Sri Lankan bishop writes president after bombing of refugee camp

Published: 2007-01-03

BANGALORE, India (CNS) -- Bishop Rayappu Joseph of Mannar, Sri Lanka, deplored the bombing of a Tamil refugee camp that left more than a dozen dead and 35 seriously injured in his northwestern diocese. "The irresponsible attack on the innocent civilians at the very dawn of the new year is so frustrating," Bishop Joseph said in a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse a day after the Jan. 2 attack. After visiting the bombed area of Padahu Thurai, controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Bishop Joseph said the attack was "clearly on a civilian target." He said there were no Tamil rebel "bunkers, nor could we see any sign of their camps or any individual residence" of possible rebels "in or in the vicinity of this area." Bishop Joseph said the "military propaganda" that claimed only Tamil rebels were targeted and the majority of those killed were rebels "has added insult to injury."

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