Sri Lanka military, rebels’ battle in east after Tiger leader hints at renewed war

Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan troops traded fire Tuesday, the military said, a day after the top rebel leader declared a 2002 cease-fire ``defunct,'' suggesting the insurgents would renew their violent struggle for an independent Tamil homeland. Rebel spokesman Daya Master confirmed that officials from the Sri Lanka - Monitoring Mission were meeting with rebel leadership in the insurgents' stronghold of Kilinochchi. But he had no immediate details. Rambukwella warned of military retaliation if the Tigers officially renewed their more than two decade armed struggle for independence. ``Our armed forces will act to safeguard national security,'' he said at a news conference. Reclusive rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, in an annual speech on Monday, said he no longer believed the government wanted to resolve the conflict through peaceful means. He accused the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse of wanting to decide the fate of the island's ethnic Tamil minority using military power. ``It wants to occupy the Tamil land and then force an unacceptable solution on the Tamils,'' Prabhakaran said. But on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, visiting Vietnam, said it was up to the rebels to end the bloodshed that left more than 65,000 people dead before the cease-fire. ``There is terrorism and there is negotiations. Terrorism must be stopped by them, not us. We are not terrorists,'' he said. Government spokesman Rambukwella also said the government was still committed to a peaceful settlement of the Tamil issue which revolves around rebel demands for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka - 's 3.1 million Tamils in the northeast. ``We are still keeping the window open,'' he said of the possibility of peace talks. But violence between the two sides continued. The military said the rebels fired heavy artillery at army positions in eastern Batticaloa district early Tuesday. At least one soldier was killed and two wounded, military spokesman, Maj. Upali Rajapakse, said.
Meanwhile, the New York-based Human Rights Watch asked the government to stop its troops' alleged involvement in child recruitment for an armed group fighting the Tamil Tigers. ``We have clear and compelling evidence that government forces are helping Karuna forces abduct boys and young men,'' the statement quoted Jo Becker, children's rights advocate at HRW, as saying. The Karuna group is named after a former top Tamil Tiger commander who broke from the mainstream rebels in 2004, with about 6,000 fighters. The rebels have since accused the government of launching a proxy war against them using the splinter group. The mainstream Tigers are known to have used thousands of child soldiers. In his speech, Prabhakaran called the tattered truce ``defunct'' and urged the international community to recognize the Tamil cause as a ``freedom struggle.'' The government Tuesday dismissed Prabhakaran as a leader out of touch with his people. This year has seen a sharp rise in open conflict, with more than 3,500 fighters and civilians dying in aerial bombings, assassinations, bomb attacks and daily skirmishes, according to government figures. Associated Press Writer Krishan Francis contributed to this report.
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Sri Lanka wants to know if Tamil Tigers have withdrawn from 4-year-old cease-fire

Associated Press, Tue November 28, 2006 02:56 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lanka's government said on Tuesday it has asked peace broker Norway and European cease-fire monitors to find out if Tamil Tiger rebels have officially withdrawn from a four-year-old cease-fire, after their top leader called the pact ``defunct.''
``We have asked Norway and the SLMM (Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission) to inquire whether the LTTE is out of the cease-fire agreement,'' government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said, referring to the rebels by an acronym for their formal name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Rambukwella said that the government's future course of action will depend upon the rebels' response.
Top guerrilla leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in his annual ``Martyrs' Day'' speech on Monday called a 2002 Norway-brokered cease-fire with the government ``defunct'' and said a separate independent country for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority was the only option.
However, Prabhakaran stopped short of declaring an official withdrawal from the cease-fire agreement, which requires any side wanting to walk away to give a 14-day notice.
Tamil Tiger rebels have fought the government since 1983 for a separate homeland for minority Tamils.

S.Lanka rebel leader vows independence, more war seen

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The Tamil Tigers declared on Monday they now saw no other option than to push for an independent state in what analysts said was notice to Sri Lanka's government that renewed civil war will deepen.
Shadowy Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, who had earlier been pushing for a separate homeland for minority Tamils -- short of outright independence -- said Tamils had been cheated by successive majority Sinhalese governments and would be fooled no more. "The uncompromising stance of Sinhala chauvinism has left us with no other option but an independent state for the people of Tamil Eelam," Prabhakaran said in his annual address, emailed by the rebels to Reuters.
"It is now crystal clear that the Sinhala leaders will never put forward a just resolution to the Tamil national question. Therefore, we are not prepared to place our trust in the impossible and walk along the same old futile path," he added.
The Tigers spent much of their two-decade insurgency battling for independence, but scaled down their demand to a separate homeland within Sri Lanka after a 2002 ceasefire, now lying in ruins but which both sides argue still holds on paper.
"We, therefore, ask the international community and the countries of the world that respect justice to recognize our freedom struggle," Prabhakaran added.
President Mahinda Rajapakse has ruled out a separate homeland, but says he is willing to consider widespread devolution of power within a united Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's two-decade civil has killed more than 67,000 civilians, troops and rebel fighters since 1983, around 3,000 of those so far this year alone.
Iqbal Athas, an analyst with Janes' Defense Weekly, said Prabhakaran's words meant the island should brace for more war.
"He is putting the government on notice of war," Athas said. "By saying that they want an independent state, it is clearly getting away from the peace process."
From financial markets to shopkeepers, diplomats to weary refugees displaced by air raids and battles, all eyes were on the shadowy leader's speech.
Last year, Prabhakaran -- who is revered within the rebel group as "National Leader" -- gave the government a year to find a political solution to the war or face renewed struggle.
In Colombo, troops tightened security and checked cars and shops on Monday amid fears of renewed attacks on the capital during Prabhakaran's Heroes' Day speech to commemorate more than 18,700 slain rebel fighters.
Witnesses in Tiger territory said roads had been decked out with red Tiger flags emblazoned with roaring golden tigers and crossed rifles and pictures of Prabhakaran in characteristic Tiger-striped fatigues and cap, sidearm at the ready.
A new round of peace talks broke down a month ago, and many fear that a war that has killed more than 67,000 people since 1983 will escalate and punish the $23 billion economy. In the northern army-held Jaffna peninsula where 500,000 residents, almost all of them Tamils, are cut off from the rest of the island by rebel lines and survive on rations brought in by sea, many residents fear they will be displaced yet again.
"We have gone back to the pre-2002 (ceasefire) era," said 42-year-old Pragash Shunmuganathan, who had to close his video and television repair shop in Jaffna for lack of customers as economic hardships in the besieged peninsula bite.
"Today we are starving. There is no food, no employment," he added. "War seems to be the only remedy."
(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal)

