HAKEEM ACCUES LTTE FOR MUSLIMS' CLAMITY

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem MP who briefed the media just after his meeting this evening (August 8) with a delegation led by Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer said that the delegation was apprised that the LTTE was responsible for the present calamity of the Muslims of Muttur while the government was also responsible for certain aspects of violence including indiscriminate artillery shelling at civilian targets. The delegation was also informed that LTTE invasion of Muttur appeared to be part of their plan of ethnic cleansing, according to reliable information, he said.

He said that other details that were apprised to the delegation with regard to the current tragic condition of the thousands of displaced families included:

" Maximum damage has been done to the Muslim families of Muttur and its neighboring areas in fighting between the government forces and the LTTE. Their houses and properties were devastated and a majority of the displaced the people are now languishing in open air shelters in Kantalai and other places without food, water, medical care and other basic humanitarian assistance. The barbaric attacks that led to their evacuation has deprived them of their source of livelihood and has also affected them psychologically.

"The barbaric LTTE invasion of Muttur has achieved nothing other than leaving innocent Muslims in the lurch as destitute people. It was a senseless act and heartless act perpetrated by them. The right of the displaced families to resettle in their homes in their traditional villages should be asserted by the Norwegians and the international community with arrangements for their rehabilitation and resettlement after assessment of the reasons and the background that led to their expulsion and exodus.

"We have reliable information that the LTTE which set up a check point at the 64th mile post on the Muttu-Kantalai road diverted the fleeing families into routes through areas under their control and detained over 100 Muslim youths in an effort to conscript them into their rebel movement and gunned down several of them. We have requested the SLMM to assist us to retrieve the bodies of those killed for cremation. The little confidence that the Muslim people had bestowed on the LTTE has now been totally shattered. They have also perpetrated other cruelties and atrocities on our people. On the other hand, the government forces had also staged brutal attacks with total disregard for civilian lives.

"We have conveyed our requests to the LTTE on provision of humanitarian assistance to the affected people and we are waiting for their reply.

"The security of the Muslims has now become a major concern. We also held discussions today with President Mahinda Rajapakse on the present calamity of the Muslim people and their immediate humanitarian needs. At the discussion, we also requested for measures to ensure that convoys transporting food and other relief assistance do not become targets of attacks.

"In the light of the events that have occurred we reiterate on the need for incorporating changes to the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). The SLMM should be strengthened not only in numbers but it should be broad-based and more powers should be bestowed on it.

"Braving all adversities and calamities, nearly 5000 Muslim people of Muttur are still continuing to live in their homes."

Key Irrigation Channel Reopened in Sri Lanka

A police patrol on a motorcycle urges a group of farmers on a tractor to clear the area as they pass over a canal near Kallar, in the eastern Trincomalee district of Sri Lanka, Aug. 9, 2006

A police patrol on a motorcycle urges a group of farmers on a tractor to clear the area as they pass over a canal near Kallar, in the eastern Trincomalee district of Sri Lanka, Aug. 9, 2006

An irrigation channel has been reopened in eastern Sri Lanka, after its closure prompted two weeks of fighting between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. Both sides are taking credit for opening the channel.

Water is again flowing for 60,000 villagers living on government-held land in eastern Sri Lanka.

On a Web site Wednesday, the Tamil Tiger rebels said they re-opened an irrigation channel from a reservoir in rebel territory in response to an appeal by a Norwegian envoy. The rebels had shut off the water nearly three weeks ago

Muslim Aid condemns violence in Sri Lanka, at least 35,000 Muslims reportedly displaced

Muslim Aid, a charitable organisation headquartered in London, today unreservedly condemned the killing of 15 employees of French charity Action Against Hunger (Action Contre Faim) in the strife-torn town of Muttur in Eastern Sri Lanka.

The aid workers, who were from the local, ethnic Tamil community, had been working on post-Asian tsunami relief and reconstruction. While it is unclear who is behind the killings, Muslim Aid is calling on the Sri Lankan government to work towards bringing about an immediate ceasefire in the region.

"We appeal for a cessation of hostilities to allow the civilians to get out of Muttur," said Farooq Murad, chairman of Muslim Aid. "We deplore the loss of innocent civilian lives. We would like to see the situation return to normal, in order to enable displaced people to resettle back in Muttur and restart their lives."

Farooq Murad added that it is also very worrying to see that NGO workers are now being targeted, which makes working within the field even more challenging.

More than 60,000 people have died in the decades-old conflict between the Sri Lankan government and rebel forces such as the Tamil Tigers.

Muslim Aid has built 130 homes, community centres, medical clinic and rehabilitation centres for tsunami victims in Batticaloa. Muslim Aid has also implemented water supply projects in eastern Sri Lanka that have gone a long way towards helping survivors of the tsunami to get back on their feet.

