Sri Lankan MP killed at mass
2005-12-25 08:19
Colombo - A Sri Lankan legislator allied with Tamil rebels was gunned down during a Christmas mass on Sunday, the latest in a series of bloody attacks that international mediators fear could signal a return to war.
Tamil MP Joseph Pararajasingham, 71, was in his pew at St. Michael's Catholic church, some 300km east of here when he was shot from behind at close range by unidentified gunmen, police said.
At least eight others including Pararajasingham's wife, Sugunam, were wounded in an exchange of fire between his bodyguards and an unknown number of gunmen, who fled the church.
No arrests had been made
No arrests had been made but police were carrying out a search of the area nearby in Batticaloa, a local police official said when contacted by telephone.
"A search operation is under way in Batticaloa and we have also stepped up security for the two women and six men who were wounded during a gunbattle with the gunmen and the MP's bodyguards," the official said.
"There could have been one or more gunmen and there was an exchange of fire with the guards of the VIP," he said.
The daring killing came hours after Sri Lanka's international backers expressed "deep concern" over the escalation of violence that has claimed the lives of more than 60 people this month alone.
"Sri Lanka faces a crucial choice today between mounting violence and reinvigorating peace," the quartet known as the Co-Chairs said in a statement Saturday after meeting with Tiger rebels.
"The Sri Lankan people clearly want peace - it would be a tragic step backwards if their desire was not heeded."
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Diplomats from the co-chairs - the United States, European Union, Japan and Norway - said there was an urgent need for the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to agree to holding talks on salvaging their troubled truce.
The Tigers on Saturday rejected a call to compromise on their demand to hold talks in Oslo, the capital of peace broker Norway, while Colombo backed down and agreed to an Asian venue after initially insisting that it should be at home.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday's assassination, the first high profile killing since then foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was gunned down by a suspected Tiger rebel here on August 12.
The Tigers denied killing the minister, but the group was warned by the European Union that it risked an EU-wide ban unless the group renounced the use of violence.
The latest assassination underlined a worsening security situation in Sri Lanka's troubled north and east amid fears of a return to civil war.
Five people were killed in clashes on Saturday, a day after 18 others, including 15 sailors, were killed in suspected Tamil rebel attacks.
Pararajasingham, a key figure in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party, entered parliament in 1990 replacing Sam Thambimuttu, who was killed by suspected Tiger rebels.
Last year the TNA aligned itself with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). With 22 seats in the national parliament, the party is virtually a proxy of the guerrillas.
However, Pararajasingham was never a militant and was often regarded as a moderate within his party.
- SAPA