6 Moderate Tamils Slain in Sri Lanka

Separatist Tamil rebels in eastern Sri Lanka killed six fellow Tamils for meeting with senior Indian army officers, a government official said Tuesday. All the victims, whose bodies were found early Tuesday, were killed by a bullet to the head.

The bodies were found in Palukamam village about 13 miles west of Batticaloa, the main eastern town. The victims had met with the Indian officers in the village early Monday.

Pinned on their bodies were pieces of paper with the word traitor written in English and Tamil. Rebels periodically assassinate moderate Tamils.

More than 25,000 Indian troops are in Sri Lanka to enforce a peace accord aimed at ending the four-year civil war waged by Tamil extremists who demand a separate homeland on the island where they are an ethnic minority.