The Hindu : Front Page : Kadirgamar assassinated

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 13, 2005

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Front Page

Kadirgamar assassinated

V. S. Sambandan

Shot by unidentified gunman near his residence; LTTE hand suspected

OUTRAGE IN COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. — File photo: AP

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar (73) was shot dead by "an unidentified gunman'' in Colombo on Friday night.

No arrests have been made. Though authorities were reluctant to name any suspects, the hand of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is suspected. Mr. Kadirgamar was a known target of the Tigers.

Helicopters with searchlights took to the dark skies over Colombo and began a manhunt for the gunman. According to security sources, Mr. Kadirgamar suffered head injuries when he was shot at near his private residence on Bullers Lane in the heart of the city around 11 p.m.

Mr. Kadirgamar was pronounced dead at 0015 hours on Saturday. Dr. Anil Jayasinghe, Director, Accident Service, National Hospital, told The Hindu : "He was nearly dead when he was brought in. We are not in a position to say how many injuries he sustained. We have to wait for the JMO inquiry."

A team of surgeons immediately went to work, but it could not save him.

Mr. Kadirgamar, who entered politics in 1994 after a successful legal career, was instrumental in getting the LTTE banned internationally. Since then he has been high on the LTTE's hit list.

A few hours before he was shot, Mr. Kadirgamar participated in a public function to launch the first journal of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, in which Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao participated.

The journal was titled "International Relations in a Globalised World.''

Mr. Kadirgamar was among the most protected Sri Lankan leaders and lived in a heavily fortified official residence.

The high security protection continued even after the People's Alliance lost power and the United National Party took over the reins. Mr. Kadirgamar once again became the Foreign Affairs Minister after the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won last year's snap general poll. Over the years, Mr. Kadirgamar had restricted his public movements and largely worked from his official residence.

Agency reports said government officials declined to comment on who was to blame for the shooting, but Inspector-General of Police Chandra Fernando blamed it on the LTTE.

``It's the Tigers,'' he told reporters.

``The Minister had just returned from a swim and was getting inside his home when he was shot,'' Mr. Fernando said. He said there were two snipers hiding in buildings nearby.

Kadirgamar was a close aide of President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Tensions between the Government and the Tigers have spiked recently amid a surge in violence in the volatile eastern region.

On Thursday, Anton Balasingham, the London-based chief negotiator for the Tamil Tiger rebels, warned that Sri Lanka could slip back into civil war unless the government stopped backing armed groups that the rebels claim are attacking them.

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