SL says rebels use UN aid convoy as smokescreen

Colombo, Nov 29: Sri Lanka's military today accused the Tamil Tigers of using a UN-led aid convoy as a smokescreen to move rebel fighters and munitions towards their defence lines.

More than 80 trucks spearheaded by the United Nations and Red Cross passed into rebel territory carrying hundreds of tonnes of aid for around 30,000 war-displaced living in camps in and around the Tiger-held village of Vakarai in the eastern district of Batticaloa.

The convoy had been due to travel yesterday, but the journey was abandoned due to fierce artillery fire. The military said as the trucks passed by, rebels moved forward in the opposite direction.

''They are taking advantage of this convoy, as we are not firing, and they are moving more than 200 LTTE cadres to reinforce their defences,'' said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe.

''Their cadres are manning their bunker lines.'' The Tigers were not immediately available for comment, but Nordic truce monitors said the rebels had denied it and sent a monitor to check.

Aid groups have for weeks bitterly criticised both the military and the rebels of hampering their movements and delivery of aid to thousands of people who have fled air raids and military clashes amid the worst fighting since a now-tattered 2002 ceasefire.

Reclusive rebel leader Velupillai Prabharakaran declared on Monday the Tigers were resuming their struggle for an independent state in Sri Lanka's north and east, which analysts say means renewed war is likely to escalate.

President Mahinda Rajapakse has ruled out both independence and the Tigers earlier demand for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east. He has called for fresh peace talks and says he is willing to consider widespread devolution of power within a united Sri Lanka.

But his government also says it will continue to fight the Tigers if provoked.

The two-decade civil war has killed more than 67,000 civilians, troops and rebel fighters since 1983, around 3,000 of those this year alone mostly in the north and east.

Reuters