A state of emergency was declared on Saturday in Sri Lanka following the assassination of the minister of foreign affairs by snipers at his home in the capital, Colombo.
Though immediate tension had eased by Saturday night, roads into areas held by the Tamil Tigers, the militant organisation fighting for a separate state for the former British colony’s Tamil minority, remained closely guarded, with troops deployed across much of the country. Checkpoints had been set up on roads to the capital and additional naval patrols ordered.
The state of emergency lets the military make arrests, interrogate suspects and search houses at will. It bans public gatherings, gives the president lawmaking powers and allows media censorship.
It is still unclear who killed Lakshman Kadirgamar (73), who was shot three times in the head and body at about 11pm on Friday.
Though SP Thamilchelvan, the head of the political wing of the Tigers, the prime suspects for the killing, denied responsibility, government figures blamed the rebel group.
”We find it difficult to accept the denial,” said Nimal Siripala de Silva, a government spokesperson.
The Inspector General of Police, Chandra Fernando, said weapons recovered from the murder scene, including seven sniper rifles and a grenade launcher, point to the Tigers, as no other group possesses such weapons.
There are now fears that the ailing peace process between the rebels and the government will collapse, leading to a resumption of the civil war that pitted the Tamil minority against the Sinhalese majority and left more than 60 000 people dead during 20 years of fighting.
”It is a grave setback to the peace process. Restarting [the process] will be seriously undermined,” Jayantha Dhanapala, head of the government body handling the negotiations, told reporters.
Western observers are also concerned. Vilja Kutvonen, spokesperson for the Norwegian-led body that has facilitated the peace process, said the minister’s death is a major blow.
”It’s likely to have serious consequences. It puts the whole ceasefire under risk,” she warned.
Kadirgamar had been instrumental in getting the Tigers outlawed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and Britain and had known he was a target for a long time. He was protected by more than a hundred soldiers all the time.
Television newsreaders wore white, the traditional colour of mourning. But many in his own Tamil community called Kadirgamar a traitor.
”His acts were considered to be treacherous towards the Tamils from the very beginning,” said MK Sivajilingam, an MP for the Tiger-backed Tamil National Alliance.
Kadirgamar, an Oxford-educated lawyer, never contested an election and never addressed a rally in a political career spanning a decade. However, his hard-line views made him popular among Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese majority.
Negotiations between the Tamil Tigers and the government have been deadlocked since 2003, when talks broke down. On Saturday, government figures said they will not ”unilaterally violate the ceasefire”.
The Tigers began fighting for an independent homeland for the country’s ethnic minority Tamils in 1983. Relief operations for the tsunami last December brought the autonomous administration established by the Tigers in much of the north-east of the country to international attention.
The rebels control a large area, running a parallel administration with an army, navy and even traffic police. — Guardian Unlimited Â