Bomb found near rally attended by SL President

Colombo, July 22: Sri Lankan police found and defused a powerful bomb at a fair just 3 miles from a rally attended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa near the capital Colombo today, the military said, accusing Tamil Tiger rebels of planting it.

However the bomb and the rally did not appear to be related, military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said, adding Rajapaksa had flown in by helicopter and so would not have passed nearby.

''This was purely aimed at civilians as it was kept right inside the fair,'' Samarasinghe said.

''They had covered the bomb with plantains to hide it,'' he added. ''Obviously it was the LTTE. They are getting desperate and want to kill as many people as possible.'' He said the bomb was found in the town of Delkanda just outside Colombo after a civilian called the police to report a suspicious package. It is the latest in a series of such finds in recent months.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were not immediately available for comment.

The Tigers have been blamed for a spree of deadly ambushes using roadside bombs in recent months, and have vowed to attack major military and economic targets in a bid to cripple the island's economy as a new chapter in a two-decade civil war deepens.

However the Tigers say they will not target civilians, and analysts say the lion's share of their attacks have been focused on military and political targets.

President Rajapaksa has vowed to wrest control of all territory the rebels dominate, which diplomats and observers fear sets the stage for escalation in a war that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983.

Analysts see no clear winner on the horizon and fear the war could rumble on for years.

REUTERS>