A Sri Lankan government minister was on life support today, the day after being critically injured in a deadly suicide bombing blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said.

sri lanka violence 110309 02 Postal Services Minister Mahinda Wijesekera, 66, suffered head injuries in the attack at the southern town of Akuressa and was airlifted to the capital where he underwent four hours of surgery, hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said.

"The minister is on life support systems after surgery and it is a bit too early for us to assess his progress because he is heavily sedated," she said.

The bombing killed 15 people and wounded 60 others.

The government has blamed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are facing a major military offensive in the northeast of the island.

sri lanka violence 110309 01 The bombing targeted politicians attending a ceremony at a mosque in Akuressa, 160km south of Colombo. It came as the Tigers steadily lost ground in the face of a fierce government offensive on their shrinking northeastern stronghold.

Four local politicians were among those killed in the blast carried out by a male suicide bomber, the military spokesman said.

Culture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene, who was initially listed as injured, said the blood splattered on his clothes came from other victims and that he was unhurt.

"We were walking in a procession and just passing the entrance to the mosque when there was a blast. I thought it was a big firecracker," Abeywardene told AFP .

"My clothes were covered in blood and I started running. Later I realised that I was not hurt, but I had blood from someone who was hit in the blast."

No group claimed responsibility

Muslim men were playing hand drums and performing a dance when the bomber detonated the explosives.

sri lanka violence 110309 "We had just cleared the main entrance for VIPs when the blast went off," Chandrasiri Gajadeera, one of the politicians present, said. "I fell on the ground and was taken away by a security guard."

There were large crowds at the ceremony, held on a national holiday marking Maulid Rasul, the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.

The blast came as President Mahinda Rajapakse told the country's minority Muslim community that the celebrations in Akuressa were of national importance.

sri lanka violence 110309 03 "The Muslims of Sri Lanka will have greater joy in these celebrations this year...," the President said in his message delivered just before the attack. The government said the bombing only strengthened its resolve to finish off the Tigers, who are cornered in the northeast of the island.

Although no group has claimed responsibility, the Tigers carried out an attack similar to today's strike in April 2008, which killed a government minister as he took part in celebrations ahead of the traditional New Year.

The pro-rebel Tamilnet website instead reported that at least 129 civilians had been killed and 200 others wounded in army shelling of the remaining LTTE-controlled territory on Tuesday, a charge denied by the military.