M A I N   N E W S

Over 70 LTTE rebels killed

COLOMBO, May 22 (PTI) — Over 70 Tamil rebels were killed in a face-to-face battle with government troops which used aircraft and artillery to repulse fresh LTTE assaults in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna peninsula even as a Norwegian peace mission got underway here.

The army claimed to have successfully repulsed two more attempts by well-armed guerrillas to break through the defences on the outskirts of Chavakachechri, a small but strategic town which the rebels claim they captured from the army on Saturday evening.

Over 70 rebels were killed in fierce fighting with the troops at Sirasali about 5 km east of Chavakachri, government spokesman Arya Rubasinghe said.

Heavy hand-to-hand fighting raged in Chavakachechri, about 15 kms north of Jaffna, during the weekend, an official statement said.

Mr Rubasinghe said the army has offered to hand over 50 rebels’ bodies to the LTTE through the International Committee of Red Cross. This was the first time that LTTE suffered such major loss after it launched its new offensive to recapture Jaffna since May 10.

The statement said the guerrillas attacked Chavakachechri to find a solution to the crisis.

The delegation led by Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen and accompanied by special envoy Eric Solhein, held preliminary rounds of discussions with Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Mr Solhein, who visited New Delhi before coming to Colombo, is understood to have discussed with the Indian leaders the possibility of India’s role in the peace process.

Meanwhile, the ICRC said it had failed to obtain permission from both the government and the LTTE to take ship from eastern Trincomalee to Kankesanthurai to evacuate patients.

In another related development the government censor ordered the closure of pro-opposition weekly newspaper The Sunday Leader and its Sinhala publication Perumuna for “repeatedly violating” the existing censorship regulations.

The government had earlier closed a Tamil newspaper in Jaffna Uthayan on similar ground.

CHENNAI: BJP President Kushabhau Thakre on Tuesday disagreed with Shiv Sena’s demand for lifting the ban on the LTTE.

NDA government’s stand on the Sri Lankan issue, the BJP President said he agreed with the stand taken by Prime Minister that the situation in the island nation was changing rapidly and India was ready to step in if necessary.

Indian forces ready

NEW DELHI, May 22 (PTI) — India's armed forces are in a state of readiness to evacuate thousands of beleaguered Sri Lankan troops in the Jaffna peninsula in case the government takes a decision after any such request from Colombo, defence sources said here on Monday night.

Indian naval ships have been carrying our exercises in the Bay of Bengal and vessels stationed at Visakhapatnam, Port Blair, Paradip as well as in other ports under the Eastern to undertake the task, they said.

The operation, if approved by the government would have to involve all three services to ensure faster evacuation of the troops by both sea and air. However, no direction had so far been given by the government to the armed forces. The evolving situation in Jaffna was reviewed today at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Mr Vajpayee.