COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, April 07, SPA -- A roadside bomb tore through a civilian bus in northern Sri Lanka on Saturday, killing seven people and wounding 26, the army said. The blast occurred near Vavuniya, the last government-held garrison town before rebel-controlled territory in thenorth, said Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse, a senior officer atthe defense ministry's information center. Six of the dead were civilians and one was a soldier going home on leave, Rajapakse said. He blamed the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam _ the Tamil Tigers' formal name _ for the attack. However, the rebels denied any involvement, calling the bombing a plot to discredit them. «This is part of a series of bombings in the northeastcarried out by the military intelligence,» rebel spokesmanRasiah Ilanthirayan told The Associated Press by telephone. «Their motive is to tarnish the image of the LTTE in theinternational forum.»--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/438982