04-27-2004, 05:42 PM
Police say Tamil Tiger factional fighting has spread to Sri Lankan capital with attack on two men
<b>Associated Press</b>, Tue April 27, 2004 02:07 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Unidentified gunmen killed a Tamil man and wounded another in their home in the Sri Lankan capital in an attack that police linked to factional fighting among Tamil Tiger rebels, a police official said Tuesday. ``We have suggested a meeting between the army and the LTT,'' said Agnes Bragadottir, the spokeswoman for the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka - Monitoring Mission, saying that the monitors hoped for a meeting later Tuesday.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the Batticaloa slayings, but the Tigers accused loyalists of renegade commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan and suggested the army may have helped orchestrate the attack Sunday.
``It is totally false. We are not involved in any way,'' military spokesman Sumeda Perera said Tuesday.
Perera said the military was prepared to meet with the rebels ``at any time.''
Muralitharan, whose whereabouts are unknown, disbanded his 6,000-strong fighting force on April 12 after fighters from the main group launched an overwhelming attack that claimed the lives of over 30 guerrillas and several civilians.
The fighting between his breakaway faction and the main Tamil Tiger group was the first major battle between Tamil guerrillas and had risked drawing in nearby post of the Sri Lanka - military and imperiling a 2002 cease-fire agreement between the Tigers and government.
A Norwegian delegation was expected in Sri Lanka - in the coming weeks to try to revive the country's peace process, which has been on hold since the rebels withdrew from talks last April demanding greater autonomy in Tamil-dominated regions.
The Tiger rebels launched their fight in 1983 for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka - 's minority ethnic Tamils, claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese. The civil war killed about 65,000 people before the Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in February 2002.
<b>Associated Press</b>, Tue April 27, 2004 02:07 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Unidentified gunmen killed a Tamil man and wounded another in their home in the Sri Lankan capital in an attack that police linked to factional fighting among Tamil Tiger rebels, a police official said Tuesday. ``We have suggested a meeting between the army and the LTT,'' said Agnes Bragadottir, the spokeswoman for the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka - Monitoring Mission, saying that the monitors hoped for a meeting later Tuesday.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the Batticaloa slayings, but the Tigers accused loyalists of renegade commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan and suggested the army may have helped orchestrate the attack Sunday.
``It is totally false. We are not involved in any way,'' military spokesman Sumeda Perera said Tuesday.
Perera said the military was prepared to meet with the rebels ``at any time.''
Muralitharan, whose whereabouts are unknown, disbanded his 6,000-strong fighting force on April 12 after fighters from the main group launched an overwhelming attack that claimed the lives of over 30 guerrillas and several civilians.
The fighting between his breakaway faction and the main Tamil Tiger group was the first major battle between Tamil guerrillas and had risked drawing in nearby post of the Sri Lanka - military and imperiling a 2002 cease-fire agreement between the Tigers and government.
A Norwegian delegation was expected in Sri Lanka - in the coming weeks to try to revive the country's peace process, which has been on hold since the rebels withdrew from talks last April demanding greater autonomy in Tamil-dominated regions.
The Tiger rebels launched their fight in 1983 for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka - 's minority ethnic Tamils, claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese. The civil war killed about 65,000 people before the Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in February 2002.
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