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Public to blame for Jaffna unrest: LTTE
Tamil guerillas have blamed the public and student organisations for Friday's violence in which one person was killed and six others were injured during a protest in Jaffna town over the death of a school girl who was allegedly run down by an Army tractor.

At an emergency meeting in Jaffna, LTTE's Jaffna political wing leader Illamparithy told security forces and ceasefire monitors that it was the students and civilians who created the disturbances.

The LTTE and the Army had agreed at this meeting that in future they would work together to prevent such violence. An SLMM spokesperson told The Sunday Times that the Police, Army and the LTTE had agreed to have three separate investigations on Friday's incidents and meet again on Tuesday to review the progress.

The LTTE had pointed out that this was not the first time that crowds had become unruly following an accident. The protest was sparked off after an army tractor knocked down 12-year-old Nagendiram Dushika of Vembady Girls's school in Jaffna. Crowds pelted stones, burnt bunkers and attempted to set fire to an Air Force Jeep.

The tractor driver was arrested immediately after the incident and remanded. Police said that situation had returned to normal yesterday. Military spokesman Daya Ratnayake said that all the bunkers damaged had been restored. Meanwhile the northern based Journalists Association condemned the attack on a journalist by the security forces.

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