SRI LANKA: Thousands of protesters marched through Sri Lanka's capital demanding a ban on the Tamil Tiger rebels and an end to the 2002 truce

Holding banners reading "Shame for not banning the Tigers" and chanting "Ban them immediately, withdraw from the ceasefire", around 3,000 demonstrators massed near Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's Colombo offices to hand over a petition. The protest by majority Sinhalese nationalists comes as a new chapter in Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war intensifies. Near daily artillery clashes and ambushes have killed about 3,000 civilians, troops and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters this year alone. "The people of this country demanded that the government pulls out of the traitorous ceasefire agreement and ban the murderous Tamil Tiger rebels and take a firm stand against terrorism," said Wimal Weerawansa, Propaganda Secretary of the Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP). The military and Tigers exchanged artillery fire and mortar bombs in the volatile east over the weekend, driving about 3,000 civilians from their homes to seek refuge in Buddhist temples and schools. The military said on Monday 24 soldiers were killed over the weekend in the fighting, and said they believed they killed around 40 rebels. The Tigers said dozens of civilians were killed. Independent confirmation of what had happened behind rebel lines was impossible. The Tigers say they are resuming their fight for an independent state for minority Tamils. Analysts say that means a war that has killed more than 67,000 people since 1983 will likely deepen.

ITN Source | December 12, 2006