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 after a swim at his home Friday. The military blamed the rebels.

Lakshman Kadirgamar, 73, was shot in the head and heart about 11 p.m. and died at National Hospital, hours after he delivered a speech to a group of students on international relations.

“The minister had just returned from a swim and was getting inside his home when he was shot,” Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando said.

He said there were two snipers hiding in buildings near Kadirgamar’s heavily guarded home in the capital’s diplomatic district.

Authorities began house-to-house searches in the area and made two arrests.

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. “He was always under threat and had one of the best protections.”

The justice minister, John Seneviratne, was more cautious, however.

“We can’t say as yet who’s behind this, but the minister had been getting threats,” Seneviratne said outside the hospital.

Elite policemen and soldiers condoned the area around Kadirgamar’s home, and the air force deployed helicopters to search for the assailants. Authorities tightened security at all entry and exit points to the city.

The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils in the country’s north and east, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. The conflict killed nearly 65,000 people before the Norway-brokered cease-fire.

Post-truce peace talks have been stalled since 2003 over rebel demands for wide autonomy in this country of 19 million people. Sri Lanka, an island nation about the size of West Virginia, is located less than 20 miles from the southeast coast of India.

A team of 15 doctors – including brain, heart and orthopedic surgeons – battled for 1 1/4 hours to save Kadirgamar’s life, said Hector Weerasinghe, director of the hospital.

“The damage to the lungs, blood vessels and internal organs was critical,” he said.

Kadirgamar is survived by his wife, Suganthie; and by two children, Ragi and Ajitha, from an earlier marriage.