Sri Lankan military detains Indonesian ship to investigate any links to Tamil rebels

The navy detained an Indonesian-registered ship off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka to investigate any possible ties with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels as fighting across the embattled north killed 15 guerrillas, the military said Wednesday.

The ship was drifting when it was detected about 160 kilometers off the island's eastern coast Tuesday morning and navy troops boarded the ship for an investigation, a defense ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The navy is questioning the 12-member Indonesian crew, the official said, adding that it will conduct a full investigation to check if the ship had any links with the Tamil Tigers.

The official said the ship's captain told the navy that his vessel was sailing from the Indian city of Mumbai to Thailand and that the vessel started drifting when it ran out of fuel. The official declined to give further details.

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