Tigers deny bombing involvent

2004-07-08 08:04

Colombo, Sri Lanka - The Tamil Tiger rebels on Thursday denied any involvement in a suicide bombing in the Sri Lankan capital a day earlier that killed the female bomber and four police officers.

The Tiger movement "condemns this attempted assassination," rebel political chief SP Thamilselvan told The Associated Press in the group's first formal comment on the incident.

"We deny any involvement in the bombing," he said by telephone from the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

The woman blew herself up on Wednesday while being frisked at a police station, killing herself and four officers and wounding 10 other people, in what appeared to be a failed attempt to assassinate a local politician who is opposed to the rebels.

"It may have been conducted by some anti-peace elements," Thamilselvan said, without elaborating.

The bombing was the first such attack in the Sri Lankan capital since the rebels signed a cease-fire agreement two years ago. The cease-fire has held firm despite a breakdown in peace talks in April 2003.

However, tension has mounted between the military and the Tigers since a March split in the rebel movement. The mainstream rebels accuse the military of helping a renegade leader.

The Sri Lankan government condemned Wednesday's bombing but did not blame the Tamil Tigers.

A spokesperson for European truce monitors, Disa Finnboga, said the bombing was "a very serious incident" but that "It's too early to say if it will affect the cease-fire until further investigations are conducted."

The Tigers have been blamed for many such attacks since 1987, when they began using suicide bombings as part of their violent campaign for a separate homeland.

Numerous politicians were killed in dozens of suicide attacks over the years, including Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

The Tigers began fighting for a separate Tamil homeland in the north and northeast in 1983, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination.

- AP