Govt succeeds in facing terror threats and boosting national security

PEACE: The capability of any Government to usher in peace depends on its capability to defend national security. And it always depends on its ability to identify threats to national security and its ability to get rid of such threats.

For successive Governments, identifying such threats became a tiresome task in the face of threats posed by the Tiger outfit on the country's national security and neglecting those threats after sticking to the blind policy of bringing peace at any cost.

The LTTE for the past few decades used this tactic to boost their bargaining power at peace talks posing terror to national security and thereby hindering any genuine effort by any Government to address the grievances of the Tamil community in the North East.

Soldiers guard the Kandy-Colombo road after the recent discovery of a claymore mine at Kadawatha. AP

Therefore, it was incumbent upon any Government to get rid of such threats on national security to direct the negotiations between the Government and the LTTE towards evolving a solution for the North East issue.

It was under these circumstances that President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a meeting he had with Donor Co-Chair representatives on August 22 stressed that his Government will seriously consider any initiative incorporating a clear commitment to a comprehensive and verifiable Cessation of Hostilities by the LTTE leader.

He further stressed that such a cessation of hostilities should include modalities to ensure that the Sampur area does not pose a military threat to the Trincomalee harbour and its environs due to the LTTE military presence in Sampur violating the CFA.

The line of thinking of President Rajapaksa was very clear as his statement indicates that he was well aware of the unpredictable nature of the Tiger terrorists' commitment to a cessation of hostilities and also LTTE's ability to make use of their presence in Sampur to pose a threat to national security.

Though elimination of threats on the Trincomalee harbour was taken as a political issue no one dared to remove those threats as they did not want to buckle the peace process in the name of national security.

It was under this backdrop and with the change of defence policies the present Government took the initiative to dispel all forms of threats to national security while effectively facing the offensive operations of the LTTE.

The Government always had the good intention of keeping the hopes for peace kicking and alive.

The decision to flush out Tiger threats from Sampur area upto Ilankanthai in the South of Trincomalee was taken following the LTTE's abortive attempt to take control of Muttur in South of Trincomalee when troops engaged in the humanitarian mission of liberating the Mavilaru anicut from the LTTE.

It was patently clear that LTTE used the Mavilaru issue as a launching pad for their military operations to gain control over the strategic Muttur town and Trincomalee harbour and their follow up bid to take control over Jaffna peninsula.

If not for the Security Forces ability to foil the LTTE's August 2 pre-dawn attack on the Kattaparichchan Army detachment the story would have been much more different today.

The LTTE would have taken more advantage in their follow up bids to take control over Jaffna as it could pose a bigger threat to the Trincomalee Naval Base, the harbour and also to Trincomalee town if they succeeded in their effort to overrun Kattaparichan Army camp.

If they could breach the defences at Kattaparichchan and take control over Muttur they could have easily sieged the Trincomalee harbour as Muttur was the only location they did not have any control earlier.

All areas surrounding the Koddyar bay, Sampur and Ilankanthai in the South of Muttur and Ralkuli, Navaladi, Gange, Upparu, Kandalakadu, Kinniya and Manirasakulam in the Western part of Muttur were under Tiger control and Muttur was the only obstacle to keeping their line of contact.

The failure of the LTTE to take control of the Kattaparichchan Army detachment manned by nearly 50 Security Forces personnel inside and outside the detachment using more than 400 LTTE cadres kept Security Forces morale high to face any LTTE threat.

If they succeeded in their bid they could have pushed the Security Forces to Habarana and totally cut off the linkage with the Jaffna peninsula by sea in the aftermath of the closure of A-9 road from Omanthai.

The subsequent attempts by the LTTE on August 12 and 16 to breach Forward Defence Lines in Muhamalai and Kilaly was a clear indication that the Muttur attack was not a diversionary one but was interconnected to their master military plan to take control of Jaffna peninsula.

The foiled attack on the Jet Liner carrying 800 unarmed soldiers and the artillery attack on Trincomalee dockyard on August 1 were also clear evidence that all those plans were interlinked.

The clashes in Muttur and the confrontations at Jaffna FDLs prompted the Government to make the Trincomalee harbour more secure as it is the life line linking the Jaffna peninsula with the South.

The Security Forces ability to gain control over Sampur and Ilankanthai areas in early September flushing out LTTE Sea Tiger squadrons and artillery and mortar threats further South of Trincomalee towards Verugal has pushed the LTTE's capabilities of posing threats to national security to the lowest level.

The deployment of troops under the 222 Brigade coming under the 22nd Division of the Army has strengthened security in 160 square kilometres in Sampur and Ilankanthai. The Security of Trincomalee harbour was further strengthened with the move by the Security Forces to take control of uncleared areas of Navaladi, Upparu, Kandalakadu, Gange, Ralkuli and Manirasakulam in a limited operation conducted in the area in the first week of October.

Now the Security Forces have recommenced dominating these areas destroying the LTTE military training bases in Kandalakadu and a number of LTTE transit camps there.

In addition to this the Security Forces' ability to push the LTTE defences in the Jaffna peninsula further South of Jaffna peninsula has also helped lessen LTTE artillery and mortar threats on Security Forces defences in the Jaffna peninsula specially to the air field in Palaly.

The Security Forces has also been able to paralyse the Sea Tiger capabilities by successfully engaging their Sea Tiger bases in Mullaitivu and in the East through air strikes. Several Naval battles has also further diminished the LTTE hopes for posing bigger threats to national security.

As repeatedly reiterated by the Government it had not moved out of the path of evolving a negotiated settlement to the North-East issue by engaging in such limited operations in its bid to strengthening the national security.

But it seems the LTTE as a terror organisation with a long history of suicide missions, despite expressing their willingness to enter peace talks have not given up their desire to pose a threat to national security.

The LTTE throughout the last few months had clearly demonstrated that they would not hesitate to use their death squads to inflict damage as they failed to effectively face with the Security Forces.

The suicide attacks on unarmed Naval troops at Digampotana, Habarana, on the Dhakshina Naval Base in Galle and the foiled suicide Sea Tiger attack in Nagarkovil in Jaffna within last week clearly indicate that it was the only option they have to resort in the event of their inability to convince their terror capabilities.

So far no legitimate Government in the world has found any mechanism to defend national security from such suicide attacks.

The LTTE delegation in Geneva for the proposed talks on October 28 and 29 will have to answer on which ground they are going to represent the Tamil community as it had held the Tamil community to ransom on gaining their terroristic goals.

Under these circumstances the responsibility lies with the international community to corner them internationally, strengthening the hands of the Government without issuing some ludicrous travel warnings to their citizens to prevent them visiting Sri Lanka in the aftermath of such suicide attacks.

