Sri Lanka president courts right-wing Buddhists, offers them environment portfolio

Associated Press, Thu February 1, 2007 06:38 EST COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) President Mahinda Rajapakse cemented his majority in Sri Lanka - 's Parliament by courting a party of hardline Buddhist monks and offering its lawmakers a ministerial office, officials said Thursday. A total of 19 members of the main opposition United National Party crossed over to the government side, while six members from the Sri Lanka - Muslim Congress also joined the administration.

The UNP has said Rajapakse's move to lure its members to defect has effectively ended a previous agreement between them to cooperate in solving the island's two-decade-long separatist war.

A negotiated power-sharing settlement with ethnic minority Tamils could be further hampered by the inclusion of the monks' party in government, as they have stridently opposed any talks with Tamil separatist rebels.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create a separate homeland for the country's 3.1 million minority Tamils, saying that after decades of discrimination, Tamils can prosper only away from the domination of the majority Sinhalese.

About 68,000 people have been killed in the fighting, including some 3,600 fighters and civilians who died last year when the conflict escalated despite a 2002 Norway-brokered cease-fire.

Sri Lanka leftist party emerging as main opposition

font size ZoomIn ZoomOut

Sri Lanka's main leftist party, the JVP or the People's Liberation Front, claimed Thursday that it was fast emerging as the country's main opposition.

Somawansa Amerasinghe, the JVP leader, told reporters that "we are on the way of becoming the main opposition party. That is a wish of the people and it should happen."

The JVP said that the party will have to act as the country's main opposition with responsibility in view of mass defections by the current main opposition party, the United National Party (UNP), to the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Some 18 members joined the Rajapakse administration on Sunday with 10 of them becoming cabinet ministers.

Political sources said that more UNP members are to join the government soon.

The JVP has a strength of 38 seats in the 225-member parliament and the UNP is left with just 44 after Sunday's defections.

The JVP leader dismissed government accusations that it was the refusal by the JVP to join the government that had led to the UNP members being accommodated in the government.

Amerasinghe stressed that his party was having talks with President Rajapakse based on a program in order to join the government.

"However the president started talks with the UNP even before our talks came into any conclusion," the JVP leader said.

The JVP was instrumental in ensuring Rajapakse's victory in the presidential election of November 2005 but stayed out of the government on policy differences -- mainly on the issue of peace negotiations with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Although opposing the government in parliament, Amerasinghe said that his party would support the government on its campaign against terrorism in the north and east.

APOLOGIES NOTICE

Opposition defections strengthens Sri Lanka president's hand+

Associated Press, Sun January 28, 2007 03:49 EST . - - COLOMBO, Jan. 28 (Kyodo) Sri Lanka - President Mahinda Rajapakse strengthened his hand in the legislature Sunday by inducting 20 opposition lawmakers into his administration, a spokesman at his office said. Two members from the Sri Lanka - Muslim Congress also joined the government. Party leader Rauff Hakeem was offered a Cabinet ministerial post.

Rajapakse, who previously accommodated a few UNP defectors in his Cabinet, went ahead with the reshuffle and expanded the administration despite opposition from his Marxist electoral ally, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (the People's Liberation Front) and some rumblings from his own Sri Lanka - Freedom Party.

Analysts explained that the president, unsure of continuing support from the JVP which refused to take office in the government despite several offers, wanted to ensure a parliamentary majority independent of the JVP which is the third biggest party in the 225-member legislature.

The UNP, which entered into a memorandum of understanding with the government in October last year to support a peace process to end over three decades of ethnic war, said the MOU was off.

However, analysts do not expect the rightist party, weakened by defections and infighting since Rajapakse defeated its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in the presidential election in November 2005, to present any major obstacles in a search for a negotiated peace process.

Rajapakse, concurrently defense and finance minister, retained the two key ministerial posts in the expanded 52-member Cabinet. But Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera was replaced by Rohitha Bogollagama, who defected to the government last year and held the investment promotion and industrial development portfolio.

''Samaraweera was not sidelined,'' the spokesman for the president's office said. ''He was holding two portfolios and he expressed a preference to continue as minister of ports and aviation and give up foreign affairs.''

