Red Cross quits S.Lanka war front, death toll mounts

COLOMBO, May 23 (Reuters) The Red Cross pulled back from the front line of Sri Lanka's civil war in the island's far north today amid fears for staff safety, as the military said fighting killed eight Tamil Tigers and two soldiers.

The army said it had closed the Omanthai checkpoint that sits on defence lines that separate government from Tamil Tiger-held territory in the northern district of Vavuniya, 170 miles north of Colombo, where the focus of a new chapter in the island's two-decade civil war has now shifted.

The Red Cross said it decided to pull back from the checkpoint area after two firing incidents nearby within a week. The Tigers had opened fire on a civilian van as it tried to exit rebel-territory at the checkpoint yesterday, days after the Tigers fired volleys of mortar bombs at the area.

''We took a decision today to leave the line, to pull out, and we will not come back until further notice and until we have spoken to both sides, got safety guarantees and rediscussed the procedures,'' Red Cross spokesman Davide Vignati said.

The Omanthai crossing is the main transit point between the government-held south and the Tigers' de facto state in the north, and sits on the island's main north-south highway.

Movement across the ''border'' has been restricted for months by fierce fighting between the state and the Tigers which has killed around 4,000 people since last year.

As a parallel propaganda war rages, the government has allowed few journalists to cross into Tiger territory.

There are now daily skirmishes and clashes in Vavuniya district and regular air strikes by the air force on Tiger targets in the north, which analysts fear could see a conflict that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983 escalate.

Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said eight Tigers and two soldiers were killed in separate incidents in the north and east today -- deaths which came on top of another five insurgents reported killed yesterday.

The military said yesterday jets had pounded a Tiger training camp in the far north, but the rebels said the bombs had fallen in uninhabited jungle and caused no damage.

The Tigers were not immediately available for comment today's clashes or on the border-crossing shooting incident.

REUTERS SZ PM0031