Colombo to honour truce

The coffin of Lakshman Kadir-gam-ar was taken for cremation at the Independence Square park where President Chandrika Kumaratunga made an unannounced appearance and joined foreign dignitaries for the ceremony.

Thousands of police and heavily armed soldiers cordoned off the park where Kadirgamar was to be cremated at sunset on a wood pyre covered with white cotton sheets according to Buddhist funeral rites.

His coffin, draped with the Sri Lankan Lion flag, was taken in an open hearse along the mile-long route to the cremation site.

Cabinet ministers and foreign delegations from 12 countries were in attendance, with six of them -- Bangladesh, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Norway -- represented at ministerial level.

Kumaratunga responded to Kadirgamar's murder Friday by imposing a state of emergency that allowed police and security forces to detain scores of people in and around the capital. However, investigations have made little headway, officials said.

"I will redouble the efforts of my government for the devolution of power (with minority communities) based on dialogue, dialogue with all parties," Kumaratunga said in a televised speech on Sunday night.

The government's peace secretariat chief Jayantha Dhanapala suggested however that there would have to be a change in dealing with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Jayantha Dhanapala noted that in the light of the assassination, there would have to be a serious review of certain policies and procedures followed up to now in relation to the peace process," the foreign ministry said.