The Sri Lankan Sunday Times newspaper says police have uncovered a plot to assassinate the country's president, Chandrika Kumaratunga.

The newspaper said that according to a suspected Tamil Tiger guerrilla detained in May, the movement was planning to send a suicide bomber to kill Mrs Kumaratunga at a cultural event last week.

The BBC correspondent in Colombo says the Tamil Tigers have been blamed for the assasinations of the Sri Lankan president, Ranasinghe Premadasa, and the Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

She says fears of attacks during next week's South Asian summit have led to unprecedented security measures in the capital.