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| Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
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Nation bids adieu to Kadirgamar by the News Desk The nation will bid farewell to Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar tomorrow.
The shocked nation will observe a day of mourning tomorrow as a mark of respect to the slain Foreign Minister, the highest profile figure to be killed during the ceasefire. Oxford educated, an authority on intellectual property law, Minister Kadirgamar relentlessly campaigned against the LTTE, which led to the banning of the LTTE in many countries. This made him a high profile target in the LTTE hit list. A top level funeral committee Chaired by Public Security, Law and Order Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, appointed by the President, met at the President's House yesterday morning to discuss the funeral arrangements of Minister Kadirgamar. It was attended by Ministers Amarasiri Dodangoda, Mangala Samaraweera, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Nimal Siripala de Silva, President's Secretary W.J.M.Karunaratne, former Presidential Secretary K. Balapatabendi, Media Secretary W. B. Ganegala, Secretary of the Law and Order Ministry Tilak Ranavirajah and Public Administration Ministry Secretary D. Dissanayake. The three Service Chiefs and the IGP were also present at this meeting, Media Secretary Ganegala said. The remains of Minister Kadirgamar were taken to his official residence at 117, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7 from A. F. Raymond's funeral parlour at 1.45 p.m. yesterday. The remains will lie in State at the residence till 2.00 p.m. on Monday. The sniper who shot dead Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar outside the swimming pool of his private residence at Bullers Lane, Colombo 7, is believed to have fired the shots from an upstair location close by which was occupied by a son of a retired senior police officer, and his family, police sources told the Sunday Observer. A contingent of the Special Task Force (STF) who rushed to the ministers residence at Buller's Lane immediately after the shooting was reported around 11.00 p.m. was able to spot an open window of an upstair house close by. The Commandos had then scaled the parapet wall and had entered the house through the main entrance. After being questioned, the occupant of the house had informed the STF Commandos that nobody had occupied the upstairs room for the past six months. However, the Commandos stormed upstairs and found several 40 mm cartridges in the corridor.
They also found a tripod stand with a seat fitted on to it with a built in arm rest facing the window. Three empty .450 sniper cartridges, a pack of 40 mm grenade cartridges, several chocolates, cheese, fruit cake, packets of "Murrukku" a sports bag bearing the name of Lalith Athulathmudali Vidyalaya, Ratmalana and Russel Arnold were also found in the room. Special Task Force (STF) Commander, DIG, Nimal Leuke who spoke to Sunday Observer said they believed the sniper rifle was placed on the arm rest where the assassin had a clear view of the swimming pool area through ventilation louvres. "It is possible for any one to take the equipment piece by piece and fix it without the knowledge of any one." he said. A senior Police officer said in a cordon and search operation on Saturday
morning police recovered a grenade launcher in a shrub close by. "However
the weapon was not used in the assassination and we believe that the
assassin had introduced it to mislead the police." |
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| Produced by Lake House |
The last rites of the slain leader who was brutally shot dead by a
suspected LTTE sniper on late Friday night will be conducted at Independence
Square with full State honours at 3.00 pm. 