In Nilaveli, Muslim Aid replaced the water pumps destroyed by the tsunami, assisting 167 families. In addition, working with the Sri Lanka-based Al-Husna Foundation, Muslim Aid trucked water to the villagers of Muttur.

In recent months, the deteriorating situation has been of increasing concern to Muslim Aid, who is calling on the government of Sri Lanka to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of all its citizens. On Friday, residents of Muttur and surrounding villages have started fleeing the violence, and Muslim Aid has identified an immediate need for funds to aid in the resettlement of these refugees.

"There has been an initial displacement of at least 25,000 people from the town of Mutur," said Amjad Mohamed-Saleem, country director of Muslim Aid Sri Lanka. "The latest reports are that as many as 35,000 people could have been affected. Muslim Aid, in conjunction with other international NGOs, and relief agencies, are operating in tandem to assist these refugees."

Muslim Aid is currently one of the leading agencies coordinating the relief effort, with local and international organisations and the government, particularly for non-food items. Along with the United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR), Muslim Aid is one of the few international agencies with staff on the ground.

Muslim Aid is managing and supervising 11 out of the 23 camps in the region.

TamilNet Reports Sinhalese People Seek Evacuation

The TamilNet website has reported that Sinhala families of Somapura of Trincomalee where the government forces and the LTTE are engaged in a fierce battle have sought to be evacuated claiming that their lives are in danger.

Extracts of the report are reproduced below:

Thousands of Sinhalese settlers from the southern sectors of Trincomalee district have demanded safe evacuation from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas, civil sources in Somapura said. The local authorities have contacted the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to facilitate evacuation from the southern sector where the SLA offensive towards Mavil Aaru was launched. Meanwhile, initial reports reaching from Kiliveddy said Muttur civilians, carrying white flags, have started to reach Kiliveddy area. However, the ICRC coordinator, Davide Vignati, in Colombo has told media that a formal cessation of hostilities for a limited time frame is yet to be established.

6700 families have already left their houses in Muttur, according to the ICRC.

The ICRC has sought assistance from other NGOs in the region to facilitate transportation of civilians towards remote areas.

The Sinhala settlers gathered at Ali Oluva junction Friday morning demanded immediate transportation. This has prompted the local authorities in turn to contact the ICRC to arrange vehicles for transportation, according to local sources in Somapura

BREAKING NEWS - MUTUR

Thousands flee fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka - (AP) Thousands of civilians were trying to escape fighting in Sri Lanka - 's northeast on Friday, with the most desperate among them walking through forests to find a safe haven, a Red Cross official said. A convoy had been dispatched to try to get to the refugees, said ICRC's Sri Lanka - chief, Toon Vandenhove.

The area is particularly dangerous and largely off-limits because of the fighting. Muttur, a government-controlled town edged by rebel-held villages and jungle, is located on a small peninsula, and travelers must cross several ferries or take land routes that are often helled.

But the rebels said they were arranging for safe passage for the refugees.

``We are making necessary arrangements to move civilians from Muttur to safer locations,'' the pro-rebel Web-site TamilNet quoted Irasiah Ilanthirayan, the rebels' military spokesman, as saying. It was not clear what arrangements they were making.

Sri Lanka - already has an estimated 800,000 internally displaced refugees as a result of the two-decade civil war between the government and rebels, who took up arms in 1983 over discrimination against Sri Lanka - 's 3.2 million minority Tamils by the country's Sinhalese majority. The Tigers say they are fighting for a Tamil homeland.

The war killed about 65,000 people before the Norwegian-brokered a cease-fire in 2002, which left parts of the north and east under rebel control.

While the agreement officially remains in effect, escalating violence since December has killed at least 900 people, half of them civilians.

Over the past few weeks, the violence has spiked even further, and the latest fighting in and around Trincomalee was sparked by the rebels' decision to cut off water supplies from a reservoir to government-held villages in the northeast. The military responded with airstrikes and a ground assault.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from Friday's shelling in Muttur. The rebels and government forces have blamed each other for artillery attacks Thursday on three schools that killed 18 residents sheltering there.

Also Friday, a Tamil playwright who wrote and directed dramas that extolled Tamil history and culture was fatally shot in the northern port of Jaffna, police said.

In Vavuniya, also in northern Sri Lanka - , a roadside bomb planted by suspected rebels wounded three policemen, and a rebel was killed when security forces responded to the blast, military officer Col. Ravipriya de Silva said.

Both Jaffna and Vavuniya are under government control, but lie close to rebel territory.

In another attack Friday, a breakaway rebel faction killed five mainstream guerrillas in the eastern town of Batticaloa, said T. Thuyavan, a spokesman for the renegades.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed serious concern over the escalating violence, and has called on the parties to stop fighting.