Although weakened badly by the defections, Wickremesinghe will remain as leader of the opposition in parliament as his party still has more members of parliament than the JVP.

The defectors who do not wish to risk their membership of the legislature by quitting the party on whose ticket they were elected said they will remain members of the UNP and work with the government.

Although this group wished to sign their own MOU with Rajapakse, this had not been done up to Sunday's swearing in of the Cabinet at the presidential secretariat.

Sri Lankan President Names Cabinet With Opposition (Update1)

By Anusha Ondaatjie

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa formed a new Cabinet to accommodate members of the main opposition party who backed his economic and security policies for ending the island's civil war.

At least 18 members of the United National Party have pledged support for Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Freedom Party-led coalition, Lucien Rajakarunanayake, a spokesman for the president's office, said by telephone. Ten UNP members were today sworn in to the Cabinet, he said. President Rajapaksa retained the Finance and Defense Ministry portfolios.

The SLFP and UNP in October signed a cooperation accord to form common economic and security policies. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, a former prime minister and the architect of the 2002 peace agreement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels, has said the agreement would be nullified if the government accepted his party members.

``This move is positive for the government's pro-peace platform,'' said Jehan Perera, director of the National Peace Council, a Sri Lankan non-governmental peace advocacy organization. ``It will make the government more stable and Ranil has few options, since the cooperation accord hasn't served any evident constructive purpose.''

Sri Lanka's peace process collapsed last year after fighting intensified in May in the east and spread to the northern Jaffna peninsula. Peace talks in Geneva in October collapsed without any progress between the government and LTTE, who are fighting for a separate homeland in areas they control in the north and east of the country.

Reaching a permanent peace agreement with the Tamil Tigers is crucial for Sri Lanka's tea- and textile-exporting economy, which has expanded every quarter since the cease-fire was signed.

Separate Homeland

The Sri Lankan Navy stopped an attack by the rebels on Colombo harbor, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday.

Rajapaksa in November 2005 beat Wickremesinghe in the presidential election on a pledge to renegotiate the cease-fire accord with the Tamil separatists.

Rajapaksa has said a separate homeland for Tamils is out of the question. Wickremesinghe's UNP supports talks with rebels and devolution of power as a way to end the bloodshed.

Rajapaksa today also swore in Rauf Hakeem, the leader of the main Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, to the Cabinet, Rajakarunanayake said.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said growth in the $24 billion economy slowed in the fourth quarter as the island grappled with renewed violence. Gross domestic product rose 7.5 percent in the three months ended September from a year earlier following a 7.6 percent gain in the second quarter, the Colombo- based central bank said Dec. 29.

VARAURAIKAL-P-07

VARAURAIKAL-P-06

VARAURAIKAL-P-05

VARAURAIKAL-P-04

VARAURAIKAL-P-03

VARAURAIKAL-P-02

Military asks fleeing Tamil rebels to surrender in eastern Sri Lanka , 5 insurgents killed

Associated Press, Mon January 15, 2007 07:21 EST . DILIP GANGULY Associated Press Writer COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ The Sri Lankan military urged Tamil Tiger rebels fleeing attacks by army and commandoes in the east to surrender on Monday, as operations against the insurgents' camps intensified.

Village heads in Ampara district were told to deliver the announcement to Tamil Tiger rebels who were in hiding or on the run after four rebel bases and seven smaller camps fell to military control last week, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said.

Five rebels surrendered to police commandoes in Amapara on Sunday evening, he said, without giving further details.

Samarasinghe urged the rebels to hand themselves in at the nearest police or army post.

The Tamil Tigers ridiculed the idea.

``It is not an issue worth commenting upon,'' rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said from the insurgents' headquarters of Kilinochchi. ``Now and then they (military) make such meaningless announcements, but we are not bothered.''

Ilanthirayan admitted, however, that Sri Lankan forces had moved into some rebel-held areas in Ampara.

``Off course they made advances to our territory in Ampara, but then in Ampara we operate in a guerrilla mode,'' he said, adding that they are continually on the move.

Separately, Sri Lankan troops fatally shot five rebels who confronted them while on a foot patrol in eastern Sri Lanka. The troops recovered the bodies of two insurgents along with weapons and ammunition, said Samarasinghe.

The incident happened late Sunday in Batticaloa district, which adjoins Ampara.

