The Hindu : International : Pulmoddai battle on but Sri Lankan ship `safe'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006

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International

Pulmoddai battle on but Sri Lankan ship `safe'

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Navy has denied reports that the Jetliner ship, which escaped a Tiger attack in Trincomalee on Tuesday afternoon, came under attack again in the Pulmoddai sea.

The ship had 854 Sri Lanka Army soldiers on board. However, a spokesperson of the SLA told The Hindu that a confrontation was on between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Navy in the Pulmoddai sea.

"[The] Jetliner is safe and the passengers on board disembarked in the afternoon. The claim by the LTTE about a second attack on the Jetliner is false and is a sign of desperation after its cadres suffered heavily in the Trincomalee as well as Pulmoddai confrontation," the spokesperson said.

Earlier, TamilNet claimed that the Jetliner, bound for the north, came under a second attack from the Tigers at 6 p.m. Pulmoddai is located 49 km northwest of Trincomalee and 41 km southwest of Mullaithivu. "Villagers of Kokilai, Pulmoddai and other areas close to the Pulmoddai sea are fleeing their houses," it said.

Rajapakse calls up Manmohan

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse telephoned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday and exchanged views on the latest developments.

He also thanked Dr. Singh for help in the evacuation of stranded Sri Lankans from Lebanon.

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