US, Italian Ambassadors In Sri Lanka Wounded In Tamil Rebel Attack.

The ambassadors of the United States and Italy were wounded in an artillery attack by suspected Tamil rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, human rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who was accompanying them, said.

US ambassador Robert Blake and Italian envoy Prio Mariani were hit by shrapnel from the attack at the Batticaloa airforce base as they got off a military helicopter, Samarasinghe said.

Mariani had a head injury and was taken to the main local hospital together with 11 others, hospital director Muruganathan Moorthy told told Agence France-Presse. The US ambassador had minor injuries and was being flown to Colombo.

The attack came as helicopters carrying Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe as well as ambassadors from the United States, European Union, Canada and Germany and France landed in the restive eastern district of Batticaloa on a goodwill mission. (Forbes; Tiscali News)