Also late Sunday, the military discovered two bombs in the northern towns of Vavuniya and Jaffna, Samarasinghe said.

The rebels have been fighting for over 20 years for a separate homeland for the country's 3.1 million minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

The military has stepped up efforts to flush the rebels from eastern Sri Lanka, where the insurgents are at their weakest since a top commander broke away in 2004 with an estimated 6,000 fighters.

Although both sides claim to be adhering to a Norwegian-brokered 2002 cease-fire, violence has escalated since late 2005, with over 3,600 people killed last year alone. Discuss this

Military says 4 soldiers killed in Tamil rebel fire in eastern Sri Lanka

Associated Press, Sun January 14, 2007 01:40 EST . BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Separatist Tamil Tiger rebels attacked a military camp in eastern Sri Lanka - , killing at least four government soldiers, the Defense Ministry said Sunday. Sri Lanka - 's north and east have become a hotbed of violence between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has been fighting for over 20 years for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka - 's 3.1 million minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

The military has stepped up efforts to flush rebels from eastern Sri Lanka - , where the insurgents are at their weakest since a top commander broke away in 2004 with an estimated 6,000 fighters.

On Saturday, a Sri Lankan air force bomber severely damaged a Tamil rebel base in Verugal, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the military's Mankerni camp in the eastern Batticaloa district.

The rebels had used the artillery position at Verugal to fire at military camps in the area, Samarasinghe said earlier.

However, he said the attack on the Mankerni base late Saturday did not come from Verugal, Samarasinghe said Sunday.

Also on Sunday, police recovered the bodies of two ethnic Tamils found with gunshot wounds near Vavuniya, the last government-held garrison town before rebel territory in the north.

The two victims were identified as Muthukumar Puwanseshwaran, 29 and Arason Yogeshwaran, 28, local Police Chief Kumara Sandanayake said. No other information was immediately available.

There was no immediate comment from the rebels, and phones rang unanswered at the Tiger's stronghold in Kilinochchi.

In eastern Sri Lanka - , there is no proper demarcation of government-held and rebel-held areas and both sides frequently clash.

In eastern Ampara which adjoins Batticaloa district, anti-terrorist commandoes captured two more rebel bases, Samarasinghe said, bringing the total number of rebel bases captured this week to four. Seven smaller camps have also fallen in Ampara, further south of Batticaloa, the military said.

Although both sides claim to be adhering to a Norwegian-brokered 2002 cease-fire, violence has escalated since late 2005, with over 3,600 people killed last year alone.

No candles, kerosine for villagers cut off by landslides in Sri Lanka

Associated Press, Sun January 14, 2007 11:06 Sri Lanka - (AP) Isolated and cut off from supplies because of heavy landslides, displaced people in this remote central Sri Lankan village say their stocks of candles and kerosine oil are exhausted.

``We lit our last candle yesterday and our kerosine oil stock is finished so we will have no lighting at night,'' said R.B. Weerasooriya, a village administrative officer.

More than 500 people in Landupitiya fled their homes and took shelter in a government school in the same village after at least 17 people from surrounding areas died and many went missing in Friday's landslides.

Between 9,000 and 16,000 were made homeless by the disaster that hit many parts of Nuwara Eliya district, known for its lush tea gardens.

Landupitiya, on higher ground, survived, but people saw their walls cracking from smaller earth slips, forcing them to abandon their homes, Weerasooriya said.

School teacher Wimala Kumari said that she took shelter in the school where she works when she saw a strong gush of rain water uproot a large tree in her garden.

Electricity has been cut off since Friday, and vehicles from outside can't reach the village because wide cracks have appeared on many parts of the only access road.

Some people take the risk of trekking down to the nearby town Padiyapelella to get provisions, but the town is nearly deserted after the government advised the people to go to safety because continuing monsoon rains could cause more landslides.

On Sunday, army soldiers visited Landupitiya for the first time since Friday to evacuate sick and elderly people to hospitals.

Meanwhile, Gamini Hettiarachchi, director general of the Disaster Management Center, said Sunday that evacuation of people cut off by the landslides was hampered because air force helicopters could not operate because of mist and heavy rain.

