``Sri Lanka is one country and there is only one government and one army. There is no question of our giving back certain areas to the LTTE,'' said Lieutenant General Srilal Weerasooriya at a press conference today.

Last month, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran suggested that any peace negotiations should be preceded by a military withdrawal from the ``Tamil motherland,'' that is, areas previously held by the rebels and recently captured by the army.

However, Weerasooriya said, this demand was only an indication of the LTTE's insincerity while talking peace. ``I can't see it (peace negotiations) working if we have to give up land we have taken, if we have to pull back our lines,'' he said.

Weerasooriya, who took over from Lt Gen Rohan Daluwatte who retired onTuesday, said the army would not agree to such a deal. ``I don't think we can agree to such a demand,'' he said, but added that the politicians would have the last word on the subject.

``If we are forced by the political leadership to do it, that is a different matter. Our job is to give advice to the national security council and it is up to them to take a decision,'' he said.

Weerasooriya, a 1965 graduate of the Pakistan Military Academy, said under him, the army would continue with its objective of defeating the LTTE to create an environment for sustainable peace.

He described the LTTE as a force whose fighting abilities had diminished along with the quality of its individual fighters. But, he said, in order to achieve its objective of defeating them, the army required ``a minimum'' of 20,000 more troops.

He said the response to recruitment drives was ``insufficient'' and requested the Sri Lankan media to help the army in its endeavour to attract more young men and women to its ranks. However, heruled out conscription. ``I am personally for conscription but it is not possible in Sri Lanka,'' he said, declining to pinpoint the ``controversial'' reasons why it was not possible. Weerasooriya said the army would continue with its efforts to open a land route between northern and southern Sri Lanka.