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Violence escalates

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces have escalated attacks on each other ahead of moves by Norway to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table, officials said on Sunday.

The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) stepped up a bombing campaign targeting public transport and attempted to bomb a strategic harbour in the northeast of the island, military officials said.

At least 30 passengers were wounded when bombs went off in three buses on Thursday, but a suicide attack against the Trincomalee harbour had been thwarted by the navy on the eve of Friday's Independence day celebrations.

Government forces also stepped up attacks against the LTTE and claimed to have killed more than 75 rebels and wounded another 130 on Wednesday in the northern peninsula of Jaffna.

The escalation of violence comes ahead of a visit to the island by Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek to help bring the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government to the negotiating table.ÑAFP