COLOMBO, April 18: With no sign of ending hostilities with the Tamil Tiger rebels and facing intensified criticism from international human rights groups, the Sri Lankan government is now looking to the Vatican for solace.

President Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday left for the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI scheduled to take place on April 20, officials at the Presidential Secretariat confirmed. Meanwhile reports said the international rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch, had urged the Pontiff to raise Sri Lanka's human rights abuses during the meeting with President Rajapakse.

In a letter sent to Pope Benedict XVI, the New York based rights group had highlighted five major issues to discuss with Rajapakse, including ‘disappearances’ by the State and State sponsored armed groups, reports said. Human Rights Watch has also requested the pontiff to urge the Sri Lankan President to accept a UN rights monitoring mission to monitor abuses by both the LTTE and state security forces.

Analysts meanwhile point out that Rajapakse’s meeting with Pope Benedict could have significant influence on Sri Lanka’s Catholic community which makes around 7 per cent of the 20 million population.

A considerable number of Tamils, especially those living in Colombo and other Southern regions are Catholics though almost all LTTE cadres and the majority of Tamils domiciled in the north east are Hindus.

In his Easter Message, Pope Benedict urged the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to find a negotiated solution to end bloodshed.

“In Sri Lanka, only a negotiated solution can put an end to the conflict that causes so much bloodshed,” the Pontiff said, while in Sri Lanka, battle was brewing between government troops and the LTTE over the control of a well known Catholic church in the north-east.

The St. Mary’s church in Madhu which attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over Sri Lanka is in the midst of a military campaign where the army is readying to free Madu from the clutches of the LTTE.

“The meeting between President Mahinda Rajapakse and the Pope will be an important one”, government minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle hinted as analysts said Rajapakse is likely to ask the Pontiff’s help in convincing Sri Lanka’s Tamil community and the LTTE to return to the negotiating table.

Rajapakse’s visit to the Vatican takes place days after Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama announced that the government would be ushering in new proposals for a political solution with the Tamil Tiger rebels. However the promise of a political proposal comes in the midst of intensified military onslaughts against the LTTE by government troops.

On Tuesday Air Force jets pounded a Tamil Tiger rebel training base in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, destroying it, military sources said.

Air force planes targeted the Tiger camp in Vattappalai village in the northern Mullativu district, a stronghold of the guerillas, the military headquarters said.

The latest attacks on the LTTE by troops come as at least 10 civilians were killed in isolated shootouts in the past week in the north and east.

The government blamed the Tamil Tiger guerillas for the killing of two Tamil civilians on Tuesday in eastern Batticaloa. Both the LTTE and the government have traded accusations against each other for recent civilian shootings.