The Tigers, meanwhile, were preparing to hand over, through the Red Cross, the bodies of about 40 Sri Lankan soldiers killed in the Muttur fighting, the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site quoted rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan as saying.

The government has acknowledged the death of just eight of its soldiers in Muttur.

AP reporters Vincent Jeyan in Jaffna, Dilip Ganguly, Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka - , contributed to this report.

Sri Lanka fighting claims more lives

More civilians have been killed in clashes between Tamil Tiger rebels (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan army bringing the death toll to 28 over the last two days, miltary officials have said.

Five more civilians and two soldiers were killed on Friday in artillery fire in the northeastern town of Muttur.

While shelling continued, thousands of Muslims have been fleeing the city of Muttur, south of the port city of Trincomalee, a Tamil stronghold, since fighting broke out last Wednesday.

"We just got information that they have started moving. According to information in Mutur, everyone will leave - that's 6,000-7,000 families," said Yvonne Dunton, head of the Trincomalee office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Five more Muslim Civilians Killed

Five Muslim civilians were killed in artillery fire that hit a school in Muttur town. The civilian victims were about to leave the school when artillery shells began hitting civilian areas, according to civilians who have fled the area. 22 civilians were killed Thursday in indiscrimate artillery fire. (Courtesy : TamilNet)

MUTTUR MUSLIMS IN GRAVE CRISIS,OVER 40 KILLED-HAKEEM

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) national leader Rauff Hakeem MP apprising the media today (Wednesday) on the civilian crisis that has emerged due to continuing Government-LTTE fighting in Muttur, Trincomalee said that food, water, medial care and other humanitarian assistance were not reaching the people and they are in a desperate condition. He said that over 40 Muslim civilians of the pre-dominantly Muslim town were killed and over one hundred people were seriously wounded in artillery shelling and crossfire in fighting during the last three days. Muslims people who were feeling on foot via Kantalai and Palathoppu had also come under artillery shelling this afternoon at an LTTE check points and to make things worse the LTTE had already detained over a 100 Muslims for reasons unknown, he disclosed.

An assurance was given to the SLMC at a meeting yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat attended by Presidential Advisor Gothabaya Rajapakse and army chiefs that artillery shelling and hostilities would be suspended for enabling humanitarian assistance to reach the affected people but this assurance was not honored and the shelling were continuing, the SLMC leader said. When artillery shelling staged from army camps hit an LTTE check point where fleeing Muslims were being checked, five Muslim civilians were killed on spot and several others were wounded this afternoon, he disclosed. At these check point the LTTE was detaining certain Muslim civilians for unknown reasons, he said. Hakeem said that no measures whatsoever were being taken to evacuate the affected people or to provide them food, medical care and other humanitarian assistance. Even artillery shelling were staged at a building where the affected people had taken shelter, he said. According to the affected people, the artillery shelling in all cases were staged from SL army camps, he said.

He said that they were earnestly appealing to both the Government forces and the LTTE to enforce a temporary cessation of hostilities by way of a respite for food, drinking water, medical care and other humanitarian assistance to reach the affected people. The LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi was contacted through the Norwegian Ambassador and they showed the green light for humanitarian assistance to reach the affected areas under the escort of the ICRC and consequently the ICRC proceed with convoys of relief, including 03 buses and two ambulances yesterday but they were not allowed to proceed beyond a point in Kantalai. The ICRC would again try to convince the authorities concerned on the immediate need to proceed to the affected areas, he said.

The SLMC was in constant touch with the government authorities, the Norwegian Embassy, the ICRC, and SLMM on arrangements for providing humanitarian assistance to the affected people, he said. They were also in touch with the local political, social and religious leaders of the affected areas to get information on the latest situation and were closely monitoring the situation, he said. The SLMC itself was organizing dispatch of relief assistance which it would dispatch as soon as possible, he said.

The SLMC leader said that their party was meeting foreign diplomats in Colombo to persuade them to exert diplomatic pressure on both the Government and the LTTE for a temporary Cessation of Hostilities. They are meeting Indian High Commissioner Ms Nirupama Rao this evening at 6:30 p.m., he said adding that they would be meeting other diplomats in the next few days. The SLMC would take up this issue at the All Party Conference as well in the parliament at a special adjournment debate, he said. They would also meet co-chairs of the donor countries and the Organization of Islamic Countries to persuade them to exert pressure on the warring sides

BREAKING NEWS - MUTUR

Tamil rebels infiltrate government-held town in northeastern Sri Lanka , fighting rages

Associated Press, Thu August 3, 2006 03:00 EDT . DILIP GANGULY - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Dozens of Tamil Tiger rebels infiltrated a small, government-held town during fierce fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka - , and soldiers were trying to flush them out, a government spokesman said Thursday. It quoted residents as saying intense fighting was under way in Muttur as ``hundreds of heavily armed (Tamil Tigers) who have taken control of the town center laid siege to four Sri Lanka - army camps on its periphery.''

