Minister Targeted in Sri Lanka Suicide Attack

A handicapped female Tamil Tiger suicide bomber with explosives hidden in her bra blew herself up in the Sri Lankan capital today, killing one and wounding three security men outside a government ministry.

The attacker, believed to a member of the Black Tiger suicide squad, was dressed as an office worker and attempted to enter the heavily guarded complex of social development minister Douglas Devananda this morning.

However, when the bomber was stopped by security guards she detonated the device in her underwear, police said. Devananda, who escaped unhurt, was holding an "open day" to meet the public.

Devananda is leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party, an ethnic Tamil party that opposes the Tigers and is seen as a democratic alternative to the rebel leadership. He has been the target of repeated assassination attempts by the rebels.

The blast killed one of Devananda's staff and critically injured another. Hector Weerasinghe, the medical director of Colombo National Hospital, told reporters that a third worker was lightly injured. The bomber died on the spot.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting for more than two decades to create a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils after decades of discrimination by governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The civil war has claimed more than 70,000 lives.

Yesterday in his annual Heroes Day speech, Velupillai Prabhakaran, the reclusive leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, said that peace efforts were a waste of time and vowed to strike back at the island's "genocidal" government.

Underlining that the peace would give way to war, Mr Prabhakaran said that "all the Sinhala political parties are essentially chauvinistic and anti-Tamil. To expect a political solution ... is political naivety."

He also lashed out against nations who have listed the LTTE as "terrorists" - such as India, the US and Britain.

Many analysts are concerned over the rebel leader's use of the phrase "Sinahala people ... (who were) immersed in the poison of racism" in his speech - indicating that the Tigers may once again target civilians.

The government attempted to shut down the speech before Mr Prabhakaran began by destroying the Tamil Tigers' radio station with an air strike. The rebels said that five employees and four civilians were killed.

The Sri Lankan government has vowed to kill Mr Prabhakaran. Meanwhile, the economic consequences of war are extracting a heavy toll - official figures show that tourist arrivals have dropped more than 20% in the 10 months to October.