Saturday, August 13 2005 17:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lanka's slain Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar will be publicly cremated in the capital on Monday (Aug 15, 2005) with state honors, a Cabinet member said today (Aug 13, 2005).

Kadirgamar, 73, was fatally shot in Colombo last night (Aug 12, 2005).

Public Security Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, who is heading funeral arrangements, said the late foreign minister's body would be kept at his official residence from Saturday evening for public viewing.

On Monday, the body will publicly cremated in Colombo's Independence Square, where Sri Lanka was declared free from British colonial rule in 1948, Wickramanayake said.

The Government has declared Monday a day of mourning and ordered all of the country's cinemas, liquor shops and meat-selling stalls to close, Wickramanayake said.