The Presidential Award of Excellence was awarded yesterday by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to each of the four students who topped the GCE Advanced Level Examination 2006 in Arts, Mathematics, Biology and Commerce streams. Here Madhavi Fernando (Arts/Girls High School, Kandy), Manudha Herath (Mathematics/Royal College, Colombo), Rasanga Abhishek (Commerce/Nalanda College, Colombo) and Harsha Dissanayake (Biology/Nalanda College, Colombo) in conversation with the President, who instructed officials to grant Rs.25,000 each from the President�s Fund to the four students for their educational endeavours. The event was organised by ITN and Lakhanda networks. Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe See tomorrow�s Daily News Teen page for interviews with the four A/L stars. 

Suspected Tamil rebels fatally shoot 2 civilians in northeast, military says

Associated Press, Fri October 27, 2006 01:25 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Suspected Tamil rebels shot dead two civilians in northeast Sri Lanka - , the military said Friday, while it denied a claim that it attacked rebel patrol boats off the island's Jaffa peninsula.

Bodies of the two young men apparently in their mid-20s and with their hands tied behind their back were found near the east port town of Trincomalee, the Defense Ministry said in its Web site.

They were believed to have been killed Thursday night, the report said. Tiger spokesman for the area could not be contacted immediately for comment.

Pro-rebel TamilNet Web site said a sea battle off the northern Jaffna peninsula lasted for five hours on Thursday but gave no casualty figures or report of damage.

The Web site said the army's coastal bases backed the naval attack by giving support artillery fire.

``Our navy was not engaged in any fight,'' navy spokesman, Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said Friday.

``The LTTE wants to create a false impression that our forces are attacking them when both sides are engaging in (peace) talks,'' defense spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella said about the weekend talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

Rambukwella was calling the rebels by their formal name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE.

The talks are aimed at salvaging a 2002 cease-fire that has virtually collapsed amid a major upsurge in fighting.

The navy regularly patrol the sea in the northeast to protect from any attack by the rebels' sea wing called the Sea Tigers and also to prevent smuggling of arms and ammunition. TamilNet, quoting an unidentified navy officer, said the navy had ``mistaken Sea Tiger patrol vessels ... as an LTTE attempt to launch an attack on Jaffna.''

The rebels want a self-ruled homeland for the country's minority Tamils. The government says it can offer autonomy, but not a separate state. The civil war flared up in 1983, and 65,000 people were killed until the Norwegian-brokered truce in 2002.

The renewed fighting this year has seen some 2,000 soldiers, rebels and civilians killed.

Sri Lanka Geneva Talks Aim to Revive Peace Process With Rebels

bloomberg.com, Oct 27 04:00. Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka's government and Tamil rebels meet for the first time in eight months to try to revive a peace process that will end the South Asian island nation's two- decade civil war.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa wants the two-day meeting that begins tomorrow in Geneva to be the start of peace negotiations. The success of the talks depends on halting the heaviest fighting in Sri Lanka since Norway brokered a cease-fire four years ago, Daya Master, a spokesman for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said in an Oct. 24 telephone interview.

``We have no faith in the peace talks, but are attending at the request of the international community,'' Master said from the rebels' headquarters in Kilinochchi in northern Sri Lanka. ``The outcome of the talks all depends on how much the government is willing to stop violence.''

Sri Lankan rebels say government must agree to reopen key road to north at Geneva talks

Associated Press, Fri October 27, 2006 04:37 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lanka - 's government must agree to reopen a key road to ethnic Tamil-majority areas in the north during weekend peace talks or no negotiations will be possible in the future, a rebel spokesman said Friday.

The Tamil Tiger rebel negotiators participating in the two-day talks starting in Switzerland on Saturday will insist that the road linking northern Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the country be opened, rebel spokesman Daya Master said.

He said the rebels will not consent to any future meetings with the government if the demand is not met.

The road leading to government-controlled Jaffna city, cutting across a vast rebel-held territory, was closed in early August when intense fighting broke out between government troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas.

Severing the road cut off 500,000 people who now depend on irregular, government-arranged food shipments brought mainly by sea.

The peninsula is facing an acute shortage of food, medicine and other essential items because of a lack of transport facilities and security threats, residents say.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels have fought the government since 1983 demanding a self-ruled homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east, citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese-dominated state.

More than 65,000 people were killed in the conflict before a 2002 Norway-brokered cease-fire. But the truce has virtually collapsed with heavy fighting that has killed another 2,000 soldiers, rebels and civilians this year.

Government and rebel officials are meeting in Switzerland over the weekend to find ways to halt the bloodshed.

Eid Mubarak to all and wish you enjoy every moment of the holy Eid days and may Allah keep peace in every step you go throughout your life and wish you health, happiness and success forever 

Eid Mubarak - skynet wishes for all 

The Hidden Truth behind the Sri Lankan Peace Process

Dominic Whiteman - 10/24/2006

A week after publishing VIGIL Network’s shock-inspiring intelligence report on the activities of the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) in the United Kingdom, it seems a good time – after one successful infiltration - to release the details of another successful infiltration some time ago and the factors behind the initiation of the peace process between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government in the late nineties. To tell the world that it took an outsider – just one man with the goal of peace and a shrewd mind – to initiate the peace talks between a country and a terrorist organisation in conflict with that country.

This is an opportune time to reveal this evidence – so that the LTTE right now wakes up to the indisputable fact that it was as easily infiltrated then as it is now (yes, LTTE, London, more evidence is on its way from the latest infiltration of your group by VIGIL). That it ought fast to realise that it is a particularly amateurish, hot-headed crowd. That its members should just grow up, put down their arms and get back to the negotiating table used by real men as soon as possible - unless it wants to seem, increasingly in the world’s eyes, like just another group of gutless, suicide-bombing losers, mentioned in the same breath as those other life-haters Al Qaeda, who, without asking their fellows, have hijacked a whole religion while the LTTE have hijacked all Tamils’ good name.

Go back to the 10th April, 1998. VIGIL intelligence operative Glen Jenvey was sitting in his chair at the LTTE’s London headquarters at 211 Katherine Road. Jenvey had by then infiltrated the LTTE so successfully – working at the time for an SIS (State Intelligence Service) official – that, extraordinarily, he was working as the LTTE’s official press secretary, appointed by the terrorist group’s London leaders. The fax machine next to him rang at some point that afternoon and a fax transmission began to emerge with sender’s details he recognised immediately.

This was a fax from Mr Danaka – from the IRA’s political wing’s press office in Falls Road, Belfast. Danaka was one of many terrorist contacts Jenvey had become connected with through his role at the LTTE – contacts he passed intelligence about onto the SIS on a regular basis, who then shared this intelligence with the security agencies of other countries. It was a fax of the Good Friday Agreement, which had been negotiated only days before between the IRA and the British Government. Jenvey had some time on his hands and so read the faxed document in detail over a cup of tea and some digestive biscuits.

