Sri Lankan military convoy hit by suicide attack

COLOMBO, Oct 16 (Reuters) A Sri Lankan military convoy was hit by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomb attack in a north-central district today and casualties were feared, police said.

The attack on the naval convoy took place near the town of Habarana, about 190 km (120 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo, they said.

An explosive-laden vehicle rammed into the convoy near the town where sailors converge before being transported to the eastern naval base of Trincomalee, they said.

The attack came as Yasushi Akashi, the peace envoy of the island's chief financial donor, Japan, began talks with government leaders to push a four-year peace process that has been battered by mounting violence.

It also comes ahead of peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Geneva on Oct 28-29.

Sri Lanka has been plunged into a spiral of violence since late July and hundreds of people have been since killed as a truce brokered in 2002 now exists only on paper.

Last week, dozens of troops and rebels were killed and hundreds wounded in one of the deadliest battles since the truce.

More than 65,000 people have been killed since 1983 when the rebels began fighting for an independent Tamil homeland.

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