¡¡¡¡COLOMBO, Jan. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- A Sri Lankan government minister said Thursday that time has not arrived yet to call for disarming of separatist Tamil Tiger rebels who have waged a bloody ethnic war in the country.

¡¡¡¡Minister of Economic Reforms Milinda Moragoda, who is also a government peace negotiator, told the Parliament that the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels have not been able to achieve the required level of trust despite a ceasefire which has lasted one year.

¡¡¡¡"Battle scars have still to heal completely," Moragoda said. Since September last year, the two sides have had four rounds of direct negotiations brokered by Norwegian peace facilitators with the fifth round coming up early February in Berlin, Germany.

¡¡¡¡The main opposition led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga who is locked in an uneasy political cohabitation with the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, has called for de-commissioning of weapons by the LTTE.

¡¡¡¡"I cannot think of a single case where peace has been achieved through negotiations that either side disarmed before a final outcome was reached," Moragoda told the parliament.

¡¡¡¡He said that the LTTE rebels were coming under increased international pressure for its continued recruitment of underaged children for its combat units.

¡¡¡¡He urged the Tamil Tiger rebels to stop child recruitment as itimpedes the level of trust between the two sides.

¡¡¡¡The Norwegian peace facilitators are attempting to broker an end to the bitter ethnic war in Sri Lanka that has claimed over 64,000 lives since 1983.

¡¡¡¡The LTTE rebels have now dropped their demand to set up a separate homeland for the minority Tamil community in the north and east of the country and has instead agreed to a federal solution based on internal self determination. Enditem

¡¡¡¡