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Navy arrests boat suspected of arms smuggling for Tamil rebels
Shimali Senanayake in Colombo,
March 22nd, 2006, SLT 2:00 pm.
UPDATE
The Sri Lanka navy on Wednesday arrested a fishing boat off the
island's northern coast, suspected of trying to smuggle arms for the
Tamil Tiger rebels, the military said.
"We recovered 20 gelignite sticks on board the vessel," said Brig.
Prasad Samarasinghe, military spokesman.
The large fishing trawler with five men on board was taken into
custody east of Point Pedro, he said. "We suspect the boat was on
coarse to transfer weapons at mid-sea."
The men who possessed passes to enter Tamil rebel-controlled areas,
had said they were blindfolded by the guerrillas, put on the boat and
given a sailing path that led to the deep sea, navy officials said on
condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the
media.
The men had claimed not to be aware of further details.
But Samarasinghe said investigations so far revealed the men had Tamil
rebel connections.
There was no immediate comment from the Tigers.
When the navy's fast-attack crafts approached the trawler, the men had
thrown off- board communication sets and mobile phones given to them
by the Tigers, the officials said.
Truce monitors have been informed of the incident and the detained men
were handed to the police, Samarasinghe said.
Separately, the army accused the Tigers of firing at one of its
check-point in northern Jaffna on Wednesday.
Troops had retaliated but the guerrillas had fled, Samarasinghe said.
A T56 rifle was recovered in a subsequent search operation of the
area.
The incidents took place amid increasing tension between the security
forces and the rebels in recent days.
On Tuesday, the navy refuted a charge by the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam or LTTE, that it indiscriminately fired at villages in the
island's northeast under Tiger control.
"Sailors on the boat were compelled to retaliate the fire at the
direction of LTTE fire in self-defense, the military said in a
statement.
Although violence has dipped considerably since the Sri Lanka
government and the rebels met for talks in Switzerland last month,
sporadic clashes have continued.
The parties are set to meet again in April for more talks to save the
fragile four-year old cease-fire.
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Published: Wed Mar 22 06:22:22 EST 2006
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