Attempt on Defence Secretary: two held

Police yesterday detained two people in connection with the assassination attempt on the Secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, police said the United States and the ceasefire monitors blamed the LTTE for the suicide attack.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) arrested two men who had owned the trishaw that was used in suicide bombing against Defence Secretary's convoy in Piththala Junction, Kollupitiya.

"We have tracked down the owner of the vehicle used in the bombing," a police official said."They were being questioned."

Forensic experts have suggested that the trishaw had been fitted with eight to 10 kilos of plastic explosives and packed with ball bearings. Two soldiers of the escort were killed in the explosion while another 13 people including nine soldiers were wounded. The Defence Secretary's body guards noticed an "unusual movement" of the Three wheeler coming from the opposite direction and acted to block its path. This caused the explosive laden trishaw to explode before it reached the target.

The body of the suicide bomber, with the head destroyed beyond the recognition was found in a back of a near by pick- up truck.

The United States and Scandinavian truce monitors condemned the assassination attempt and urged the LTTE to resume peace negotiations.

"The attack bears all the hallmarks of an operation by the LTTE," the US embassy in Colombo said in a statement.

"We once again call on the LTTE to renounce terrorism, to give up violence and to join in negotiating a peaceful solution to Sri Lanka's conflict," it added.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said the "blast bares the hallmarks of methods used by the LTTE in the past."

"The recent escalation of violence, including today's attack on a high ranking government official, threatens the lives of innocent civilians in Sri Lanka. The SLMM urges the parties to respect the Cease Fire Agreement and to give up violence," it added.