The UN special envoy for tsunami recovery and former US president Bill Clinton said he was 'shocked' Monday over the massacre of 17 tsunami aid workers in Sri Lanka and called for an inquiry to 'apprehend the perpetrators of this crime and to bring them to justice.'

Fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels spilled over to the town of Mutur, where the 17 local workers for the French aid group Action Contre La Faim (ACF), or Action Against Hunger, were found lying face down executed in their office.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blamed the army for the killings in a statement posted on pro-rebel website Tamilnet. The army has denied the claim, saying it was a 'totally fabricated story.' Of the 17 massacred, 16 were Tamils and 1 Muslim, including 4 women. The International Committee of the Red Cross condemned the act and called for the fighting parties not to direct force against aid workers.

The Paris-based group, founded in 1979 by author Marek Halter and physicist Alfred Kastler, halted all activities in Sri Lanka and demanded an investigation into the murders. The victims, all wearing ACF shirts, were clearly identified as aid workers, according to president Denis Metzger.

'Once again, this massacre highlights the difficulties encountered by humanitarian actors in conflict zones. Humanitarian values, especially those upheld by Action Against Hunger - neutrality, impartiality, free access to victims, independence - have again been defied,' said Metzger in a statment.

ACF has been in Sri Lanka since 1996 and has 15 international employees and 224 national employees there. For the past two weeks, government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels have been locked in a bitter battle over the control of water in the north-eastern district of Trincomalee, resulting in the heaviest fighting since the 2002 ceasefire.

The army continues to shell rebel positions despite a Tamil Tiger agreement Sunday to allow the water gates to be opened and that renewed shelling would be seen by the rebels as a declaration of war. The government reiterated their stance of not acceding to any conditions from the LTTE to settle the issue.

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