Prabhakaran, , said he had "reached the limits of patience" and wanted the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga to end the 19-month deadlock in talks.

"If the government of Sri Lanka rejects our urgent appeal and adopts delaying tactics, perpetuating the suffering of our people, we have no alternative other than to advance the freedom struggle of our nation," he said.

Prabhakaran, in his annual policy speech broadcast over rebel radio, also challenged politicians from the majority Sinhalese to have a collective stand on peace talks.

"We are living in a political void, without war, without a stable peace, without the conditions of normalcy, without an interim or permanent solution to the ethnic conflict.

"Our liberation struggle will be seriously undermined if this political vacuum continues indefinitely," he said while asking President Kumaratunga's coalition partners as well as the opposition to declare
their public stand on talks.