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PM talks to Rajapaksa on SL situation
Manmohan said India would extend coop to the peace initiatives made by the Prez, reports PK Balachandran.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa spoke to each other on the phone on Wednesday on the deteriorating security situation in Sri Lanka.
According to the Sri Lankan government website, Singh expressed "deep concern" over the present situation in the island.
Singh "condemned the recent violence and killings and expressed condolences to the bereaved," the website said.
Singh further said that India would extend cooperation to the peace initiatives made by President Rajapaksa.
According to informed sources, Singh had made the call at the request of the Sri Lankan President.
Ethnic violence in Trincomalee
Meanwhile, at least 15 people including civilians, soldiers, Tamils, Sinhalas and Muslims, were killed in communal rioting and a bicycle bomb blast in the eastern port town of Trincomalee.
The incidents had occurred in the evening.
In Batticaloa, two army men were shot and wounded.
Knowledgeable sources said that the LTTE had decided not to go for the second round of peace talks in Geneva, to begin on April 19, in protest against the Canadian ban on it, and the killing of its supporters in the Wanni and Trincomalee districts.
The LTTE alleges that the killings were done by "Tamil paramilitaries" allegedly supported by the government.
Last Wednesday, the Tamil media reported the killing of three Tamil businessmen in the Wanni who had helped organise the LTTE-inspired "Tamil Resurgence" and "Thileepan Memorial" meetings in that area.
Last week, V Vigneswaran, the chief organiser of the Tamil Resurgence mettings in Trincomalee, was gunned down.
