Tigers issue warning as strike grips Lanka

Key towns in the northern and eastern provinces were at a virtual standstill following the strike called by pro-rebel activists the day after the army killed a 65-year-old man during a protest over a new police checkpoint.

"We fear that incidents like this will weaken the confidence people have in the ceasefire agreement and create anger among the people and will lead to increased tension in the prevailing fragile situation," the Tigers said in a statement.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in their first reaction to Monday's crackdown in the district of Batticaloa, said the shooting was a violation of the truce that went into effect from February 23, 2002.

"Blocking peaceful protest by the people using arms and violence is against the rules of the ceasefire and will affect the validity of the ceasefire agreement," the Tigers said in a statement.

Soldiers opened fire Monday when hundreds of demonstrators hurled stones at a military jeep to protest a new road checkpoint set up by police and soldiers.

The military Tuesday ordered all its units to act with maximum restraint and use minimum force to disperse any new protestors in the troubled eastern region, an army officer said.

"We have also ordered all units to ensure that local police are called for crowd control instead of deploying security forces for such work," the officer said.

The eastern province has been in turmoil since the region's top guerrilla leader, V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna, led an unprecedented split in the Tamil Tiger movement in March last year.

Since then there has been a spate of factional killings.

More than 60,000 people have died in three decades of war between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Diplomatic efforts to get both sides back to the negotiating table after talks broke down in April 2003 have remained inconclusive.