Sri Lanka minister's killing sparks civil war fear

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Sri Lanka minister's killing sparks civil war fears

By Simon Gardner and Arjuna Wickramasinghe

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a sniper shot dead Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, an attack police blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels and which raised the spectre of a return to civil war.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam denied any involvement, condemning the attack and warning the state of emergency was endangering a 3-1/2-year ceasefire. The government said it found the rebels' denial hard to believe but said the truce would hold.

Analysts said there was no sign of a return to a war that has already killed over 64,000 people in two decades but the killing and the response had made the situation extremely tense.

"We strongly condemn this act which, according to security

sources, has been perpetrated by the LTTE," Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a statement. Emergency laws that allow free deployment of troops were precautionary.

Police blamed the Tigers, saying spent ammunition from a sniper rifle and an abandoned grenade launcher found nearby, coupled with evidence the Tigers were keeping Kadirgamar's residence under surveillance, showed it was their work.

"A telescopic sniper weapon was used for the murder and only the LTTE uses this type of firearm," Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando told a news conference. "We are not sure yet whether there were one or two assassins."

A Tamil couple whose home the sniper fired from were being held under house arrest and questioned, but they had not been charged. Several other people had been questioned.

S.P. Thamilselvan, leader of the Tigers' political wing, told reporters in the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi that the government should look inwardly for the culprits.

"The immediate attempt to blame the LTTE is an attempt to create a bad and wrong impression in the international community and to sideline the LTTE on the international platform," Thamilselvan said.

"We strongly condemn this act," he added. "Connecting the LTTE to this killing is very wrong and it will worsen the present situation...There is no need for the LTTE to kill him."

Iqbal Athas, a defense analyst for Jane's Defense Weekly said the Tiger's denial was a standard disclaimer.

"This is nothing new. The LTTE in the past too denied responsibility of acts of this nature," Athas said.

A senior politician allied to the Tigers said Kadirgamar, himself a Tamil, was considered a traitor. The foreign minister campaigned against the Tigers internationally and argued against making concessions to their struggle for autonomy.

"His acts were considered to be treacherous toward the Tamils from the very beginning," said M.K. Sivajilingam, a hardline MP for the Tiger-backed Tamil National Alliance.

The Tigers have been fighting for a homeland for minority ethnic Tamils since 1983, accusing the government dominated by the majority Sinhalese of discrimination.

Hagrup Haukland, head of the Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission which oversees the truce, said the ceasefire was under severe threat.

"It is a serious, serious blow," he said. "This is the most serious incident, the way we see it, during the 3-1/2-year ceasefire. I'm sure that the ceasefire is in danger more than ever before. I sincerely hope that it will hold."

Dozens of rebels, policemen and soldiers have been killed during the ceasefire and some diplomats fear the violence could spiral into an all-out war and further impact a $20 billion economy already strait-jacketed by the civil war's fallout.

However the island's stock market, hardened to the conflict, has shrugged off raging political uncertainty and sporadic violence to become Asia's best performing bourse this year.

Kumaratunga praised Kadirgamar, 73, as "a hero of our times" and declared a period of national mourning. Her government said it had no plans to withdraw from the ceasefire.

"The government finds it difficult to accept the LTTE's denial," government spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva told reporters. "This is clearly a violation of the ceasefire agreement on top of many others."

"The status quo with regard to the ceasefire agreement will continue," he added.

The shooting occurred amid escalating tensions between the government and the rebels, who have repeatedly threatened to end the ceasefire because of a rash of violence in the island's restive east that each side blames on the other.

The United States and the European Union condemned the killing, while U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was shocked and saddened to hear of Kadirgamar's death.

A charming, fatherly figure, Kadirgamar was one of Sri Lanka's most popular politicians and will be given a state funeral on Monday.

[JesseB.]

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