Tigers arm up for more fighting

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday handed over to the Red Cross the bodies of 74 soldiers killed a day earlier, taking the Army's death toll since a 2002 truce to at least 129.

Nearly 300 soldiers were wounded in the fighting on Thursday around the besieged Government-held enclave of Jaffna in the far north, spurring fears that peace talks scheduled for the end of the month may be cancelled.

Yesterday, a suspected rebel roadside bomb attack in Jaffna killed five people. Artillery duels continued to rage in the area. Residents heard fighter jets fly towards Tiger territory and explosions in the distance.

"We have handed over the dead. We have also recovered a large amount of weapons, including 98 semiautomatic rifles and a light anti-tank weapon," said Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan.

"This is very good. As usual, we will take these weapons and use them against the military to fight for the freedom of our homeland."

The military had already recovered the bodies of 55 troops killed during Thursday's battle. A total of 283 soldiers were wounded. It accused the Tigers of capturing soldiers and murdering them in cold blood.

The military believes it killed around 200 Tiger rebels.

The rebels say 22 of their fighters died.

Red Cross officials were taking the 74 corpses to the southern border crossing between government and Tiger territory, where they were to be handed over to the military.

The Tigers and the military accuse each other of provoking Thursday's fighting, some of the worst since the truce.

It followed a warning from the Tigers that any further military incursions could prompt a full-blown return to a war that has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983, including hundreds since the ceasefire.

- REUTERS