The World - News from July 20, 1989

Attackers threw grenades into a crowd of Sinhalese and Tamil worshipers at a ceremony in Sri Lanka meant to promote ethnic peace, killing 13 people and wounding 85, authorities said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack on a group of 5,000 in Kataragama, a town about 100 miles southeast of Colombo, the capital of the island nation. The crowd had assembled for a procession ending a weeklong religious festival that attracts both Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus, authorities said. The minority Tamils are fighting for an independent homeland, prompting a backlash among militants of the majority Sinhalese.