Jenvey was in scheming mood. Fed up with what he called the “forever-arguing Lord of the Flies organisation” that is the LTTE in London, he decided it was about time they were pushed onto the peace-negotiating table, rather than continually arguing amongst themselves and stumbling mindlessly from one terrorist atrocity to the next. Jenvey reached for some LTTE headed paper and compiled a fax to the South African Embassy’s first secretary in London, Sue Singh, with words transferred from the IRA document asking South Africa to hold peace talks with the LTTE and Sri Lankan government. One of the lines lifted from the IRA document Jenvey remembers was “in good faith on all sides”. Much of his transmission was a verbatim copy of the Good Friday Agreement’s terminology – adjusted here and there to seem more applicable and genuine.

A few days later the LTTE press office fax machine whirred to life again. Out came a fax from the South African Embassy saying they would agree to meet the LTTE with the view to holding peace talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. Jenvey was both surprised (that his scheme had worked) and delighted. To him it made sense to have the South Africans as hosts – their truth and reconciliation committee, reconciliatory governmental manoeuvres and the high profile of Nelson Mandela seemed like a perfect backcloth for a peace deal between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers.

A copy of the South African Embassy’s fax was swiftly passed onto the LTTE London hierarchy and to the Sri Lankan government via the SIS official. Phone calls to the South African Embassy by Jenvey revealed his request for the South African government to hold peace talks went through to the number two of the new ANC government in South Africa, who authorised the hosting of the peace process.

Jenvey remembers the LTTE were at first cautious about the talks and got in quite a fluster. After several free-for-all arguments, the London leaders decided they would have to contact the overall leader of the LTTE who would be the only person sufficiently authorised to agree on peace talks.

The Sri Lankan President’s office were openly asking if the LTTE were ready to stop violence and sit at the peace table for the good of the whole of Sri Lanka. The LTTE eventually responded by saying that they were going to visit the South African embassy in London to “talk about peace talks”.

It was looking as if the civilians on both sides were going to get a chance for peace because of Jenvey’s opportunistic fax.

Alas the LTTE leadership had other ideas. In spite of claiming to be the “ANC of Sri Lanka” the LTTE declared that the South Africans were not suitable hosts. The LTTE wanted to have the talks chaired by Norway – a country where the LTTE had managed to establish themselves sufficiently to engage in direct dialogue with a sympathetic and listening government.

And thus the “peace process” began. Today it teeters on the abyss, though its Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer expressed today “cautious optimism” that both sides might sit down shortly for more talks. This against a background this last week of highly-publicised sea battles and scores of yet more pointless deaths.

Jenvey is proud that, from his chair in London, he opportunistically paved the way for the first steps to peace but he is saddened that today the war continues and the LTTE is more inward-looking than it has ever been. “If there is to be a meaningful peace which I worked for many years ago it's not the Sri Lankan Government who are dragging their feet but the LTTE and its mafia style organisation who without war would have no hold over the Tamil people or demand money from them for their own personal gain and extravagant lifestyles,” says Jenvey. “A real hope for peace in Sri Lanka is slipping away and talks have been dragged out by the LTTE leadership for many years in the hope that while peace talks persist, even at a snails pace, the EU and other governments will hold off enforcing anti terror laws against them.”

What is clear, following VIGIL’s intelligence report published last week, is that the LTTE is all about feathering its own nest. Like the IRA in Ireland it has become so dependent on criminal activity that its ideals and goals have been forgotten – relegated by its leadership’s short-termism and the allure of easy wealth from their criminal empire. Real intent for peace talks does not exist while big-bellied LTTE leaders bathe in their jacuzzis and dine in Europe’s finest eateries at the expense of the Tamil people – whether those paying mafia-style payments to the LTTE or those thousands of Tamils who have been homeless for years and forgotten in refugee camps.

If only the Tamil people realised that the LTTE’s dismissal of South African-led talks years ago was in fact a self-preserving gesture on the part of LTTE leaders, who feared a genuine peace and an end to their racketeering. That their acceptance of Norwegian-led talks was the result of a decision by the LTTE leadership, concluding that the Norwegians would be easier to play along than the South Africans, who then seemed to be getting impossible things done in a spirit of fairness, reconciliation and truth. The last thing the LTTE wanted then or wants now is truth – shame for them that VIGIL has to keep printing it.

Last words to Mr Jenvey, whose opportunism is surely worthy of recognition by Nobel:

“The very first approach to the South African ANC Government for peace talks between the LTTE and Sri Lanka was made in good faith in light of the fact that it was the hope of many to see peace in Sri Lanka. The LTTE who try and compare their war to the struggle of the ANC have shown as years go by they are in fact nothing like the ANC – that they will reside permanently in the gutter of history (save a brave volte face now) alongside the lowest of the low of common terrorists as base and depraved as Al Qaeda and the Real IRA.”

Dominic Whiteman is spokesperson for the London-based VIGIL anti-terrorist organization – an international network of terror trackers, including former intelligence officers, military personnel and experts ranging from linguistic to banking experts.

Sri Lanka 's political rivals join to solve separatist conflict as violence kill 2

Associated Press, Mon October 23, 2006 08:11 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lanka - 's main opposing political parties on Monday pledged to cooperate to settle renewed conflict with the Tamil Tiger rebels, as two people, including a Hindu priest, were reported killed in the country's volatile north. Meanwhile, officials of the ruling coalition's Sri Lanka - Freedom Party and the main opposition, United National Party, signed an agreement at a ceremony at President Mahinda Rajapakse's official residence. The UNP will support the government ``in the pursuit of a negotiated settlement to the ongoing conflict while opposing terrorism in all its manifestations,'' the agreement said.

The agreement comes as the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels are preparing for peace talks in Switzerland on Oct. 28-29.

The parties also agreed to cooperate in areas such as electoral reforms, good governance and social development.

The parties together control 125 seats in Sri Lanka - 's 225-member Parliament, and their consensus is vital to muster a two-thirds majority to push through any constitutional reforms that would allow power sharing with minority groups.

The LTTE rebels, who have fought against the government since 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, have long claimed that bickering between the two main parties in Parliament has made a political settlement impossible.

Fighting between the rebels and the government killed 65,000 people before a Norway brokered cease-fire signed in 2002 temporarily halted the bloodshed. But renewed violence has killed 2,000 people this year, even though both the government and the rebels claim that they are honoring the cease-fire.

Galle Atatck

006-10-18 11:30:51
GALLE: THREE LTTE SUICIDE BOATS in the guise of fishing trawlers rammed into the Southern Naval Headquarter (DAKSHINA Naval Base) in GALLE this morning (18) around 7.30.

Naval troops on closely monitoring the three boats that were speeding into the Headquarters premises opened several warning shots but two of them rammed into the jetty causing an explosion. Naval troops acted swiftly and completely destroyed the other suicide boat killing all aboard.

At least one sailor was killed, eleven injured and one sailor went missing in the incident. The injured were admitted to KARAPITIYA hospital.

