The European Union has condemned the suicide bomber attack in Colombo in which Sri Lanka's army chief was seriously injured and five of his bodyguards killed but said it should not threaten peace prospects in the country.
"This appalling act of terrorism must not be allowed to threaten the prospects for peace in Sri Lanka," said an EU statement about Tuesday's strike.
It called on both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government "to refrain from further actions liable to jeopardise the peace process".
The INEP agency reported that the 25-member European bloc underlined its continued support to Norwegian peace facilitators' efforts to achieve a further round of talks on strengthening the ceasefire agreement between the LTTE and the government.