Some residents have taken shelter in mosques and churches, TamilNet said.

The clashes have been among the fiercest since a 2002 cease-fire deal was signed between the government and the Tigers.

The latest violence was sparked by a rebel move last month to shut down a reservoir and cut off water to nearby government-held villages. The military responded with airstrikes and a ground assault.

Norwegian envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer, who is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka - on Friday, was to meet with Sri Lankan government and rebel leaders in an effort to settle the dispute, Norwegian embassy spokesman Tom Knappskog said Thursday.

Separately, New York-based Human Rights Watch said a boosted international monitoring presence was needed in Sri Lanka - after three of the five Nordic countries overseeing the 2002 cease-fire decided to withdraw observers.

The group described ``the urgent need for a strong international human rights monitoring presence to help ensure civilian protection.''

``The lives of countless civilians are at risk at this critical time,'' Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said in a statement.

Sweden, Finland and Denmark have said they were pulling out for security reasons. The rebels had demanded that EU members withdraw after the 25-nation group labeled the Tamil Tigers as terrorists in May.

Sri Lanka fighting rages, aid workers cannot help - Reuters

Artillery fire kills 10 civilians in northeast Sri Lanka town, military says

Associated Press, Thu August 3, 2006 04:13 EDT . - - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Artillery fire hit a school in a northeastern Sri Lanka - town Thursday where area residents had taken shelter to escape fighting, the military said. Ten people were killed.

The Media Center of the Defense Ministry blamed the separatist Tamil rebels for the attack. No comment was immediately available from the insurgents.

Dozens of rebels infiltrated the town of Muttur during fierce fighting and soldiers were trying to flush them out, chief government spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella said Thursday. Muttur is in Trincomalee district, the latest flash point in the ongoing clashes between the separatist rebels and the military.

Tamil rebels attack police station in government-held northeastern Sri Lanka town

Associated Press, Thu August 3, 2006 03:52 EDT . - - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels attacked a police station in northeastern Sri Lanka - Thursday, but the area's police chief said the attack was repulsed by anti-terrorist commandoes who arrived in the seaside town to help military forces.

``They tried to take over our police station, but our men fought back and forced the terrorist to retreat,'' said Senior Superintendent of Police Nihal Samarakoon. He gave no casualty figure. He added that the town area was under government control.

Artillery fire kills 10 civilians in northeast Sri Lanka town, military says
Associated Press, Thu August 3, 2006 04:13 EDT . - - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Artillery fire hit a school in a northeastern Sri Lanka - town Thursday where area residents had taken shelter to escape fighting, the military said. Ten people were killed. The Media Center of the Defense Ministry blamed the separatist Tamil rebels for the attack. No comment was immediately available from the insurgents. Dozens of rebels infiltrated the town of Muttur during fierce fighting and soldiers were trying to flush them out, chief government spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella said Thursday. Muttur is in Trincomalee district, the latest flash point in the ongoing clashes between the separatist rebels and the military.

Tamil rebels infiltrate government-held town in northeastern Sri Lanka , fighting rages

Associated Press, Thu August 3, 2006 03:00 EDT . DILIP GANGULY - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Dozens of Tamil Tiger rebels infiltrated a small, government-held town during fierce fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka - , and soldiers were trying to flush them out, a government spokesman said Thursday. It quoted residents as saying intense fighting was under way in Muttur as ``hundreds of heavily armed (Tamil Tigers) who have taken control of the town center laid siege to four Sri Lanka - army camps on its periphery.''

Some residents have taken shelter in mosques and churches, TamilNet said. The clashes have been among the fiercest since a 2002 cease-fire deal was signed between the government and the Tigers.

The latest violence was sparked by a rebel move last month to shut down a reservoir and cut off water to nearby government-held villages. The military responded with airstrikes and a ground assault.

Norwegian envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer, who is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka - on Friday, was to meet with Sri Lankan government and rebel leaders in an effort to settle the dispute, Norwegian embassy spokesman Tom Knappskog said Thursday.

Separately, New York-based Human Rights Watch said a boosted international monitoring presence was needed in Sri Lanka - after three of the five Nordic countries overseeing the 2002 cease-fire decided to withdraw observers.

The group described ``the urgent need for a strong international human rights monitoring presence to help ensure civilian protection.''

``The lives of countless civilians are at risk at this critical time,'' Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said in a statement.

Sweden, Finland and Denmark have said they were pulling out for security reasons. The rebels had demanded that EU members withdraw after the 25-nation group labeled the Tamil Tigers as terrorists in May.