Security in the area beefed up and immediate search operations in the seas off GALLE are now on to ascertain whether any infiltration of terrorists has occurred.

Curfew was declared in the GALLE Municipal Council area enabling the Security Forces to conduct search and clear operations.

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Contents of this site are the sole property of Sri Lanka Army and any duplication in any media is liable for prosecution.Reproduction of these465 stories/data is possible provided its source is given its recognition.

The bomber rammed a truck laden with explosives into buses carrying sailors starting and ending tours of duty. Civilians were reported to be among the dead and injured. 

Sailors' helmets, boots, bags and other belongings were left scattered around the scene, near the town of Habarana to the south-west of the eastern port of Trincomalee. 

About 100 people have been killed in a suicide attack on a naval convoy in northern Sri Lanka, the military says. The government blames Tamil Tiger rebels. 

About 100 people have been killed in a suicide attack on a naval convoy in northern Sri Lanka, the military says. The government blames Tamil Tiger rebels. 

Security personnel collect the weapons of sailors killed in a suicide bomb attack carried out by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in the north-eastern Sri lankan town of Habarana, in the Trincomalee district. Sri Lanka has suffered its worst ever suicide attack when suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a truck packed with explosives next to a convoy of sailors, killing at least 102 people and wounding 150 more.(AFP) 

Widespread Health Hazard in Kattankuduy

By: Khalid - Marzook

Currently there is an increase in diseases like cancer and Jaundice in Kattankduy. Specially, the number of children who fall sick in this region is alarmingly high. This sudden increase is causing great fear and panic among the local population of Kattankudy. This grave situation is mainly attributed to the deteriorating living condition worsened by an ultra dense population of the area. As a result of the population increase, the food hygiene and other health habits have been driven to a lower level.

Once instance where the food hygiene is concerned is the take away food sales in the small hotels here. Knowingly or unknowingly these people buy and sell these food items which are hygienically unsuitable. For instance the Samosa (a kind of pastry) is very popular among these people. This item is fried in the oil which is repeatedly used several times for the purpose. As a result, it is said that this oil is a cause for the fatal diseases above mentioned. We learn that the health authorities also warned of this danger. This is only one instance where the unscrupulous hoteliers misuse the innocence of the people. These vendors also profusely use a food taste-adder ( Aji no moto), which is already a prohibited substance.

There is also the danger of contamination of water due to the thickness in population whose waste materials are disposed of beneath their own dwellings. The wells which are shallow with clear water get easily contaminated by these waste materials. With no alternatives these people drink this water highly contaminated. We feel this condition is so severe and fatal that a remedy should be found sooner. If these people are made aware of these dangers, they may at least escape the calamity in the middle. Only possible rectification now, we assume, is that a campaign to educate them on these issues. We hope you would consider these facts and help us draw up a program to implement. For this purpose, we think it is better for people like you in the medical field itself to decide on procedures to start with. Then we can carry on what you have begun.

Concerned citizens in Kattankudy

Suicide bombing kills over 100 in Sri Lanka

by Amal Jayasinghe Mon Oct 17, 10:09 AM ET

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka has suffered its worst ever suicide attack when suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a truck packed with explosives next to a convoy of sailors, killing at least 102 people and wounding 150 more.

The government said Monday the "barbaric" act, which coincided with increased international efforts to restore a 2002 truce, meant the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was not interested in negotiations scheduled to take place next week in Switzerland.

The bombing occurred about 170 kilometres (105 miles) northeast of Colombo at a transit point for security personnel coming to and from the front line of the drawn-out conflict in the restive northeastern district of Trincomalee.

"Suicide bombers drove a truck packed with explosives into the area where there were about 15 buses," a police official in nearby Sigiriya town told AFP by telephone. "We have two helicopters to evacuate the wounded".

Doctors said that 98 bodies were at the nearby Dambulla hospital while four more people died while being taken by road to a hospital in the major town of Kurunegala.

"This barbaric attack on unarmed sailors shows that the Tigers are not worried about international opinion," said government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella, who is also the minister of policy planning.

"We are keen on negotiations, but the Tigers are not."

The military moved to carry out retaliatory air strikes against the Tigers, but an Israeli-built Kfir war plane crashed shortly after take off from a military base here, officials said.

They said the aircraft crashed into the Negombo lagoon, but the pilot ejected to safety and was rescued by helicopters.

There was no immediate comment from the Tamil Tigers, who last week fiercely resisted a major military onslaught, killing at least 133 soldiers and wounding 500 in two hours of fighting, according to government figures.

The first suicide truck bombing against the security forces was in 1987 when an explosives-laden truck rammed into an army camp on the Jaffna peninsula, killing 40 troops.

Until Monday's attack the worst suicide bombing was against the central bank building in Colombo, killing 91 and wounding 1,400.

Monday's blast came as Sri Lanka's key international backers moved to salvage a 2002 truce and arrange talks later this month.

Top Japanese envoy Yasushi Akashi Monday met with President Mahinda Rajapakse and former chief peace negotiator Nimal Siripala de Silva.

Akashi was also expected to meet top LTTE leaders during his six-day visit, although a sit-down exchange with the Tiger's reclusive commander Velupillai Prabhakaran was unlikely, Japanese officials said.

Norway, the main peace broker in Sri Lanka, was planning to send special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer on Tuesday to work out details for the October 28-29 talks in Switzerland.

The Tigers have said they will confirm whether they are participating in the talks when they meet Hanssen-Bauer in the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi on Thursday.

US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher was also expected to meet Thursday with government ministers and civil leaders.

More than 2,300 people have been killed in spiralling violence since December, according to official figures.

Both sides have accused each other of sporadic attacks since major clashes last week, including shelling and airstrikes. The navy also said it had sunk a Tiger trawler loaded with arms Sunday.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the three-decades-old conflict for a Tamil homeland on the Sinhalese-majority island.

Military says Tamil Tiger suicide attack kills 92 Sri Lankan sailors

Associated Press, Mon October 17, 2006 06:05 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Tamil Tiger rebels rammed a truck loaded with explosives into a naval convoy in central Sri Lanka on Monday, killing at least 92 sailors and wounding more than 150, in what the military described as a cold-blooded massacre.

``All these people were without weapons and were going on leave,'' military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said.

Samarasinghe said the attack happened near the town of Dambulla, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo, when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rammed a small truck loaded with explosives into a convoy of military buses.

The blast killed 92 sailors, while more than 150 were wounded and evacuated to nearby hospitals.

He said the buses were carrying sailors from the port town of Trincomalee.

President Mahinda Rajapakse's office said in a statement that the attack ``was further proof of the LTTE's unmitigated commitment to violence to achieve its ends and was in total disregard of international demands for it to abandon violence and seek peaceful means to achieve its goals.''

The military called the attack, one of the deadliest since a Norwegian-brokered 2002 cease-fire, a ``cold-blooded massacre.''

