Ambassadors hurt by Tamil rebel shells

The Italian and US ambassadors to Sri Lanka were slightly wounded yesterday when Tamil Tiger rebels shelled a delegation of diplomats led by the island's human rights minister to the restive east, officials said.

Hospital officials in the eastern district of Batticaloa said Italian Ambassador Pio Mariani had a small piece of shrapnel lodged in his head outside his skull, but that it was a minor wound. Italian Embassy officials declined to comment.

US Ambassador Robert Blake's arm was grazed either by shrapnel or a stone, the military said, but he was not taken to hospital and his embassy said he was fine.