BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI, Associated Press,  Mon Feb  6 03:48:14 EST 2006
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels abducted an ethnic minority Tamil civilian from his home in Sri Lanka's restive east, the Defense Ministry said Monday, the latest in a spate of disappearances across the country.

The 20-year-old man disappeared from his home in Batticaloa late Sunday, said an officer at the Defense Ministry's media unit, who cannot be named under the ministry's policies. He accused the rebels of carrying out the abduction.

The Tamil Tiger rebels have been blamed for a series of violence and abductions of members of rival groups in Sri Lanka's northeast in recent weeks. The rebels, who want to carve out a separate homeland for minority Tamils, in turn, have pointed the finger at a breakaway rebel faction and other anti-rebel groups for the alleged abduction of 10 Tamil relief workers last week. The groups deny any involvement in that abduction.

Three of those relief workers who disappeared have since returned home, while the fate of the others is not known.

Local police Inspector D. Rathnayake said a team of officers had been sent to investigate the abduction in Batticaloa. A motive behind the disappearance was not immediately know, and the rebels made no mention of it on their Web sites.

A Norway brokered cease-fire between the rebels and the government has come under heavy strain since December amid rising violence that has left 150 people dead.

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- The Academic

CFA is always amendable to LTTE's needs whenever or where ever LTTE needs.