Assassins killed two Tamils in separate incidents in Sri Lanka’s north, the rebels and the military said today.

The Sri Lankan military said today that its forces thwarted a major Tamil Tiger rebel attack on a strategic jetty in Muttur, killing 35 insurgents, as a Norwegian peace envoy travelled to the northern rebel heartland in an effort to prevent the country from sliding back into full-blown civil war.

Sri Lankans today voted for a president to shape peace efforts in a country bloodied by more than two decades of civil war and devastated by last year’s tsunami.

Tamil Tiger rebels walked out of a meeting with Sri Lankan officials on the distribution of tsunami aid today after a strident opponent of the guerrillas showed up uninvited for the talks.

Sri Lanka’s government is allocating disaster relief to Tamils in rebel-controlled territory without discrimination, the prime minister said today, as he warned that the guerillas’ appeal for direct international aid would further split the war-ravaged country.

MASSIVE tidal waves triggered by an Indonesian earthquake slammed into southern India yesterday, killing more than 2,000 people and sweeping away boats, homes and vehicles, officials said.