http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=473101315
Mon, 06 October 2008 23:10:42 LBO>>Politics 06 Oct, 2008 14:21:27 Sri Lanka journalists mourn colleague; condemn killing Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's media organizations condemned a blast by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber, which killed a TV journalist and more than 20 others including a former army general-turned politician. Rashmi Mohamed, a provincial correspondent with Sri Lanka's Sirasa TV, died Monday while covering the opening of an opposition United National Party (UNP) party office in the north central Sri Lankan town of Anuradhapura. The blast killed retired Major General Janaka Perera, who was recently elected to the provincial administration in the area as opposition leader representing the UNP, his wife and several other party officials. Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF), Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Alliance (SLTJA) and the Free Media Movement (FMM) rights body, condemned the killing and expressed sorrow. "Our organisations have time and again expressed our complete rejection of the use of violence as way of resolving social and political issues," the groups said in a joint statement. "We condemn this heinous attack on unarmed civilians as a crime against humanity." The statement urged the government to conduct a speedy inquiry and said there was a need for more awareness and safety training for journalists working in "challenging security environments." Sri Lanka's politicians and senior military figures have often been targeted by the Tamil Tigers. Meanwhile, journalists have also been killed, kidnapped, assaulted and intimidated, especially in the north and east of the island. Of late military analysts critical of the government war effort in the South have also been assaulted, kidnapped or threatened. Rights bodies have said Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, after Iraq.
