Sri Lanka takes key Tiger town

COLOMBO—Sri Lanka captured a key town used by Tamil Tigers to target artillery at a major naval port, as the country's president urged the rebels to return to peace talks.
Security forces have moved into Sampur, 10 kilometers (six miles) across the Koddiya Bay from the Trincomalee naval and air complex, President Mahinda Rajapakse announced at a rally for his Sri Lanka Freedom party on Monday.
"Our troops have captured Sampur," he said to thunderous applause during the 55th anniversary celebrations for the main component of the ruling coalition.
"This is not war, we are only responding to an attack on us."
Rajapakse said despite the victory, he still wanted a negotiated settlement to the island's protracted Tamil separatist conflict, which has claimed more than 60,000 lives in the past three decades.
"We need to work together to banish racial hatred and bring peace... the honourable peace promised in my election manifesto," Rajapakse said.
He also praised army chief Sarath Fonseka, who narrowly survived a Tiger suicide bombing in April, saying the military officer had been able to make a significant impact on the battlefield.
Rajapakse came to power in November promising an "honourable peace" and to bring the Tiger guerrillas back to peace talks brokered by Norway, despite pressure from two of his allies to wage all-out war against the rebels.
The Tigers had said last week that if the army tried to take control of Sampur, it would lead to the collapse of a fragile ceasefire in place since February 2002.
As Rajapakse addressed followers at a tightly-guarded ceremony here, Tiger rebels set off a Claymore mine against a bus transporting constables in the island's north, police said, adding the vehicle narrowly escaped being hit.
Troops moved into Sampur on Monday after weeks of fighting which included artillery, air and ground attacks after the rebels apparently decided to abandon the position.
However, a soldier was killed and several others wounded in an overnight mortar bomb attack against security forces in the area, military officials said.
The capture of Sampur is crucial for maintaining Trincomalee, the starting point for the ferrying of troops and supplies to the embattled northern peninsula of Jaffna.
Some 350,000 civilians and 40,000 troops in the peninsula depend on the sea route for food and other essentials, as the main road has been cut off by the rebels since heavy fighting erupted on August 11.
The clashes in Jaffna died down after two weeks, but the main road still remains blocked.
With Trincomalee under threat from Tiger guns at Sampur, the authorities were forced to send supplies to Jaffna from Colombo, a journey that would take two extra days because of the distance.
Fighting in Sri Lanka has intensified since December, shattering hopes for the ceasefire to continue and leaving more than 1,500 dead, according to official figures.
A presidential spokesman said he was also making use of the party rally to drum up support for a political settlement on the back of military gains that are seen as strengthening the government's bargaining position.
Analysts and diplomats involved in the Norwegian-backed peace process have expected both sides to try and gain the military upper hand before resuming talks that have been on hold since April 2003.—Agencies