"We have had intelligence reports to this effect for sometime now, "said Pujitha Jayasundara, Deputy Inspector General of Colombo district.

The Hindustan Times newspaper said Wednesday the police launched a massive cordon and search operation in eight districts of the capital Colombo and arrested 900 persons, most of them Tamil.

The police official said among the leaders targeted by the LTTE were senior ministers and leader of political parties.

"Out of hundreds arrested in the operation conducted by 4,000 policemen, most were released, but five were detained on suspicion that had links with the LTTE, "Jayasundara said.

LTTE, refer to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

He said the rebels were planning to create mayhem in Colombo and distract the government's attention from Jaffna, which the terror outfit was planning to attack with the idea of capturing it.

"LTTE may be planning to begin negotiations with the government from a position of strength after the capture of Jaffna, " said a political observer. More...

Discuss this story Published: Wed Jan 4 11:14:20 EST 2006

The military had said the five men were suspected of collaborating with the Tamil Tiger rebels to ambush a military patrol Monday in the northeastern port of Trincomalee when their grenades exploded unexpectedly at a roadside.

However, the rebels said the men came under a grenade attack from government special forces, and the rights group Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights reported that men in uniform had opened fire on the victims.

``The Ministry of Defense, after the post-mortem inquiry into their deaths disclosed that there were also wounds caused by gunshots, has decided to hold a full scale probe into the incident,'' a ministry statement said.

A wave of attacks over the past month in the country's northeast, most of them bombings and shootings targeting government soldiers, has seriously threatened the country's 4-year-old cease-fire between the government and the Tamil Tigers.

The rebels have denied involvement in the violence, but the careful planning and execution of many of the recent attacks make the Tigers the main suspects, given their expertise.

On Wednesday, police found a body of a man with gunshot wounds in the Tamil city of Jaffna in the north, said a police official by telephone. The deceased's identity wasn't immediately known. The official asked not to be named as he wasn't authorized to talk to the media.

Unidentified gunmen also killed a prominent ethnic minority Tamil businessman in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. Natarjah Balendran, 45, ran a passenger bus service between Colombo and Jaffna and owned seven Internet cafes in the capital, said police spokesman Rienzie Perera.

Assailants in a white van gunned him down Tuesday night in Colombo's predominantly Tamil district of Wellawatta and he died in a hospital Wednesday morning, Perera said.

He declined to comment on whether the killing might be linked to surging violence in Sri Lanka's Tamil-majority northeast.

Discuss this story Published: Wed Jan 4 06:21:04 EST 2006

The request was made when Cardinal McCormack Murphy O'Connor from Britain called on Rajapakse in Colombo where a wide range of talks including the current peace process were held.

Rajapakse explained the reality of the large amounts of funds being raised by the LTTE in Britain and other European countries, and requested the Cardinal to use his good offices and the influence of the Church to stop this.

He said the funds did not go to help the poor Tamils but to the LTTE to further strengthen it with sophisticated weapons. The cardinal assured Rajapakse that his concerns, particularly regarding the funds would be seriously addressed. More...

Discuss this story Published: Wed Jan 4 11:27:28 EST 2006