SL plans referendum on ceasefire

New Delhi: The Sri Lankan Government reportedly plans to hold a referendum on the five-year-old ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

According to the state-run Sunday Observor, President Mahinda Rajapakse is considering holding a referendum to decide on continuing with the controversial ceasefire agreement.

This follows stepped up LTTE attacks against security forces in recent times. Over 4,000 people have been killed in violence over the last five years despite the truce.

On Saturday, at least eight civilians were killed in a mortar attack in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka.

The army and the LTTE blamed each other for the attack, in which two children died.