Sri Lanka to rescue crew of Jordanian ship from north

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military will mount an operation to rescue the crew of a Jordanian ship which drifted into waters near a Tamil Tiger stronghold, truce monitors said on Sunday, the latest flashpoint in renewed fighting in the island.

The ship carrying a cargo of rice drifted off the Mullaittivu coast in the island's war-torn northeast early on Saturday after mechanical failure.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam earlier said the 25 crew of the Farah III were safe and that they were trying to arrange for their return through the International Red Cross.

The captain of the stricken vessel told Reuters over telephone from the de facto rebel capital of Kilinochchi that he and his crew were in good health.

"They have taken care of us, extended great hospitality," said Ramis Jabhar, the Iraqi captain of the ship which he said was now anchored off the Mullaittivu coast.

The head of the LTTE peace secretariate S.Puleedevan, who was also on the phone call, said a meeting was being held with the Red Cross later on Sunday to organise the crew's safe passage home.

But the Sri Lankan military has accused the Tamil Tigers of forcibly boarding the vessel while it was drifting in the seas, with its cargo of 14,000 tonnes of rice bound for South Africa from India.

International monitors overseeing a tattered 2004 ceasefire between the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers also weighed in, saying the rebels must respect international law.

"The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has conveyed to the LTTE that the government will conduct a rescue mission to salvage the ship and its crew. SLMM has strongly advised LTTE to allow for this operation to be executed without any delay," the mission said in a statement.

The military said attempts to establish contact with the ship had failed and it was believed that the LTTE's Sea Tigers had disconnected the communication systems.

The crew consisted of Jordanians and Egyptians, the military said.

"The armed pirate act by the LTTE is a clear violation of international maritime laws and the navy has found it difficult to react due to the presence of the ship's crew," the military said.

The standoff over the ship comes at a time when the Tigers, fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east, are locked in daily artillery duels with the military which has forced thousands of people to flee.

In fresh fighting on Sunday, the rebels fired artillery and mortar bombs in Batticaloa area in the east, the military said, adding soldiers returned the fire. No damages were reported.

More than 3,000 civilians, troops and rebel fighters have been killed so far this year in a series of ambushes, air raids, ground and naval battles and suicide bombings.

However the fighting has been largely confined to the north and east, and many fear an all-out return to a war that has killed more than 67,000 people since 1983 could spread throughout Sri Lanka and be catastrophic.

FEATURE - First tsunami, now war: Sri Lanka survivors can't win

VINAYAGAPURAM CAMP, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Squatting under a makeshift shelter in a refugee camp in volatile east Sri Lanka, grating coconut for a curry as monsoon rains thunder down, tsunami survivor Kamalini Kandasamy has seen it all before.

The 26-year old and her husband had expected to spend the second anniversary of the island's worst natural disaster in their rebuilt home on the tsunami-battered east coast. Instead they are on the run again -- this time from renewed civil war.

Kandasamy and her family are among thousands who have fled Tamil Tiger rebel-controlled territory in the eastern district of Batticaloa to escape the crossfire of fierce artillery battles and air raids. She paid an unimaginable price.

"When the bombs fell, I started running and fell in the shock," she told Reuters, tears welling in her piercing blue eyes. "I was 9 months pregnant. I was immediately taken to hospital. My child was stillborn."

"We do not know what the future holds for us. Now I am told my house was damaged by shelling," she added. "If peace really returns, I would prefer to go back. That's my place."

More than 3,000 people have been killed this year in a series of air raids, ambushes, land battles and suicide attacks as the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fight a new chapter in a two-decade civil war.