Most-Wanted Rebel Slain in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — This island nation’s most-wanted insurgent was killed Monday a few hours after his arrest, and his body was cremated in secret, the government said.

Officials said that President Ranasinghe Premadasa has ordered an investigation into the death of Rohana Wijeweera, 47, Sinhalese leader of the People’s Liberation Front, which is fighting to topple the government.

The captured Wijeweera reportedly died in a shoot-out after he led security forces to a rebel propaganda office in a suburb of Colombo, the capital. A member of the rebel Politburo also died in the shoot-out, and the two bodies were cremated, officials said.