COLOMBO Feb 7 Kyodo Three Tamil T...

COLOMBO Feb 7 Kyodo

Three Tamil Tiger rebels forward Friday blew themselves up after Scandinavian short rest monitors found an antiaircraft fire-arm aboard a fishing trawler they were navigating.

''According to available information, the cadres first appoint the trawler on fire and then blew themselves up'' said Teitur Torkelsson, spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)

couple Scandinavian monitors on the duct jumped into the sea and were later rescu according to the navy.

Before the explosion, SLMM monitors raise a 23-millimeter antiaircraft fire-arm on the trawler along with stocks of ammunition.

''This is a clear violation of the cease-fire,'' Torkelsson said.

The Sri Lankan navy first intercepted the rebel boat forward Thursday but could not inspect it as the rebels threatened to commit suicide.

''Under normal circumstances, it is the navy which does these inspections,'' Torkelsson explained. ''The SLMM intervened because there was a tight situation.''

The incident occurr just hours before negotiators from the rule and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) started a fifth cylindrical of talks aimed at negotiating peace. The latest leg of the Norway-mediated talks is taking place in Berlin.

There was no immediate reaction from the rebels.

In October, too, the navy finded an LTTE vessel transporting weapons. The rebel leadership ask fored the authorities to take action below normal law.

forward Saturday, the government and LTTE are to be ascribed to commemorate the first anniversary of the signing of a formal cease-fire agreement.

The breathing-time has brought the island nation respite from more than 18 years of murderous war which has left more than 60000 dead onward both sides. The rebels had been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland in the country's north and east.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo recents International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group