Sri Lanka's ceasefire monitors condemns the 'vicious, cold blooded murder' of Loganathan

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in an unusually personally worded statement has condemned the cold blooded murder of the government's peace secretariat deputy chief Katesh Loganathan, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen yesterday night at his home in Dehiwela.

"There are no words strong enough to condemn this viscous and cold blooded murder of yet another statesman living for peace," the SLMM said in the statement issued today afternoon.

"After having worked with Katesh Loganathan, and last time met him on Friday 11 August 2006, the message of his death came as a shock, not only for SLMM, but also for all people longing for peace. Taking part in his experiences, his well founded arguments and his professionalism has been a pleasure for all people who got to work with him," the statement added.

Tamil rebels say peace talks impossible as fighting rages in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka - 's government said Sunday it was ready to hold peace talks, a move promptly dismissed as impossible by the Tamil Tiger rebels as soldiers and insurgents traded artillery and mortar fire in the country's north. The latest round of fighting began in late July over a rebel-controlled water supply near the eastern port of Trincomalee, and has in recent days spread to other parts of the east and to the northern Jaffna Peninsula, the heartland of Sri Lanka - 's Tamil minority in whose name the insurgents claim to fight.

Tigers and government forces exchanged artillery fire Sunday near two key entry points to the peninsula, the villages of Muhamalai and Nargarkovil. Most of the peninsula has been controlled by the government for over a decade, and both villages lie along the line dividing government and rebel territory.

Thousands were reportedly trapped by the weekend's battles on the peninsula, which is closed to outsiders because of the fighting.

Both sides blame each other for the clashes, and Puleedevan insisted Sunday that the government must stop attacks and allow some 50,000 displaced people to return home.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from Sunday's fighting, but the government said Saturday that its forces had killed more than 200 rebels and lost 27 of their own in the day's fighting. There was no word from the rebels about casualties.

Government and rebel estimates of the death toll in the fighting since July vary wildly, but scores have been killed, including 17 Sri Lankans working for the Paris-based aid group Action Against Hunger. All but one of the aid workers was Tamil.

The 2002 cease-fire was intended to halt more than two decades of bloodshed between the government, dominated by Sri Lanka - 's 14 million Sinhalese, and the rebels, who have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for Tamils in the north and east.

While the cease-fire remains officially in effect, it had been left in tatters by months of shootings and bombings before the latest round of clashes.

The peninsula was the scene of intense fighting during Sri Lanka - 's two decade-long civil war, with control changing sides a couple times before ending up in government hands in 1995.

Meanwhile, two suspected Tiger suicide bombers were detained Sunday in Colombo. One successfully killed himself by swallowing cyanide, and the other was rushed to a hospital after trying to do the same.

All of the rebels are supposed to carry cyanide capsules around their neck so the can kill themselves if caught.

On the Net:

Peace Secretariat Web site: www.peaceinsrilanka.org

Pro-rebel Web site: www.tamilnet.com