The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in a statement that the original ceasefire which was to end at midnight tomorrow would be extended for one month ‘‘and called upon the international community to persuade the Sri Lanka government to reciprocate favourably and resume negotiations in a cordial atmosphere of peace and normalcy’’.

The rebels had vowed last week to return to all-out war if the government failed to respond positively to the first truce declared on Christmas eve.

The government has dismissed the rebel move as a publicity stunt and says the LTTE, which has been battling for a separate minority Tamil state in the north and east since 1983, must agree to substantive talks before any truce can begin.

Meanwhile, in fresh action, at least 27 LTTE militants were killed in heavy fighting that erupted in northern Jaffna even as the Sri Lankan Army recaptured about 10 sq km of the area near Muhamalai on the Jaffna-Elephant Pass during the overnight battle.

Army spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karuraratne said the security forces mounted an offensive late in the night which took the Tigers by surprise. There was no resistance from the rebels as the troops moved towards Pallai and Muhamalai.

Stage II of Operation Kinihara 9 began at10.30 p.m. and the militants made a rapid retreat fearing inevitable advance of the army. As a result, the security forces have captured an area of 8 sq km in Muhamalai and 2.5 km of the A-9 highway towards Pallai.

The spokesman said at least 25 militants were killed today in an early morning encounter near Muhamalai. The security forces lost at least two soldiers and six were wounded.

The troops recovered the bodies of five militants.

The army had earlier established the forward defence line at Elathumadduval from where the overnight offensive started.

The army is now controlling the 30-km road between Jaffna Elathumaddaval. Elephant Pass lies another 15 km north of Elathumaddaval where the current battle is going on.

Brig Karunaratne said the rebels could not use their own heavy concentration of mortars and artillery as the advance of the troops was a total surprise to them.

With operation Kinihara, the security forces have successfully recaptured the entire area conceded during Operation Unclearing Wave-4 of the rebels launched in November last year.

A Sea Tiger leader and an LTTE intelligence cadre, planning attacks on several strategic points here, including the port, have been arrested, police said.

The Sea Tiger was nabbed from an upstairs room of a building overlooking the Colombo port while the LTTE ultra was arrested at a lodge on nearby Sea Street.

Interrogation revealed that they had plans to strike immediately after the LTTE ceasefire ended tomorrow. They also disclosed the whereabouts of several other LTTE militants who had infiltrated into Colombo.

Local media, quoting police intelligence sources said the LTTE had plans to attack sea ports in the country.

Search operations have been launched to track down the militants.

Yesterday’s order bans family planning organisations based outside the USA from receiving US assistance, if they “perform or actively promote” abortions. It restores a policy first implemented by former President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and rescinded by former President Bill Clinton in 1993.

“It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here or abroad,” Mr Bush said in a statement.

In taking on the abortion issue as one of the first acts of his presidency, Mr Bush risked complicating his vow to unite the country and improve relations between the Republicans and the Democrats.

Family planning groups reacted with dismay, while the move was welcomed by abortion opponents.

His declaration came as thousands of anti-abortion protesters rallied in Washington to mark the 28th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision-making abortion legal.

Anti-abortion activists urged Mr Bush to roll back decisions made by Mr Clinton.

“We share a great goal: to work toward a day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law,” Mr Bush said in the statement read to the rally by Rep Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican and abortion opponent.

Mr Bush campaigned for the presidency on a theme of being a “uniter not a divider,” but his statement yesterday recalled Mr Clinton’s taking on the divisive issue of gays in the military early in his presidency, which created a furore and undermined his early agenda.

Mr Bush’s spokesman Ari Fleischer said the order would not be divisive. “This position is supported on a bipartisan basis,” he said. “Most Americans do not support the use of taxpayer money for these purposes.”

Mr Fleischer said Mr Bush had no plans at the time to seek reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision, focusing instead “on things we can get done.”

Family planning groups said the order was not a surprise. “We’re very disappointed,” said Fiona Salters, a spokeswoman in London for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which would be affected by the ban.

Such a ban was an “affront to free speech” and poses a threat to health, she said.

US groups are not affected by the ban because they are protected by the constitutional free speech provisions.

Mr Phil Harvey, of DKT International, a US-based international family planning group, said the order would chill family planning activities. But he said its impact would be muted if US groups “stick to their guns” and continue their work.

Mr Bush’s order would reverse a 2000 agreement between Mr Clinton and the Republican-led Congress to allow federal funds to international family planning groups that offer abortion services and lobby for abortions overseas.

Mr Clinton in 1993 suspended restrictions on the aid, known as the “global gag rule,” which Reagan implemented.

In 1999, Mr Clinton infuriated abortion rights proponents by reluctantly agreeing to include the restrictions in law for the first time, in return for Congress’ freeing up more than $ 900 million in arrears owed to the United Nations.

