COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan court has barred activists from holding a civil war commemoration near a monument to ethnic Tamils killed in the fighting, but said Tamils could hold memorial events in a nearby church.
Anti-war activists plan to mark Friday's eighth anniversary of the war's end in Mullivaikkal village, where hundreds of thousands of civilians were trapped in May 2009 as Tamil Tiger rebels mounted their last stand against government troops.
Police argued that events should not be allowed near a stone statue of a woman carrying a dead child, saying engravings could include the names of fallen rebels and pose a threat to peace and security.
The Mullaitivu district court ruled Thursday to allow the commemoration at a nearby church, but upheld Wednesday's ban on events at the memorial.