Wednesday, December 21 2005 10:11 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday (Dec 20,2005) shot dead a soldier in the troubled northern peninsula of Jaffna even as students protesting the killing of a woman attacked police with clubs and chains and pelted stones at their jeep, heightening fears that the already faltering truce in Sri Lanka was in more trouble, officials said.

The gunman shot dead the soldier in Jaffna town as the entire region was gripped by tension following protests by students over the murder of a 20-year-old woman whose body was found two days earlier.

"First the Tigers had opened fire at the sentry of the EPDP (Eelam People's Democratic Party) in Jaffna. The army then did a search operation in the area and during that a Tiger who was hiding in the nearby Sivam Kovil opened fire killing soldier Priyadharshana," Defense ministry spokesman brigadier Nalin Witharanage said.

University students in Jaffna had blamed security forces for the woman's killing, but police maintain that an investigation was still underway.

Students fought battles with police today and wounded two constables after trying to seize them in Jaffna earlier in the day.

The latest violence came a day after Sri Lanka's main financial backers urged the Tamil Tigers to commit to peace and help end a rise in violence in the northeast of the island.

The European Union, the United States, Japan and Norway after a review of Sri lanka's peace process in Brussles yesterday called for a de-escalation of violence in Sri Lanka.

Their meeting in Brussels came after the Tigers on Saturday rejected an offer by the government to end an impasse over a venue for ceasefire talks by agreeing to a location in Asia.

They said in a statement that they had noted the LTTE's recent appeal for 'a reasonable political framework'.

"The co-chairs condemn in the strongest terms the recent escalation in violence in the north and east," it said.

At least 36 people, including 19 government soldiers and two policemen, have been killed in the northeast of the island nation this month alone. The Government blames the Tigers for the upsurge in violence.

"The co-chairs call on the LTTE to put an immediate end to their ongoing campaign of violence and again urge the LTTE to demonstrate their commitment to the ceasefire agreement and the peace process," the quartet warned.

"Failure to demonstrate a willingness to change would not be without serious consequences," the group said.