S. Lanka foils suicide bomb plot: police

COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka is hunting a team of Tamil Tiger suicide bombers alleged to have plotted the death of the president's brother, who is also the island's top defence official, police said on Monday.

The State Intelligence Service (SIS) discovered a haul of explosives, a suicide jacket, ammunition and an automatic weapon that was to have been used against defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, police said in a statement.

It did not say when the discovery, in the heart of the capital Colombo, was made, but said it was made possible by an intelligence operation carried out over several months.

The government claimed in mid-May to have wiped out the leadership of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending nearly four decades of ethnic bloodshed.

"The plan was to launch a guerrilla attack against the convoy of the defence secretary and in case he survived to use another woman suicide bomber on the route to the hospital," the police statement said.

"A search is underway to track down the motorcycle that was to be used in the attack and the suicide bombers."

Rajapakse escaped assassination by a suicide bomber in December 2006.