COLOMBO: Anura Bandaranaike, the brother of Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge, was sworn in as the country’s new foreign minister on Monday. Mr Bandaranaike succeeds Lakshman Kadirgamar who was assassinated by LTTE gunmen a week ago.

Mr Bandaranaike will also continue to hold the portfolio of tourism, according to a news release from the presidential secretariat. The new foreign minister is expected to spearhead a wide campaign in getting the international community to ‘tame the tigers’ -– by highlighting the importance of international pressure on the rebels and bring a stop to its string of ceasefire violations.