British PM David Cameron attends summit in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Tamil protesters surrounded British Prime Minister David Cameron's car as he traveled in Sri Lanka for a Commonwealth summit, authorities said.

There were no reports of injuries.

Canadian, Indian and Mauritian leaders opted out of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, protesting alleged human rights abuses by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and some of about 200 protesters around Cameron's car carried photographs of dead or missing relatives, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Cameron said his attendance at the summit would better highlight the issues in Sri Lanka, the report said.

The prime minister visited the offices of the Uthayan daily newspaper to observe bullet holes in the walls of the building and fire-damaged presses, the Telegraph said. Six journalists from the newspaper were killed and one was still missing. Journalists blamed Rajapaksa's government.

The United Nations estimates up to 40,000 civilians died during the final months of the regime's 26-year fight with the Tamil Tiger separatists.

The United Nations has called for an international investigation and Cameron has proposed an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes by Rajapaksa's forces.