COLOMBO, 16 August 2005 — Sri Lanka urged the international community to clamp down on Tamil Tiger rebels and their overseas supporters — restricting their travel and cutting the flow of money to the insurgents — following the assassination of the country’s foreign minister, who was cremated yesterday.
Military forces fanned out across Colombo as foreign dignitaries mingled with saffron-robed Buddhist monks and thousands of ordinary Sri Lankans to pay their last respects to slain Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
Fears are now growing that Kadirgamar’s killing could scuttle a three-year-old cease-fire between the rebels and the government.
The Tigers have denied they were behind the assassination of Kadirgamar — one of their most vociferous critics — and urged the military to look within its own ranks for the perpetrator.
But Foreign Secretary S. Paliakkara said he had briefed foreign ambassadors in Colombo and told them in a meeting Sunday that “the assassination clearly bears the hallmark of the (Tigers).”
“This has gone too far. The international community must understand (that) this is a serious setback to the peace process,” he said yesterday.
Paliakkara said he had urged the international community to take “strong anti-terrorist measures” against the group. He did not elaborate.
