COLOMBO, DEC 19: India on Sunday joined the US, France, Britain, Japan and other countries in condemning the assassination bid on Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and a grenade attack at an Opposition election rally "as acts of wanton terrorism".President K R Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in separate letters to Kumaratunga expressed concern over the blasts and offered all medical assistance to her.A release by the Indian High Commission here said the President and the Prime Minister have sent messages of concern and sympathy to Kumaratunga wishing her a speedy recovery."The (Indian) Government strongly condemns the blasts as acts of wanton terrorism. The Government hopes that all those injured will have an early and full recovery and extends condolences to the bereaved families," the release said.External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on spoke to Indian High Commissioner to Colombo Shivshankar Menon over phone and asked him to personally convey to Kumaratunga India'sserious concern and readiness to offer any medical assistance "if she required".US President Bill Clinton in a personal message to Kumaratunga said: "I was shocked and saddened to learn today of the cowardly attempt on your life . it is particularly distressing to me that these heinous acts have occurred during a democratic election campaign."The Sri Lankan President, wounded by shrapnel in the assassination attempt by woman suicide bomber days before presidential poll, is recovering in a local hospital and officials said she was making "satisfactory progress". The bomb went off as Kumaratunga was leaving an election rally on Saturday.LTTE captures Paranthan, red alert soundedCOLOMBO: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) achieved a major military victory in the northern Jaffna peninsula and captured Paranthan army complex even as the Army sounded a red alert predicting more rebel attacks before Tuesday's presidential polls. Reports from the north said that Army units which had beenoffering stiff resistance to the spate of LTTE attacks for the past few days finally pulled back to major military garrison at elephant pass, in the north of Paranthan. Elephant Pass, the biggest military garrison in the island, itself had been under heavy attack for the past weeks with the LTTE capturing a naval supply base and fringe defences around the garrison.
