The Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels both carried out possible war crimes in the final months before their long war ended, a UN report says.

Sixty people were feared dead today in an accidental explosion of dynamite meant for road construction in Sri Lanka.

A video purportedly showing troops shooting blindfolded, naked Tamils in the final months of Sri Lanka’s civil war has revived calls for a war crimes investigation and cast a shadow over the upcoming presidential election.

The United States asked the Sri Lankan government to open to foreign inspection areas of the country where government forces are alleged to have shelled displaced Tamils early this year in the final weeks of a 25-year secessionist rebellion.

A group of Sri Lankan doctors who have been in police custody for nearly two months were brought before the media to recant their reports of mass civilian casualties during the final days of the civil war.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed today to a triumphant Sri Lankan government to “heal the wounds” from three decades of civil war with Tamil minority rebels and urged greater access to camps for the more than 300,000 people driven from their homes.

Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed today by Sri Lankan government forces, military officials said.

THE Tamil Tiger rebels admitted defeat in their 25-year-old war with the Sri Lankan government yesterday, offering to lay down their guns as government forces swept across their last strongholds in the northeast.

The Tamil Tiger rebels admitted defeat in their 25-year-old war with the Sri Lankan government today, offering to lay down their guns as government forces swept across their last strongholds in the northeast.

THE Sri Lankan government, under intense pressure to prevent civilian deaths, said yesterday it would immediately stop air strikes and artillery attacks, but rejected calls for a ceasefire in its war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Sri Lankan troops closed in on separatist rebels in an ever-shrinking coastal war zone, as two prominent guerrillas surrendered and tens of thousands of refugees clutching their belongings fled the fighting in boats.

At least 10 civilians were killed and dozens of others wounded in artillery fire inside a Sri Lankan government-designated “safe zone”, a health official said today.

Civilians are being used as human shields by rebels in war-torn areas of Sri Lanka, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin said today.

THE United Nations said yesterday that “many” civilians have been killed in recent fighting in Sri Lanka’s civil war and called the situation for thousands of displaced people trapped in the northern conflict zone a crisis.

The Sri Lankan government officially outlawed the Tamil Tiger rebel group, ruling out the possibility of restarting peace talks to end a quarter of a century of civil war.

TEN people were killed and 86 wounded yesterday in a suicide bomb attack on a bus carrying riot police in the Sri Lankan capital Columbo.

Sri Lankan government troops have driven Tamil rebels from a key base in eastern Sri Lanka, the Defence Ministry said today.

The Sri Lankan government today accused the Tamil Tiger rebels of abducting 455 underage combatants from government-controlled areas this year and asked the insurgents to stop the practice.

The Sri Lankan government today said it has appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and foreign ceasefire monitors to persuade the Tamil Tiger rebels to help create a safe haven for an estimated 35,000 refugees caught in ongoing violence in the east.

A Norwegian peace envoy today postponed his visit to the northern stronghold of rebel Tamil Tigers after a request by the Sri Lankan government, a spokesman for the Norwegian Embassy said.

Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran today said the 2002 ceasefire with Sri Lankan government was “defunct” and blamed the Sri Lankan government for failing to address the Tamil homeland demand through negotiations.

Sri Lankan warplanes carried out airstrikes today around the northern town of Kilinochchi, deep inside rebel-held territory where Tamil Tiger insurgents have their headquarters, a rebel official said.

Sri Lanka’s military carried out airstrikes on Tamil rebel artillery positions today in the first air raid since failed peace talks in Switzerland, the Defence Ministry said.

THE Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels have told Norwegian mediators they are willing to return to peace talks without conditions.

The Tamil Tiger rebels ruled out peace talks as battles raged in Sri Lanka’s north and east.

Tamil Tiger rebels today said they had appealed to Norway for help in getting food and other essentials to 42,000 civilians trapped in fighting between the insurgents and Sri Lankan government forces.

Martin McGuinness today urged the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to prevent the island nation from slipping back to full-scale civil war, his party said.

A senior Tamil Tiger leader has apologised to India for the 1991 assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a Tiger suicide bomber.

The Sri Lankan government today appealed to the Tamil Tiger rebels to resume stalled peace talks before the country descends into full-scale war.

Sri Lankan air force jets and artillery pounded Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the country’s north and east for a second day today, peace monitors said ahead of a mass funeral for 64 people killed a bus bombing blamed on the insurgents.

Sri Lanka's air force today launched a second day of strikes on Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the country’s north, a day after a bus bombing blamed on the rebels killed 64 people.

The EU officially added Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels to its terror blacklist today, effectively freezing the group’s assets across the 25-nation bloc and hindering its ability to raise money for its armed cause in Sri Lanka.

The European Union has called a Tamil rebel attack on a Sri Lankan navy convoy a reckless move that puts the future of peace talks in serious jeopardy.

A Tamil Tiger rebel suicide boat exploded today after Sri Lankan navy troops fired at it fearing attack by the insurgents.

Tamil Tiger rebels have shelled Sri Lanka army positions and launched a deadly raid on a breakaway faction they say is backed by the Sri Lankan government, while a Tamil civilian was shot dead, officials said, heightening fears of a return to civil war.

A Norwegian peace envoy was to visit Sri Lanka today amid efforts to encourage the Tamil Tiger rebels to attend peace talks with the Sri Lankan government in Geneva next week.

The Tamil Tiger rebels said today that the Sri Lankan government has failed to honour a pledge made at peace talks in Geneva earlier this year to disarm paramilitary groups.

Sri Lankan government leaders and Tamil rebels made initial contact today at a secluded chateau outside Geneva, Switzerland, before their first direct talks in nearly three years, hoping to shore up a ragged ceasefire agreement and move peace talks back on track.

Tamil Tiger rebels have agreed to resume talks with the Sri Lankan government to review the country’s fragile cease-fire, the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo and a rebel spokesman said today.

The Sri Lankan government today asked parliament to extend an emergency rule decree imposed after the assassination of the country’s foreign minister by suspected Tamil rebels, as European peace monitors held talks with guerrilla leaders.

SIX weeks after the Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy, the UN has received little more than a third of tsunami aid funding pledged by governments, a senior official said yesterday.

The Sri Lankan government has suspended three village officials for mishandling aid to tsunami survivors and 10 others were being investigated on similar charges, an official said today.

Tamil Tiger rebels today denied claims by the United Nations that they have recruited 40 children to strengthen their ranks since the tsunami hit Sri Lanka last month.

The Sri Lankan government today said that rescue workers recovered no corpses in the past 12 hours, but cautioned that the island’s current death toll of 30,196 was not likely to be the final figure.