Speaking from Colombo, he said 128 people were air lifted on Saturday.

Associated Press writer Bharatha Mallawarachi contributed to this report from Colombo.

Security News Today

Security forces capture key rebel camp in Sri Lanka 's volatile east, military says

Associated Press, Mon January 8, 2007 08:16 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lanka's elite police force on Monday seized a key Tamil Tiger rebel base in the country's east, a region where a clash with separatists the previous day left at least one soldier dead, the military said.

Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe told reporters that the rebels' ``Stanley Base'' in eastern Ampara district fell to Special Task Force personnel, who also recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition.

Special Task Force chief Nimal Lewke said that four of his personnel were wounded in the fighting and a search was being conducted to flush out rebel fighters who he said had escaped into the jungles.

Eastern Sri Lanka has become a hotbed of violence between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has been fighting for over 20 years for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.1 million ethnic Tamil minority who have suffered decades of discrimination by the majority-Sinhalese.

Lewke said the vast base was used by the guerrillas to launch attacks on government forces in the region, as a training camp for new Tiger recruits and also included a hospital.

The weapons left behind by the rebels included four mortar launchers, he said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan confirmed a battle in the area but denied that their base had fallen.

``They (STF) have been trying to infiltrate our area and there was also a confrontation. But I deny that the camp has been captured,'' he said by telephone from the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

In the nearby Batticaloa district, a clash between security forces and rebels late Sunday killed one soldier and left another wounded, Samarasinghe said. He had no details about rebel casualties, and the Tigers were not immediately available for comment. The two sides routinely inflate each other's casualty counts and independent verification was not possible.

Separately, the Defense Ministry said rebels infiltrated an electrical facility early Monday on the outskirts of Colombo and blew up a transformer, disrupting electricity to some areas.

``They (rebels) cut the wire mesh and may have used at least 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosive to blow up the transformer,'' Maj. Upali Rajapakse said.

``The security forces believe that the Tiger terrorists are attempting to disrupt normalcy in non-operational areas,'' Rajapakse said.

Rebel spokesman, Ilanthirayan, denied involvement.

The Elakanda power station is about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) north of Colombo.

Also on Monday in northern Jaffna peninsula, masked men stopped a state-owned bus transporting school children, then forced the students off before setting it on fire, a bus employee said.

The group, shouting anti-government slogans, claimed that a pro-government Tamil party was abducting students in Jaffna, employee N. Rasadurai said.

The military said that some students themselves were involved in the arson attack, which was instigated by the rebels.

Sri Lankan Military: Rebels blow up transformer at electrical facility

Associated Press, Mon January 8, 2007 02:23 EST . - - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry said Tamil rebels infiltrated an electrical facility early Monday on the outskirts of Colombo and blew up a transformer, disrupting electricity to some areas.

``They (rebels) cut the wire mesh and may have used at least 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosive to blow up the transformer,'' Acting military spokesman, Maj. Upali Rajapakse said.

The Elkanda power station is about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) north of Colombo.

Sri Lanka beefs up security after bus bombings

Colombo, Jan 08: Sri Lanka on Monday stepped up security on public transport across the country after two weekend bomb attacks killed 21 passengers and wounded about 120, police said.

Passengers were forced to line up for security checks before boarding buses and trains that bring in about 70 per cent of the one million people who enter the capital daily for work, police said.

"We are having police and security forces at main bus terminals as well as volunteer groups who help with the checking," a police spokesman said.

President Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday accused Tamil Tiger rebels of stoking an ethnic backlash by majority Sinhalese on the minority Tamil community with the attacks on innocent civilians using public transport.

"The aim of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is to have a backlash against the Tamils and to undermine our efforts to find a peaceful solution," Rajapakse said in a statement released by his office yesterday.

An LTTE defence spokesman, Rasiah Ilanthirayan, denied any responsibility for the blasts which occurred on a road widely used by tourists to reach southern beach resorts.

The bus bombings came as security forces stepped up an aerial bombing campaign against the tigers in the rebel-held northeast of the island, and the guerrillas accused the military of hitting civilians.

The government information department said 15 people were killed and 47 wounded on Saturday in the second bus bombing near Ambalangoda, 85 kilometres south of Colombo.

