7.4.2008
The
European Union Commission has strongly condemned the suicide
bombing in Sri Lanka on Sunday which killed Minister Jeyarah
Fernandopulle and 13 other people.
"I
am deeply shocked by yesterday's heinous attack on minister
of roads Jeyaraj Fernandopulle near Colombo," said
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for external relations
in a statement on Monday.
"I
strongly condemn this suicide attack, which not only killed
Minister Fernandopulle and 14 civilians but also injured
many innocent bystanders," she said.
Fernandopulle
was killed by a suicide bomber as he flagged off a marathon
race near Colombo on Sunday. He was reportedly a vocal
critic of the separatist rebels of the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam.
"The
EU condemns all forms of terrorism and violence against
civilians. The EU continues to believe that there can
be no military solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka and
only a negotiated settlement can open the way for a lasting
peace," said Ferrero-Waldner.
The
government blamed the LTTE rebels for the attack.
Tamil
Tiger terrorists have been blamed for a series of blasts
in Colombo and elsewhere in Sri Lanka this year after
the government pulled out of a 2002 Norwegian-brokered
ceasefire in January this year.
The
Minister for Nation Building, DM Dassanayake, was killed
in a bombing on 8 January, days after the government pulled
out of the ceasefire.
Since
1983, the Tamil Tigers have been fighting for an independent
homeland for ethnic minority Tamils after decades of marginalisation
by governments run by the Sinhalese majority. More than
70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
Courtesy - Asian
Tribune