Tigers deny killing 100 Muslim civilians

COLOMBO: Tamil Tiger rebels on Sunday denied a Sri Lankan Defence Ministry charge that they massacred over 100 Muslim civilians fleeing the fighting in the north-eastern town of Muttur.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in turn accused the Sri Lankan Army of slaughtering 15 Tamils, including three women, working for non-governmental agencies in Muttur.

"There is no massacre as alleged by the Sri Lankan government," the head of the LTTE peace secretariat, S Puleedevan said. He also denied a charge by top Muslim leader Rauf Hakeem that the Tigers had taken 100 Muslims prisoner.

"We are not holding any people," Puleedevan said. "We have not killed any civilians. In fact, we gave them notice to quit the area before we launched our operation." The Defence Ministry said the Tigers had targeted the civilians believing that they had collaborated with security forces. "The Tigers believed the youth in and around Muttur were feeding the security forces with information of Tiger movements and deployments," the ministry said.