The funerals of 11 murdered Muslims have taken
place in eastern Sri Lanka.
Their bodies were found after they had
apparently gone to repair an irrigation system. Local Muslims have called for
an inquiry into how the men died.
Hundreds of angry Muslims earlier gathered
outside a mosque in Ampara where the bodies were displayed.
The government accused the Tamil Tigers of the
killings, but the rebels have blamed the army, pointing out that they happened
in a government-held area
Months of heavy fighting have displaced more
than 200,000 people in Sri Lanka. Hundreds have been killed.
Both sides have condemned the latest killings,
which took place in a remote part of Ampara district.
Friction
The military says the civilian men had been
working on a water project on Sunday. When they failed to return home, a team
went to investigate on Monday morning and found the bodies
"They had gone to renovate a sluice gate and went missing.
They have been found dead, hacked and chopped," an unnamed military
spokesman quoted by the Reuters news agency said.
Another man
was injured, but survived the attack.
The BBC's
Dumeetha Luthra in Ampara says that locals say there has been friction between
the Muslim community and the Sri Lankan security forces.
Our
correspondent says that many in the town accuse the Special Task Force (STF) of
the killings, and now want the local police unit transferred immediately, along
with a full investigation.
The STF have
denied the allegations.
Sri Lanka's
police chief is now in Ampara for talks with senior Muslim politicians, and our
correspondent says that shows that the issue is being taken seriously.
Ampara
district is home to a large number of Sri Lanka's Muslim minority - Muslims are
the third largest community in the country after the Sinhalese and Tamils.
Tens of thousands were displaced from the north-eastern town of Muttur in July and August when fighting between the two sides forced them from their homes.
Norway brokered a ceasefire between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tigers in 2002 which is still technically in place, despite the violence.
The two sides held a number of rounds of peace talks until the rebels pulled out in April 2003 saying they were being sidelined.
The government and rebels did meet earlier this year for talks aimed at shoring up the ceasefire, but made no headway.
More than
60,000 people have been killed since the rebels began their fight the 1970s for
a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east.
Tamil
Tigers Terrorist behind Pottuvil (Sri Lanka) Muslim massacre: Sole survivor
It was the Tamil Tigers (LTTE )SriLankan terrorists who
brutally hacked and chopped to death the 10 Muslim workers at Sasiriveli in
Pottuvil, said F.I. Meera Mohideen, the only surviving victim of the incident
now receiving treatment at the Ampara Hospital. Mohideen said this when a group
of Muslim representatives headed by Minister A.L.M. Athaulla visited him at
Ampara Hospital to inquire after his health on Wednesday.
Recalling the incident, Mohideen said on September 17
around 9.00 a.m., 11 workers including him arrived at the worksite at Raddella
irrigational tank in Sasiriveli. "We came there by tractor. My job was to
prepare meals for the party in the evening, a group of persons in black
trousers talking in Tamil came to us and in a rough tone told that we were
wanted by their Chief and we would be produced before the Chief. We were blind
folded two at a time and taken away," he said. "Those who were taken
away never returned. I heard them screaming and wailing. Since our group
consisted of 11 members, I was the last to be taken alone. I was severely
assaulted and then thrown away. They then remarked that I was already dead.
That was the last I heard." Mohideen said the following morning, when the
villagers gathered, he was semiconscious. "It was only then that I
realised that the other 10 persons had been killed. This group of persons were
wearing T shirts similar to the ones worn by Tiger terrorists. They spoke
fluent Tamil. I can definitely say that they were Tiger terrorists,"
Mohideen said. STF Police Commander Nimal Lewke said the blame of this mass
massacre by the Tamil Tigers(LTTE) Sri Lankan terrorists with the backing of
the illicit timber racketeers had been put on the STF, but Muslim masses in
Pottuvil and Ampara had proved that this allegation was false.
