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Sri Lankan Tamil Rebels Blame Govt for Wounding US Journalist
Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels blamed on Thursday government forces for wounding the London-based US woman journalist while she was escorted by the rebels back to government-controlled area in the north of the country.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels said in a statement issued from their headquarters in Wanni in the north of the country that Marie Colvin decided to cross the front lines in Vavuniya hoping that government forces would not fire since they were observing a temporary five-day ceasefire for the Sinhala Tamil New Year festival.
"But the troops opened fire at her and at our cadres violating the very truce unilaterally declared by them." the statement said.
The Defense Ministry said that five Tiger rebels had also been wounded along with Colvin.
Colvin, 44, who works for Britain's Sunday Times, was wounded in a gun battle between government forces and LTTE rebels while she was trying to cross back to a government-held area in Vavuniya escorted by rebels late on Monday.
Colvin left here on Thursday for London for further treatment of her left eye. She suffered shrapnel wounds to her left eye, chest and arms in the gun battle.
The government said that Colvin overstayed her visa and her entry into the rebel-held areas in the north was not permitted by the Defense Ministry.
Preliminary inquiries have revealed that she was set up by Tiger rebels to be killed in order to tarnish the government's image, the official Daily News said on Thursday.
The paper further said that the Tiger rebels who took Colvin through a secure route to their jungle hideout escorted her back to government-controlled territory deliberately along an unsafe path.
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