1.  But he also warned the rebels that the United States would not recognize a separate Tamil state and urged them to enter peace talks.

2.  Determined to found Eelam, an independent Tamil state, the Tigers last April broke a six-month cease-fire by sending suicide frogmen to sink two navy gunboats.

3.  For his part, Prabhakaran has staked everything on gaining a Tamil state, whatever the cost in blood and honor.

4.  Her aides have said in recent weeks that the government believes the Tigers are opposed to any settlement that falls short of a separate Tamil state.

5.  The demand for a united Ireland, an independent Kenya, a separate Tamil state, a Jewish or a Palestinian homeland -- these at least are comprehensible.

6.  The Tigers are seeking a separate ethnic Tamil state.

7.  Vellupillai Prabhakaran, the Tiger leader, has hinted that he may be ready to settle for less than an independent Tamil state.

8.  Yet, two-thirds of suicide attacks were committed not by fundamentalists, but by the Tamil Tigers fighting in Sri Lanka for an independent Tamil state.

9.  During that time, it was the capital of a virtual Tamil state, which had its own police, judiciary and border controls.

10.  Many Tamils believe they will never be treated equally in a nation dominated by ethnic Sinhalese, and have supported the cause of a separate Tamil state.