Saturday, August 13 2005 09:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, a hardliner against Tamil Tigers, has been killed by unidentified assailants in Colombo yesterday (Aug 12, 2005) night.

After the assassination, which was quickly blamed on the rebels by the Government, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a state of emergency.

Several bullets in the head and chest hit Kadirgamar, 73, as he returned to his tightly guarded private residence in the heart of capital Colombo.

The veteran Minister was rushed to the National Hospital, where four neurosurgeons and cardio thoracic surgeons struggled for 70 minutes to save his life, hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said.

The Oxford-educated Foreign Minister was shot between 10 pm and 11 pm and succumbed to his wounds at 12:15 am.

Tamil Tiger rebels were the prime suspects in the assassination of Foreign Minister Kadirgamar, military spokesman Daya Ratnayake said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing. However, Kadirgamar, a Tamil Christian and native of Jaffna, had often publicly said that he was a potential target of the LTTE.

President Kumaratunga's spokesman Eric Fernando said, "The President has declared an emergency."

State of emergency would last for an indefinite period:Fernando

The state of emergency would last for an indefinite period, said Fernando. It allows security forces to arrest and detain suspects for lengthy periods.

The minister had attended an official function and driven back to his private home for a swim when he was shot several times, officials said.

Kadirgamar was the most senior Sri Lankan leader to be assassinated since a bomb attack killed President Ranasinghe Premadasa in May 1993.

A close confidante of President Kumaratunga, he was one of the most tightly guarded ministers in Sri Lanka and had nearly 100 elite bodyguards deployed to protect him.

Kadirgamar, born on April 12 1932 and was appointed Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka in April 2004 by Kumaratunga.

He was strongly opposed to the campaign for separation led by the LTTE and was also a critic of the Norwegian-led peace process in the island nation. He, however, maintained that the conflict must be resolved peacefully.

Reports said a sniper from a long distance shot him. Sri Lankan armed forces have launched a helicopter search for assailants. Police said they found spent ammunition near the scene.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was 'shocked and saddened' at the killing of Kadirgamar and deplored 'in the strongest of terms this criminal and senseless act,' UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York.

"Sri Lanka has lost a deeply respected statesman dedicated to peace and unity," Annan's spokesman said.

Hagrup Haukland, the Chief of Norway's truce monitors, said Kadirgamar's assassination was a "big, big blow to the ceasefire and the whole peace process irrespective of who is behind this".

Erik Solheim, a top Norwegian peace broker, described the killing as a "major setback" for the peace process.

"It completely insane, it is a major setback for the peace process," Solheim said.