Suspected Tamil rebels hurl grenade at rivals' office Sri Lanka
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-17 13:32

Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels hurled a grenade at the office of a rival Tamil political group on Wednesday in northern Sri Lanka, injuring one person, the military said, reported AP.

M. Ambarasan, 28, was asleep at the office of the Eelam People's Democratic Party in the Tamil heartland of Jaffna when an assailant flung the grenade into the building, said Brig. Daya Ratnayake, military spokesman.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Eelam People's Democratic Party _ a coalition partner of the government _ used to be a militant group, but it renounced violence and joined mainstream Sri Lankan politics a decade ago. It bitterly opposes the Tiger rebels.

The party accuses the rebels of killing at least 40 of its members since a cease-fire came into effect in 2002. Hindu Affairs Minister Douglas Devananda, a leader of the party, has escaped several attempts against his life by suspected guerrillas.

Jaffna, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, is home to most of the island's 3.2 million Tamils and the center of a two-decade civil war between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The guerrillas began their separatist fight in 1983. About 65,000 people were killed before the government and rebels signed the Norway-brokered cease-fire in February 2002. Subsequent peace talks have stalled for more than two years due to disagreements over rebel demands for wide autonomy.