Colombo - Tamil rebels killed three rival militants in a gun battle in eastern Sri Lanka as Norwegian peace facilitators arrive to make a fresh effort to end an impasse between the government and the rebels over proposed peace talks.
Tamil rebels claimed they killed three of their rivals while repulsing an attack by the rival group in the Kiran area, 250 kilometres east of the capital, on Tuesday morning.
Rebels also captured one of their rival group members along with a stock of claymore mines, grenades and automatic rifles, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said.
Earlier on Monday night a police constable was killed by suspected Tamil rebels who fired a mortar into a guard post located in Vavuniya, 254 kilometres north of the capital.
The escalation in violence occurred as Norwegian special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer was due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Tuesday in an unscheduled visit to keep the peace process on track and ensure that talks between the rebels and the government go ahead.
The rebels are refusing to come for talks until their cadres can safely travel from the east to the north.
To end the impasse the government will now allow the rebels to use a private commercial air craft after the rebels refused to make the trip by sea charging navy interference.
The Norwegian envoy is due to meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and travel to the north to meet with the rebel political wing leader S.P.Thamilselvan to discuss the new offer of the government.
Peace talks were due to be held in Geneva from April 19 to 21 and later re-scheduled for April 24 and 25. But it was not clear whether the talks could take place next week as the meeting between the eastern military wing members and the leadership in the north has yet to be arranged.
Rebels over the last week stepped up their attacks against security forces, killing more than 55 people, most of them soldiers and sailors.
The peace talks are aimed at finding a political settlement to the 22-year-old Tamil-minority ethnic conflict which has claimed more than 70,000 lives.
(http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1156283.php/Three_rival_militants_killed_by_Tamil_rebels_in_eastern_Sri_Lanka)
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