SECTION OF THE CROWD DEMANDING PERMANENT HOUSES 

THE CROWD OF THE NEW KATTANKUDY TSUNAMI AFFECTED PEOPLE  

PROTESTORS HANGING UP THE SLOGAN ON THE STREET-KATTANKUDY 

TSUNAMI AFFECTED WOMEN ARE WALKING TO DS OFFICE, KATTANKUDY 

Thousands of people protest Sri Lankan president's visit to India

Associated Press, Sun November 26, 2006 08:18 EST . They also accused Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse of depriving Tamils of food and other necessities in the rebel-controlled territories in Sri Lanka - 's north and east, the Press Trust of India news agency said. On Sunday, Rajapakse repeated his demand asking India to conduct joint patrols with Sri Lanka - of the narrow Palk Straits which divides the two countries to prevent cross-border terrorism.
``We want joint patrolling with India in the sea because not only arms are being smuggled into our country but drugs are also coming,'' PTI quoted Rajapakse as saying after laying the foundation stone of an Indo-Sri Lankan Human Rights Center in Dehradun, nearly 250 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of New Delhi.
``If Tigers get stronger, that will be a threat not only to Sri Lanka - but also to the world,'' Rajapakse said.
An escalation in fighting between Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam since August has left more than 3,000 people dead in some of the bloodiest clashes since the two sides signed a 2002 cease-fire.
The political groups which participated in Sunday's protest meetings in Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, and various district headquarters included the Pattali Makkal Katchi, the Dalit Panthers of India, the Tamil Nationalist Movement and the Tamil Nadu Nationalist Congress party, PTI said.
India's Tamil Nadu state is home to nearly 56 million Tamils, many with close family ties to ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka - .
India has been reluctant to become too involved in Sri Lanka - after a disastrous military intervention in the 1980s resulted in former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber.
The Tigers have been battling the government for over 20 years for a separate state for the island nation's 3.2 million ethnic Tamils who suffered decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

Sri Lankan military says it killed 21 rebels in separate attacks

Associated Press, Sun November 26, 2006 04:52 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lankan troops killed 21 Tamil rebels in separate clashes in the east, the military said Sunday, as government forces and the guerrillas exchanged mortar and artillery fire. The government controls the main towns of the Jaffna peninsula, considered the heartland of Sri Lanka - 's minority ethnic Tamils, while the Tigers operate from the area's villages and jungles.
Fighting along the same line since August has left hundreds of combatants dead in some of the bloodiest clashes since the government and rebels signed a 2002 cease-fire that temporarily halted two decades of civil war.
On Saturday, the military said its warplanes attacked a camp housing Tamil Tiger rebel suicide bombers in the country's north. The rebels dismissed the claim.
The camp was located at Iranamadu, near the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, Rajapakse said. The camp suffered ``heavy damage.''
Rebels denied that any camp was attacked, but said that two air force planes bombed a jungle area in Iranamadu, and that no casualties were reported.
Rebel spokesman Daya Master said the government's airstrikes were meant to spread fear among the Tamil people and disrupt ``Martyrs' Day'' celebrations on Monday.
Many fear that near-daily attacks and killings will drive Sri Lanka - back to full-scale war, although the government and Tigers say they are committed to the 2002 truce.
The truce had reduced the violence for some time, but since last December more than 3,200 fighters and civilians have been killed in escalating airstrikes, mine attacks, assassinations and heavy arms fire.
The rebels began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka - 's north and east, citing discrimination by the Sinhalese majority.

Sri Lankan troops, rebels exchange artillery, mortar fire

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger separatists exchanged mortar and artillery fire Sunday, the military said, a day after air force planes bombed rebel territory.
The Tigers fired artillery and mortars at troops along the line separating government and rebel forces in the Jaffna peninsula at dawn Sunday, a Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, saying he was not authorized to speak to the media. He said army troops had repulsed the insurgents' attack. No casualties were reported.
The government controls the main towns of the Jaffna peninsula, considered the heartland of Sri Lanka's minority ethnic Tamils, while the Tigers operate from the area's villages and jungles.
Fighting along the same line since August has left hundreds of combatants dead in some of the bloodiest clashes since the government and rebels signed a 2002 cease-fire that temporarily halted two decades of civil war.
On Saturday, the military said its warplanes attacked a camp housing Tamil Tiger rebel suicide bombers in the country's north. The rebels dismissed the claim.

The camp was located at Iranamadu, near the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, said military spokesman Maj. Upali Rajapakse. The camp suffered ``heavy damage,'' but exact details were not available, Rajapakse said.
Rebels denied that any camp was attacked, but said that two air force planes bombed a jungle area in Iranamadu, and that no casualties were reported.
Rebel spokesman Daya Master said the government's airstrikes were meant to spread fear among the Tamil people as the guerrillas prepare to celebrate ``Martyrs' Day'' on Monday, when reclusive leader Velupillai Prabhakaran delivers his annual speech.
Many fear that near-daily attacks and killings will drive Sri Lanka back to full-scale war, although the government and Tigers say they are committed to the 2002 truce.
The truce had reduced the violence for some time, but since last December more than 3,200 fighters and civilians have been killed in escalating airstrikes, mine attacks, assassinations and heavy arms fire.
The rebels began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east, citing discrimination by the Sinhalese majority

Top Tamil guerilla leader honors fallen rebels, opponents stone his image

Associated Press, Sun November 26, 2006 08:56 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ The Tamil Tigers' reclusive leader led commemorative events for fallen guerrillas in Sri Lanka's rebel-held north, as his opponents on Sunday threw stones and tomatoes at his portrait in the Sinhalese-majority south.
The pro-rebel TamilNet Web site reported that Velupillai Prabhakaran took part in the memorial events at an undisclosed location in rebel territory on Saturday, as bereaved relatives and supporters garlanded portraits and offered flowers along roadsides. The Web site said 18,742 rebel fighters have died in their separatist campaign against the Sri Lankan government. This includes 818 deaths during the past year in an undeclared civil war.
Every year, rebels celebrate ``Martyrs' Day'' on Nov. 27 remembering the death of ``Lt. Shankar,'' the first Tamil guerrilla to be killed by government troops. Prabhakaran makes a highly anticipated annual policy speech on this day.
In capital Colombo, a group of Sinhalese calling itself the ``campaign to stone the devil'' hurled stones and tomatoes at a life-size portrait of Prabhakaran, who celebrated his 52nd birthday on Sunday.
``He is a terrorist leader who killed thousands of innocent and unarmed people,'' said Nishantha Warnasinghe, one of the organizers.
``This day should be condemned by all, we don't have arms and we are expressing our protest in a peaceful manner against this murderous group,'' he added.
Prabhakaran formed his guerrilla outfit in 1972 and named it the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1976, to fight for a separate homeland for the country's Tamil minority citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.
The campaign flared up into a full-scale civil war in 1983 and killed 65,000 people until the rebels and government signed a 2002 cease-fire.
Prabhakaran built up his outfit as a conventional army over the years with modern weaponry and perfected suicide bombing before any other group employed the tactic.
Escalating violence has killed some 3,200 people in the past year.
Many fear that near-daily attacks and killings will drive Sri Lanka back to full-scale war, although the government and Tigers say they are committed to the cease-fire.

Sri Lanka violence leaves 30 dead: Army

Colombo, Nov 24: Renewed fighting in Sri Lanka's embattled northern and eastern regions has left at least 30 people dead, according to defence ministry figures.
Security forces killed 19 Tamil Tiger rebels in two clashes on Thursday in the eastern district of Batticaloa where four policemen also died, the ministry said.
It said the guerrillas had also shot dead two civilians in the east on the same day and five Tiger guerrillas were shot dead in a confrontation in the northern Vavuniya district.
The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they lost only one combatant in the island's east on Thursday and accused the military of killing a student and wounding five others.
No independent verification of casualty claims was possible amid ongoing clashes between the two sides.
The LTTE and the Sri Lankan government have escalated fighting in the past year in tit-for-tat battles that have claimed over 3,400 lives despite a 2002 ceasefire agreement.
The bitter ethnic conflict has claimed at least 60,000 lives since it began in 1972.

