Colombo, Nov 12: Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga today said she regretted the anti-Tamil riots that broke out nearly two decades ago, spawning the island nation's ethnic conflict, and called for reconciliation. "The clear failure of the Sri Lankan state to protect its Tamil citizens in July 1983 is a watershed event in ethnic relations," Kumaratunga said in a national address that marked her eighth year in office.
"It was a failure, which i deeply regret," Kumaratunga said, calling the riots "a true tragedy of epic proportion."
The rioting by Sinhalese mobs left between 2,000 to 3,000 Tamils dead, according to human rights groups, and some 800,000 Tamils fled to India and western nations.

The rioting was sparked by an ambush of 13 soldiers by rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has since led a violent campaign for an independent Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka's north and east.
Kumaratunga called for setting up of a National Committee for Ethnic Reconciliation with members of the government, rebels and human rights groups to work toward national reconciliation. Bureau Report