Members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam left the meeting in protest after a Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) lawmaker, Wasantha Piyatissa, attempted to join the negotiations in the eastern Ampara district, 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Colombo.

The JVP - a coalition partner of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government - is known for its vociferous opposition to the LTTE.

``We welcome everyone who comes to help our people, but this JVP politician used tsunami assistance as a pretext to sow political hatred,'' the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site quoted the Tiger's district political chief, E. Kausalyan, as saying.

``We walked out objecting to his cheap political tactics,'' Kausalyan said. ``(A meeting on) tsunami devastation is not the place to advertise or promote one's political party.''

After weeks of bickering over how to handle relief and rehabilitation aid to the Tamil-majority north and east, the Tigers last Friday agreed to a three-tiered system of committees to review project proposals at the district, regional and political levels in Tamil areas.

At least 31,000 Sri Lankans were killed in the Dec. 26 tsunami with some estimates at more than 38,000 deaths. Nearly one million were made homeless by the disaster.

The JVP has opposed any concessions being given to the Tamil guerrillas since a Norway-brokered cease-fire was signed in 2002 halting nearly two decades of civil war.

The ethnic Tamils have fought since 1983 for an independent state in Sri Lanka's north and eastern areas, accusing the Sinhalese majority of discrimination. More than 65,000 people were killed before the 2002 cease-fire. Published: Mon Jan 31 12:20:06 EST 2005

More than 300 people from a refugee camp in eastern Trincomalee, 230 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of Colombo, took part in the demonstration, claiming they were not being given food and had not received help to rebuild their lives, said Upali Hewage, police chief of the area.

The government had promised US$50 (euro38) for each family as a startup allowance, a separate grant for the purchase of household equipment, utensils and basic furniture and free school books and uniforms. The protesters said they hadn't received any of this.

The protesters left the area only after a local government administrator promised to address their grievances, Hewage said.

A train traveling from Tricomalee to Colombo was delayed for two hours because the protesters blocked a railway line with logs, said Priyal de Silva, head of the railway department.

The Dec. 26 tsunami dealt equal devastation to Sri Lanka's 14 million Sinhalese majority and 3.2 million Tamil minority. Published: Mon Jan 31 06:15:30 EST 2005