08-12-2005, 09:36 PM
<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'><b>Sri Lanka's foreign minister gunned down
Tamil Tiger rebels suspected in death of hardliner</b>
From Iqbal Athas
Special to CNN
<img src='http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/08/12/sri.lanka/story.kadirgamar.file.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
Friday, August 12, 2005; Posted: 5:32 p.m. EDT (21:32 GMT)
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan authorities launched a manhunt Friday night for two suspects in the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
He died an hour after being gunned down outside his private Colombo residence, police said.
The Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam was immediately suspected in the shooting. Earlier this month, two LTTE members were arrested outside Kadirgamar's official residence after allegedly conducting surveillance and videotaping the area.
Kadirgamar, 73, had successfully campaigned for countries, including the United States and Britain to recognize the LTTE as a terrorist organization. Although he vehemently opposed negotiations with the group at one point, he participated in recent peace talks while continuing to oppose a number of key issues, including a separate Tamil homeland.
He is considered a close adviser to President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Kadirgamar had just returned for a swim after attending a function for the release of a book he edited, police said. As he walked toward the house from the pool about 11 p.m. (1 p.m. ET), a sniper fired three shots, striking Kadirgamar in the head and chest.
He was rushed to National Hospital in Colombo for emergency surgery but died an hour later, according to hospital and police sources.
The assassination is bound to further strain the shaky cease-fire agreement between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tiger rebels. The truce, in place since February 2002, has been threatened by recent violence and the suspension of talks in 2003.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan deplored the killing.
\"Sri Lanka has lost a deeply respected statesman dedicated to peace and national unity,\" Annan said in a statement. \"The secretary-general hopes that this tragedy will not weaken the commitment of the people of Sri Lanka to achieve a durable peace in the country.\"
The U.S. State Department condemned the assassination, noting that Kadirgamar was an ethnic Tamil who had long been working for a peace agreement between the Tamil and Buddhist communities in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan's ambassador to the United Nations, Bernard Goonetilleke, said, \"His contribution (to Sri Lanka) was immense.\"</span>
Tamil Tiger rebels suspected in death of hardliner</b>
From Iqbal Athas
Special to CNN
<img src='http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/08/12/sri.lanka/story.kadirgamar.file.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
Friday, August 12, 2005; Posted: 5:32 p.m. EDT (21:32 GMT)
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan authorities launched a manhunt Friday night for two suspects in the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
He died an hour after being gunned down outside his private Colombo residence, police said.
The Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam was immediately suspected in the shooting. Earlier this month, two LTTE members were arrested outside Kadirgamar's official residence after allegedly conducting surveillance and videotaping the area.
Kadirgamar, 73, had successfully campaigned for countries, including the United States and Britain to recognize the LTTE as a terrorist organization. Although he vehemently opposed negotiations with the group at one point, he participated in recent peace talks while continuing to oppose a number of key issues, including a separate Tamil homeland.
He is considered a close adviser to President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Kadirgamar had just returned for a swim after attending a function for the release of a book he edited, police said. As he walked toward the house from the pool about 11 p.m. (1 p.m. ET), a sniper fired three shots, striking Kadirgamar in the head and chest.
He was rushed to National Hospital in Colombo for emergency surgery but died an hour later, according to hospital and police sources.
The assassination is bound to further strain the shaky cease-fire agreement between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tiger rebels. The truce, in place since February 2002, has been threatened by recent violence and the suspension of talks in 2003.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan deplored the killing.
\"Sri Lanka has lost a deeply respected statesman dedicated to peace and national unity,\" Annan said in a statement. \"The secretary-general hopes that this tragedy will not weaken the commitment of the people of Sri Lanka to achieve a durable peace in the country.\"
The U.S. State Department condemned the assassination, noting that Kadirgamar was an ethnic Tamil who had long been working for a peace agreement between the Tamil and Buddhist communities in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan's ambassador to the United Nations, Bernard Goonetilleke, said, \"His contribution (to Sri Lanka) was immense.\"</span>