Sri Lankan judge assassinated

A Sri Lankan high court judge who took a tough stand against Tamil Tiger rebels was gunned down outside his home in the capital, Colombo, today.

Sarath Ambepitiya, aged 58, was killed by gunmen, who also shot dead his bodyguard before escaping in a van, police said

Ambepitiya was known as a judge who delivered harsh sentences and handled politically sensitive cases and those involving drug dealers.

In 2002, he sentenced Vellupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive Tamil Tiger leader, to 200 years in prison after convicting him in absentia of planning a truck bombing that killed 91 people.

The Tamil Tigers began a violent campaign in 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority

Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination.

A ceasefire in 2002 halted the fighting, which had killed nearly 65,000 people.