Lankan blasts kill 30, cast cloud over peace talks

At least 50 other people were injured in the port town of Trincomalee when a bomb rigged up to a bicycle exploded, hours after a Claymore mine attack killed two constables in the same district.

Thirty people have now been killed in four blasts since Monday, dimming hopes for talks scheduled for next week between Colombo and Tamil Tiger rebels in Switzerland to save their faltering ceasefire.

The Dutch government, on behalf of the European Union, condemned the latest violence and urged the parties to honour pledges made during earlier talks in Geneva in February to uphold the truce in place since 2002.

"Recent violent incidents illustrate a flagrant disregard for the commitments made by the parties at Geneva and place in serious jeopardy the upcoming talks in Geneva," the embassy said.

"The attacks must be seen as an attempt to derail the upcoming ceasefire talks in Geneva."

International concern mounted for Sri Lanka's peace efforts yesterday as the third landmine attack in as many days killed 21

Two policemen died in a suspected Tamil Tiger landmine blast in the restive northeast on Wednesday as peace brokers and Scandinavian truce monitors kept up a bid to save the faltering ceasefire.

Police said two constables were killed on the spot while two others were injured after their truck was ambushed with a Claymore mine, a surface-mounted explosive device which scatters pellets like bullets.

The policemen were on their way to Trincomalee to buy provisions for colleagues stationed further north of the main city in the coastal district, police said.

"It is the Tigers who have carried out the attack," a Trincomalee police official said, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Two men were killed on the spot and the other two in the truck were injured," he said. "They have been taken to the Trincomalee hospital."