``This inhuman act is a clear revenge by the terrorists on the navy who inflicted successive defeats for LTTE against their attempts of smuggling arms and explosives,'' a military statement said.

The navy on Sunday destroyed a trawler loaded with arms along the west coast, killing at least five Tamil Tiger separatists.

A witness said that several of the buses attacked had caught fire, while the truck driven by the suicide bomber was destroyed. He said the body of the truck driver was found about 50 meters (yards) from the scene.

The attack comes as a Japanese envoy held talks with the Sri Lankan president Monday amid intensified diplomatic efforts to strengthen the peace process between the government and rebels ahead of scheduled talks between the two sides later this month in Switzerland.

It was not immediately clear what impact the attack would have on those talks. There was no immediate comment from the rebels on the attack, although they routinely deny their involvement.

Yasushi Akashi also planned to travel to the rebel stronghold in the north to talk with the Tiger leadership during his five days in Sri Lanka. A Japanese Embassy spokesman said he had no information yet on whether those plans would change following the attack.

Thorfinnur Omarsson, a spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, urged the government and rebels to keep their commitment to the peace talks despite the deadly attack.

``Obviously this is a brutal attack and a serious threat to the peace process,'' Omarsson said. ``But the people of Sri Lanka deserve that the talks will take place as planned.''

Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer was also scheduled to return to the island this week ahead of the planned Oct. 28-29 peace talks, while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs Richard Boucher will make a two-day visit to Sri Lanka starting Thursday.

The flurry of diplomatic activity comes after some of the bloodiest fighting since the cease-fire was signed in 2002, temporarily ending nearly two decades of civil war. Heavy battles last Wednesday on the northern Jaffna Peninsula left hundreds of combatants dead, despite commitments by both the government and rebels to return to the negotiating table.

The military controls nearly all of the Jaffna Peninsula, which the ethnic Tamil minority claim as their cultural heartland. The Tigers still hold small pockets in the area.

Fighting has left about 2,000 people dead this year, according to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, set up to oversee the cease-fire.

The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. About 65,000 people were killed before the 2002 cease-fire

President Mahinda Rajapaksa condoling with family members at a funeral of a soldier in Anamaduwa, yesterday. The soldier was among those killed during a ferocious battle with the LTTE in Muhamale.  

Navy Destroys Tiger Boat Carrying Weapon And Explosive

MANNAR: SRI LANKA NAVY (SLN) this morning (15) successfully thwarted another Tamil Tiger attempt of transporting weapon, ammunition and explosive to their carders in MANNAR area after detecting a fast moving Tiger boat carrying weapon and explosive about 35 nautical miles in the seas off ARIPPU WEST around 9.00 a.m

SLN after detecting an unusual movement of a boat which was moving fast towards north signaled for the identity, in turn received a heavy gunfire from the inside of the boat injuring three sailors.

Sailors with the intention of preventing the escape of the Tigers brought a high caliber gunfire down to Tiger boat which in no time burst into flames with at least six Tigers inside.

Bodies of 15 workers from French aid agency to be exhumed next week amid ongoing probe

Associated Press, Sat October 16, 2006 06:12 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Authorities will next week exhume the bodies of 15 employees of a French aid organization executed in northeastern Sri Lanka - as part of an ongoing probe into the killings, the agency said Saturday. Australian forensic experts are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka - next week to provide technical advice and assist with the forensic investigation.

Nordic cease-fire monitors have said they are convinced that government troops were behind the killings because of the firm presence of soldiers in the town.

The government vehemently denied the charge, saying a post-mortem examination suggested the possible time of the killing was when the Tigers held the town for four days.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the country's 3.1 million ethnic minority Tamils in the north and east.

A 2002 cease-fire temporarily halted large-scale hostilities but the last few months have seen the two sides engage in open warfare.

Japanese envoy Akashi arrives in Sri Lanka to help peace bid+

Associated Press, Sun October 16, 2006 02:36 EDT . COLOMBO, Oct. 15 (Kyodo) _ Japan's special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi arrives in Colombo late Sunday for talks with government leaders, the rebel Tamil Tigers and senior military officers as scheduled peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Oct. 28 and 29 hang in the balance.

The Japanese Embassy said it would be Akashi's 13th visit to Sri Lanka since he was named by the Tokyo government as special envoy to assist the peace effort.

Two other senior foreign diplomats, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher and Norwegian special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer are also due for meetings connected with the peace process.

The United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway are the co-chairs of an international donor group assisting the peace process with Norway acting as facilitator.

Although the LTTE has not yet formally confirmed they will be in Geneva late this month for the first direct meeting with government negotiators since February this year, diplomats expect the meeting to take place, barring any major incidents in the interim.

Although Akashi had sought a meeting with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, this has yet to be decided.

''He is flying to (rebel held) Kilinochchi and a meeting with (LTTE political wing chief) Mr. Thamilchelvan is confirmed,'' a Japanese Embassy official said. ''We have requested a meeting with Mr. Prabhakaran but that is not yet confirmed.''

The reclusive Prabhakaran seldom meets with foreign dignitaries, often citing personal security as a reason.

The Japanese official said Akashi will for the first time meet Sri Lanka's defense secretary and army commander during the visit.

Last week the EU and India demanded an immediate end to violence following a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen.

''Both sides are convinced that violence is not the answer to problems in Sri Lanka, and call on the parties to return to talks immediately,'' a statement issued after their meeting said.

The two leaders also expressed strong support for continuing facilitation of the peace process by Norway in the context of demands in Sri Lanka that Norway's services be discontinued.

Fierce fighting in the northern Jaffna Peninsula last week saw the army losing 138 soldiers in battle and 230 wounded, the highest casualty figure in a single battle since the February 2002 cease-fire agreement between the government and the Tigers, which now exists only on paper.

Although the government claimed an estimated 200 LTTE fighters were killed in the fighting, this is not independently verifiable.

Sri Lanka says it sank rebel boat loaded with arms, killing 5

Associated Press, October 16. COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ The Sri Lankan navy destroyed a trawler loaded with arms along the western coast on Sunday, killing at least five Tamil Tiger separatists and sparking a huge explosion, the military said.

In the north, the rebels blindfolded three ethnic Sinhalese civilians, tied their hands and fatally shot them, and a rebel attack in the Jaffna Peninsula left two soldiers dead, officials said.

Navy patrol boats spotted the trawler off Mannar in northwestern Sri Lanka _ about 220 kilometers (136 miles) from Colombo _ and fired warning shots, a Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity in line with policy.

The rebels shot back, triggering a fierce response from the navy, which fired at the trawler for about 10 minutes, setting off a large explosion, he said. The craft sank, killing suspected five rebels, while three sailors were wounded, he said.

``Considering the explosion that occurred on the trawler, we believe that it was transporting a large quantity of explosives and arms,'' the official said.

In northern Vavuniya, three Sinhalese and two Muslims were captured by the rebels after traveling to the area to collect mangoes for business, said area police spokesman Kumar Sandanayake.

He said the Muslims were set free, but the Sinhalese were killed.

Meanwhile, Tamil Tigers fired artillery and mortars at military positions on the northern Jaffna Peninsula on Saturday night, killing two soldiers and wounding 13 others, an officer at the Media Center for National Security said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

Troops repulsed the attack using artillery and mortars, he said.

Rebel casualties were not immediately known.

Heavy fighting along the same defense line on Wednesday left hundreds of combatants dead in some of the bloodiest clashes since the two sides signed a 2002 cease-fire accord.

The military controls almost all of the peninsula _ which the rebels claim as the cultural heart of the country's ethnic Tamil minority _ but small pockets are held by the separatists.

Tiger political chief Suppiah Thamilselvan agreed Tuesday to attend peace talks with the government, which Norwegian peace brokers said would take place in Switzerland on Oct. 28-29.

Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi, meanwhile, was scheduled to arrive in Colombo on Sunday for a five-day visit to try to strengthen efforts to bring peace to the tropical island. He is to hold talks separately with government and rebel officials.

The government said Thursday it remains committed to the scheduled talks despite the continued fighting.

About 2,000 people have died in fighting this year, according to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, which was set up to oversee the cease-fire.

The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. About 65,000 people were killed before the 2002 cease-fire.

A Sri Lankan female soldier checks passengers at the main entrance to the capital Colombo. Tamil Tiger rebels killed at least 38 government troops and wounded nearly 300, stalling a major offensive into their territory in northern Sri Lanka, officials said.
 

Sri Lanka army suffers heavy casualties in major battle

COLOMBO (AFP) - Tamil Tiger rebels killed at least 35 government troops and wounded another 200, halting a major offensive into their territory in northern Sri Lanka, military sources said.

Stiff resistance stalled the government's onslaught, which was backed by Israeli-built Kfir jets, after about six hours, high-ranking military sources said on Wednesday.

The bloodshed hit Sri Lanka's peace hopes a day after Norway, the key peace broker in the conflict, announced a deal between the two sides to resume negotiations in Switzerland later this month and end an eight-month talks impasse.

The military sources said the casualties occurred in the Muhamalai area of the Jaffna peninsula on Wednesday morning. Casualty figures for the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group were not immediately available.

The warring parties blamed each other for the escalation.

Defence Ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said the operation was intended to neutralise a rebel build-up near the front line on the Jaffna peninsula, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Colombo.

"There were attempts to infiltrate our defence lines in three places and we took counter-measures," Samarasinghe told AFP. "They had been firing artillery at our positions in the past few days and last night we noticed a build-up."

The military said its ground offensive, supported by warplanes, was a "defensive act" as a result of Tamil Tiger attacks.

"We can't verify the reports but it is something the LTTE has informed us of," said Thorfinnur Omarsson, a spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

However, Omarsson said they also had information that the fighting had died down by mid-day. Both sides said the offensive was launched just before dawn.

"The offensive, shattering peace hopes, comes few hours after an official announcement by Norway that parties had agreed to meet in Switzerland from 28 to 29 October," the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com web site said.

The LTTE said the military was carrying out a three-pronged attack against rebel-held territory in the Jaffna peninsula.

"Intense clashes are going on," the LTTE said in a statement sent to Colombo from its political headquarters in the northern town of Kilinochchi earlier in the day.

Norway has been working to save a 2002 truce and end spiralling violence, which has claimed over 2,200 lives since December, according to an official tally.

Some 60,000 people have been killed overall in the three-decades-old conflict between minority Tamils seeking an independent homeland and government forces.

October's planned talks represent the latest attempt to quell the recent bloody upsurge in violence.

"It is crucial that the government and the LTTE now use this opportunity to cease hostilities," Erik Solheim, Norway's top peace broker, said.

Norway's statement on the talks was followed by an announcement by Japan, the island's main aid donor, that it will dispatch special envoy Yasushi Akashi on Sunday to try and boost peace efforts.

Akashi was scheduled to meet officials from both sides "with a view to enhancing this constructive effort and will also exchange views on the peace process and its future," the Japanese embassy said.

Sri Lanka's tiny stock market, which had gained on the back of possible peace talks, went into reverse Wednesday, falling about half-a-percentage-point.

The LTTE had warned it would reconsider its decision to go to Switzerland for talks if the military launched fresh attacks.

The government had said it only agreed to talks on the basis that it could defend itself from rebel attacks.

Sri Lankan military says 22 soldiers and 'large number' of rebels killed in Jaffna battle

Associated Press, Wed October 11, 2006 06:12 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Fierce fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tigers on the besieged Jaffna peninsula has left 22 soldiers and a ``large number'' of rebels dead, the government said Wednesday.

Security forces along the forward defense line near Muhamalai had been ``forced to retaliate'' to sporadic attacks by rebels since late Tuesday, using heavy artillery and rockets, the Media Center for National Security said.

It said the air force and navy had helped ``neutralize and destroy identified Tiger concentrations and reinforcements by the sea.''

The fighting killed 22 soldiers and a ``large number'' of rebels, it said, adding that 113 troops were wounded.

A rebel spokesman said he could not comment on the casualty figures.

Sri Lankan fighter jets pound rebel areas; Tigers say military launched major offensive battle

Associated Press, Wed October 11, 2006 06:12 EDT COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Fighter jets pounded Tamil Tiger positions in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday in what the rebels said was a major offensive. The military said 22 soldiers had been killed, along with a ``large number'' of insurgents in fierce fighting it claimed was defensive.

Security forces had been ``forced to retaliate,'' using heavy artillery and rockets, after sporadic attacks by rebels since Tuesday along the de facto border separating government and rebel-held areas near Muhamalai, on the Jaffna peninsula, the Media Center for National Security said.

It said the air force and navy had helped ``neutralize and destroy identified Tiger concentrations and reinforcements by the sea.''

The fighting killed 22 soldiers and a ``large number'' of rebels, it said, adding that 113 troops were wounded.

A rebel spokesman said he could not comment on the casualty figures.

Witnesses said civil servants and students living close to the battlefield were forced to return home, fearing the fighting could leave them stranded in the north. Bus services into Thennamarachchi and Chavakachcheri areas in the south of the peninsula have been stopped, they said.

``They have begun a large-scale operation along the northern defense line,'' the Tiger's military spokesman, Irasiah Ilanthirayan, told The Associated Press by telephone from the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

He said the military started shelling rebel positions late Tuesday night and that ground troops had advanced across their front line early Wednesday.

``They are advancing from all around the defense line,'' Ilanthirayan said.

Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said the rebels started attacking army positions overnight.

``The air force launched strikes on Tamil Tiger positions to neutralize their attack,'' Samarasinghe said.

He did not say what damage the attacks caused, adding that the air strikes had now ended.

The battle comes after the rebels' political chief Suppiah Thamilselvan on Tuesday agreed to attend peace talks with the government later this month. The Norwegian government _ which brokered a 2002 cease-fire agreement _ said Tuesday that the talks are scheduled to be held in Switzerland on Oct. 28-29.

Thamilselvan, who met Tuesday with Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar, warned, however, that the rebels could withdraw from talks if military aggression continues.

It was not immediately clear how the latest military action would affect the peace talks.

Palitha Kohona, the chief of the government's peace secretariat, said ``the government has not launched any offensive in Jaffna.'' The government routinely maintains that its military operations are defensive, and not in violation of the cease-fire.

A spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said they could not comment on whether a major offensive has begun as they have no first-hand information. The team, which was set up to oversee the cease-fire, recently closed down many of their local offices citing an unstable security situation.

A pro-rebel Web site reported Tuesday that the army had rushed rockets, mortar shells and other military hardware to its forward defense lines on Jaffna peninsula.

The TamilNet report said truck loads of military hardware were moved Monday from Palali, the army's main Jaffna base, closer to areas in the south of the peninsula which are controlled by the rebels.

The rebels' political wing said at the weekend that reliable intelligence suggested the military was preparing to launch a major attack on rebel and civilian settlements in the Tamil-majority north under a scorched-earth policy.

The military controls almost all of the Jaffna peninsula, but small pockets are held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which claim the peninsula as the cultural heart of the country's ethnic Tamil minority.

The rebels made a major push to retake the peninsula on Aug. 12.

Dozens of combatants have been killed since last week in fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka. About 1,500 people have died in increasingly heavy fighting since February.

The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. About 65,000 people were killed before a 2002 cease-fire.

Police say three civilians killed in bomb blast in northern Sri Lanka

Associated Press, Tue October 10, 2006 04:23 EDT . - - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a bomb in northern Sri Lanka - on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding three others, police said.

The bomb, believed to have been hidden in a vehicle, exploded in the northern town of Vavuniya, said Kumara Sandanayake, a local police officer. The blast also damaged a house.

Authorities suspect separatist Tamil rebels were behind the blast, he said.

Vavuniya is the northernmost government-held garrison town before rebel-held territory.

Vehicle bomb kills three in Sri Lanka

Colombo, Oct. 10 (PTI): A bomb exploded inside a passenger van in northern Sri Lanka today killing the driver and two others, police said.

The explosion, which ripped through the mini luxury van, caused extensive damage to a nearby house where two people were killed, police said.

The van had been in police custody for about a month and was released today to the owner pending an inquiry into a road accident.

Police were investigating how the bomb was placed in the van.

Meanwhile, an soldier was killed in an artillery attack carried out by the Tamil Tiger rebels in the northern peninsula of Jaffna this morning, the Defence Ministry said.

Tamil Tigers ready to attend peace talks, as army says 20 rebels killed in fierce battle

Associated Press, Tue October 10, 2006 08:59 EDT COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The Tamil Tigers will attend peace talks with the Sri Lankan government later this month, but warned they could withdraw if military aggression continues, a report said Tuesday, as the army said it killed 20 rebels in fierce fighting in the northeast. Dozens of army personnel and rebels have been killed since last week in fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka - , with each side accusing the other of initiating the attacks. About 1,500 people have died in increasingly heavy fighting since the last round of talks in February.

Thamilselvan described as unacceptable government claims that all military acts were defensive and in retaliation for violence instigated by the Tamil Tigers.

He urged the government to allow members of the Sri Lanka - Monitoring Mission access to the front lines on the Jaffna peninsula permission, he said, already provided by the rebels so they can ``judge who is the aggressor.''

``It will be too late to pass a final ruling on cease-fire violation after a major aggression has taken place and the entire island is plunged into a full-scale war,'' he added, according to the Web site.

A spokesman for the Nordic cease-fire monitoring mission, Thorfinnur Omarsson, said they are still awaiting government permission, adding that they have received rebel approval but have yet to visit the area.

Meanwhile, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said troops killed 20 rebels during two days of fighting starting Sunday in northeastern Trincomalee district after the Tigers intensified their activities. He did not elaborate on the rebel activities, but said they posed a threat to a strategic naval base and local residents.

``The army has chased away Tamil Tigers from that area and the army is now dominating the area,'' he told a news conference in Colombo.

There was no immediate comment from the rebels.

Separately, Samarasinghe said one soldier was killed and four wounded when the rebels attacked the military's defense line on the Jaffna peninsula overnight.

The military controls most of the Jaffna peninsula, but small pockets are held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which claim it as the cultural heart of the country's ethnic Tamil minority.

TamilNet said the army has moved rockets, mortar shells and other military hardware from its main Jaffna base to its forward defense lines, closer to rebel-controlled areas.

``Consignments of artillery ammunition, mortar shells, and rockets were rushed in heavy military vehicles'' to several areas along the defense lines, it reported late Monday.

The rebels' political wing said at the weekend that reliable intelligence suggests the military is preparing to launch a major attack on rebel and civilian settlements in the north under a scorched-earth policy.

The military declined to comment Tuesday on the latest report, but has previously said it only retaliates if attacked.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said Monday that the government remains committed to peace talks, but warned it would be ``compelled to take appropriate counter measures'' to ensure security if the rebel violence continues.

Also Tuesday, suspected rebels detonated a bomb hidden inside a van in Vavuniya, the northernmost government-held garrison town before rebel-held territory, killing three people and wounding three others, said police spokesman Kumara Sandanayake.

The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. About 65,000 people were killed before a 2002 cease-fire.

Enough on truce: Time for in-depth talks - Sri Lanka

Tuesday October 10, 2006 - 06:40 EDT. COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka is tired of talks with Tamil Tiger rebels centring on the terms of a 2002 ceasefire, and wants a new round later this month to focus on core issues such as human rights and development, the government said on Tuesday.

Talks between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Geneva in February turned into a slanging match about truce violations. The rebels pulled out of a second round in April and there have been no meetings since.

Hundreds of people have been killed since late July in the worst fighting since the tattered truce was brokered and many feel talks planned in Geneva on Oct. 28-29 are premature.

"We do not want to be trapped within talks about the ceasefire agreement," Defence spokesman and Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters at a weekly briefing.

Tamil Tigers ready for peace talks, but could withdraw if military attacks continue:report

Associated Press, Tue October 10, 2006 06:55 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ The Tamil Tigers' political chief said Tuesday the rebels will attend peace talks with the Sri Lankan government later this month, but warned they could withdraw if the military continues to launch attacks, a report said.

``We are ready for talks, and agreed to the venue and date,'' Suppiah Thamilselvan said after meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar in the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, according to the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site.

``However, if the military aggression continued, we will be forced to reconsider the decision,'' TamilNet quoted him as saying.

Rebel spokesman Daya Master confirmed the meeting, but did not give details.

Dozens of army personnel and rebels have been killed since last week in fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka, with each side accusing the other of initiating the attacks. About 1,500 people have died in increasingly heavy fighting since the last round of talks in February.

Thamilselvan described as unacceptable government claims that all military acts were defensive and retaliatory in response to violence instigated by the Tamil Tigers.

He urged the government to allow members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission access to the front lines on the northern Jaffna peninsula _ which he said the rebels had already allowed _ so they can ``judge who is the aggressor.''

``It will be too late to pass a final ruling on cease-fire violation after a major aggression has taken place and the entire island is plunged into a full scale war,'' he added.

Earlier Tuesday, government security spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said that President Mahinda Rajapakse at a meeting with ambassadors on Monday said he had asked the Tamil Tigers to give up violence and terrorism, and join the peace process and be a party to democracy.

Rambukwella said Rajapakse wants the peace talks to focus on core-issues including democracy, allowing a multi-party system, pluralism, human rights, child soldier recruitment, development of the north and east and devolution _rather than discussing the 2002 cease-fire agreement.

``It is now high time to get into the substantive and core-issues,'' he said.

Sri Lanka to take ``measures'' if rebel attacks continue;Tamil party warns of full scale war

Associated Press, Mon October 9, 2006 07:26 EDT - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lanka's president warned Monday that ``appropriate counter measures'' would be taken to ensure security if Tamil Tiger attacks continue, as a Tamil political party warned of full scale war if the military launches a major offensive. The statement came after Rajapakse met Monday with ambassadors from the countries backing Sri Lanka - 's peace process Japan, the United States, Norway and European Union members.

Rajapakse said he hoped those countries could help persuade the Tamil Tigers ``to abandon their violent approach and return to negotiation.''

Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer last week intensified efforts to restart Sri Lankan peace talks that collapsed in February and end months of bloodshed. He held separate talks with government representatives and Tamil rebels to try and bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.

The Tigers have warned they will withdraw from a 2002 Norwegian-brokered cease-fire if the government continues to attack rebel positions.

Dozens of army personnel and rebels have been killed since last week in fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka - . About 1,500 people have died in increasingly heavy fighting since the last round of peace talks in Geneva in February.

Meanwhile, The Tamil National Alliance a political party widely believed to be a proxy of the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels appealed to the international community late Sunday to urge the government to help create a conducive atmosphere for a return to peace talks.

``There can be little doubt that any such further offensive military operations by the government of Sri Lanka - will almost certainly result in the breakout of full-scale war and a complete negation of the cease-fire agreement,'' said TNA parliamentary member Mavai S. Senathirajah, according to TamilNet, a pro-rebel Web site.

The rebels' political wing said at the weekend that reliable intelligence suggests the Sri Lankan military is in full preparation to launch a major attack on rebel and civilian settlements in the north under a scorched-earth policy.

The military dismissed the allegation, saying it only retaliates if attacked.

TamilNet, quoting unnamed rebel officials, said the army was building up its arsenal on its northern front lines, indicating a ``war plan based on a scorched-earth policy that will flatten civilian settlements'' around the Tamil areas on the Jaffna Peninsula.

The military controls almost all of the Jaffna Peninsula, but small pockets are under rebel control, and fighting since Aug. 12 has cut off a major highway linking it to the mainland.

In the latest fighting, the Tigers attacked the defense line in Welioya, 255 kilometers (160 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Colombo, late Sunday, triggering an overnight gunbattle between army and insurgents, said an officer at the Media Center for National Security, speaking on anonymity condition as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

He said the army did not suffer any casualties.

Separately on Monday, suspected Tamil Tigers exploded a roadside bomb near an army checkpoint in the eastern Batticaloa district, wounding one soldier, the officer said.

There was no immediate comment from the rebels.

Also on Monday, schools in besieged northern Jaffna Peninsula reopened. The schools were initially closed Aug. 12 due to fighting in the peninsula but reopened on Aug. 30. They were shut down again shortly after following protests by a student group affiliated to the rebels who opposed the schools operating while conditions in the area remained unsafe.

Tense eased in Kattankudy

For a week in Kattankudy, a religious riot erupted between the two archrivals it has solved by the All Ceylon Jameathul Ulama on Saturday. The minority hypothetic group suddenly made a counter attack to the majority of the believers of holiness on 31.09.2006. Consequently, the quarrel started between the both sides. Tens of thousands youths, elder and clergy were gathered at the grand jummah mosque for demanding the theoreticians ought to be converted to holy islam or given up theirs faithless against to the Islamic fundamentals. All commercial traders had given a great support to save the Islamic ground rules. The All Ceylon Jameathul Ulama called the minority group for discussion on Saturday. Theirs theoretical leader of the minority group refused to participate on discussion, the police officers warned to the leader and said, if you refused to join the discussion we would have to take a severe action against to you. Finally, the leader joined the discussion.

We have no news from the reliable source what had happen in the discussion, however someone says, minority leader made his apologies at the meeting.

Now the tense is eased and the commercial traders have been enjoying by the festival rush hour business.

Civilians flee after Sri Lanka police fire heavy arms into Tamil Tiger area: rebels

Associated Press, Sun October 8, 2006 08:50 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Police commandos directed heavy arms fire into Tamil Tiger areas in eastern Sri Lanka - on Sunday, forcing civilians to flee, as separate attacks by the guerrillas left one policeman and a soldier dead, rebel and military officials said. Meanwhile, suspected rebels opened fire on three policemen at a checkpoint outside Eravur town in Sri Lanka - 's east on Sunday, triggering a gunbattle that left one officer dead, said a defense ministry official on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

He said the attackers fled the scene after the police started firing.

District senior police officer Maxi Procter said he believed the attackers suffered some wounds because blood stains were found in the area where they launched the assault. One civilian was also wounded, he said.

On the northern Jaffna Peninsula, one soldier was killed Sunday when rebels fired artillery and mortars into a military defense line in Muhamalai, said an officer at the Media Center for National Security, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with policy.

He said the army retaliated with artillery fire, causing damage to the rebels.

There was no immediate comment from the rebels on the attacks.

Fighting across eastern and northeastern Sri Lanka - has left dozens of army personnel and rebels dead in recent days, with each side blaming the other for initiating the attacks. The continuing violence comes despite a planned resumption of peace talks between the government and the Tamil Tigers in Switzerland at the end of the month.

About 1,500 people have died in increasingly heavy fighting since the last round of talks in February.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross brought the bodies of 11 soldiers from a Tamil Tiger-held area in the east and handed them over them to army on Sunday, Samarasinghe said.

The military earlier said that 12 soldiers went missing last week when the Tigers attacked an army camp in Mankerni. The rebels accused the army of starting the offensive in a bid to grab rebel-held territory.

The rebels earlier said they had also captured another soldier alive.