July 7 (Bloomberg) -- A woman suicide bomber killed herself and four police officers in an attack on a police station near the Sri Lankan prime minister's official residence in the capital, Colombo, a police spokesman said.

The blast, which injured 11 other officers, took place at around 12:30 p.m. in Colombo. The station is near the U.K and U.S. embassies.

The woman ``was being searched in the police station after being arrested and blew herself up and the lady searching her,'' Rienzie Perera, the police spokesman, said in a telephone interview in Colombo.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam used to carry out similar suicide attacks, police said. The group, which has been fighting a civil war for two decades, has been observing a cease- fire with the government since February 2002.

``We can't say for sure it's the work of the LTTE but they are the only ones who used to carry out such bombings,'' Perera said. ``We can't say which rebel faction it is, if it's them.''

Norway is attempting to broker a new round of talks between the government and the rebels. Its efforts have stalled over accusations by the rebels that the government supported the leader of a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers.

The Tamil Tigers said yesterday the army is undermining a truce agreement by failing to stop attacks by gunmen on members of the group in areas in the east of the country controlled by government security forces.

The woman suicide bomber was trying to meet with Douglas Devananda, the leader of the Tamil Eelam People's Democratic Party, whose office is near the prime minister's residence, when she was arrested on suspicious behavior, police said.

The peace secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Kilinochchi in rebel-controlled territory in the north couldn't comment when contacted by telephone.

To contact the reporters on this story: Renee Lawrence in Colombo, Sri Lanka at rlawrence7@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 7, 2004 04:12 EDT