The president is scheduled to visit Japan next month, the first by a Sri Lankan leader in 11 years.

Sri Lanka is made up mainly by the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils. Many Sinhalese are Buddhists while Tamils are mainly Hindu.

In the 1950s, the Sri Lankan government, mainly led by Sinhalese, started policies to make Sinhalese the country's official language and protect Buddhism. The Tamils reacted, creating a separatist movement.

In 1983, the conflict escalated into a civil war between the government forces and the radical anti-government group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In February 2002, the two parties agreed to a cease-fire. In November 2003, however, the agreement was postponed indefinitely. Last year, the civil war resumed and since October 2006, dialogue between the two groups has been at a standstill.

An estimated 70,000 people have died since the civil war flared in 1983. Of that number, 5,000 have been killed since last year.

In the interview, Rajapaksa referred to LTTE members as "terrorists." According to him, they have implemented suicide bombings, compulsorily recruited children as soldiers, and have been engaged in the smuggling of weapons.

"We put pressure on the group to give up its arms and enter the political mainstream. Terrorists must be wiped out from the Earth," Rajapaksa said.

Government forces have tried to weaken the LTTE through military engagement, trying to drive it into a situation in which it must choose dialogue.

The government has had some success, managing to bring eastern regions under control. However, there is no indication that the hard-line policy will eventually bring the LTTE back to the negotiating table. Some say the LTTE will never agree to resume the dialogue if it is in a position of weakness.

The success of the government's forces in the eastern regions is said to be due mainly to the cooperation of an armed group that had split from the LTTE.

But even some on the government's side say it would be difficult to bring the LTTE under control if the LTTE remains engaged in guerrilla war in the country's northern jungles, home to the rebel group's main strongholds.

Whether dialogue can be renewed now depends on the content of a peace plan being worked out by a committee of leaders of political parties.

At a committee meeting in January last year, Rajapaksa talked about the so-called devolution proposal, which gives autonomy to local regions. The proposal is aimed at easing the Tamil people's dissatisfaction with the central government.

The devolution proposal, which is expected to serve as the basis for the peace negotiations, is supposed to have been decided upon by Dec. 15 this year. But Rajapaksa said the committee could not meet the deadline. He said that more time is needed to coordinate a deal between all the political parties.

"I hope they will give me this proposal sometime in January or February (of 2008)," he said.

He also said he wants the international community to put pressure on the LTTE to accept dialogue. By saying so, Rajapaksa expressed his hope for intermediation of the international community, especially Japan.

Japan has been actively engaged in the intermediation between the government and the LTTE over the past several years. It has hosted peace negotiations between them and held international conferences on the reconstruction of the war-torn nation.

Tokyo appointed Yasushi Akashi, a former undersecretary-general of the United Nations, as the Japanese government's representative in charge of peace-building and reconstruction in Sri Lanka.

Japan is now the biggest aid donor to Sri Lanka. Some of the funds had been used to improve power lines and roads in the eastern and northern parts of the country.

After the civil war intensified last year, aid to combat areas was stopped. But since the eastern regions came under the government's control in July this year, Rajapaksa has said he wants Japan to offer assistance to the war-ravaged regions.

"In the areas that the LTTE once occupied, people's living standards must be raised," he said.

"Officials (from both countries) will discuss infrastructure development, education, health sector and farming (as the fields that will receive new assistance from Japan)."

In Sri Lanka, about 1,000 people have disappeared since last year. It is suspected that many of them, Tamil or those close to them, were kidnapped by the government's security organizations.

The United States and some European countries have criticized the Sri Lankan government for the deteriorating human rights situation within the nation.

Asked about that, Rajapaksa said that many of the criticisms are based on misunderstandings.

"Most of those cases have been created. (In our country), there is the rule of law. People can file complaints," he said, adding that the government had set up a committee to investigate the issue.

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