Sri Lanka on Friday announced the appointment of a new envoy to replace outgoing Pakistan High Commissioner (ambassador) Bashir Wali Mohmand who narrowly escaped assassination in a bomb attack here.
The foreign ministry said the Sri Lankan government accepted the appointment of Air Vice Marshal Shahzad Aslam Chaudhry (Retd) as Islamabad's new envoy in the island.
Mohmand narrowly escaped a claymore mine attack in Colombo on Monday, but four of his Sri Lankan army commando bodyguards and three civilians were killed. The government blamed the attack on Tamil Tiger rebels. The attack came a week after he had made a farewell call on President Mahinda Rajapakse after completing his term of duty here.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said he was targeted because he was arranging a huge arms deal that could have boosted the military's fire power against Tamil Tiger rebels. Sri Lanka turned to Pakistan to buy weapons after India turned down a request recently, official sources said, adding that the shopping list was worth about 150 million dollars.