COLOMBO, May 11, 2006 (AFP) - Sri Lanka has vowed tough action to stem a wave of killings following the latest Japanese bid to save faltering peace efforts, diplomats and government officials said Thursday.

The Sri Lankan government assured Japan's special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi that it will halt excesses and end the "culture of impunity," a government official involved in the peace process said.

He said Colombo also impressed on Akashi that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had escalated attacks against troops as well as civilians in the past two months, threatening a tenuous truce.

The government's chief peace negotiator Nimal Siripala de Silva told parliament Wednesday that Colombo "vehemently condemned" the recent spate of killings of civilians.

"The government considers as a curse the culture of impunity that this country has been witnessing at various dark periods since the 70s," de Silva said.

"As a democracy and a mature society we will not tolerate this any longer."

Akashi left Sri Lanka on Wednesday following assurances from Colombo and was to hold talks Thursday on the peace process with Indian officials in New Delhi.

Japan as well as Sri Lanka's other key international backers have invited New Delhi to attend a meeting in Tokyo later this month to review the island's peace efforts.

Akashi said he made it clear to Sri Lankan foes that they must decide for themselves on war or peace in a country where more than 60,000 people have already been killed in ethnic bloodshed since 1972.

"It is very clear the ownership of the peace process belongs entirely to the government and the LTTE," he told reporters.

"We in the international community play a supportive role in this process. Unfortunately too much is expected of us. Sometimes we are unduly criticised for doing too much or too little."

Akashi said both sides must work towards reducing violence which has claimed more than 200 lives over the past month and threatened a ceasefire in place since 2002.

"There is a deep anxiety over the escalating violence," he said.

Government spokesman Keeheliya Rambukwella denied security forces had stepped up violence and blamed the LTTE.

"When the international community blames both sides, unfortunately they don't say what percentage of blame goes to the government," Rambukwella said. "If at all, our percentage is very small."

The LTTE's political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan, who met Akashi, said Sri Lankan troops were responsible for increased bloodshed by supporting a breakaway faction of the Tigers.

"The LTTE political head appealed to the international community to make the government of Sri Lanka stop the killing of Tamil civilians and ease the travel restrictions on their members in order to create a conducive environment for peace talks," the LTTE's peace secretariat said in a statement.

"The government of Sri Lanka is asking countries to ban the LTTE and place a curb on LTTE fund-raising," the statement said after Thamilselvan's meeting with Akashi. "Who is sincere about peace talks here?"

The LTTE told the Japanese envoy to press the government to halt alleged military attacks against them and said the island could face "doom" if they retaliated. The government similarly called on the LTTE to halt violence.

Talks on a permanent settlement have stagnated since April 2003 after six rounds of face-to-face discussions.

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