Jayantha Sernadeera, manager of the Coral Bay guesthouse, surveys the scene around his empty hotel...Like so many hotels in the area, the Coral Bay guesthouse in Nilaveli (15km north of Trincomalee) has seen business plummet in the wake of increased tension between Sri Lanka's government and the separatist LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). The ten-room Coral Bay guesthouse, destroyed and rebuilt after the 2004 Tsunami, used to accommodate 200 mainly foreign guests a month; in April 2006, there were only six...Heightened tension between Sri Lanka's government in Colombo and the separatist LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in the north east of the country has had a devastating effect on many Sri Lankan people's lives. The mixed population of Singhalese, Tamil and Muslim, in and around the north eastern port of Trincolmalee, are on the front-line of the conflict. Many in this area have been forced to flee their homes in the wake of inter-communal killings. The Tamil community in Singhalese-held Trincomalee city have seen their business's looted and burned. The Tamil fishermen who used to supply Trincomalee's fish market are now too afraid to sell their catch. The Muslim community of nearby Muttur have been accused by town's majority Tamil population of conspiring with the Singhalese who dominate the local police and military forces. Innocent Singhalese and Catholic Tamils have also been caught in the violence...Photo: Tom Pietrasik.Nilaveli, near Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.May 18th 2006