25 killed in Lanka ahead of South Asian summit

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COLOMBO, July 31 (AFP): At least 24 Tamil Tiger rebels and a soldier were killed in fresh fighting in Sri Lanka's north as the island prepared to host a summit of South Asian leaders, the defence ministry said today.

The 24 members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in the Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts on Wednesday, the ministry said, adding a government soldier also died in the clashes.

The fighting raged as the government hosted preparatory meetings for the eight- member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit to start on Saturday.

The foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka began talks in Colombo on Thursday ahead of the two-day summit.

Security has been stepped up in Colombo with several roads closed and parking restrictions for the duration of the SAARC meetings.

The fighting is taking place 250 kilometres (160 miles) north of here but there have recently been a string of deadly attacks on Colombo that the government has blamed on the rebels.

The government last month rejected a rebel offer for a brief unilateral ceasefire for the summit, and has kept up military raids on insurgent positions in the decades-old conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.