COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, May 21, SPA -- A pre-dawn clash with separatist rebels and a roadside bomb killed four soldiers in Sri Lanka's volatile north Monday, where a bitter conflict has claimed the lives of nearly 600 in the past four months, the military said. Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said Sunday that 541 rebels have been killed in fighting in twonorthern districts, Mannar and Vavuniya. Both lie along the frontier separating government and rebel territory in the north and have become flashpoints in the deepeningconflict, according to a report of the Associated Press.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/451689