No military solution possible in Lanka

Experts on counter terrorism have urged Sri Lanka's government to capitalise on recent victories against the Tamil Tigers and try to hammer out a political solution to the long-running ethnic war.
Earlier this year, government forces managed to eject the ethnic rebels from their last stronghold in the east of the island, while recent weeks saw the navy claim it had sunk the Tigers' last gun-running ship.
But as Colombo turns its attention to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mini-state in the north, experts at a terrorism conference in the capital this week said authorities should instead try to revive peace efforts.
"Going by the navy's recent success, about 75 percent of the guerrillas' logistics capabilities to transport weapons has been destroyed," said Shanaka Jayasekara of the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism at Australia's Macquarie University.
He said the rebels now needed about 12-18 months to restore their supply capabilities to about 50 percent.
"We need to invest military success into a viable peace deal," Jayasekara told delegates at an international conference on counter-terrorism in Colombo this week.
Meanwhile, at least 10 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in clashes between Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan troops in the restive northern district of the island, the defence ministry said Sunday.
Eight guerrillas were killed and 20 wounded in two clashes with the army across the frontlines in the north on Saturday, the military said, putting its losses at one dead and seven wounded.