COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The Sri Lankan government officially outlawed the Tamil Tiger rebel group Wednesday, ruling out the possibility of restarting peace talks any time soon to end a quarter-century of civil war.
That puts even more pressure on the separatist guerrillas, who suffered a major blow when the Sri Lankan military captured their de facto capital last week.
The guerrillas had ignored an ultimatum to allow hundreds of thousands of civilians living in rebel-held areas to leave, so the Cabinet unanimously agreed to the ban, Cabinet minister Maithripala Sirisena said.
The government and international rights groups have accused the Tamil Tigers of holding civilians as human shields. The rebels have denied the charge. The rebels were not available for comment Wed nesday; most communications in their region have been severed in fighting.