But he was able to partially waive the rule and then reached another deal last year in which lawmakers agreed to lift the aid restrictions. Funds could not be distributed, however, until February 15 of this year, after Mr Clinton left office.

The new White House said Mr Bush was committed to the $ 425 million funding level in last year’s deal, to be used for “voluntary family planning services.” A statement said Mr Bush did not intend to restrict organisations that treated injuries or illnesses caused by either legal or illegal abortions.

Arroyo was promoted from the vice-presidency after the supreme court stripped Estrada of his title following announcements by the military, the police and most members of the Cabinet that they could not serve under him.

The defectors then joined a street protest by hundreds of thousands of people outraged by the collapse of Estrada’s impeachment trial earlier last week.

“The coup rumours are I think a big psychological activity by whoever is doing it,” Cabinet Executive Secretary Renato de Villa said.

Arroyo, in a speech to diplomats today, said she hoped to strengthen support for democracy by boosting the free-market economy.

“My administration will resist the temptation to take adventurist initiatives and directions for the sake of appearing innovative,” she said.

After soaring more than 17 per cent yesterday, Philippine stocks came back to earth with a thud today, falling nearly 3 per cent. The peso currency was also heading lower.

Estrada has said in letters to the Senate and the House of Representatives that he has only given up office temporarily, raising speculation that he could attempt to retake the presidency.

Reuters adds: The Philippines today ordered a bank branch to freeze any account held by ousted President Joseph Estrada and his wife on grounds that the former movie actor might have evaded tax.

The order came as rumours of coup plots by Estrada sympathisers swept the capital, but the government said all was calm.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue issued an order to a branch of Citibank directing it not to allow any withdrawals from any account held by Estrada, his wife Luisa Ejercito or any accounts in the names of Jose Velarde or Kevin Garcia.

Witnesses at Estrada’s impeachment trial on charges of corruption and bribery testified that he had used the names Jose Velarde and Kevin Garcia to set up bank accounts.

The prosecution said accounts in those names were held in Citibank and in Equitable PCI Bank, but the government order only referred to one branch of Citibank.

Newspapers said Estrada was attempting to withdraw $ 3 million and 100 million pesos (about $ 2 million) from an account he held at the Citibank branch in the Greenhills suburb of Manila, which is near his private residence.

Meanwhile, Mercado said today that there had been no attempt by Estrada supporters to stage a coup.

“The army tanker arrived yesterday but the transfer operation is not possible because they cannot place the vessel close enough,” said a Lloyds report on today.

“According to the latest news, the (Jessica) is now turned 45 degrees,” it said. “They will use special balloons and transfer the oil to these balloons.”

The report said only 40,000 gallons of oil remained on board the stranded tanker. It said the spill was affecting several bays of the Santa Fe, Santa Cruz and San Cristobal islands.

The Galapagos Islands, 600 miles (1,000 km) west of Ecuador’s coast in the Pacific Ocean, are home to hundreds of native species — including giant tortoises and iguanas — that evolved over thousands of years.

The spill started on Friday, when a pipe burst in the machine room of the Ecuadorean-registered ship, which had ran aground three days before on an embankment near Galapagos’ capital of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal Island.

QUITO: Ecuador’s President Gustavo Noboa has declared a state of emergency to facilitate spending on the measures to contain the oil spill now threatening wildlife in the Galapagos Islands.

After a Cabinet crisis meeting in capital Quito, government spokesman Alfredo Negrete pledged that all available resources would be used to save the fragile ecosystem.

Yesterday, oil slicks hit the islands of Santa Cruz and Santa Fe, where rescuers were treating birds and sea lions smeared in oil.

The slick has extended to more than 1,200 square kilometres and has cloaked the islands in a biting smell of diesel fuel. It threatens to ruin the unique flora and fauna on the islands where Charles Darwin carried out crucial research to support his theory of evolution by natural selection.

Ecuador’s government has appealed for more international help after failing to react for days after the accident.

An overnight curfew was lifted to allow people to travel to the funeral of the President, who was gunned down in his own office last week.

The Presidents of Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia — close allies of Kabila in the war against rebels — were present at the funeral, along with Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel.

Mourners were led by Joseph Kabila, the late President’s 31-year-old son, who has been appointed as the country’s interim leader.

The authorities warned the people to remain calm when a 21-gun salute was fired as part of the funeral celebrations, according to a BBC report.

Kabila was fatally shot by a bodyguard. An African newspaper reported yesterday that Kabila’s death came after he had been planning widespread changes in the army, including a number of dismissals in a change of strategy in the fight against rebel forces.

He had also been planning to remove at least one Cabinet minister and several other government employees from their posts for failures in the fight against the rebels. Details of the plan had been leaked, the newspaper said.

The interim government believes that Kabila’s murder was an international coup to sabotage his plans.

According to the paper, Kabila was shot during a conference by a bodyguard by the name of Rashid. The bodyguard had persuaded Kabila to accompany him to another room where he shot him thrice.