SL peace mediator meets Tigers, 3 soldiers killed

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Colombo, Mar 5: Norway's ambassador held talks with Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka today and three military personnel were killed in clashes in the Jaffna peninsula.

Norwegian envoy Hans Brattskar's visit to the Tiger-held town of Killinochchi comes days after the Italian and US ambassadors to Colombo and the United Nations representative to Sri Lanka were slightly hurt when rebels shelled a diplomatic delegation led by the island's human rights minister to the restive east.

There was no immediate comment today's visit from the Norwegian mediators or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but a spokesman for the organisation said Brattskar was in Killinochchi for talks with the political leadership.

Sri Lanka's military said three soldiers had been killed in the restive Jaffna peninsula, cut off from the rest of the island by Tamil Tiger lines, during a confrontation early today.

''One of our patrols confronted some LTTE cadres and three soldiers were killed,'' said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. He said the Tigers might also have suffered casualties.

International donors have called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to peace talks, but the foes have repeatedly ignored international calls to halt a conflict that has killed around 68,000 people over the past two decades -- 4,000 in the past 15 months alone.

REUTERS

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