Urdu Times (news) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels moved to ease tension in the island's troubled peace process on Monday, backing away from remarks that angered a government negotiator and phoning him to clear the air.

A source close to negotiator Milinda Moragoda, who is minister for economic reforms, had said he would take no further part in the already-suspended peace talks because the Tigers had breached his trust with remarks published in a local newspaper.

But the chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Anton Balasingham phoned Moragoda to resolve the misunderstanding -- the latest threat to Sri Lanka's best hope of ending two decades of ethnic war.

"Mr Milinda Moragoda is a pillar of strength of the peace process and I deeply regret that this misunderstanding has happened," Balasingham told Reuters from London before talking to Moragoda.

Balasingham said remarks from rebel political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan printed in The Sunday Leader newspaper were not correct and may have been a translation error.

Moragoda was angry with the Tigers because Thamilselvam's remarks implied Moragoda had promised the rebels that they would be able to attend a meeting in the United States earlier this month, the source said.

"He is very angry about that and he said that until the LTTE puts the record straight he will play no further role in the peace talks," the source said.

Balasingham said he had spoken to Thamilselvan who said he had not made the remarks.

The rebels were not invited to Washington, one reason why they pulled out of talks to end a conflict that has killed 64,000 people since 1983 when the Tigers began fighting for a separate minority Tamil state in the island's north and east.

The rebels now say they will settle for regional autonomy.

The United States has outlawed the LTTE as a terrorist group.

"We knew very well that we would not be able to go to Washington because we are a proscribed organisation," Balasingham said.

The Washington meeting was called to plan for a donors' aid conference in Tokyo. Last week the Tigers suspended peace talks that began in September, saying the meeting should have been held in a place they could attend.

They also complained of slow reconstruction of war-torn Tamil areas.

Balasingham said he was waiting to receive a reply from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to his letter outlining the rebels' reasons for pulling out of the talks.

The current setback is the biggest threat yet to the peace bid. The two sides were to have sat down on Tuesday for a seventh round of talks since a cease-fire was signed in February 2002.

The government was hoping to attract significant aid at the donors' conference to help rebuild war-torn areas.-Reuters