COLOMBO, April 26, 2006 (AFP) - A suicide bomber who blew up the Sri Lankan army chief's motorcade used maternity day to enter the military compound in the heart of Colombo disguised as a pregnant woman, a report said Wednesday.

Mothers-to-be entering the Army Hospital for a weekly maternity day are not subject to stringent security checks, the state-run Daily News said.

Investigations had shown that the bomber -- believed to be a member of the "Black Tiger" suicide squad of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- had been driven from the gate of the high-security military compound to the Army Hospital in an army vehicle.

She had walked towards the car carrying army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka as he was heading to his home in the compound for lunch, the report said.

When his bodyguards on motorcycles tried to block her way, she blew herself up.

Ten people died and 30 were injured in the attack, the biggest blamed on the rebels since they entered into a truce with the government in February 2002 and the first in Colombo since July 2004.

Foneska was "critically" injured in the blast but said by officials Wednesday to be out of danger.

Many of the injured were family members of army officers who had come to the hospital for treatment, the Daily News said.

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