And Robert Rotberg, who co-chaired a 1997 panel with Neelan, called his death a personal loss as well as a political one.

"Not only was he a decent person and a great thinker, but he was one of the wisest and most humane of the Sri Lankans capable of bridging the gap of militancy on both sides," said Robert Rotberg, a research associate at the Harvard Institute for International Development.

Rotberg said he recently finished working with Neelan on the book Creating Peace in Sri Lanka, based on their 1997 conference. Neelan's contribution to the book was a chapter called "The Devolution and the Elusive Quest for Peace in Sri Lanka."

Neelan, who headed the Colombo-based International Center for Ethnic Studies, wrote several other books, including 1997's Democracy and Human Rights.

Some estimate that as many as 58,000 people have been killed in the fighting between Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, where the Tigers have been fighting government security forces since 1983.

The Tigers have been blamed for several other bomb attacks in Colombo, including one that killed President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and blew up the Central Bank building in 1996.

Neelan, 55, is survived by a wife and two sons. Steiner said a memorial will probably be held in mid-September