Colombo, June 13 (Reuters): Tamil Tiger rebels accused Sri Lanka’s President today of being “duplicitous” and rejected her terms for reviving a stalled peace bid, saying her government is too unstable to discuss a permanent end to the war.

The two sides are deadlocked over the agenda for renewed talks, with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insisting negotiations be based on their interim self-rule proposal and the President wanting simultaneous discussions on a final settlement.

“Linking the ISGA with permanent political resolution is a manipulative strategy to take forward the peace process for a short while and then to abort it,” the Tigers said on their lttepeacesecretariat.com web site, referring to their proposal for an interim self-governing authority.

A meeting last week between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and rebel-backed parliamentarians raised hopes for an agreement on restarting talks to end the 20-year civil war, on hold since the Tigers suspended direct negotiations more than a year ago.

But today’s strongly worded statement reflects the rebels’ deep distrust of Kumaratunga, who they tried to kill in a 1999 suicide bomb attack and whose United People’s Freedom Alliance won a minority mandate in an April election.

“This new condition (for talks on a final settlement) has within it a political duplicity, a trickery,” said the LTTE.