Continued unrest hampers aid effort in Sri Lanka

Despite government promises, aid workers in Sri Lanka are still not safe from the continued fighting between government forces and Tamil separatists. The recent abduction and killing of two local Red Cross volunteers in Colombo, the nation's capital, has renewed aid workers' concerns and caused the government to reaffirm its commitment to protecting volunteers.

Following a two-day tsunami relief workshop, Sinnarasa Shanmugalingam and Karthekesu Chandramohan were returning home Friday with four of their colleagues when a group of men in civilian clothing purporting to be police officers approached them. The supposed police officers separated Mr. Shanmugalingam and Mr. Chandramohan for questioning, loaded them in a van, and drove off. Their bodies were discovered Sunday in gem-mining district of Ratnapura. The victims were Tamil, an ethnic minority in Sri Lanka, reports Agence France-Presse.

Reuters reports that police have launched a major investigation into the slayings.

Police denied any involvement in the incident, which came a day after President Mahinda Rajapaksa said most complaints about abductions were false. ...

Acting police spokesman N.K. Illangakoon denied the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the police had been involved or arrested the volunteers.

"The CID did not take them into custody," he said. "So far we have no clue about the people who kidnapped them."

The Sri Lankan government has also condemned the killings. In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe came down strongly against the murders and other actions that serve to discredit governmental agencies.

"The government strongly condemns this crime which appears to have been carried out to discredit the government. This type of abductions and killings are totally against the government policy. We are determined to get to the bottom of this story," Minister Samarasinghe said.

The deaths underscore the danger for aid workers in Sri Lanka, which has been mired in a bloody civil war with the Tamil Tigers separatist group since 1972. In August 2006, militants killed 17 aid workers from the French aid organization Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger). Scandinavian monitors alleged that government forces were behind the mass aid worker killing. The government has staunchly denied the allegation.

The killing of the Tamil Red Cross volunteers came during a government "crackdown against minority Tamilsin Colombo after two bomb attacks blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels killed nine and wounded 44," reports theTimes of India.

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