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Tamil protesters block road outside UK parliament

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-12 08:52

LONDON - Hundreds of pro-Tamil demonstrators blocked traffic and clashed with police in the streets around Britain's Parliament after news filtered out from Sri Lanka that hundreds of their compatriots had died in intense shelling.

Police said Monday evening that 36 people had been arrested and the protesters had been cleared from the roads.

A committed core of Tamil demonstrators has been camped outside Parliament for more than a month to demand that Britain intervene to stem the bloodletting in Sri Lanka, once part of the British Empire.

Rebels there have been fighting for a quarter century to carve out an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils. Tens of thousands have died in the conflict, and attacks over the weekend have killed as many as 1,000 Tamil civilians in the deadliest strikes since civil war flared again more than three years ago.

Police clash with pro-Tamil demonstrators in Parliament Square, in London May 11, 2009. [Agencies]

Placard-toting protesters surged into the streets around Parliament on Monday morning, snarling traffic. London's Metropolitan Police said they tried to corral the protesters back onto Parliament Square, a stretch of green in front of Britain's neo-Gothic legislature, but some demonstrators threw objects at them.

Anger over the recent offensive has been felt in North America, too. Pro-Tamil demonstrators rallied in front of government buildings and the Sri Lankan Consulate in Toronto, calling on Canadian officials to pressure Sri Lanka to stop its offensive.

Related readings:  UN condemns Sri Lankan 'bloodbath'  Sri Lanka artillery kills 257 civilians  Across the World: Sri Lanka  Sri Lankan rebels declare unilateral cease-fire  Sri Lankan rebel leader still trapped in no fire zone

Monday's peaceful rally followed a night of traffic chaos in Toronto's downtown core. More than 5,000 Tamil protesters gathered on one of the city's busiest highways for six hours, shutting down the vital commuter corridor. Organizers moved from the freeway around midnight only after receiving assurances that a political party would raise their plight in Parliament.

Police said three people were arrested during the highway protest and the charges against them include assault on a peace officer.

Canada is home to about 300,000 Tamils, one of the largest such populations outside Sri Lanka and India.

Tamils and their supporters have mounted a series of international protests intended to keep their plight in the global eye and to pressure Sri Lanka to agree to a humanitarian cease-fire.

In Britain, events have included a march by at least 100,000 people April 11, as well as hunger strikes and at least two attempts by protesters to set themselves on fire. One demonstrator died after immolating himself in front of the UN building in Geneva.

The Sri Lankan government has brushed off calls for a truce, saying any pause in the fighting would give the rebels time to regroup.