Anti-Norway protest in Sri Lanka

Mr Sivakumaran's murder has been blamed on the Tamil Tigers

Protesters from a pro-government political party in Sri Lanka have paraded the body of a murdered activist outside the Norwegian embassy.

Hundreds of Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) members briefly placed the coffin of Thambithurai Sivakumaran outside the embassy gates in Colombo.

Mr Sivakumaran was shot and killed in an attack over the weekend blamed on the Tamil Tigers.

Norway brokered a truce between the army and the rebels in February 2002.

Stalled talks

In Monday's demonstration in the capital, protesters set fire to effigies of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

They blame the rebels for the killing of Mr Sivakumaran.

His death came weeks after an attempt on the life of EPDP leader Douglas Devananda - which his party says was also carried out by the Tamil Tigers.

The demonstrators carried banners criticising the role of Norway in the peace process, which stalled over a year ago.

Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim left Sri Lanka at the weekend after failing to secure a breakthrough to a conflict in which around 60,000 people died between 1972 and 2002.