Sri Lanka fighting rages, aid workers cannot help - Reuters

Breaking News

Tamil Tigers attack Lanka army camps
Colombo (dpa) - Heavy fighting in eastern Sri Lanka between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels has expanded from control of a water sluice to port Trincomalee with the militants attacking four army camps Wednesday, according to government and rebel sources.

Militants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) started firing artillery and mortars at the Sri Lankan army camps in Kaddaparichan, Selvanagar, Mahindapura and Thoppur in Trincomalee at 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to pro-rebel website Tamilnet.

The military said two soldiers died while 17 others were wounded and 40 rebels died and at least 70 more injured in the attacks on the army camps, but there was no confirmation of casualties by the rebels.

Tamilnet claimed the LTTE have taken control of the army camps, which the government denied, saying they had "repulsed" the rebels.

Rebel mortar rounds also fell in the town of Muttur and the police station was fired on, said police sources.

The military said that the bus station and town centre were initially vacated due to Tamil Tiger resistances but were later taken back under control of the military and police after additional troops were deployed.

Tamilnet claimed four soldiers were killed and the rebels had control of Muttur jetty, a strategic point of access to Trincomalee harbour area.

Meabwhile, the air force continued to bomb Tiger positions for the eighth consecutive day as the military inched towards the Mavilaru sluice gates, the focal point of the fighting.

The rebels control the sluice that supplies about 60,000 villagers in government-run areas with water.

Worst fighting in Sri Lanka since cease-fire leaves 40 rebels, five soldiers dead

Associated Press, Wed August 2, 2006 06:06 EDT . KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press Writer. COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry said its forces have repulsed Wednesday's attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels around a strategic northeastern port, killing 40 insurgents and wounding 70 others.

The latest fighting raised fears that Sri Lanka was heading for a full-scale war.

The rebels said earlier that they had overrun four Sri Lankan army camps around the strategic port of Trincomalee, a day after the guerrillas laid siege to the area, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting in years.

The port is an important lifeline for thousands of troops stationed in the northeast, where the rebels want to carve out a separate homeland for the country's 3.2 million ethnic Tamil minority.

Trincomalee _ with its natural harbor _ is of strategic importance to the military and the rebels. The area falls within the envisioned Tamil homeland. Trincomalee town and surrounding urban areas are controlled by the government, but the surrounding villages and jungle are under rebel rule. During World War II, Trincomalee served as a base for Allied forces.

Meanwhile, there was no independent confirmation of the ministry's claim, but the administration acknowledged that five soldiers were killed in Wednesday's rebel attacks.

In a statement, the ministry said troops had inflicted ``heavy casualties killing over 40 Tiger cadres and wounding 70 other terrorists.'' The statement said the insurgents retreated, leaving bodies behind.

Earlier, witnesses in Muttur, near Trincomalee, said they saw the bodies of five rebels. The witnesses spoke on condition that they not be identified out of fear of violence.

If the Defense Ministry's claim proves to be true, the death toll in recent days will rise to 128 on both sides.

The army Director of Operation, Brig. Athula Jayawardena, denied that rebels overran the army camps.

``They attacked three of our camps, still fighting is going on. But we are 100 percent stable,'' he told The Associated Press.

But local officials reached by the telephone in Muttur said the rebels were trying to advance to take over a jetty in the seaside town.

Navy spokesman Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said navy has not withdrawn from the area. ``We are there, but the Tamil Tigers are continuously firing mortars.''

Four mortars fell near two hospitals in the area, wounding four hospital workers and civilians.

The government has however said that it is committed to a 4-year-old cease-fire deal that one Tamil Tiger rebel commander has described as over.

``The government reaffirms its commitment to the cease-fire agreement,'' the government said in a statement, adding that it would continue its offensive against the rebels as long as they continued ``acts of terrorism and violence.''

No immediate comment on ending the clashes was available from the rebels, who have accused the government of starting the latest round of fighting.

Around 2 a.m. Wednesday, the rebels began an artillery barrage of army and police posts, TamilNet said.

``Fighting formations of the (Tamil Tigers) ... have overrun four key locations in Trincomalee district after fierce artillery shelling ...'' TamilNet said.

The battle Wednesday seemed to be focused on Trincomalee port, which is the only reliable resupply point for Sri Lankan troops based in the area.

The previous few days of fighting centered on a government push to capture a key reservoir in rebel territory that feeds government-controlled villages near Trincomalee.

The Tamil Tigers surrounded the reservoir near Trincomalee _ which is in guerrilla-controlled territory but supplies about 60,000 villagers in government-run areas with water _ last month.

The military responded with four days of airstrikes on rebel bases in the area before deploying ground forces on Sunday. It has insisted its offensive is not a cease-fire violation, describing it as a humanitarian mission to secure the area's water supply.

The reservoir's canal gate has remained closed.

But a rebel commander said Monday the Tigers considered the cease-fire void.

