COLOMBO, Dec 1: The Sri Lankan government’s defence secretary escaped unhurt when a bomb was targeted at his convoy on Friday. Seven bodyguards and seven other people were injured in the attack in the heart of Colombo.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, who is a younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, was heading for his office when the attack occurred.

Police officials blamed the Tamil Tigers for the incident, saying a suicide bomber had arrived in an auto-rickshaw and detonated the bomb adjacent to the convoy of the defence secretary.

Friday’s blast comes a day after a special Norwegian envoy arrived in Sri Lanka to prevent Sri Lanka from sliding back to war following Tamil Tiger leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran’s pledge to resume his armed struggle for a separate Tamil homeland.

A government spokesman described the attack as an attempt by the LTTE to prove their ‘war mentality’.

“We have repeatedly extended our hands for peace but this attack proves that the LTTE is only interested in bringing about death and destruction”, the spokesman said.