World briefs 8/13/05

Sri Lanka's foreign minister assassinated

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka's foreign minister, a member of the ethnic Tamil minority who led an international campaign to ban the Tamil Tiger rebels as a terrorist organization, was assassinated Friday. The military blamed the rebels. Lakshman Kadirgamar, 73, was shot in the head and died after being taken to National Hospital, Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando said. Brig. Daya Ratnayake said that over the past week police had arrested two Tamil men who were taking video of the area. "We have reasons to believe that he was killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam," Ratnayake said, using the rebels' formal name.

Britain bars Muslim cleric from returning

LONDON -- Britain's crackdown on Islamic extremism widened Friday as officials barred radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed from returning to the country that has been his home for the past two decades. Bakri was briefly detained by security officials in Beirut but was released Friday after being questioned about his entry to Lebanon, officials there said. The 45-year-old cleric, who holds Syrian and Lebanese citizenship, left Britain on Aug. 6. British authorities acted swiftly to block his return.

U.S. fears Iran's reactor could produce plutonium

KHONDAB, Iran -- As the U.S. and Europe struggle to stop Iran's uranium development, the Iranians are pushing ahead on another track that could also lead to a nuclear bomb -- construction of a heavy-water reactor that can produce weapons-grade plutonium. It will take at least another four years for Iran to complete the reactor, making it a less immediate worry for the West than the uranium program, parts of which are either in operation or ready to go at a moment's notice. But ultimately, the heavy-water reactor could prove more dangerous, since bombs made with plutonium are smaller and easier to fit onto a ballistic missile.

-- From wire reports