The attack followed a bus blast late Friday when six passengers were killed and another 70 were wounded near Colombo.

Security News Today

Security forces capture key rebel camp in Sri Lanka 's volatile east, military says

Associated Press, Mon January 8, 2007 08:16 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lanka's elite police force on Monday seized a key Tamil Tiger rebel base in the country's east, a region where a clash with separatists the previous day left at least one soldier dead, the military said.

Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe told reporters that the rebels' ``Stanley Base'' in eastern Ampara district fell to Special Task Force personnel, who also recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition.

Special Task Force chief Nimal Lewke said that four of his personnel were wounded in the fighting and a search was being conducted to flush out rebel fighters who he said had escaped into the jungles.

Eastern Sri Lanka has become a hotbed of violence between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has been fighting for over 20 years for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.1 million ethnic Tamil minority who have suffered decades of discrimination by the majority-Sinhalese.

Lewke said the vast base was used by the guerrillas to launch attacks on government forces in the region, as a training camp for new Tiger recruits and also included a hospital.

The weapons left behind by the rebels included four mortar launchers, he said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan confirmed a battle in the area but denied that their base had fallen.

``They (STF) have been trying to infiltrate our area and there was also a confrontation. But I deny that the camp has been captured,'' he said by telephone from the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

In the nearby Batticaloa district, a clash between security forces and rebels late Sunday killed one soldier and left another wounded, Samarasinghe said. He had no details about rebel casualties, and the Tigers were not immediately available for comment. The two sides routinely inflate each other's casualty counts and independent verification was not possible.

Separately, the Defense Ministry said rebels infiltrated an electrical facility early Monday on the outskirts of Colombo and blew up a transformer, disrupting electricity to some areas.

``They (rebels) cut the wire mesh and may have used at least 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosive to blow up the transformer,'' Maj. Upali Rajapakse said.

``The security forces believe that the Tiger terrorists are attempting to disrupt normalcy in non-operational areas,'' Rajapakse said.

Rebel spokesman, Ilanthirayan, denied involvement.

The Elakanda power station is about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) north of Colombo.

Also on Monday in northern Jaffna peninsula, masked men stopped a state-owned bus transporting school children, then forced the students off before setting it on fire, a bus employee said.

The group, shouting anti-government slogans, claimed that a pro-government Tamil party was abducting students in Jaffna, employee N. Rasadurai said.

The military said that some students themselves were involved in the arson attack, which was instigated by the rebels.

Sri Lankan Military: Rebels blow up transformer at electrical facility

Associated Press, Mon January 8, 2007 02:23 EST . - - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry said Tamil rebels infiltrated an electrical facility early Monday on the outskirts of Colombo and blew up a transformer, disrupting electricity to some areas.

``They (rebels) cut the wire mesh and may have used at least 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosive to blow up the transformer,'' Acting military spokesman, Maj. Upali Rajapakse said.

The Elkanda power station is about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) north of Colombo.

Sri Lanka beefs up security after bus bombings

Colombo, Jan 08: Sri Lanka on Monday stepped up security on public transport across the country after two weekend bomb attacks killed 21 passengers and wounded about 120, police said.

Passengers were forced to line up for security checks before boarding buses and trains that bring in about 70 per cent of the one million people who enter the capital daily for work, police said.

"We are having police and security forces at main bus terminals as well as volunteer groups who help with the checking," a police spokesman said.

President Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday accused Tamil Tiger rebels of stoking an ethnic backlash by majority Sinhalese on the minority Tamil community with the attacks on innocent civilians using public transport.

"The aim of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is to have a backlash against the Tamils and to undermine our efforts to find a peaceful solution," Rajapakse said in a statement released by his office yesterday.

An LTTE defence spokesman, Rasiah Ilanthirayan, denied any responsibility for the blasts which occurred on a road widely used by tourists to reach southern beach resorts.

The bus bombings came as security forces stepped up an aerial bombing campaign against the tigers in the rebel-held northeast of the island, and the guerrillas accused the military of hitting civilians.

The government information department said 15 people were killed and 47 wounded on Saturday in the second bus bombing near Ambalangoda, 85 kilometres south of Colombo.

The attack followed a bus blast late Friday when six passengers were killed and another 70 were wounded near Colombo.

