SRI LANKA: Anti-war protestors in Colombo clash with supporters of the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels

On Thursday (August 17), around 1,000 people marched in Colombo then gathered in a park to urge an end to the fighting in Sri Lanka. Reuters journalists said scuffles broke out between the peace activists and hardline Buddhist monks who oppose concessions to the rebels. The scuffles turned into an open fight after the shaven-headed, saffron-robed monks took over the stage, forcing religious leaders from Hindu, Christian and Muslim communities as well as other Buddhist monks to flee. "They were saying we should go to war," said pro-peace monk Madampawe Assagee. "We like to listen to other opinions so we let them do that but then they started fighting and we couldn't control some of our people." There were no reports of serious injuries. The rising violence in recent days, including a suspected Tiger blast in the capital on Monday (August 14) that killed seven, is worrying investors and scaring away tourists. More than 800 people had died this year even before ground fighting began in the northeastern district of Trincomalee in late July after rebels shut a canal sluice gate, cutting off water supplies to farms in government-held territory.

ITN Source | August 18, 2006

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