World Notes SRI LANKA

The agreement forged by New Delhi and Colombo in July to end Sri Lanka's four- year civil war was badly mauled last week as the separatist guerrillas known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam went on a rampage. The Tigers butchered at least 170 civilians and 27 Sri Lankan soldiers and policemen after 13 of their members in Colombo's hands committed suicide with cyanide pills. The deceased rebels were among 17 guerrillas captured by the Sri Lankan navy last week for allegedly smuggling arms and ammunition into the country by trawler from India.

The bloodletting badly undermined the credibility of the 15,000-man Indian peacekeeping force that is patrolling northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The Indian government vowed to disarm the Tigers forcibly if necessary, and by week's end Indian troops had raided rebel camps and arrested 160 guerrillas amid reports of brisk fighting.