Mosquito-borne fever hits Sri Lanka ; fear closes a school

Associated Press, Fri November 24, 2006 08:40 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lanka's health officials on Friday confirmed an outbreak of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne fever.
Blood samples sent to Thai and Indian research institutes and three local laboratories tested positive for chikungunya, the Health Ministry's epidemiologist Nihal Abeysinghe said, adding that at least 50 people have been found to be carrying the illness.
Chikungunya _ like dengue _ is spread by female aedes mosquitoes, and symptoms include high fever, severe joint pains, headache and vomiting. There is no known cure for either disease.
Eighty-one people were reported dead after contracting chikungunya in South India in the past month, but health experts say the disease only weakens the immune system, allowing people to succumb to other ailments.
While the government has asked people not to panic, the independent Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Friday that a school in northwestern Kalpitiya was closed after many students and teachers were found with high fever.
Sri Lanka's Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, meanwhile, asked public to prevent the spread of both the diseases by cleaning up areas where mosquitoes breed.
Mosquito-borne diseases usually spread with annual monsoons as the rains leave puddles of stagnant water for the insects to breed in.
``With the ongoing rains, such diseases could reach an epidemic proportion by next month unless drastic measures are taken to clean the environment,'' said Pradeep Kariyawasam, who heads the capital Colombo's health department

Air force jets bomb Tamil rebels in eastern Sri Lanka , other violence kills 3

Associated Press, Thu November 23, 2006 01:35 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Air force jets bombed Tamil Tiger positions in eastern Sri Lanka - Thursday to help repel an attack on army troops, while the rebels killed three government security guards in a raid in the north, the military said.
An official at the Media Center for National Security said the Tamil Tigers had moved closer to government-held areas in eastern Batticaloa district late Wednesday and started attacking government troops positions early Thursday with artillery.
Military troops retaliated with artillery and later called in air support, said the official, who cannot be named due to army regulations.
The rebels, however, accused the military of launching the offensive to try and take back insurgent-held territory.
``The military has started a big operation to capture territory, they have moved closer to our forward defense lines,'' the rebels' military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said from the rebels' de facto capital of Kilinochchi.
No other details were immediately available.
Batticaloa has been home to a breakaway faction of the mainstream rebels since a powerful eastern commander split in 2004 with 6,000 fighters. The uprising was suppressed by the northern-based rebels, though the renegades enjoy influence in the area a hotbed of recent violence.
Separately, rebels raided a north central security camp at Kabithigollewa at 2:30 a.m. Thursday, killing three government ``home guards'' pro-government civilian residents who have weapons training and help security forces, an official at the national security media center said. Five soldiers were wounded in separate attacks further north in Jaffna peninsula.
The presence of home guards all of whom are ethnic Sinhalese was stepped up in the area, about 285 kilometers (185 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, after a bus bombing in June blamed on the Tigers that killed 64 people, mostly Sinhalese civilians.
The Tigers have been fighting for over two decades for a separate homeland for the country's minority ethnic Tamils, citing discrimination by the Sinhalese majority. A 2002 cease-fire stopped the civil war.
But since last December, airstrikes, mine attacks, assassinations and regular exchanges of heavy arms fire have killed more than 3,200 fighters and civilians. Both sides insist they have not withdrawn from the truce.
With peace talks stalled, the government and the rebels refuse to budge from their positions. The rebels want a separate homeland, while the government says regional autonomy is the maximum it will give.
Associated Press Writer, Krishan Francis, contributed to the report

Tamil Tiger rebels, military battle for territory in eastern Sri Lanka

Associated Press, Thu November 23, 2006 08:31 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The Sri Lankan military, backed by tanks and war planes, battled Tamil Tiger rebels for over three hours on Thursday for control of territory in the east, a military spokesman said. The rebels said they killed seven government commandoes. Air force planes bombed an identified Sea Tiger base in Mullaithivu district of northern Sri Lanka - on Thursday, an official at the national security media center said. There were no reports on the casualties.
Separately, rebels raided a security camp in northern Kabithigollewa before dawn Thursday, killing three government ``home guards'' pro-government civilian residents who have weapons training and help security forces the media center said.
Also Thursday, three policemen and a security guard, providing security for ethnic Sinhalese farmers working in their fields, were killed by suspected Tamil Tigers in eastern Ampara, the official said.
The Tigers have been fighting for over two decades for a separate homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority, citing discrimination by the Sinhalese majority. A 2002 cease-fire temporarily took the steam out of the bloody civil war, but since last December, airstrikes, mine attacks, assassinations and heavy arms fire have killed more than 3,200 fighters and civilians.
Both sides insist they have not withdrawn from the truce, but peace talks to try to salvage the accord held in Switzerland in October failed to bring about any progress.
With peace talks stalled, the government and the rebels refuse to budge from their positions. The rebels want a separate homeland, while the government says regional autonomy is the maximum it will give.
Associated Press writers Krishan Francis and Bharatha Mallawarachi, contributed to the report.

Sri Lanka gov't asks UN envoy for evidence on accusations

The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday it had asked the UN special advisor Allan Rock to provide credible evidence to support his accusations against the government security forces.
Keheliya Rambukwella, minister of Policy Planning and the government defense spokesman, told reporters that "the government has asked him to provide evidence so that we can deal with it."
Rock, the special advisor to the United Nations Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, had charged that the military of working hand in glove with the child recruitment carried out by the renegade faction of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels led by Karuna alias Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan.
Rock in his statement issued on Nov. 13 here at the end of his 10-day mission said he had evidence that security forces travel to villages and photograph Tamil children who are later forcibly recruited by the Karuna faction.
Rock said Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse had promised him a full investigation into the allegations.
The government also accuses Rock of being a sympathizer of Tamil Tiger rebels. "He has attended a LTTE fund raising event in Canada," Rambukwella said.
The local press had taken Rock to the task for leveling accusations against government forces as the condemnation on child recruitment is usually associated with the LTTE rebels.
The military was quick to deny Rock's accusations and the president's office said the press had misreported Rock's comments.

