At least six Tamil rebels and three soldiers were killed in a fresh round of clashes in northern Sri Lanka as the death toll in two weeks of sporadic clashes exceeded 120, military DPA quoted officials as saying Thursday. The fighting broke out Wednesday after rebels fired mortars, artillery and small arms at the security forces in areas west of Omanthai, 260 kilometres north of the capital. Military officials said at least six rebels were killed and dozens were injured while three soldiers and five soldiers were also injured. Earlier the Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest to the Iceland government after one of its foreign ministry officials visited the rebel-held north and met with rebel political wing leader SP Thamilselvan. A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Colombo said that Minister Counsellor of the Foreign Ministry of Iceland Bjarni Vestmann had met with the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) when the Sri Lankan government had not authorized him to make any contact with the rebels. Sri Lankan Foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama, during a visit to New York, met with his counterpart from Iceland, Mrs Ingibj|rg S olr un G islad ottir, and lodged a strong protest, the statement said. The statement said that after the protest the government of Iceland tendered an unqualified written apology to the government of Sri Lanka for the unauthorized meeting. Reports from the north said that Vestmann had traveled to the rebel-held area in a vehicle of the Scandinavian cease-fire monitors and the military had not been informed about the visit. Officials from Iceland are part of the monitoring team, although the cease-fire has gone unimplemented since fighting escalated in December 2005. There was no immediate reaction from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which has been in the country since February 2002.
