The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Colombo

An ethnic Tamil Sri Lankan opposition MP has been shot dead by an unidentified gunman while attending a New Year service at a Hindu temple in the capital, police and hospital officials said Tuesday.

T. Maheswaran, a lawmaker from the United National Party (UNP), died after being admitted to the Colombo National Hospital following the shooting inside the Sivam Temple, hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said. "He had several bullet injuries, including to the head," Soysa said.

"Another 10 people who were wounded have been brought for treatment."

Maheswaran, who represents the embattled northern district of Jaffna, has been highly critical of the government's military campaign. He survived a similar attack two years ago.

Meanwhile, police said the gunman was mingling with devotees at the temple and pulled out a revolver and shot Maheswaran at close range.

Sri Lanka's top military commanders have vowed to win the decades-old war against Tamil separatists in the new year, a state-run daily said.

Army chief Sarath Fonseka said he hoped government forces would be able to dislodge the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from the line of bunkers guarding their de facto mini-state in the north of the island.