Kadigamar's assassination

The foreign minister was shot dead at his heavily guarded private house in central Colombo. Police Inspector General Chandra Fernando told the press there was no doubt the LTTE had killed him. A chorus of political parties and media in Colombo have also condemned the LTTE. The most vocal have been the Sinhala chauvinist parties -- the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), -- that have been fulminating the government for signing the Post, Tsunami Operational Management (P-TOMS) agreement with the LTTE. The JVP quit the ruling coalition in June, protesting the bargain amounted to a betrayal of the nation and appealed to the police and military "to defy the orders given by the authorities that go against the national interest". JVP declared that "a true son of Sri Lanka has fallen" and denounced LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran as "a bloodthirsty fascist hiding in the Wanni". Pledging to deepen its communal campaign, the JVP stated: "Our resolve not to hand this country to one of the worst criminals in the world grows stronger... We believe that it is better to die fighting for common humanity than to live like a coward".

It is possible the LTTE might have killed Kadirgamar, because played the leading role in the government's campaign to have the LTTE branded internationally as a terrorist organisation. The LTTE is also deeply frustrated by the lengthy delays in signing the P-TOMS agreement as well as the continuing attacks on its cadres in the east of the island by a breakaway faction headed by a former LTTE military commander V. Muralitharan, also known as Karuna.

The LTTE has repeatedly tongue-lashed the security forces, in particular military intelligence, for supporting the Karuna faction. Last week top LTTE spokesperson leader Anton Balasingham accused the military of carrying out "a dirty war of attrition" in the east and declared the government would be responsible for any breakdown of the ceasefire.

The LTTE has, however, downright confuted any involvement in Kadirgamar's assassination. In a statement, S. P. Thamilchelvan, the leader of the LTTE's political wing, condemned Colombo for breakneck catapulting to upshot and called for a full investigation. "We know there are sections within the Sri Lankan Armed Forces operating with a hidden agenda to sabotage the CFA," he stated, adding in later comments that the government should "look inwards" for the culprits of the murder.

Speaking to the press, Thamilchelvan declared: "We strongly condemn this act [the murder]... Connecting the LTTE to this killing is wrong and it will worsen the crisis. There is no need for the LTTE to kill him".

While government spokesmen have dismissed the LTTE's denial, there remains many unanswered questions surrounding Kadirgamar's murder. Those in Colombo who have denounced the LTTE have not answered the most elementary question: what was the LTTE 's motive for the murder? Those most to gain politically from Kadirgamar's murder are parties such as the JVP and JHU and sections of the military and state apparatus that opposed determinedly to any deal with the LTTE. The murder will balk efforts to complete the P-TOMS agreement and restart peace talks. While the government has declared that it will continue to oversee the ceasefire, there is clearly the heightened danger of a return to war.

The circumstances of the murder raise several questions. As Kumaratunga's key person, Kadirgamar was one of the most heavily guarded politicians on an island where there has been a long history of political assassinations. Why did his guards not take the elementary precaution of checking possible vantage points there overlooking his home?

The police detained two LTTE suspects ten days ago carrying out reconnaissance near Kadirgamar's house. In the Sunday Times, columnist Iqbal Athas, declared the Army's Directorate of Military Intelligence warned a week back that threats against the foreign minister had intensified. Yet 100 metres from his residence, one or more gunslingers were able to set up a sniper's rifle and a grenade launcher and watch their target unhindered for several days or more.

Not only did Kadirgamar have a large contingent of crack army commandos and Ministerial Security Division personnel to protect him, but his home is in a well-to-do area in central Colombo was heavily patrolled. But not only were the gunslingers able to gain access to an ideal vantage point but they were also able to escape unnoticed. According to the Sunday Times, Kadirgamar's security detail took no action against the killers. Instead it took two hours before removing any roadblocks, giving the murderers "ample time to escape".

The Colombo media has been critical about the "security lapse" that allowed the assassination. For instance, they dismissed police excuses as absurd that no search was made of the buildings near the residence because Kadirgamar had not wanted to offend his neighbours. It should also be pointed out that suicide bombing, rather than precision shooting, has been the hallmark of the LTTE's previous assassinations.

In a statement, the president blamed "political foes opposed to the peaceful transformation of conflict and who were determined to undermine attempts towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict."

In recent weeks, Kumaratunga has been in conflict with sections of the military. In June, she ordered the transfer of Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera from the east after he provocatively supported Sinhala chauvinist groups that erected a Buddha statue in the middle of Trincomalee. This deliberate designed action meant to heighten communal tensions in a region where there are already sharp conflicts between the LTTE and the rival Karuna faction.

At a meeting of top military officers on July 26, Kumaratunga called for their support to fulfil P-TOMS. At the same meeting, Weerasekera pointedly asked whether the president could impose the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) or a state of emergency to combat LTTE in the east.

Earlier Weerasekera made an inflammatory speech at a passing-out ceremony at a navy training camp at Punewa. He declared that to refuse to take action against the LTTE's killings was "to show cowardice and timidity". He condemned the ceasefire for allowing the LTTE to build up its military position and told those present: "[W]e should be ready to establish peace even through war".

As defence minister also Kumaratunga is aware of the opposition within the military hierarchy. Assassinating Kadirgamar comes amid a growing political crisis in Colombo--as there exists a heavy division amongst the ruling elite over the peace process.

Billy I Ahmed is a researcher.