Suicide bomber assassinates Sri Lankan minister
Jun 7 2000 15:14 IST

COLOMBO, June 7 (AFP) - A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber assassinated a senior Sri Lankan minister and killed 19 others Wednesday during ceremonies to mark the country's first War Heroes Day, police and hospital sources said.

A man with explosives strapped to his body detonated the device as Industries Minister C.V. Gooneratne marched in a parade collecting contributions for thousands of government soldiers fighting Tamil Tiger rebels.

Police said the attacker was a "Black Tiger", a suicide bomber of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which is battling for an independent homeland in the island's northeast.

A Buddhist monk, Rev. Vijitha, said he saw a man approach along a side road and then walk onto the main road where he embraced Minister Gooneratne, then assassinated him in front of some 5,000 people.

Suicide bombings are the trade mark of the Tamil Tigers who have been mounting pressure on government forces in the northern peninsula of Jaffna in the past two months.

Hospital officials said Gooneratne's wife was among at least 27 people seriously wounded in the daring attack in the minister's home constituency of Ratmalana, 15 kilometres (10 miles) south of the capital Colombo.

Earlier in the day, Gooneratne had attended a meeting with President Chandrika Kumaratunga who led the nationwide War Heroes day celebrations to honour government troopers battling the LTTE.

The attack came a few hours after Sri Lanka observed a two-minute silence in honour of the fallen soldiers, and as the military fended off skirmishes in the north against rebel Tamil Tigers.

Kumaratunga stressed the government wanted to end the 28-year conflict, which escalated into civil war in 1995, but added "the Tigers have shown that they don't want peace."

The president, who lost her right eye in a Tiger assassination attempt last December, called for unity as the nation came to a halt at 9:28 a.m. to commemorate the sacrifices made by the military.

"Our cherished dream of peace can be achieved only through a political solution of giving space for every citizen of this country to live in dignity and harmony," she said in a public address.

Naval gunboats patrolled the Indian Ocean coast and roads were blocked causing unusually long traffic jams as routine searches were stepped-up amid fears of just such an attack.