The Hindu : International : Sri Lankan intelligence officer killed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005

International

International

Sri Lankan intelligence officer killed

V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO: A senior Sri Lankan military intelligence officer, Thuwan Nizam Muthaliff, was "waylaid and shot by LTTE gunmen" on Tuesday morning, when he was travelling to work, the island's Defence Ministry said.

Maj. Muthaliff (39), the Commanding Officer of the First Regiment, Sri Lanka Intelligence Corps, is the senior-most Army officer to be killed since the February 2002 ceasefire agreement between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The officer was travelling in his official car to work, when he was waylaid and shot by "motor-cycle riding LTTE gunmen," the Army said. The assassins struck at around 7.30 a.m. local time and critically wounded Maj. Muthaliff when his chauffer-driven car slowed down at a traffic signal close to an army camp in the city. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries sustained on his head and chest, the army said. There has been no comment from the LTTE.

According to the Army, 10 military personnel have been killed during the ceasefire. Though the battle-scarred island-nation has seen the longest spell of non-fighting since the 2002 ceasefire, individual killings of intelligence and paramilitary cadres have continued. In a bloody throwback to the early days of Sri Lankan Tamil militancy, internecine killings have also scarred the ceasefire scenario, particularly since last year's rebellion by the LTTE's former Special Commander for Batticaloa-Amparai, V. Muralitharan (`Col.' Karuna).

The Sri Lanka Army described Maj. Muthaliff was a "very capable officer," who had undergone intelligence training in the U.S., India and Bangladesh. The slain officer, joined the Army in 1986 and was in its intelligence corps for the past 15 years. He had worked for a large part of his intelligence career in the northern-most Government-held town, Vavuniya, and in Jaffna for over three years. He is survived by his wife, who is also a Major in the Sri Lanka Army, and two children.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News Update

Stories in this Section

E.U. debacle claims Raffarin scalp, De Villepin is new French Premier

Eight die in two Iraq air crashes

Polls predict Dutch will vote ``No''

Sri Lankan intelligence officer killed

U.S. student kills five in shooting rampage

U.K. couple in Israel's industrial espionage

Anwar returns to Malaysian politics

Somali battle over choice of capital

Siberian fires pose a threat to planet's health

Veteran journalist Israel Epstein dead

Solution to Kashmir should be acceptable to all: Advani