A Sri Lankan minister was killed by a roadside bomb north of the capital today.
Nation Building Minister D.M. Dassanayake's vehicle was hit by the blast this morning near Colombo's international airport, and he died in hospital.
It is thought the bomb was planted by Tamil Tiger rebels. Ten other people were wounded in the attack. One of them, a security guard, later died.
Mr Dassanayake was the second MP killed in a week as a protracted civil war escalates.
The bombing comes just days after the government said it was formally scrapping a ceasefire which degenerated into renewed civil war in early 2006.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who want to carve out an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka, routinely deny involvement in such attacks.