Sunday, August 14 2005 10:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: The Sri Lankan Government yesterday (Aug 13, 2005) termed the assassination of its Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar as a "grave setback" to the country's peace process and rejected the Tamil Tigers denial of any involvement in the killing even as a state of emergency was imposed in the island nation.

"The killing was a grave setback to the peace process. The re-starting (of talks) is going to be seriously undermined as a consequence of this development," Government spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva said.

"The LTTE has denied any involvement, but we find it difficult to accept the denial," he said.

Earlier, the head of the rebel's political wing S P Thamiselvan denied any involvement in the killing. "We strongly condemn this attempt to put the blame on us and we strongly deny any involvement in this attack," he said.

Kadirgamar, an ethnic Tamil who led efforts to ban the Tigers as a terrorist outfit, was shot in his head and chest at his heavily guarded residence.

Two snipers perched at an adjacent building were believed to behind the attack.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a state of emergency for an indefinite period to facilitate enhanced security measures and effective investigations into this act of "wanton terror" and appealed for calm and restraint in the face of this "grave and cowardly attack upon Sri Lanka".

Describing Kadirgamar, who led the efforts to ban the LTTE as a terrorist outfit, as a "hero of our times", she said, "He waged a relentless war against terrorism in all its forms despite continuous threats to his life".

The emergency gives security forces sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects for long periods.