Security News Today

Security forces capture key rebel camp in Sri Lanka 's volatile east, military says

Associated Press, Mon January 8, 2007 08:16 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lanka's elite police force on Monday seized a key Tamil Tiger rebel base in the country's east, a region where a clash with separatists the previous day left at least one soldier dead, the military said.

Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe told reporters that the rebels' ``Stanley Base'' in eastern Ampara district fell to Special Task Force personnel, who also recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition.

Special Task Force chief Nimal Lewke said that four of his personnel were wounded in the fighting and a search was being conducted to flush out rebel fighters who he said had escaped into the jungles.

Eastern Sri Lanka has become a hotbed of violence between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has been fighting for over 20 years for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.1 million ethnic Tamil minority who have suffered decades of discrimination by the majority-Sinhalese.

Lewke said the vast base was used by the guerrillas to launch attacks on government forces in the region, as a training camp for new Tiger recruits and also included a hospital.

The weapons left behind by the rebels included four mortar launchers, he said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan confirmed a battle in the area but denied that their base had fallen.

``They (STF) have been trying to infiltrate our area and there was also a confrontation. But I deny that the camp has been captured,'' he said by telephone from the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

In the nearby Batticaloa district, a clash between security forces and rebels late Sunday killed one soldier and left another wounded, Samarasinghe said. He had no details about rebel casualties, and the Tigers were not immediately available for comment. The two sides routinely inflate each other's casualty counts and independent verification was not possible.

Separately, the Defense Ministry said rebels infiltrated an electrical facility early Monday on the outskirts of Colombo and blew up a transformer, disrupting electricity to some areas.

``They (rebels) cut the wire mesh and may have used at least 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosive to blow up the transformer,'' Maj. Upali Rajapakse said.

``The security forces believe that the Tiger terrorists are attempting to disrupt normalcy in non-operational areas,'' Rajapakse said.

Rebel spokesman, Ilanthirayan, denied involvement.

The Elakanda power station is about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) north of Colombo.

Also on Monday in northern Jaffna peninsula, masked men stopped a state-owned bus transporting school children, then forced the students off before setting it on fire, a bus employee said.

The group, shouting anti-government slogans, claimed that a pro-government Tamil party was abducting students in Jaffna, employee N. Rasadurai said.

The military said that some students themselves were involved in the arson attack, which was instigated by the rebels.

Sri Lankan Military: Rebels blow up transformer at electrical facility

Associated Press, Mon January 8, 2007 02:23 EST . - - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry said Tamil rebels infiltrated an electrical facility early Monday on the outskirts of Colombo and blew up a transformer, disrupting electricity to some areas.

``They (rebels) cut the wire mesh and may have used at least 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosive to blow up the transformer,'' Acting military spokesman, Maj. Upali Rajapakse said.

The Elkanda power station is about 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) north of Colombo.

Sri Lanka beefs up security after bus bombings

Colombo, Jan 08: Sri Lanka on Monday stepped up security on public transport across the country after two weekend bomb attacks killed 21 passengers and wounded about 120, police said.

Passengers were forced to line up for security checks before boarding buses and trains that bring in about 70 per cent of the one million people who enter the capital daily for work, police said.

"We are having police and security forces at main bus terminals as well as volunteer groups who help with the checking," a police spokesman said.

President Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday accused Tamil Tiger rebels of stoking an ethnic backlash by majority Sinhalese on the minority Tamil community with the attacks on innocent civilians using public transport.

"The aim of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is to have a backlash against the Tamils and to undermine our efforts to find a peaceful solution," Rajapakse said in a statement released by his office yesterday.

An LTTE defence spokesman, Rasiah Ilanthirayan, denied any responsibility for the blasts which occurred on a road widely used by tourists to reach southern beach resorts.

The bus bombings came as security forces stepped up an aerial bombing campaign against the tigers in the rebel-held northeast of the island, and the guerrillas accused the military of hitting civilians.

The government information department said 15 people were killed and 47 wounded on Saturday in the second bus bombing near Ambalangoda, 85 kilometres south of Colombo.

The attack followed a bus blast late Friday when six passengers were killed and another 70 were wounded near Colombo.

Page - 01

Page - 02

Page - 03

page - 04