Attacks on Diplomats

At least two foreign diplomats were injured in Sri Lanka Tuesday in a Tamil rebel artillery attack that wounded a dozen other people and drew swift military retaliation, the government said.

The ambassadors of Italy and the United States were hurt in the attack, while diplomats from Germany, Canada, France Japan escaped uninjured.

"We were extremely lucky to be able to escape. I could see the grenades or something like that falling and exploding," German Ambassador Jürgen Weerth told The Associated Press after returning to Colombo, the capital.

Envoys suffered minor injuries

The Sri Lankan military retaliated with air attacks against suspected positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Batticaloa district, military officials said.

Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who accompanied the diplomats, said injuries suffered were "minor."

"A shell fell a short distance away from where we were," Samarasinghe told the AFP news service. "We heard about four explosions. The ambassadors are slightly hurt."

EU condemns attack

The German EU presidency condemned the rebel artillery attack and called for peace negotiations to resume in Sri Lanka.

"This serious incident renews the European Union's concerns about the current developments in Sri Lanka," the presidency said in a statement.

"The European Union urges both sides to stop the violence immediately and return to the negotiating table without delay in order to find a viable solution to the conflict on the basis of constructive proposals.

"The presidency reiterates the EU's readiness to continue to support the peace process."

Violence continues

Meanwhile jets bombed the jungles of Thoppigala, 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Batticaloa, where the Tigers have organized past attacks, military officials said.

The LTTE said at least 20 civilians were wounded in the shelling, while a teacher was also killed in a mine attack carried out by security forces inside rebel-held territory.

The LTTE expressed "deep regret" over the attack, but accused the government of risking the lives of foreign nationals by not giving them advance warning of their arrival in the embattled region.

Calls to resume peace talks

Government defense spokesman Rambukwella rejected the rebel statement.

The diplomats were visiting Batticaloa for the first time after security forces last month dismantled a de facto separate state the Tigers ran in the region for over a decade.

The rebels said the shelling stopped after a UN official contacted them to explain that diplomats were on board. The Tigers said the diplomats or the government should have informed them of their arrival in a war zone.

The US and the EU have banned the Tigers but have also called on the Colombo government to resume negotiations stalled since October.