Sri Lanka "fails to protect Tamils" - rights group

COLOMBO, Apr 25 (Reuters) A U S human rights group accused Sri Lanka's government today of ignoring attacks on ethnic Tamils, as the army reported more violence overnight and a peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels remained deadlocked.

More than 100 people have been killed since the first week of April in the bloodiest days since a 2002 ceasefire, with suspected Tiger attacks being followed by ethnic attacks on Tamils.

Attacks on majority Sinhalese civilians in the multi-ethnic northeast are also rising.

Both the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) say they want to join peace talks in Switzerland which have been postponed indefinitely after wrangling over the transport of eastern rebel leaders to a pre-Geneva meeting.

U S-based group Human Rights Watch said today that members of the almost exclusively Sinhalese security forces had stood by during ethnic riots that followed a suspected Tiger bomb in Trincomalee two weeks ago, describing President Mahinda Rajapakse's response as ''grossly inadequate''.

''The failure of the security forces in Trincomalee to protect the Tamil population should raise alarm bells at the highest level of government,'' said Human Rights Watch Asia director Brad Adams in a press release.

''The government has a responsibility to protect all Sri Lankans, no matter whether they are Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese.'' Police say they are taking the situation in Trincomalee extremely seriously and have drafted in reinforcements. New checkpoints have been set up and part of the centre of town sealed off, Reuters witnesses say.

But in the rural hinterland surrounding Trincomalee, unsolved killings of Tamil civilians, suspected Tiger attacks on Sinhalese villages and army patrols and ethnic riots continue, with some Tamils fleeing their homes in fear.

The Tigers deny recent attacks but many believe they are trying to provoke army retaliation and an ethnic backlash against Tamils that will win international sympathy and drive more Tamils to their cause.

Analysts say they are angry the government has not reined in breakaway rebels known as the Karuna group, who have been attacking the Tigers. The government denies backing the group.

An army spokesman said suspected Tiger rebels hijacked a civilian bus in the northern government enclave of Jaffna and drove it through a checkpoint without stopping, firing at the troops.

The bus was eventually stopped and the Tigers fled, he said, but the driver was killed in the crossfire.

Pro-rebel Web site Tamilnet said simply that the army had fired on the bus, killing two.

REUTERS SI KN1026