Sri Lanka Official Is Slain

Sri Lanka’s president declared a state of emergency Saturday, hours after her foreign minister was assassinated at his home. The military blamed the Tamil Tiger rebels, which the slain official had worked to ostracize internationally as terrorists.

Lakshman Kadirgamar, 73, was shot in the head and heart about 11 p.m. just after swimming at his home. He was rushed to the National Hospital where he died, hours after speaking to international relations students.

“The minister had just returned from a swim and was getting inside his home when he was shot,” Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando said. He said two snipers were hiding in buildings near Kadirgamar’s heavily guarded home in the capital’s diplomatic district.

Authorities began a house-to-house search of the area and made two arrests at a neighboring house.

Early Saturday, President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a state of emergency. Her spokesman, Eric Fernando, said the move would “facilitate the investigation process.”

The emergency law, used at the height of the conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers, allows authorities to detain without trial anybody suspected of being involved in terrorist activities.