Q+A - Sri Lanka's propaganda war

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tiger rebels are again trading blame over reported attacks on civilians, which diplomats say sparked the U.N. Security Council and U.S. President Barack Obama to speak out.

Here are questions and answers about why it is so hard to separate fact from propaganda in Asia's longest modern war:

CAN JOURNALISTS OR AID AGENCIES GET INTO THE WAR ZONE? Foreign journalists get in sometimes, mostly on guided trips chaperoned by the military. Some have been given wider access, but not as much as local and state reporters who are right on the frontline. The Tigers used to give similar guided tours. Only the International Committee of the Red Cross has consistently been inside since the government moved out foreign aid groups last year, save for their local Tamil staff.