S.Lanka says donors misled by U.N. envoy, monitors

COLOMBO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Nordic truce monitors and a U.N. envoy have misled Sri Lanka's main financial donors about ceasefire violations by the military, the government said on Wednesday.
Hours earlier, the United States, Japan, the European Union and Norway condemned the government and Tamil Tiger rebels for "systematic ceasefire violations".
President Mahinda Rajapakse's government has repeatedly rejected allegations by international truce monitors of troop involvement in extrajudicial killings during a surge in violence this year.
United Nations envoy Allan Rock has also accused elements of the military of helping to abduct children to turn them into soldiers for a renegade rebel faction.
"The co-chairs would have been influenced by Allan Rock and the SLMM (Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission) and that is misleading," government defence spokesman and cabinet minister Keheliya Rambukwella told Reuters hours after the donors issued their damning statement.
Rambukwella said neither Rock nor the SLMM -- who have both been vilified by government officials and state-run media -- had provided the government with proof of troop involvement in abuses, despite requests.
While the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have violated a battered truce thousands of times since it was hammered out in 2002, monitors cite an alarming rise in violations by the military this year.
"Obviously on the basis of national security, we have to react on certain issues. That can be ... systematic erosion or violation of the ceasefire," Rambukwella added. "But this becomes inevitable unless the LTTE change their stance of terror."
More than 3,000 civilians, troops and rebel fighters have been killed in military clashes, naval battles, ambushes, aerial bombings this year.
Many ordinary Sri Lankans fear a conflict that has killed more than 67,000 people since 1983 could escalate and spread across the island.
So far, most of the violence is confined to the northeast, where the Tigers run a de facto state they want recognised as a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils.
"The co-chairs view with alarm the rising level of violence in Sri Lanka that has led to significant loss of life and widespread human rights violations," the donors said in a statement issued out of Washington overnight.
"The co-chairs condemn the continued and systematic ceasefire violations by government of Sri Lanka and LTTE," it added.
"The co-chairs particularly condemn the LTTE for initiating hostilities from heavily populated areas and the government of Sri Lanka for firing into such vulnerable areas and killing and wounding innocent civilians."
The government and the rebels have ignored international pleas to halt violence that has forced tens of thousands of civilians from their homes and into camps.
The donors also called on both sides to set up demilitarised zones to protect civilians.
They also appealed to the government to reopen the main north-south highway that runs through rebel territory to the northern army-held Jaffna peninsula.
The government has offered to reopen the A9 highway for a one-off aid convoy to drive to Jaffna, but the Tigers say that is not good enough and want the road -- seen as a key revenue source thanks to levies charged -- reopened permanently.

Sri Lanka says it wants to resume peace talks with Tamil rebels immediately

Associated Press, Wed November 22, 2006 00:06 EST COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday it was willing to immediately resume stalled peace talks with Tamil rebels, but accused the insurgents of not cooperating. Representatives from the United States, Japan, the European Union and Norway gathered Tuesday at the U.S. State Department for two days of talks aimed at forming new strategies for encouraging peace in Sri Lanka - .
They warned warring parties that they risk future financial aid if they do not abandon violence.
``There is simply no way that the international community can impose peace in Sri Lanka - . It must be homegrown'' by the rebels and the government, Norwegian Aid Minister Erik Solheim, who brokered the truce, told reporters after the meeting in Washington. ``Then we can all assist them.''
As the international parties met, violence continued to wrack the nation of 19 million, threatening a 2002 cease-fire that temporarily halted two decades of a civil war that killed as many as 65,000 people.
Solheim said officials were ``very much impatient'' with cease-fire violations. In Colombo, foreign cease-fire monitors have blamed both sides of the conflict for violations.
Since last December, airstrikes, mine attacks, assassinations and regular exchanges of heavy arms fire have killed more than 3,200 fighters and civilians. Both sides insist they have not withdrawn from the truce.
The last round of talks held in Geneva in October broke down when the government rejected a rebel demand that a highway that links the Tamil-majority north with the mainland be reopened immediately. The road was closed in August after the rebels mounted an attack on a military checkpoint that controls traffic and checks movement of people. The government says the rebels use the road to transport weapons, move fighters and collect taxes.
The government said earlier this week it will reopen the highway for a one-time run to build a buffer stock, allowing the flow of essential supplies to half a million civilians trapped by fighting for the first time in four months.
But the rebels reacted sharply, saying the action was politically motivated and wanted the government to reopen the road permanently.
``We can discuss all these issues at face-to-face talks,'' said Rambukwella, the government spokesman.
In Washington, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns noted that the United States is not a neutral observer: it believes the Tigers are a terror organization responsible for innocent deaths, and the government has a right to maintain its territorial integrity. The EU and Sri Lanka - join the United States in designating the Tigers, also called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist organization

Security heightened in Sri Lankan capital ahead of march for slain lawmaker

Associated Press, Sun November 12, 2006 23:12 EST . DILIP GANGULY - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Security was tightened in the Sri Lankan capital Monday ahead of a planned march with the body of a slain Tamil lawmaker who was gunned down last week by unidentified assailants outside his home.

The National Anti-War Front a coalition of 120 civic groups, human rights organizations and opposition political parties also called for a shutdown of Colombo on Monday to protest increasing violence in the country.

``We are closing several roads and there is increased security in the city,'' police spokesman Rienzie Perera told The Associated Press.

Nadaraja Raviraj, a Tamil lawmaker from the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance party, was assassinated and his bodyguard also killed in Colombo on Friday. The Tamil party has blamed the government for the killing an accusation the administration has denied.

March organizers said the procession with Raviraj's body will culminate in a mass gathering at a popular city park.

Many fear that near-daily attacks and killings are driving the country back toward full-scale war, though the government and Tamil Tigers both say a 2002 cease-fire, which had halted two decades of civil war, is still in place.

Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said the army was aiding police with security preparations ahead of the march. ``The military is also standing by and will be deployed if there is an emergency,'' Samarasinghe said.

The family of the slain lawmaker and the pro-rebel party want the government to open the key A-9 highway so Raviraj's body can be driven to his hometown of Chavakachcheri, in the Tamil-dominated Jaffna peninsula.

The government has refused to reopen the vital artery that links the country's south to the rebel-controlled north, saying it would allow the guerrillas to freely transport weapons and fighters. The government closed down the highway on Aug. 11 after rebels attacked a military checkpoint.

``Interested parties should not make the opening of the A-9 road an issue for narrow political gain,'' said chief government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella.

The government has said it was willing to fly Raviraj's body to Jaffna for cremation, but the family and his party have yet to agree. The cremation is scheduled for Wednesday.

The failure of talks on reopening the key road led to the collapse of peace talks in Switzerland last month aimed at salvaging the 2002 cease-fire.

The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 in a bid to carve out a separate homeland in the country's north and east for the minority Tamils, who cite discrimination by the ethnic Sinhalese majority.

British official to visit Sri Lanka to share Northern Ireland peace experience

Associated Press, Mon November 13, 2006 04:42 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) A former British Cabinet minister who was closely associated with the Northern Ireland peace process will visit Sri Lanka - this week to share his experiences in peace-building, the British High Commission said in a statement Monday. ``While in Sri Lanka - Mr. Murphy will meet a range of key participants in the Sri Lankan peace process and share his experiences of building peace in Northern Ireland,'' the statement said, adding that the visit follows a meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse in August on ways in which Britain could support a Norwegian-facilitated peace process.

The Norwegian peace efforts that led to a cease-fire in 2002 between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels face huge hurdles. Increasing violence has all but shattered the truce with near-daily killings.

Both sides maintain their stands: the rebels want a separate homeland for the ethnic Tamil minority, while the government says regional autonomy is the maximum it will give.

Murphy, who is currently the chairman of the British Intelligence and Security Committee, will be accompanied by Christopher MacCabe, the British joint secretary of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat.

The team will begin its visit on Tuesday and leave Sri Lanka - on Thursday.

Slain TNA MP gets highest LTTE award

The LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran on Friday conferred on the slain Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, Nadarajah Raviraj, the highest award of his organisation - "Maamanithar" or "Great Man."

In his eulogy, which carried the announcement of the award, Prabhakaran said that the killing of the young parliamentarian and Tamil freedom fighter had the "impact of an earthquake" on his organisation.

