12-23-2005, 06:14 PM
Thirteen Sri Lankan sailors killed; top cease-fire top monitor says truce in 'jeopardy'
By KRISHAN FRANCIS
AP
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - The navy said suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed 13 Sri Lankan navy sailors and wounded two more in an ambush Friday, and a European peace monitor said the government-rebel cease-fire is in jeopardy.
The attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades and triggered a land mine in an assault on about 30 soldiers traveling in a bus and truck toward their base in Mannar district, 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, said navy spokesman Cmdr. Jayantha Perera.
Perera said 13 sailors died and blamed the attack on the Tigers, who denied responsibility.
"The ... Tigers were not involved in any activity that breaches the cease-fire agreement," rebel spokesman Daya Master told The Associated Press by telephone from the Tigers' stronghold of Kilinochchi. "There is no connection whatsoever between us and this attack."
<b>Hagrup Haukland, a Norwegian who heads the 60-member European team monitoring the Sri Lankan truce, said the latest violence has endangered the peace deal.
"The cease-fire agreement is in jeopardy, absolutely," Haukland told reporters.</b>
<b>"The situation is alarming," said Haukland, adding that he and some other monitors were canceling their Christmas leave. "There is a lot of concern what will happen," he said, suggesting that the two sides meet.</b>
Also Friday, suspected rebels fatally shot a Sri Lankan army intelligence agent in the central Sri Lankan town of Nuwara Eliya, 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of Colombo.
It was the first known attack of its kind in the area, said Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, who blamed the Tigers.
The attacks are the most serious violence to threaten the already-shaky 2002 government-rebel cease-fire that halted Sri Lanka's devastating two-decade war.
Violence has escalated in Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil-majority northeast since rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran threatened to resume his struggle for an independent Tamil nation if the government fails to address Tamils' grievances.
This month alone, 20 government soldiers were killed and many more injured in attacks blamed on the rebels.
Security was tightened in Colombo after Friday's attack to prevent a possible anti-Tamil backlash. Security forces patrolled the streets on motorbikes, armed with assault rifles and wearing body armor.
The deaths of 13 government soldiers in a July 1983 Tiger attack triggered anti-Tamil riots that left hundreds dead and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee the country. Those riots drove many Tamil youths into militant independence movements.
The Tamil Tigers started fighting in 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in the island nation's north and east, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The conflict killed about 65,000 people.
The Norway-brokered cease-fire officially halted hostilities in February 2002, but subsequent peace talks have since stalled due to disagreements over the Tigers' demands for broad autonomy in the northeast.
Associated Press reporters Dilip Ganguly and Ruwan Weerakoon contributed to this report.
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By KRISHAN FRANCIS
AP
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - The navy said suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed 13 Sri Lankan navy sailors and wounded two more in an ambush Friday, and a European peace monitor said the government-rebel cease-fire is in jeopardy.
The attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades and triggered a land mine in an assault on about 30 soldiers traveling in a bus and truck toward their base in Mannar district, 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, said navy spokesman Cmdr. Jayantha Perera.
Perera said 13 sailors died and blamed the attack on the Tigers, who denied responsibility.
"The ... Tigers were not involved in any activity that breaches the cease-fire agreement," rebel spokesman Daya Master told The Associated Press by telephone from the Tigers' stronghold of Kilinochchi. "There is no connection whatsoever between us and this attack."
<b>Hagrup Haukland, a Norwegian who heads the 60-member European team monitoring the Sri Lankan truce, said the latest violence has endangered the peace deal.
"The cease-fire agreement is in jeopardy, absolutely," Haukland told reporters.</b>
<b>"The situation is alarming," said Haukland, adding that he and some other monitors were canceling their Christmas leave. "There is a lot of concern what will happen," he said, suggesting that the two sides meet.</b>
Also Friday, suspected rebels fatally shot a Sri Lankan army intelligence agent in the central Sri Lankan town of Nuwara Eliya, 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of Colombo.
It was the first known attack of its kind in the area, said Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, who blamed the Tigers.
The attacks are the most serious violence to threaten the already-shaky 2002 government-rebel cease-fire that halted Sri Lanka's devastating two-decade war.
Violence has escalated in Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil-majority northeast since rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran threatened to resume his struggle for an independent Tamil nation if the government fails to address Tamils' grievances.
This month alone, 20 government soldiers were killed and many more injured in attacks blamed on the rebels.
Security was tightened in Colombo after Friday's attack to prevent a possible anti-Tamil backlash. Security forces patrolled the streets on motorbikes, armed with assault rifles and wearing body armor.
The deaths of 13 government soldiers in a July 1983 Tiger attack triggered anti-Tamil riots that left hundreds dead and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee the country. Those riots drove many Tamil youths into militant independence movements.
The Tamil Tigers started fighting in 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in the island nation's north and east, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The conflict killed about 65,000 people.
The Norway-brokered cease-fire officially halted hostilities in February 2002, but subsequent peace talks have since stalled due to disagreements over the Tigers' demands for broad autonomy in the northeast.
Associated Press reporters Dilip Ganguly and Ruwan Weerakoon contributed to this report.
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