Sri Lankan emergency extended

State of emergency is in its sixth consecutive month. Meanwhile the violence continues as Colombo reiterates its opposition to any independent Tamil state.

Colombo (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Sri Lanka's parliament has extended a state of emergency for a sixth consecutive month.

The emergency was declared on August 13 after the foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, was assassinated at his home in the capital, Colombo.

The chief Sri Lankan peace negotiator, Nimal Siripala de Silva, says the security situation in the country has not yet returned to normal.

Meanwhile, 22 MPs from the minority Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have continued to boycott the parliament.

They began the protest last month after senior MP, Joseph Pararajasingham, was shot dead at a church in eastern Sri Lanka.

The TNA also opposes search operations carried out by security forces under the emergency laws.

The Tamil Tigers say the emergency is adding pressure to an already strained ceasefire in place since February 2002.

The government and the Tigers have agreed to meet in Geneva next week to discuss ways to revive the ceasefire.

One man was injured on Monday in eastern Sri Lanka in the latest violence ahead of the peace talks in Switzerland.

Attackers threw grenades at the offices of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO).

In December and January, around 200 people were killed in attacks throughout the country.

The Tamil Tigers have warned they will return to war unless the government gives them a separate homeland.

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