Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have threatened to return to war unless the government agrees to peace talks based on a rebel blueprint for self-rule.
Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran said he had "reached the limits of patience", during an annual radio broadcast to mark the rebels' war dead.
He said government delays on discussing rebel demands would leave them "no alternative" to the "freedom struggle".
President Chandrika Kumaratunga last week urged the rebels to compromise.
A ceasefire between the two sides has remained largely intact since February 2002, even though the Tigers pulled out of negotiations in April last year, saying the government was not honouring pledges it had made.
The Tigers have been fighting for more than two decades for self-government in the north and east, which they consider the Tamil homeland.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in the course of the conflict.
In his radio speech, delivered from the rebel-held north, Mr Prabhakaran called on the government to end the deadlock in the Norwegian-backed peace talks.
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