By Anna Horsbrugh-Porter in Colombo

Clashes between Muslim and Sinhalese mobs in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, on Wednesday have led to a curfew being imposed until early Thursday morning.

The inter-communal violence erupted on the same day delegations from the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers flew together to Thailand for the second round of four-day peace talks scheduled to begin on Thursday.

An injured Muslim man iis taken away

Wednesday's clashes in central Colombo between Muslim and Sinhalese mobs erupted over plans to build an Islamic teaching centre in a central residential district of the Sri Lankan capital.

Sinhalese attempts to prevent the construction by a high court injunction were rejected on Tuesday and Muslims given permission to go ahead.

Homes attacked

Early on Wednesday, Buddhist monks formed a peaceful protest outside the planned building site, but later on Muslim and Sinhalese mobs arrived and the protest turned into inter-communal violence.

Eye-witnesses report both Muslim and Sinhalese homes in the area being set on fire and burnt to the ground, with television sets and Buddhist statues thrown into the street.

Shops have been destroyed and at least two lorries travelling past the mobs damaged.

The police, Sri Lankan army and special task force were all called in to deal with the situation, they fired tear gas into the crowds and shot into the air to disperse the mobs.

By 1600 local time (1000 GMT), the police said the violence was under control, and a curfew has been imposed with immediate effect until early on Thursday morning.

Muslim area

A number of people have been reported injured so far, with no deaths.

A funeral for a victim of an earlier clash

This area of Colombo is predominantly Muslim, but with significant Sinhalese and Tamil communities living there as well.

The riots come at a sensitive time for the Muslim minority in Sri Lanka.

Ten months into the peace process, there are growing Muslim fears that their interests will not be served by the proposed interim administration to be set up in the north and east of the country.

Delayed departure

The most prominent Muslim politician, government minister Rauf Hakeem who is also leader of the main Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, has been forced to delay his departure for the peace talks in Thailand.

He is having urgent talks with his party, currently in disarray over Muslim representation.

Eight members of his party are currently on a parliamentary boycott, jeopardising the government's majority.

Wednesday's riots in Colombo, so close to the centre of government, can only further increase tension in this delicate area of Muslim, Sinhalese and Tamil co-habitation, and cast a shadow on the eve of the peace talks in Thailand.