Colombo, Aug. 16 (Reuters): A Tamil politician opposed to Sri Lanka’s Tiger rebels was shot dead today in the latest in a string of political killings, as European peace brokers tried to break an impasse in efforts to end two decades of civil war.

Bala Nadarajah Iyer, a senior member of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party and a political ally of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, was gunned down outside his home in southern Colombo, police said. “A motorcyclist laid an ambush close by and opened fire as he came out of his house,” the police said.