| Submit your comments on this article |
| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lankan president vows to eradicate terrorism |
| 2008-04-07 |
| (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Sunday condemned the assassination of a senior minister and vowed to eradicate terrorism in the country. Rajapaksa said in a statement that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) "has repeated its brutality targeting a leader of the Catholics and Christian communities of Sri Lanka, who played an important role in bringing about greater understanding among different communities." An LTTE suicide bomber killed Highway and Road Development Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle who was the chief guest of a road marathon in Weliweriaya, about 19 km northeast of the capital Colombo, around 7:30 a.m. (0200 GMT). Fourteen people were also killed and 83 others were injured in the explosion, the Ministry of Defense said. K. A. Karunarathna, a former national marathon champion and South Asian marathon gold medalist and Luxman Alwis, a national athletic coach were also among those killed. Rajapaksa said this act "will not weaken our resolve to eradicate terrorism from our midst, and bring peace, harmony and democracy to all our people." He also called on the people "to be calm and collected in the face of such extreme provocation by the forces of terror." |
| Posted by:Fred |