Sources said Kumaratunga told representatives of the PLOTE, EPRLF and EPDP that the government had ruled out resuming civilian flights as two airstrips had been sighted in the LTTE-controlled Mullaithivu jungles. The president and other top officials who attended the meeting to discuss the security situation in Jaffna expressed fears that the LTTE might hijack civilian aircraft flying to the peninsula, divert them to jungle runways, reload the plane with explosives and possibly carry out a terrorist attack on a vital installation. Civilian flights to the peninsula were stopped after a plane with 54 persons, including six crew, on board disappeared on its way to the capital from Jaffna. Itis widely believed to have been shot down by the LTTE.

The only ferry service, operating between Trincomalee port and Kankesanthurai in Jaffna, was also discontinued last week after the LTTE attacked and sank a naval gunboat escorting a government ship carrying soldiers as well as civilians. This has left nearly 5,000 civilians stranded in Trincomalee and thousands held up in Jaffna. But the government said it had found it ``impossible'' to charter ships to ply that route. With this, the normalisation process in Jaffna appears certain to suffer a major setback. ``After inviting people to go and settle in the peninsula under the protection of the army, the government cannot even provide them transport.

What sort of confidence can people then be expected to have in the government?" asked EPRLF secretary general Suresh Premachandran.

At the meeting, attended by the army chief, the inspector-general of police, the Jaffna army commander and several top government officials besides Kumaratunga and the Tamilpoliticians, it was decided to draw up a plan for the security of local government representatives in the peninsula.

Since the LTTE's capture of Killinochchi, there are apprehensions that the Tigers may target Jaffna to recapture it from the army. Army officials fear that the end of this month, which the LTTE celebrates as `Martyrs' Week' -- LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's birthday also falls during this week -- could be crucial.