Monday, August 21 2006 15:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: A former Tamil politician and newspaper chief was killed outside his home in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna Peninsula, police said today (Aug 21, 2006).

Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, 68, was shot dead last night, police and members of the former lawmaker's party said.

Sivamaharajah was a member of the Tamil National Alliance, a political party widely believed to be a proxy of the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

He was also an active campaigner for the rights of Tamils displaced by decades of war between the rebels and the ethnic Sinhalese dominated Government.

Sivamaharajah had spent the day distributing food to those who had fled the shelling along the front lines, before he was shot, Tamil National Alliance lawmaker Mavai Senathirajah told The Associated Press.

He was also managing director of the Tamil-language Namathu Eelanadu daily newspaper.