COLOMBO: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday said the motive of the Tamil Tigers in carrying out the twin bomb blasts on buses in Nittambuwa and Telwatta during the past two days was to create a backlash against the Tamil community by the majority Sinhalese. The President urged the people to exercise restraint.

"Through these attacks, the LTTE has attempted to thwart the Government's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the grievances of the Tamil community," the President said in a statement.

The public must exercise patience, he said, urging them to extend their support to the police and security forces to prevent the repeat of such attacks. He urged the public, especially employees of public transport services, to be vigilant.

The Tigers have denied the charge and accused the Government of making the "baseless allegation" to discredit them. The charges and counter-charges are expected to heighten the prevailing insecurity following stepped-up fighting between the military and the LTTE in the north and the east.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which recently recalled all its monitors to the national capital, in a statement said it is deeply concerned over the explosions on civilian buses on January 5 and 6. "The SLMM is deeply concerned about the increased violence and the rising number of civilian casualties in the country," it said. The mission said the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed in 2002 by the Government and the LTTE imposed clear obligations on both the parties.

In a statement, Japan, while expressing sympathy for those killed and injured in the blasts, said the attacks which targeted civilians were cowardly acts of terrorism and such incidents must not be repeated.

Separately, the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) said that 17 persons had died in the two blasts with the second blast accounting for a toll of 11. The bomb in the second explosion is estimated to have weighed around 1.5 kg, similar to the one used in the first blast.

It said the Government has enforced new security measures on public and private transport.

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