Sri Lanka cremates slain minister

Sri Lanka cremated its slain foreign minister at a state funeral yesterday, a murder which President Chandrika Kumaratunga blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels and which raised the spectre of a return to civil war.

Thousands paid their last respects to Lakshman Kadirgamar, whose assassination plunged a protracted peace process into its worst crisis since a 2002 ceasefire in the Tigers' two-decade war for self-rule, although the government said the truce would hold.

Foreign dignitaries and Buddhist monks in saffron robes were among the long line of people who filed past Mr Kadirgamar's open coffin at his official residence in Colombo's elegant diplomatic quarter, before gathering for the funeral in Independence Square. Hundreds of people, from mothers carrying babies to politicians, followed a bier carrying Mr Kadirgamar's coffin draped in the yellow, orange, green and maroon flag of Sri Lanka.

White plumes of smoke rose as Mr Kadirgamar's son and nephew lit the pyre with torches while the crowd looked solemnly on.

"I have never felt like this before when a politician was assassinated. But this is a loss for our country," executive Mahinda Senaratna said.

Carpenters worked through the night to erect the pyre as thousands of police scoured the city for the sniper or snipers who shot Mr Kadirgamar four times as he emerged from his swimming pool on Friday night.

Soldiers with semi-automatic rifles and sniffer dogs formed a cordon around the square and lined streets trimmed with white flags of mourning as Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu priests led the ceremony.

"Lakshman Kadirgamar was different from all other politicians in this country. His campaign was for peace and not for votes," said Venerable Bellannwila Wimalarathana Thero, a senior Buddhist monk. "He was a gentlemen and, in fact, one of the best."

Ms Kumaratunga accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of assassinating Mr Kadirgamar, a Christian Tamil branded a traitor by hardliners for his campaign to outlaw the rebels internationally, and declared a state of emergency.

"I hope there won't be war. We want peace," said pyre builder Nimal Siri, 46, as he put the finishing touches to the stack of logs draped in white cloth.

Shops and cinemas were shut out of respect for the charming, fatherly politician who had made himself a target by long campaigning to have the Tigers banned by the United States and Britain as a terrorist group. Schools were closed.

US former president Bill Clinton, Mr Kadirgamar's contemporary at Oxford University, was shocked by the murder of his friend.

"I condemn this brutal and criminal act," Mr Clinton, who visited Sri Lanka recently as a UN tsunami aid envoy, said in a statement. "I hope that the people of Sri Lanka will persevere in their efforts to avoid a renewal of hostilities."

Ms Kumaratunga directly blamed the rebels, who have denied any involvement in what analysts dubbed a stock disclaimer that few in Colombo believe.

"Lakshman Kadirgamar joins a long list of distinguished Tamil leaders... murdered by the LTTE," Ms Kumaratunga, dressed in mourning white, said in a televised address to the nation on Sunday night.