Colombo (AsiaNews) Norway's special envoy, Jon Hanssen-Bauer, arrived in Sri Lanka a day after an attack left more than a hundred people dead. According to the BBC, the diplomat's mission will be to discuss details of talks between government and Tamil rebels scheduled for October 28 and 29. But the fresh violence could derail them.
Yesterday an explosives-loaded lorry, probably driven by a suicide bomber, rammed a Sri Lankan Navy bus convoy near Habarana, Trincomalee, killing at least 103 people and wounding 150 more, but Tamil Tiger rebels, which have been fighting for 20 years for a separate homeland in north-eastern Sri Lanka, did not confirm or deny the attack.
Cremations of the dead began today, an army spokesman said.
The government called the suicide attack "barbaric" and retaliated with air strikes deep inside territory held by the Tigers near Puthukuddierippu. The Tamilnet website reported two children killed and 15 injured.
Both parties are however trying to muddy the waters. The government has denied that its air strikes were in retaliation for the death of sailors, claiming instead that the planes were already on their way in response to rebel artillery attacks. For their part, the Tigers said that yesterday's blast "was not a suicide mission".
The convoy slaughter and the military's response seem to leave little hope for renewed dialogue between the combatants, formally still bound by the 2002 cease-fire.
A Catholic man in Colombo summed up the population's state of mind by saying: "It is terrible. The army and the rebels are killing each other. Not only are they killing so many innocent people, but they are especially killing hope."