Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency and soldiers searched homes and vehicles for suspects yesterday following the assassination of the country' foreign minister, which put the island's fragile peace process at risk. At least seven people were detained over the killing.
The government said yesterday it had not taken any action that would violate the ceasefire with the Tamil Tiger rebels, whom the military blames for the fatal attack on Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, 73. The Tigers deny any role in the killing.
Kadirgamar, an ethnic Tamil who led efforts to ban the Tigers as a terrorist organization but later backed peace efforts, was shot in the head and chest at about 11pm on Friday and died in the National Hospital after midnight.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a state of emergency after the attack, empowering authorities to detain without charge anyone suspected of taking part in terrorist activities and to search and demolish buildings.
She appealed to Sri Lankans "for calm and restraint in the face of this grave and cowardly attack" on Kadirgamar.
Troops took up positions around the capital, Colombo, and military spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake said the military was checking all vehicles coming in and out of the city.
Military aircraft patrolled over rebel-held territory, monitoring any movement by the insurgents, and navy patrol boats guarded the coastline, some of which is Tiger-controlled, the military said.
Ratnayake has blamed the rebels for the killing.
"We have reasons to believe that he was killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam," he said, using the Tigers' official name. "He was always under threat."
But the rebels denied involvement, claiming the military took part in the slaying to undermine the peace process.
"We also know that there are sections within the Sri Lankan Armed forces operating with a hidden agenda to sabotage the ceasefire agreement," said the Tigers' political chief, S.P. Tamilselvan.
He urged Colombo thoroughly investigate the killing.
India called the assassination a "terrorist crime" and reiterated its support for Sri Lanka's fight against forces seeking to undermine its unity.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denounced the assassination as "a vicious act of terror, which the United States strongly condemns," and urged Sri Lankans not to let the incident lead to a resumption of civil war.
Elite soldiers and policemen late Friday cordoned off the area where the killing occurred and conducted house-to-house searches.
Police officer Nimal Lewke said Kadirgamar was killed by two snipers who hid in a building near his heavily guarded home in Colombo's diplomatic district and fired through a ventilation hole in an upper floor. He was shot while emerging from his swimming pool.
Police found cheese and chocolates the alleged snipers ate while waiting for their target, along with a grenade launcher, apparently intended as a backup weapon.
Kadirgamar, an Oxford-educated lawyer, had led an international campaign against the Tigers, who remain on terrorist lists in five countries, including the US and Britain.
Kadirgamar was appointed foreign minister in April last year. He also held the position from 1994 to 2001.
The Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The conflict killed nearly 65,000 people before a ceasefire was brokered by Norway in 2002.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
RSS