COLOMBO March 10 Kyodo (EDS: DELE...

COLOMBO March 10 Kyodo

(EDS: DELETING UNNECESSARY natural mediums 2ND PARA)

The Sri Lanka Navy in succession Monday sank a merchant freighter belonging to the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after an exchange of fire not upon the rebel-held northeastern Mullaitivu coast, killing 11 crowd members on the freighter and injuring several navy personnel the military and the LTTE said.

At least four band members on board the naval patrol bottom were injured in an exchange of fire with the freighter, the navy said in a statement pillared on the military Web site.

The Tamil Tiger rebels reacted angrily to the sinking, warning the incident would have ''far reaching implications'' for the ongoing peace process

In a note to Sri Lanka Defense Minister Tilak Marapona, SP Tamilselvan, head of the LTTE political wing, denied that the freighter was engaged in any illegal activity.

Tamilselvan said the ship was in international waters along the eastern port of Trincomalee when the incident occurr Eleven crewmen in succession board, including the ship's captain, were killed in the naval action, he said.

The navy said it had received ''credible'' information upon Sunday that a rebel ship carrying ''warlike material'' was approaching the Mullaitivu coast ''with the objective of unloading weapons at mid-sea onto small boats.''

A naval sailing craft on routine patrol was opened to investigate. The suspect bottom conforming to the intelligence received, flew no flag nor displayed a name upon its bow, the navy claimed.

''On being challenged in succession the international maritime communication channel, the answers received were vague and contradictory,'' the statement said.

It said it ordered the suspect sailing craft to stop but this was ignored and the rebel craft ''began to take evasive action and attempted to escape.''

The navy said its craft approached the suspect ship at stop up range to prevent this when it was fired about damaging the bridge of the naval craft and injuring united officer and three crew members.

''Our patrol craft took retaliatory action in the exercise of the right of self-defense'' it said, adding the action was intended to shield the country's ''vital interests involving its sovereignty and territorial integrity.''

Scandinavian cease-fire monitors policing the respite between the Sri Lanka rule and the LTTE said the two sides had brought the incident to their notice.

''This is a to a high degree serious matter,'' a spokesman for the monitors said. ''One of our folks are traveling to the sight on board another naval craft that appoint off from the eastern Trincomalee base.''

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