Sri Lankan Tamil rebels gun down rival activist

Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels were accused of gunning down a rival political party activist in the capital Colombo early Monday.

Police said Kandasamyaiyar Balanadaraja alias Sinnabala was shot dead by suspected pistol gang members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the southern Colombo area of

Pamankada at around 8:30 a.m. (local time) Monday while he was on his way to work.

He had acted as the Tamil media spokesman for the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and was an ex-member of the LTTE.

The killing followed Friday's gunning down of another EPDP member by the Tamil Tigers in the eastern town of Valaichchenai.

EPDP leader Douglas Devananda, who is also a government minister, early July survived an assassination attempt by a female suicide squad member of the LTTE.

The government, which failed in attempts to revive the stalled peace talks with the LTTE, has urged the Tamil Tiger rebels to stop all killings of their opponents.