"It shook the soul of the Tamil nation," he said.

Prabhakaran said that Raviraj was not a slave to the pursuit of wealth, but dedicated himself to the cause of the Tamils' liberation and identified himself fully and whole- heartedly with the LTTE and its objectives.

He helped advance the cause of the Tamils' liberation in a variety of ways, by upholding it in parliament and other forums. He used his knowledge and linguistic abilities to clearly convey the feelings of the Tamils to the majority Sinhalas.

And he did this sitting in Colombo "the fortress of Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism".

He did it in the face of constant intimidation from the Sinhala armed forces and other armed groups, showing extraordinary courage.

Describing the 44-year-old Raviraj as an "unusual and extraordinary" man, Prabhakaran said that he was awarding the highest title of "Maamanithar" on him "with pride".

Bid to take body to Jaffna through A9 fails

The TNA's plan to take Raviraj's body through the A9 highway to his constituency of Jaffna for cremation was aborted because President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the security situation in the Muhamalai sector of the road was not conducive for the journey.

The assassination of Raviraj has given a fillip to the anti-war movement in the Sinhala speaking south Sri Lanjka.

The Anti-War Front, which is a multi-ethnic grouping of artists, human rights workers, politicians and intellectuals, will be taking the body of Raviraj in a procession through the main streets of Colombo before it is flown to Jaffna for cremation on Wednesday.

Foreign diplomats would be invited to join the procession, said TNA MP Suresh Premachandran.

Group threatens attacks on Sri Lanka civilians

11 Nov 2006 10:18:07 GMT

Sri Lankan government soldiers arrive to secure Vignashpuram village in Batticaloa, November 11, 2006. Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.

Sri Lankan government soldiers arrive to secure Vignashpuram village in Batticaloa, November 11, 2006. Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.

Sri Lankan government soldiers arrive to secure Vignashpuram village in Batticaloa, November 11, 2006. Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.

Sri Lankan government soldiers arrive to secure Vignashpuram village in Batticaloa, November 11, 2006. Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.

The family of Nadarajah Raviraj, a prominent member of the Tamil National Alliance who was assassinated the previous day, pay their respects over his body in Colombo November 11, 2006. From left are Raviraj's daughter Praveena Raviraj, son Sashi Raviraj, wife Uthisharan Raviraj and mother Mangalaeswary Nadaraja. Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.

The family of Nadarajah Raviraj, a prominent member of the Tamil National Alliance who was assassinated the previous day, pay their respects over his body in Colombo November 11, 2006. From left are Raviraj's daughter Praveena Raviraj, son Sashi Raviraj, wife Uthisharan Raviraj and mother Mangalaeswary Nadaraja. Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.

Mangalaeswary Nadaraja, mother of Nadarajah Raviraj, a prominent member of the Tamil National Alliance who was assassinated the previous day, mourns over Raviraj's body in Colombo November 11, 2006. Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.

Mangalaeswary Nadaraja, mother of Nadarajah Raviraj, a prominent member of the Tamil National Alliance who was assassinated the previous day, mourns over Raviraj's body in Colombo November 11, 2006. Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats in a new clash on Friday and a pro-rebel MP was assassinated in the capital, underlining the escalation of a two-decade civil war in the island republic.

Sri Lanka conflict

COLOMBO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - A suspected front for Tamil Tiger rebels vowed on Saturday to kill majority Sinhalese civilians in southern Sri Lanka in retaliation for the army bombing of a refugee camp this week that killed dozens of minority Tamils.

The High Security Zone Residents' Liberation Force, which has claimed responsibility for a rash of deadly attacks on troops, made its threat a day after a pro-rebel Tamil MP was slain in the capital.

"Ultimately it would be the Sinhala people who will pay the price for the actions of their sons and daughters occupying the Tamil motherland," the group, which claims to represent Tamils displaced by army high security zones in the northern army-held Jaffna peninsula, said in a statement faxed to Reuters.

"On several occasions we had warned of every action having an equal and opposite reaction. We regret the retaliatory measures that have been forced upon us, and extend our early condolences to the victims."

The group has also previously threatened to hit hospitals and infrastructure in the south.

Tamil Tiger rebels say 47 people were killed in Wednesday's attack on the camp, set up in a school in rebel-held territory in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Nordic truce monitors counted 23 corpses, but do not rule out a higher figure.

The international community has voiced outrage at the shelling, and called on the government and the rebels to respect human rights and safeguard thousands of civilians caught in the middle of the two-decade conflict.

Survivors say the rebels provoked the attack by firing heavy guns from near the camp, and the foes accuse each other of using civilians as human shields.

Aid workers and truce monitors say around 30,000-35,000 civilians - most of whom were displaced from their homes further north when fighting flared in August -- are trapped in the area.

Foreign nations form the United States to India to peace mediator Norway have called on both sides to halt violence threatening to plunge the island into a full-blown return to a conflict that has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983.

They condemned the assassination of Nadarajah Raviraj, a prominent human rights lawyer and MP for the Tamil National Alliance -- widely seen as the Tigers' proxy in parliament -- who was gunned down in Colombo on Friday as he headed to court.

That attack in turn came hours after naval clashes off the north and east coasts in which the military said it sank a total of 24 rebel boats - a claim rejected by the Tigers.

President Mahinda Rajapakse, under increasing international pressure to solve a rash of extrajudicial killings, massacres and abductions blamed on both sides, has called for Scotland Yard to investigate Raviraj's murder.

The TNA has accused government forces or forces aligned to it for the killing.

"The president told us that he invited a London-based investigation team, but I don't know it has materialised or not. We are not satisfied," said fellow TNA MP Mavai Senadhirajah.

The government flatly rejects the Tigers' demand for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the island's north and east, where they already run a de facto state, and any meaningful peace deal is seen years off at best.

parado windscreen smashed and hole  

Fronside of his Parado 

MP's Parado  

MP Rajiraj was assasinated by unknown gun men  

Prominent Tamil politician assassinated in Sri Lankan capital as war looms

Associated Press, Fri November 10, 2006 06:32 Associated Press Writer COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ A prominent Tamil legislator was assassinated in the Sri Lankan capital Friday, while the navy said it killed six rebels in an attack on Tamil Tiger boats.

Nadaraja Raviraj, a member of the Tamil National Alliance, was leaving his house in Colombo when he was approached and shot at close range, said K. Sivajilingam, a fellow member of Parliament. Raviraj's bodyguard was also killed.

President Mahinda Rajapakse called the killing a ``cowardly and heinous act'' by ``those opposed to dissent and political pluralism in a democratic society.''

The Tamil party blamed the government for the killing.

``We understand that a whole magazine has been emptied on them in broad daylight,'' said Suresh Premachandran, a Tamil National Alliance legislator. ``This is a clear message to Tamil parliamentarians ... 'Don't open your mouth.'''

Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said it was unfair to blame the government before an inquiry takes place. He said the president had asked for help from London's Scotland Yard in investigating a series of attacks _ including Raviraj's killing _ which the government suspects were orchestrated by the Tamil Tigers to blame the government.

The U.S. Embassy condemned Raviraj's assassination. ``It is critical that crimes such as the murder of Nadaraja Raviraj not go unpunished. We urge the government to begin an immediate investigation,'' the embassy said.

