursday against 'premature euphoria” over the Norwegian-led peace bid and said trust between the warring sides was not yet enough to heal decades of battle wounds.

Government peace negotiator Milinda Moragoda said the big challenge facing authorities was managing the expectations of a majority who wanted a quick settlement to a conflict which has claimed over 60,000 lives since 1972.

'Many think we already have peace at hand and are prematurely euphoric, but we must exercise caution and be realistic about the length of time it will take to achieve lasting peace,” Moragoda told parliament.

He said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government had begun modernising its armed forces with foreign help and noted that preparing for war could actually ensure peace.

'Until we have built a lasting trust and cooled the hatred that 20 years of conflict have brought to both sides, we must be prepared for a return to war,” Moragoda said.

He also ruled out disarming the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) before a final peace deal is reached, dashing demands by the main opposition that rebel weapons be decommissioned before a final settlement.

'The trust simply isn’t sufficient at the moment and the battle scars have still to heal completely,” Moragoda said. 'Until these things happen neither side will want to drop their guard. To argue otherwise is to be naïve in the extreme.”

He said violations of the Norwegian arranged truce by the Tigers were compounding tensions as the two sides continue internationally-backed peace talks to enter a power-sharing deal.

Moragoda said most of the truce violations by the Tigers were from child conscription and extortion, but the rebels were coming under increased foreign pressure to fall in line.

'Unless these incidents (of truce violations by the Tigers) come to a halt, the level of trust between the two sides will always be marred,” he said.

Moragoda is due to join a fifth round of peace talks with the LTTE in Berlin February 7-8. The scaled down meeting is to focus on human rights issues.

Negotiations were originally set for four days in Thailand from February 7-10, but the fragile health of the top Tiger negotiator, London-based Anton Balasingham, 64, prompted a change in venue.

Moragoda said, the Norwegian-brokered peace process had unprecedented international backing from the United States, European nations and Japan, which is helping to raise funds for the war-ravaged nation.

'Even East Asian countries like Thailand are playing their part in a most innovative manner,” he said, serving as the regular peace talks venue.

Moragoda said the government also had strong backing from neighbouring India. New Delhi’s support is seen as crucial for a final deal with the Tigers as India is known to regard Sri Lanka as being in its geographic area of influence.

'We have a very special relationship with India,” Moragoda said. 'So special that like old friends we understand each other and do not always have to spell out every initiative or action for the other to understand.”

'In fact, I would venture to state that under premier Wickremesinghe, we can afford to take India for granted as they can with us.”

Wickremesinghe is a close personal friend of the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee.