BRUSSELS, Aug 13 (AFP) - The assassination of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was a brutal and senseless terrorist act, the European Union’s foreign affairs commissioner said on Saturday.

"This senseless murder robs Sri Lanka of a man of great stature and dignity who had dedicated himself to finding a peaceful and democratic solution to his country’s ills," Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.

"This was truly a vicious terrorist act and its perpetrators must be brought to justice."

Kadirgamar, 73, a Tamil and strident critic of Tamil Tiger rebels who for more than 30 years have fought for a separate Tamil state, was shot at his home in Colombo on Friday evening and died later in hospital.

"I am particularly saddened because I see the clear intention of the killers is to restart conflict and to rob the worthy people of Sri Lanka of the peace, reconciliation and prosperity they so clearly deserve after decades of civil war and the devastating tsunami of December 2004," Ferrero-Waldner said.

The Sri Lankan military says the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are the prime suspects, but the rebel group denies carrying out the attack.