Raviraj, who also worked as a lawyer and was going to court when he was attacked, died at the National Hospital, said hospital director Anil Jasinghe.

Raviraj, a leading campaigner for Tamil self-rule, became mayor of the Tamil heartland Jaffna in 1999 following the assassination of his two predecessors. He was elected to Parliament as a rebel-backed representative of Tamil National Alliance in 2001 and 2004.

On Thursday, he had joined a demonstration outside the local U.N. refugee agency to call for the protection of thousands of refugees who fled their homes after military shelling killed at least 23 Tamil civilians Wednesday in the eastern Batticaloa region. The Tamil National Alliance said 41,000 Tamils were displaced.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan navy destroyed two Tamil Tiger naval boats early Friday, killing six rebels, said navy spokesman, Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake. A pro-rebel Web site reported the clash, but gave no casualty figures. The rebels, who often dispute government casualty figures, did not immediately comment.

A day earlier, rebels claimed they killed 25 Sri Lanka sailors and captured four in a clash in northern waters. But Dassanayake said only seven sailors were missing. There was no way to independently verify the figures.

Tamil Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said five rebels were also killed.

Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said the navy, assisted by the air force, destroyed 22 of 26 rebel boats, but he did not give casualty figures.

The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in the country's north and east, citing discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

The conflict killed more than 65,000 people before a Norwegian-brokered truce in 2002. Subsequent peace talks failed, and surging violence this year has killed more than 2,000 civilians, soldiers and rebels, threatening to plunge the country back into full-scale civil war.

Lanka seeks British help to probe assassination of Tamil MP

Colombo, Nov. 10 (PTI): Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa sought help from Scotland Yard to investigate assassination of Tamil legislator Nadarajah Raviraj, who was shot dead here today.

Pro-rebel Tamil legislator Nadarajah Raviraj, 44, and his bodyguard were shot dead as they drove to work in Colombo's Narahenpita area this morning in rush hour traffic, police said.

"President Rajapaksa has asked the Foreign Ministry to make an urgent request to Scotland Yard to assist in investigations into the assassination of Raviraj," the president's office said in a statement.

The last time Sri Lanka received British help to investigate a crime was in April 1993 to probe the assassination of Opposition politician Lalith Athulathmudali.

However, the killing remains unsolved till today.

Meanwhile, international outrage over the latest assassination was led by the United States which asked the government to ensure that the culprits were brought to justice.

"It is critical that crimes such as the murder of Nadarajah Raviraj not go unpunished," the US embassy here said in a statement.

"We urge the government to begin an immediate investigation into the circumstances of his killing and to find, arrest, and prosecute those responsible on the most urgent basis."

US deplores Sri Lankan MP's killing

Colombo, Nov 10 (IANS) The US deplored Friday's assassination of N. Raviraj, a Sri Lankan Tamil MP, and demanded "an immediate investigation into the circumstances of his killing".

"We urge the government to begin an immediate investigation into the circumstances of his killing and to find, arrest and prosecute those responsible on the most urgent basis," the US embassy said in a statement.

An unidentified gunman shot dead Raviraj, an MP from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is allied with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in the nation's capital.

"We express our deepest sympathy for this loss to the family of Raviraj, to his parliamentary colleagues, and to the people of Sri Lanka, who have been unjustly robbed of his energy and talent," the American statement said. "It is critical that crimes such as the murder of Raviraj not go unpunished."

Sri Lankan Tamil members of the Parliament and their supporters protest in front of the United Nations office in Colombo against the artillery attack in Batticaloa. Tiger rebels destroyed two Sri Lankan gunboats in a suicide attack as the government expressed regret over the killing of about 65 civilians in an artillery blitz on a rebel-held area 

Sri Lankan Tamil members of the Parliament and their supporters shout slogans with holding placards in front of the United Nations office in Colombo. Sri Lanka's government has expressed "regret" over the killing of some 65 civilians in an artillery blitz on the rebel-held east of the island, but blamed the Tamil Tigers for using human shields 

Gopalakrishnan, left, reacts as he sees the remains of his sister Kanagasingham Thangamaller, covered with a cloth, at a hospital morgue in Valachchenai, about 230 kilometers (144 miles) northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006. Thangamaller who sustained serious injuries when government forces fired artillery and rocket launchers on Wednesday, died on her way to the hospital. Human rights group Amnesty International denounced the shelling of a school by Sri Lanka's military as a senior Tamil Tiger rebel said Thursday 60 civilians had been killed in the artillery attack.  

Sri Lankan Tamil members of the Parliament and their supporters shout slogans with holding placards in front of the United Nations office in Colombo. Sri Lanka's government has expressed "regret" over the killing of some 65 civilians in an artillery blitz of the rebel-held east of the island, but also accused Tamil Tigers of using human shields. 

UNREST IN SRI LANKA - PLEASE READ THIS PAGE - INNOCENT PEOPLE OF VAHARAI WERE KILLED BY ARTLERY SRIKE -

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - At least nine vessels were destroyed in a naval clash Thursday between Tamil rebels and Sri Lanka's navy off the northern coast, officials said, as a human rights group denounced the shelling of a school by the military in which at least 23 people were killed and scores injured.

Tamil Tiger rebels said they killed at least 26 Sri Lankan sailors and caught four others alive in a fierce sea battle off the northern Jaffna peninsula.

"We have caught four sailors alive and found one dead body. Our fighters have confirmed that they killed at least another 25 sailors," Tamil Tigers' military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan told The Associated Press.

He said five Sea Tiger fighters also died in the attack.

Ilanthirayan told The Associated Press that fighting broke out when navy vessels disturbed the rebels' "routine naval exercises."

A Defense Ministry official, however, said about 16 rebel boats, including explosive-laden suicide boats, attacked a navy patrol and sank one boat.

The navy, assisted by the air force, retaliated, destroying eight rebel boats, the official said on condition of anonymity due to policy. One naval craft was destroyed in the battle and another was damaged.

There was no independent account of the incident, and no details of casualties were immediately available.

Separately on Thursday, the military said Tamil rebels detonated a roadside bomb, killing two soldiers in northern Jaffna peninsula on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the government said it regretted Wednesday's artillery attack on the school.

"While we regret this whole episode, we say that national security is utmost," chief government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told a news conference.

Scores of civilians had taken refuge in the school in Kithiraveli, a rebel-controlled eastern Sri Lankan village from fighting between the army and Tamil Tiger guerrillas in when it was hit, senior rebel official Seevaratnam Puleedevan told The Associated Press.

He said at least 60 civilians were killed and 150 wounded.

Helen Olafsdottir, a spokeswoman for the European cease-fire monitoring mission, said monitors had counted 23 bodies, mostly of women, children and older people, and were still investigating. Another 137 people were admitted to hospitals, she said.

"Our monitors have visited the impact site and they have been told that as many as 40 rounds of artillery fire had hit the area," Olafsdottir said. She said the monitors did not find any sign of a rebel military installation in the impact area.

But Rambukwella said it was likely that the rebels had forced civilians to stay in the area to become human shields — a charge the insurgents denied.

London-based Amnesty International condemned the attack and called for an inquiry by international and independent human rights experts, saying there was an urgent need to "respond to the dramatic deterioration of the human rights and humanitarian situation."

