COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A prominent Tamil politician was assassinated in the Sri Lankan capital on Friday and naval attack on two Tamil Tiger boats left six rebels dead, officials said - acts appearing to draw the South Asian country closer to full-scale war.Nadaraja Raviraj, a member of the Tamil National Alliance, was leaving his house in Colombo when he was approached and shot at close range, said K. Sivajilingam, a fellow member of Parliament. RavirajÂ’s bodyguard was also killed.
President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned the killing, calling it a “cowardly and heinous act” by “those opposed to dissent and political pluralism in a democratic society.”
But the Tamil party blamed the government for the killing. “We understand that a whole magazine has been emptied on them in broad daylight,” TNA lawmaker Suresh Premachandran told The Associated Press. “This is a clear message to Tamil Parliamentarians ... ’Don’t open your mouth.’ “
Raviraj became mayor of Tamil heartland Jaffna in 1999 following the assassination of his two predecessors. He was elected to Parliament as a rebel-backed TNA representative in 2001 and 2004 and was a leading campaigner for TamilsÂ’ self rule. He was among TNA members _ widely believed to be a proxy of the Tamil Tigers _ who joined a demonstration outside the local U.N. refugee agency Thursday, urging it to help protect thousands of refugees in the east who had fled their homes after military shelling killed at least 23 Tamil civilians on Wednesday.