US condemns Sri Lankan bombing

The United States has joined in international condemnation of the latest suicide bombing in Sri Lanka, which killed a senior government minister and twenty-one other people.

A spokesman for President Clinton described it as an act of terrorism which should not be allowed to interfere with efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the long-running civil war.

The bomb went off in the capital, Columbo, as the industry minister, C V Goonaratne, was collecting contributions for families of soldiers killed in the conflict with Tamil Tiger separatists.

Security was immediately tightened and a curfew imposed in the immediate area. Unconfirmed reports say Sinhalese crowds have attacked Tamil homes in the capital, despite a government warning against any retaliation.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service