In Colombo, 22 deputies from the Tamil National Alliance — a political party widely believed to be a proxy of the rebels — demonstrated in front of the U.N. refugee agency office, asking it to take action to protect displaced people.

The group said 41,000 Tamil civilians have been displaced in the Batticaloa region, the area of Wednesday's attack.

Rebel official Puleedevan said many villagers are now staying in makeshift tents or in the open, fearing more artillery fire.

"It is a pathetic situation," Puleedevan said. "There are more than 5,000 people there (in the village) and they are living in tremendous fear."

Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said the military wasn't targeting civilians, but acknowledged that it had fired artillery to silence rebels' guns.

"Tiger shelling and mortar fire on security forces' detachments in the east intensified on Tuesday and Wednesday, compelling the army to retaliate to counter further terrorist shelling," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Peace broker Norway, meanwhile, called on the government to explain why troops fired grenades that landed just meters (yards) from chief European cease-fire monitor Lars Soelvberg on Wednesday as he was visiting the village of Pooneryn in the country's volatile north.

Norwegian Aid Minister Erik Solheim called the incident "very worrying."

"We have asked the Sri Lankan government for an immediate explanation," he said in a statement issued in Oslo.

Soelvberg, a Norwegian, was inspecting a road suggested by the government as an alternative to a main highway that has been closed since August because of heavy fighting between government troops and separatist rebels. He escaped unhurt. The military denied knowledge of Soelvberg's presence in the area when they attacked.

The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in the country's north and east, citing discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

The conflict killed more than 65,000 people before a Norwegian-brokered truce in 2002, but subsequent peace talks failed. Surging violence this year has killed more than 2,000 civilians, soldiers and rebel fighters and threatens a return to all-out civil war.

Associated Press reporters Krishan Francis and Bharatha Mallawarachi contributed to this report.

Anger over Lanka civilian deaths

The Sri Lankan government has been heavily criticised for an artillery bombardment that killed dozens of civilians in the east of the island.

Peace negotiator Erik Solheim said he was "very troubled" by the attack. Human rights group Amnesty International called it "appalling".

Some 2,000 people were in a camp hit by army shells. Clashes between troops and Tamil rebels have trapped thousands.

Meanwhile, a fierce sea battle has been going on off Sri Lanka's north coast.

Both sides accuse the other of starting the clash, in which the navy says it sank 22 rebel craft and lost two of its own. Twenty sailors are missing.

The rebels say they captured four sailors alive and five of their fighters were killed.

'So many dead and wounded'

Mr Solheim accused government forces of an "onslaught" in Vakarai, where the refugee camp was shelled on Wednesday.

A lot of children died... there are thousands of people trying to leave

Survivor Palachchenai Kadiraveli

Sea battle erupts off Jaffna

Civilians' dire plight

Q&A: Sri Lanka conflict

"Yet again it is civilians who are being killed and made to suffer due to military operations," he said in a statement.

"I am extremely disappointed that the parties are not honouring the promises they made in Geneva a week and a half ago to refrain from launching any military offensives."

Thousands have been trying to flee the shelling in the eastern district of Batticaloa.

But the BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo says they have nowhere to go as the lines from the Tamil Tiger-controlled areas into government territory are closed.

Aid agencies are working on creating a humanitarian corridor, but the government has so far failed to provide any safety assurance to allow supply convoys safe passage, she says.

'Human shields'

The school being used as a makeshift camp shelled on Wednesday was hit by the army in a heavy exchange of fire with the Tamil Tigers in rebel-held territory.

The rebels say at least 45 civilians were killed on the spot - three more died later of their injuries.

Child injured after army shelling in eastern Sri Lanka

A number of children were among the wounded

Government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told the AFP news agency that the military had targeted two Tamil Tiger artillery positions, but conceded a civilian centre had also been hit.

"While we regret this whole episode, we also must say that national security is uppermost in our minds," he told reporters.

Mr Rambukwella said the government would investigate the incident, but said the army was responding to an earlier Tamil Tiger attack and accused the rebels of using civilians as human shields.

International truce monitors who have visited the scene described total panic as tens of thousands of people try to leave the area.

Two hospitals have received more than 100 casualties, including at least 17 children.

"There were a lot of explosions, so many people dead and wounded," 29-year-old survivor Palachchenai Kadiraveli told the Reuters news agency.

"A lot of children died... there are thousands of people trying to leave."

Call for answers

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) estimates that about 35,000 people have been displaced by fighting in the region which flared up in August.

"Our monitors saw there were no military installations in the camp area, so we would certainly like some answers from the military regarding the nature and reasons of this attack," SLMM spokeswoman Helen Olafsdottir said.

The human rights group, Amnesty International, said: "It is appalling that the military should attack a camp for displaced people - these are civilians who have already been forced from their homes because of the conflict."

The government says nearly 3,000 people - troops, rebels and civilians - have been killed in violence since last year. There is no reliable independent confirmation of that figure.

Correspondents say a 2002 ceasefire now exists only in name.

U.N. condemns Sri Lanka 's shelling of school that sheltered displaced people

Associated Press, Thu November 9, 2006 12:42 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The United Nations on Thursday condemned the Sri Lankan military's shelling of a school sheltering displaced people, killing at least 23 Tamils.

``The U.N. condemns in the strongest possible terms the shelling by the security forces of the government of Sri Lanka - on defenseless civilians sheltering in Kathiraveli School in Vaharai yesterday,'' the U.N. said in a statement.

``The killing and wounding of displaced persons is unjustifiable and a violation of the most basic humanitarian norms,'' the statement said

The refugee camp was devastated by artlery srike 

The dead bodies of the civilians in Vaharai Refugees camp.  

The incident in Vaharai - about 65 civilians were killed and 300 wounded by the artlery strike  

Sri Lanka talks end without deal, no new talks set

29 Oct 2006 17:32:15 GMT

Source: Reuters

GENEVA, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels ended on Sunday with no agreement on political or humanitarian issues, and no date was set for further discussions, parties to the talks said.

S.P. Thamilselvan, chief negotiator for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said the rebels would not participate in new talks until the A9 highway linking the north to the rest of the country was reopened, a demand refused by the government in the weekend session.

"It is regrettable that they have imposed a condition for future talks," Nimal Siripala de Silva, head of the government delegation, told a Geneva news conference after the two-day meetings.

Eirik Solheim, international development minister of mediator Norway, said he would continue to work with both sides "to discuss all possible ideas on how to move the peace process forward."

The government and Tigers reiterated a commitment to Sri Lanka's 2002 ceasefire deal -- which remains officially in place despite a recent escalation of violence -- and promised in the talks not to launch any military offensives, Solheim said.

"The international community has repeatedly expressed that it expects the parties to show restraint and fulfill these commitments," he said.

Suicide attack LTTE's weapon of choice

Satinder Bindra
CNN

Posted Sunday , October 29, 2006 at 19:27

Updated Sunday , October 29, 2006 at 20:03

LTTE THREAT: Sri Lankan army launching an offensive against the LTTE in early 1990s.

Colombo: A violent run-up to peace talks – though a string of suicide attacks by Tamil rebels left scores dead in just the past two weeks.

CNN traces the origins of suicide bombing – now called the island's most famous export.

Another suicide attack an all too common occurrence regularly played out on TV screens around the world.

