COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels on Saturday awarded one of their highest honours to a slain Tamil legislator and accused government forces of "terrorism".
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran said MP Kiddinan Sivanesan, 51, was killed in a roadside blast carried out by Sri Lankan security forces who had infiltrated an area under rebel control.
"This planned, brutal assassination is the latest cruelty in the ongoing ethnic genocide of the Tamils," Prabhakaran said, adding it was "another illustration of the (majority) Sinhala state terrorism".
In his statement, Prabhakaran conferred the title of "mamanithar," or great man, on Sivanesan, a member of parliament for the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
Sivanesan's vehicle was hit by a mine on Thursday near Mallavi, 35 kilometres (21 miles) north of the frontline post of Omanthai, officials said.
The Tigers said the attack was carried out by a "deep penetration unit" of the Sri Lankan army -- a charge denied by Colombo.
Tiger rebels have regularly accused government forces of carrying out bomb blasts inside territory controlled by them, which the military rejects.
The MP's death came on the heels of a report by New York-based Human Rights Watch entitled "Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for 'Disappearances' and Abductions in Sri Lanka".
The watchdog said UN rights monitoring was desperately needed following more than 1,500 abductions cases in the past two years.
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