Sri Lanka rickshaw explodes at rebel checkpoint

COLOMBO, July 28 (Reuters) A three-wheeled autorickshaw with one person aboard exploded in a possible suicide attack on a Tamil Tiger rebel checkpoint in eastern Sri Lanka today, ceasefire monitors said.

The Nordic-staffed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said the vehicle had blown up on the rebel front-line. A military source said they believed it might be a suicide attack.

''The driver was in the three-wheeler when it blew up,'' said the monitoring mission's spokesman Robert Nielsson, adding that he had no details of other casualties. ''We are on the scene now.'' The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) confirmed an explosion but had no details.

More than 800 people have died so far this year in violence between the Tigers, the army and breakaway ex-rebels the Karuna group who the LTTE say are now army-backed.

REUTERS DKA SSC1343