The rebels took up arms in 1983 to fight for a homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million ethnic Tamils, who had faced decades of discrimination from the country's 14 million Sinhalese.

The civil war killed about 65,000 people before the 2002 cease-fire, which left wide swaths of the north and east under rebel control.

But in recent months the cease-fire has nearly collapsed, and renewed fighting has killed more than 850 people _ half of them civilians _ since December, according to cease-fire monitors.

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Sri Lanka military presses offensive to break rebel blockade of reservoir

Sri Lanka's military pounded rebel positions with bombs and artillery shells as it pressed its offensive to wrest a key reservoir from the insurgents, a push that has sparked the country's most intense fighting in four years.

With Tamil Tiger rebels saying a 2002 cease-fire is done, the two sides also engaged in a brief sea battle in the waters off the northeastern port of Trincomalee, and a pro-rebel Web site the rebels killed 14 sailors.

Another six sailors were killed when the insurgents shelled a nearby navy base, the TamilNet Web site reported.

Amid the violence, Sweden, one of the Nordic countries contributing to a cease-fire monitoring mission, said it was pulling its 15-member team out of the country.

The ground offensive is taking place just outside Trincomalee, and the fierce fighting has kept outsiders away from the battlefield, where the army said its advancing soldiers were coming under artillery bombardment and gunfire from Tamil Tiger rebels.

In response, ``our air force is targeting terrorist bases and our ground troops have started operations today,'' military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said, adding soldiers were using artillery to soften up rebel positions.

The bombing and shelling was also intended to prevent the rebels from bringing in reinforcements, he added.

The government's offensive got off to a bloody start Monday, with fighting around Trincomalee to break the 12-day rebel blockade of a canal gate and other clashes killing at least 68 people _ 39 rebels, 27 soldiers and two civilians, the military said.

Despite the ferocity of the fighting and sporadic clashes elsewhere, the large-scale violence for the time being appeared to be contained in the area around Trincomalee and had not spread to other flash points along the frontiers between government and rebel territory.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the rebels are formally known, took up arms in 1983 to fight for a homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million ethnic Tamils, who had faced decades of discrimination from the country's 14 million Sinhalese.

The civil war killed about 65,000 people before a 2002 cease-fire, which left wide swaths of the north and east under rebel control.

But in recent months the cease-fire has nearly collapsed, and renewed fighting has killed more than 800 people _ half of them civilians _ since December, according to Nordic cease-fire monitors.

The Tigers surrounded the reservoir _ which is in guerrilla-controlled territory but supplies about 60,000 villagers in government-run areas with water _ on July 20, accusing the government of reneging on a promise to build a water tower for those living in rebel areas.

Following the rebels' seizure of the reservoir, 220 kilometers (135 miles) northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka's military responded with four days of airstrikes on rebel bases in the area before deploying ground forces on Sunday.

The government has insisted its offensive is not a cease-fire violation, describing it as a humanitarian mission.

But a top rebel commander said Monday the Tigers considered the cease-fire void, and the head of the Nordic monitoring mission warned of an impending disaster.

``In reality, there is no cease-fire agreement in this area in Trincomalee today, but the paper is still valid,'' said Ulf Henricsson, the retired Swedish general in charge of the mission.

``A full-scale war will be a disaster for both sides,'' he added.

Later Tuesday, Sweden said it decided to pull its observers from Sri Lanka because the rebels have demanded the withdrawal of all monitors from countries that belong to the European Union, which in May declared the Tigers terrorists.

``Unfortunately I reached the conclusion that, when one of the partners no longer accepts the presence of Nordic EU countries, it would be very difficult to remain there,'' Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson told Swedish radio.

It was not immediately clear when the Swedish monitors, like Henricsson, would depart, although the Tamil rebels have set a Sept. 1 deadline for their withdrawal.

Denmark and Finland, also EU members, said last week they were pulling out their monitors, leaving Norway and Iceland as the remaining countries in the monitoring mission.

Meanwhile, TamilNet said unidentified gunmen killed two Tamils in separate incidents late Monday and Tuesday in northeastern Sri Lanka.

LTTE cadres attack passenger vessel carrying 854 unarmed soldiers, successfully repulsed.

Munza Mushtaq in Colombo, August 1, 2006, 5.10 p.m.. The LTTE today afternoon fired mortar and artillery shells targeting a passenger vessel carrying 854 unarmed soldiers from Kankasanthurai, Trincomalee while she was entering the Trincomalee Harbour.

The naval troops successfully retaliated the terrorist attack and brought the passenger vessel and the unarmed security forces personnel unharmed. Three boats were destroyed in the process. The incident occurred at around 2.15 p.m.

Tigers failed in a similar type of attack when they targeted the passenger vessel Pearl Cruise which carried 710 unarmed security force personnel on May 11, 2006. Failing for the second time, terrorists later fired mortar and artillery towards the naval base, the centre added, but no immediate details of causalities were available.