The recent one took place on the tiny South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka – where a 26 year old ethnic conflict largely forgotten by the rest of the world – rages on.

The Sri Lankan army has been battling a smaller 7,000 strong, but highly motivated, fighting force – the Tamil tigers.

Along with their military skills, the Tigers are adept at spreading their message on the Internet with videos.

The Tigers say they are justified in using military means to establish a homeland for the country's largest minority, the nearly four million strong Tamil community.

But the US and several other countries label them as terrorists.

Experts even credit the tigers with writing the book on suicide bombings – now one of the most frequently used terror techniques around the world.

Terror Analyst Brendan O'Duffy says, “The suicide belt was pioneered by the Tamil Tigers. They also pioneered naval attacks against large ships, which have also been copied by other organisations. And they have a very sophisticated use of vehicle bombs, cars, trucks, even bicycles to deliver explosives.”

The video, which was shot by Sri Lankan state television in 1993, shows the country's then president Ranasinghe Premadasa at a rally. Moments later, he was assassinated by a tiger who blew himself up just a few feet away.

The photo taken in 1991 shows a female Tamil Tiger just inches away from former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Seconds later she detonated her bomb, killing him and herself.

More deadly clashes in Sri Lanka with peace talks underway

GENEVA (AFP) - At least five people were killed in clashes in north and east Sri Lanka overnight, police and defence officials said, as the government and rebel Tamil Tigers hold peace talks in Geneva.

Two suspected rebels were found dead after police repulsed an attack on their patrol late Saturday, officials said.

A third Tiger fighter was gunned down when an unidentified man stormed into a hospital ward in northern Anuradhapura town where he had been recovering from stab wounds and opened fire, police said.

Two soldiers were killed by rebel gunfire in a separate skirmish in the northern Jaffna peninsula Saturday, defence officials said.

Tiger rebels said the first day's outcome was "zero" with no agreement on addressing the urgent needs of over half a million people directly affected by recent fighting that claimed over 3,000 lives and displaced more than 200,000.

"I would say there was no progress after day one," Tamil Tiger chief negotiator S. P. Thamilselvan said. "We did not hear of any steps that would indicate progress. The progress was zero."

He said the "core issue" for his Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was the addressing of needs of Tamils affected by the recent fighting, the opening of a key highway and the lifting of an economic embargo on rebel territory.

Hopes of a breakthrough were raised Saturday when the Sri Lankan government climbed down from its rigid position and agreed to consider power-sharing similar to what exists in neighbouring India.

"A Sri Lankan model of devolution will be devised for an undivided country to address the root causes of this conflict," the Sri Lankan government's chief negotiator Nimal Siripala de Silva said at the start of talks.

"It will also be a model which will be consistent with regional geo-political realities," de Silva added referring to his giant neighbour India.

The government had earlier opposed a federal system although a previous administration in December 2002 agreed with the Tigers to work towards granting extensive devolution of power within a federal constitution.

Those talks remained inconclusive and the Tigers said there was no firm offer on the table by the government during Saturday's closed-door discussions at the Geneva International Conference Centre.

Norwegian peace brokers had not expected a breakthrough during the two days of talks in this international city where the two parties were expected to play to their own audiences by sticking to entrenched positions.

However, diplomats involved with the process said they were trying to get the parties to agree to meet again in December and January to keep the peace hopes alive and save a tottering truce.

Their last meeting eight months ago in Switzerland was to prevent Sri Lanka sliding back to full-scale war after 153 people were killed between December and February. However, after the February meet, over 3,000 people have been killed.

Norway blamed both parties saying they failed to honour pledges.

A Sri Lankan government delegate who declined to be named said that little progress was made Saturday and noted that there was little scope for compromise.

"The government delegation is not in a position to agree to the LTTE demands because of the military implications," the negotiator said. "We cannot have 'normalising' without 'de-escalating.'"

Top peace broker Erik Solheim warned both sides to show progress or risk losing international financial support. The Tigers who have been fighting for independence for minority Tamils run the risk of greater international isolation while the governnent could lose foreign aid.

Solheim said the international community was running out of patience and the South Asian nation was jeopardising millions of dollars in support.

Speaking on behalf of Sri Lanka's key international backers -- the

European Union, Japan and the United States -- Solheim urged the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to resolve Asia's longest and the bloodiest separatist conflict which has claimed over 60,000 lives since 1972.

The LTTE's Thamilselvan said they were looking for an immediate response from the government to reopen a key highway to the northern peninsula of Jaffna, cut off by road from the rest of the island since August.

For their part, Thamilselvan said the Tigers were willing to fully cooperate with truce monitors and the Norwegians to implement the February 2002 ceasefire which now remains only on paper.

Peace brokers struggled to save Sri Lanka's collapsing ceasefire as critical talks between the warring parties continued into their final day in Geneva with both sides sticking to their guns

Sri Lankan rebels urge government to lift Jaffna blockade; warn against military moves

Associated Press, Sun October 29, 2006 06:58 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lanka - 's separatist rebels lambasted the government for not agreeing to lift its blockade of an ethnic Tamil stronghold in the north, and warned of ``serious consequences'' if the military steps up its actions during ongoing negotiations.

Rebel and government negotiators attending the talks in Geneva, Switzerland, hope to salvage a 2002 cease-fire and bring a permanent end to 23 years of civil conflict on the South Asian island.

The cease-fire has virtually collapsed this year in a major upsurge of fighting in the Tamil-majority north and east. The United Nations says the renewed violence has caused more than 200,000 people to flee their homes in the area, where the rebels want to establish a separate Tamil state.

The conflict has left more than 65,000 people dead, in addition to more than 2,000 civilians and combatants killed this year.

The first day of talks on Saturday ``concluded without the parties agreeing to any measures to relieve the humanitarian crisis,'' the pro-rebel Web site TamilNet reported.

The rebels say the government has cut the northern Jaffna peninsula off from the rest of the country, and are demanding that it reopens a key road to allow the delivery of humanitarian supplies.

The government denies there is any blockade and insists a sea delivery route is cheaper, more efficient and safer.

``We took up the humanitarian crisis in Jaffna as the urgent priority issue,'' TamilNet quoted Tigers' political chief, S.P. Tamilselvan, as saying after Saturday's talks, the first formal meeting between the two sides since February.

``The Sri Lankan government was not prepared to relieve the population from the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe,'' Tamilselvan said.

Meanwhile, a rebel official attending the peace talks told The Associated Press in Geneva that the government is building troops numbers near a northern line that divides government and rebel-held territories, as peace talks began for a second day Sunday.

``This is usually done in preparation for military operations. We are very disappointed by the actions of the government. Exploitation ... for military advancement can cause serious consequences,'' said rebel military spokesman, Rasiah Ilanthirayan.

The military denied it was increasing the numbers of its troops near the northern line.

``It is completely wrong,'' military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said, accusing the rebels of carrying out false propaganda.

The government has long blamed the rebels of serious human rights abuses including the recruitment of child soldiers and that they stifle democracy in the areas they control. Colombo has said it hoped the talks can move the country forward.

Talks planned for April were canceled after both sides blamed the other for the rising violence.

The rebels want a self-ruled homeland for minority ethnic Tamils, citing discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The government says it can offer autonomy, but not a separate state.