COLOMBO, Feb 4: Tamil tiger guerrillas fired mortars bombs and disrupted an independence day celebration in eastern Sri Lanka on Wednesday wounding eight people, local officials said.The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired three mortars at the town of Batticaloa, 300 kilometres east of here by road, officials said.
They said the attack shattered the calm in the town and forced officials to abandon a flag-hoisting ceremony to mark 50 years of independence from British rule on Wednesday.Meanwhile, President Chandrika Kumaratunga has urged the people of Sri Lanka to accept the reality of a diverse society and make efforts to end the ethnic strife that has ravaged the country for the past 14 years.
In her message to mark Sri Lanka's 50th year of independence, Kumaratunga said it was time to accept the failures and make compromises in an effort to enter the future witout the bitterness and violence caused by the ethnic war.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
