The United States has said that it strongly supported peace talks between Sri Lanka [Images] and the Tamil Tigers as there was no military solution for the conflict in the island nation.

But the US also asserted that it would not deal with the rebels who use reprehensible and bloody tactics to kill innocent people.

"We believe that there is no military solution for this kind, and we are strong supporters of negotiations," Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told a round table of South Asian journalists.

Asked why the US was pushing for negotiations between Colombo and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has been banned by State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, Burns said Washington had no sympathy for the rebels.

"The US does not recognise the LTTE [Images]. We don't deal with them, we don't support them, we are extremely critical of them.... we have no sympathy whatsoever for the Tamil Tigers."

Noting that President Mahinda Rajapakse had informed the US that they will attend the peace talks with LTTE in Geneva, he said, "We are one of the countries sponsoring these talks, and so the way out is a peace agreement."

"But at the same time, we absolutely, fundamentally criticise the tactics and they are reprehensible and bloody... because there are innocent people being killed in Sri Lanka," he added.