Arab support for Hezbollah grows

CAIRO: Rising anger on the Arab street over the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah apparently has prompted conservative rulers in the region to change their tune. Initial slaps against the Shiite Muslim guerrilla movement for igniting the fight have evolved into criticism of Israel and the mounting toll its offensive is taking among Lebanese civilians. The most dramatic turn has come from Sunni Muslim-led Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, where King Abdullah followed an initial rebuke of Hezbollah for carrying out "uncalculated adventures" with a warning this week that "if the option of peace fails as a result of Israeli arrogance, then the only option remaining will be war."

But even Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, an important mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict for the last 25 years, now mixes his condemnation of Hezbollah's move with sharp criticism of the Israeli response. It was "disproportionate, to say the least," Mubarak said in remarks posted on Time magazine's Web site Friday. "Israel's response demonstrated a collective punishment against the Palestinians and the Lebanese. The bloodshed and the destruction caused by the Israelis went way too far."

As civilian casualties have risen into the hundreds, popular opinion in favour of Hezbollah has swelled as newspapers and television stations have shown graphic pictures of the suffering, including one showing an aid worker carrying the lifeless body of a young Lebanese girl upside down, by the legs with her innards spilling out of a gaping wound in her side. Much of the initial reaction among conservative Sunni Arab rulers was fuelled by a general dislike for the Shiite-Arab Hezbollah and wariness of its Iranian backers, but that has been swept aside in the flood public anger at Israel.

"Arab states are still worried, especially about Iran and Iraq ... but right now we are talking about the destruction of Lebanon," Hassan Al-Ansari, head of the Gulf Studies Centre at Qatar University, said in a telephone interview. "When people see all the stuff going on they cannot sit idle. There is no easy way just to get rid of Hezbollah, therefore those Arab states cannot be quiet, because they have public pressure." The rhetoric has also focused on the United States, whose broad military and diplomatic support that has allowed Israel to prolong and deepen its offensive. Media reports have emphasised that Israel's bombing of Lebanon is being done with US-made warplanes dropping US-made guided bombs - paid for with US tax dollars.

Egypt's semi-official newspaper Al-Ahram published an editorial cartoon yesterday, showing an Israeli hand and American hand clasped together holding a young girl upside down. An arrow pointed at her head says "peace." During US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's brief visit, her statement that the conflict represented the growing pains of a "new Middle East" provided ready-made ammunition for rallying Arabs to unite against Israel. "The Zionist-American plan aims as dismantling resistance and redrawing the map under the banner of a new Middle East where the supreme hegemony is for Israeli entity only," Mohammed Habib, deputy leader of Egypt's main opposition Muslim Brotherhood told AP. "All sects (of Islam) are in need of unity to deter the enemy."

Even Jordan's mainstream Al-Arab Al Yawm newspaper carried a column saying that what Rice really meant was a Middle East free from all kinds of resistance. "So it's important to dismantle all the organisations that fight Israel, especially Hezbollah, Hamas and the other Palestinians factions, because the New Middle East project is an obedient project and everybody must say yes to the American administration!!" the newspaper wrote. "Such projects will never succeed in the region and the people will resist such plans because it is impossible that these people will accept the oppression and the American and Israeli arrogance."

Part of the political difficulty now is that Arab governments have difficulty condemning Hezbollah without appearing at once to condone Israel's response. "The problem is Hezbollah is not an army, it is part of the Lebanese community," Al-Ansari said. "It is not an easy thing to deal with... . What are you going to do, keep quiet, let the Israelis do whatever they want to do?" Some shifts in position have been more subtle than that of Saudi Arabia. Where Jordan initially accused unspecified forces of dragging Lebanon into a conflict, the government's recent focus has been the increasing number of civilian casualties in what King Abdullah II has called a result of Israel's "aggression."

In Egypt yesterday, Mubarak remained critical of Hezbollah, saying "some forces are provoking conflict ... to achieve their private interests." But at the same time he chastised the turn the fight had taken. "Israel will lose a lot ... from the continuation of the military operation, which is concentrating, sadly, on civilian targets," the Egyptian leader said in an interview carried by the official Middle East News Agency. Fatma Hassan Al Sayegh, a professor of modern Gulf history at United Arab Emirates University, said she was surprised by the initial reaction, given that the foe was Israel. But as Hezbollah has shown resilience and garnered support among the masses, the governments have had to back away from their stance, she said.

