SCOPP Deputy head shot dead in Colombo

Colombo, Aug 12 (UNI) Sri Lanka's Deputy Director General of Secretariat for Co-Ordinating Peace Process (SCOPP), Kethesh Loganathan, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen this evening.

His domestic aide confirmed that Mr Loganathan was shot at his house in Dehiwela, and died while being taken to the hospital.

Mr Loganathan was appointed to the Peace Secretariat by President Rajapaksa early this year.

He graduated from Georgetown University, Washington DC in 1975 and obtained his MA in Development Studies at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, in 1985.

He was directly involved in the ethnic conflict as well as attempts at seeking a negotiated settlement during the periods 1983-88 and 1992-94. He was the only member of the Tamil delegation who participated in both rounds of Thimpu talks. He also participated in the formal and informal processes of negotiations relating to the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement (1987) and the Parliamentary Select Committee process in 1992-93.

In early 1995 Mr Loganathan withdrew from party politics and affiliations. He was a well-known writer and a political think tank.

Prior to his appointment at the Peace Secretariat, he was Research Consultant at the Centre for Policy Alternative (CPA).

Mr Loganathan has been killed on the day the country is commemorating the first death anniversary of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

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