Sri Lanka releases Tamil suspects

The bombs triggered a wave of Tamil arrests

The Sri Lankan government says that it has released most of the 2,000 members of the Tamil community held since two bombs went off in Colombo last week.

The government has been heavily criticised for the arrests.

One campaigning group said that those detained had been subjected to "cruel and degrading treatment".

At least 17 people were killed and about 40 injured in last week's blasts, which the authorities blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels.

'Safeguarding people'

Tamil politicians and human rights groups accused the government of indiscriminately arresting Tamil civilians after the attacks.

Human rights group Amnesty International said it was "deeply concerned" that the arrests had been made on "arbitrary and discriminatory grounds, using sweeping powers granted by the emergency regulations".

Aides to President Mahinda Rajapaksa say that after a meeting on Monday with relatives of some of those detained, he ordered the release of all those being held who were not charged with a crime.

People in Colombo fear a return to a rebel bombing campaign

The government says that only 202 suspects of the 2,554 people originally detained remain in custody, and many of those still held will also be released once they have proven their identity.

"This is not an action taken against a minority. This is about security and the government safeguarding people in the town," cabinet minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle told the Associated Press news agency.

Mr Fernandopulle also disputed claims made by the Tamil community that they had been singled out by the authorities, pointing out that some Sinhalese and Muslim people had also been detained.

But his comments have not assuaged many in the Tamil community.

"They are desperate, and they think every Tamil is a terrorist... that's why they are doing random arrests," Tamil National Alliance spokesman Kanagalingam Sivajilingam told AP.

"We are very angry, people are so angry."

A similar bout of arrests took place in June, when hundreds of Tamils staying at hostels in Colombo were rounded up and expelled from Colombo.

A Norwegian-brokered ceasefire in 2002 broke down two years ago, resulting in renewed fighting that has killed more than 5,000 people.

At least 70,000 people have died since the war began in 1983. The rebels are fighting for autonomy for Tamils in the north and east, who they say are discriminated against by the majority Sinhalese population.