"Don't forget Saudi has a large Shiite population ... and because of that I think they realize that they have taken the wrong attitude at the wrong time," she said in a telephone interview. "We know that inside they have this attitude to the Shiites and Hezbollah, but we are surprised to see it appear at such a time." And the people seem to have put aside Shiite-Sunni animosities to concentrate on the common enemy: Israel. "Oh Sunni, Oh Shiite, let's fight the Jews," a crowd chanted outside Cairo's Istiqama Mosque yesterday. "The Jews and the Americans are killing our brothers in Lebanon." The protesters carried photos of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah alongside those of former Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, whose Arab nationalist policies helped lead to the 1967 war.

Al-Ansari suggested that the shift in position from some Arab leaders could be not only because of public pressure, but also to what many believe has been a disproportionate Israeli response to Hezbollah's actions. "The Arab governments, they look at it from a rational point of view - they know it's going to be a big mess at their doors and they have to deal with it," he said. "From the beginning they made their positions clear (but) nobody was expecting the reaction by the Israelis this way."-AP

Israel pulls back from flashpoint Hezbollah town

Israeli forces pulled back from positions on the outskirts of a Hezbollah stronghold town that was the scene of the deadliest battles of their advance into south Lebanon, police said Saturday.

Tanks and armored vehicles left the hills overlooking the main border town of Bint Jbeil late Friday and returned to Marun Al-Ras, which was captured by Israeli forces on July 23.

But Israeli troops in Marun Al-Ras continued to bombard Bint Jbeil, a stronghold of the Shiite militant group, as well as nearby Aitarun and Ainata with over 350 rockets, police said.

The pullback took place amid clashes which the Israeli military said left six Israeli soldiers wounded, including one in a serious condition.

Advancing Israeli forces have encountered fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas since they moved across the border, stepping up their massive air and ground offensive on Lebanon.

Nine soldiers were killed in the area on July 26 in the heaviest single-day toll since the conflict began on July 12 when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israeli troops "have modified their deployment because of the developments on the ground in the Marun Al-Ras Bint Jbeil sector." She said military operations were underway in the area, but did not elaborate.

Israel's security cabinet decided on Thursday to step up its air war against Lebanon and call up thousands of reserve troops but also said it would restrict ground operations.

After initially vowing to destroy Hezbollah, Israel is now seeking to expel the militia from a two-kilometer (one-mile) strip along Lebanon's side of the border and occupy the zone until a mooted international force can take over.

Early Saturday, Israeli air forces renewed raids on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, destroying a four-wheel-drive vehicle in a missile strike, the state news agency ANI said.

The driver of the vehicle escaped "miraculously" unharmed when he jumped out of the vehicle which was hit by an air-to-ground missile in the first raid on the area since early Wednesday, the agency said.

Only the burned-out wreckage was left of the vehicle after the explosion of the missile, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.

Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted cars and trucks across Lebanon since the start of the Israeli offensive on the country on July 12 when the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah captured two soldiers.

Israeli forces also bombarded from the air and the sea various regions of southern Lebanon, targeting valleys and houses, police said. There were no reports of casualties.

Early Saturday, the bodies of eight civilians, including a couple and their three children in a car hit by a missile, were found on the roads of southern Lebanon following Israeli bombardments on the region, officials said.

The bodies of three other civilians killed by shrapnel, some partly decomposed, were found on roads near Tyre, he said.

The deaths bring to 439 the number of people killed, including 368 civilians, in Lebanon by the Israeli military onslaught on the country launched after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

UN humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland said Friday that more than 600 people had been killed in Lebanon since the start of the Israeli offensive, citing the Lebanese health ministry.

Rescue workers say dozens more civilians, including a large number of children, are still buried underneath the rubble of houses destroyed in Israeli air strikes around Tyre.

Hezbollah has announced the death of 32 of its fighters, including two rescue workers, while its Shiite ally Amal reported the death of six of its militants since July 12.

A total of 51 Israelis have also died in cross-border fighting, most of them soldiers.-AFP

Stop killings, Britain tells LTTE

The United Kingdom urged the LTTE to bring an end to killings, intimidation, acts of violence and abductions. They raised these concerns during a meeting with the LTTE leadership. "The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the current situation, its impact on civilians and the role of the international community," British High Commission officials said after talks with the representatives of the LTTE. "During the talks, we raised concerns about the continuing high levels of violence including the issue of child soldiers," the High Commission quoted the officials as saying. "We stressed the importance of bringing an end to the killings, intimidation, acts of violence and abductions. The commitments made at Geneva should be fulfilled by both parties and the cease-fire adhered to. We reaffirmed our support for the vital work of the Norwegian facilitators and the important role of the SLMM."

The officials also stressed the need for dialogue. It was imperative that the parties engaged in talks at all levels in order to solve problems, overcome misunderstandings and build trust and confidence. They have also pointed out that a dialogue was necessary if progress was to be made towards a sustainable peace settlement which addressed the aspirations of all communities in Sri Lanka.

MDM Doctors treats the war affected children 

Labaneese flee from thier home