The Sri Lankan government Wednesday rejected a Tamil Tiger rebel demand for setting free 10 of their imprisoned members in exchange of two home guards abducted by them in the east of the country.

Acting Defense Minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake told the parliament that the government is not ready to accept the demand put forward by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels last week and these rebels have been sent to jail after proper inquiries against them.

The Sinhala community staged a protest against the abduction of the two home guards in the eastern port town of Trincomalee on Tuesday, bringing the town into a standstill.

The protesters urged the Scandinavian truce monitors, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to pressure the LTTE into releasing the two home guards who were abducted by the rebels last month.

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Source: Xinhua