Sri Lankan general killed in suicide attack

One of Sri Lanka's top generals was assassinated yesterday by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber, stoking fears of a return to civil war.

Three other people were killed by the bomber, who rammed his motorbike into an army convoy near the capital, officials said.

The military said it was reintroducing all security measures in effect in government-controlled areas before a 2002 ceasefire, which officials said meant increased road blocks and security checks, particularly at border crossings to rebel territory.

Army Deputy Chief of Staff Major-General Parami Kulatunga was travelling to army headquarters when the attacker approached his vehicle and an escorting army pick-up truck in rush-hour traffic about 20 kilometres from Colombo.

"The general is dead. Two others (soldiers) are also dead," police Chief Inspector Chaminda Bamunuar-achchi told Reuters at the scene. A civilian was also killed. "I think it was a suicide attack against the general."

The attack came on the heels of a rash of ambushes and military clashes on the island that have killed around 700 people - half of them civilians - so far this year.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have long used suicide bombers both in battle and assassinations, denied they were responsible for yesterday's blast.

An April attack by a female suicide bomber on army headquarters in Colombo wounded the army's commander and prompted government bombing raids on the rebels.

"These killings are further examples of the LTTE's concerted efforts to derail the peace process through acts of terror, and its total disregard for the international community's repeated calls on it to cease all violence and acts of terrorism," President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a statement.