Three dead in Sri Lanka bomb attack

Aug 8, 2006 (AFP) - Three people were killed Tuesday in a bomb attack aimed at a Sri Lanka politician opposed to Tamil Tiger rebels who have been fighting a separatist insurgency here for decades, police said.

The blast, which exploded in front of a girls' school in a crowded area of the island nation's capital Colombo, comes amid new fighting in the past two weeks between the government and rebels that has killed at least 440 people.

Seven people were hospitalised with injuries including the target of the attack, M.

Sivadasan, a former Tamil legislator from the Eelam People's Democratic Party who has survived several previous attempts on his life.

The party fiercely opposes the separatist campaign of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who police blamed for the attack.

"He is okay," hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said.

"His condition is stable. We had a total of eight people admitted, and one had already been discharged after minor treatment."

Sivadasan was the top aide to EPDP leader Douglas Devananda, who is currently the Hindu Affairs Minister in the government.

The bomb was thought to have been planted on the undercarriage of his mini-van, police officials said.

Vi