Fourteen construction workers from the majority community had been taken away by suspected Tamil rebels and shot yesterday, the spokesman, Prasad Samarasinghe, said.

"Two men escaped with gunshot injuries and reported to police this morning," he said. "We are sending a team to investigate."

The LTTE has denied any involvement.

Sri Lanka is on the brink, again

The investigations were slow because troops had to clear the road of mines before entering the remote area where the construction workers were building an irrigation tank bund. The two men with gunshot injuries were admitted to hospital, Samarasinghe said. The report of the killings came as the European Union banned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organisation.

The Tigers said before the ban was slapped that it would jeopardise the Norwegian-backed peace initiative. But the government said the ban would not lead to any military adventure by security forces

"The government is of the firm conviction that solution to the issues at hand have to be sought only through political means and not through military means," a statement by President Mahinda Rajapakse's office said.

"It therefore rejects any suggestions that these measures by the international community would or should encourage any military options by anyone."

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