May 6 (DN) Proper investigations should be conducted on any substantial number of fire arms or other items recovered during search operations, irrespective of where they are found, SLMC Leader and Minister Rauff Hakeem said yesterday. He pointed out that no leader of the Muslim community would defend any such party responsible for keeping such weapons. “The Muslim community is totally against violence,” more..

May 6 (AFP) At the Cinnamon Grand Colombo, one of six Sri Lankan targets hit by suicide bombers on Easter Sunday, the silence that reigns is not just the usual hush of a plush hotel. Recently reopened, barely 10 of its 500 luxury rooms are occupied -- down from the 300 usual at this time of year -- as fears rise over the impact of the bombings on the island nation's burgeoning tourism industry. more..

May 6 (BBC) President Maithripala Sirisena has told the BBC that he believes the Islamic State (IS) group chose to mount attacks in his country to show they still exist. Police in Sri Lanka have blamed two local Islamist groups for the Easter Sunday bombings, but acknowledged that they must have had support from groups abroad. IS has said it was behind the suicide attacks, which killed more than 250 people. more..

May 6 (CT) Intelligence services have provided highly reliable information regarding another potential suicide bomber, who is a member of banned Islamist terrorist group named National Thowheed Jama’at (NTJ). This terrorist is said to be one among the top 10 suicide bomber cadres on the NTJ list that had planned several barbaric terrorist attacks in the country. This terrorist has fled to Mecca, in order to perform Umrah more..

May 6 (FT) The Annual Report of the Central Bank for 2018 analysing in minute detail the state of the country’s economy today and outlining the prospects for the next five years has just been released. It is a report of the Monetary Board, the legal body that manages the Central Bank, presented to the public through the Minister of Finance. But, it is crafted by a technical team working under the bank’s Director of Economic Research incorporating numerous inputs contributed by the other departments more..

May 6 (DM) It is apparent that the outgoing Secretary of Defence by his controversial statement on national security, inferred that protecting luxury hotels was not the responsibility of the Security forces, on the basis that these hotels earn large profits and as such they should provide their own security. Two issues emerge at this point. The first is, what is the purpose of spending the Sri Lankan tax payer’s money notwithstanding the economic setbacks to maintain a security force more..

May 6 (AD) Wildlife officers have managed to rescue two elephant calves that had fallen into a pit in Kalagama, Galkiriyagama, after a mission of nearly 3 hours. The elephant calves had fallen into a well in private land in the area and the villagers had witnessed the 2 mother-elephants attempting to rescue them. The residents had alerted the Galkiriyagama Wildlife officials who chased away the mother-elephants and rescued the calves using backhoe machines. more..

May 6 (GDI) The time period to hand over illegal weapons currently in their possession to the police has been extended by another 48 hours, says the Police Spokesperson. On May 4th, the police requested the public to hand over the illegal swords, kris knives and sharp dagger to the nearest police station by Sunday (5). Hundreds of illegal weapons were seized during the search missions conducted since the terror attacks on Easter Sunday. Extensive cordon and search operations are currently more..

May 6 (AD) Over 140 million cash owned by the terrorist group responsible for the suicide bomb attacks on Easter Sunday has been identified during several raids carried out for the past two weeks, says SP Ruwan Gunasekara. He stated that the CID had conducted an investigation on the assets belonging to the terrorist group. Part of the total amount of this cash has been seized by the CID and the rest of the amount is more..

May 6 (AD) MP Piyal Nishantha left the CID after giving a 5-hour statement over a false comment made by him. Nishantha arrived at the CID at around 10.30 this morning. The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP has arrived at the CID to record a statement regarding a case of a false statement. The MP stated that this was regarding a false statement he had previously made on a TV program. Nishantha says that he has also made a corrective statement with this regard. more..

May 6 (FT) Eight leading private sector lobby groups are strongly opposing the unilateral decision by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to increase port tariffs. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, National Chamber of Exporters, Sri Lanka Apparel (JAAF), Sri Lanka Shippers Council, Ceylon Association of Shipping Agents, Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders Association, Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agents, and Ceylon Freight and Logistics Association, in a statement, said more..

May 6 (AD) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has agreed to compensate the private and public properties that were damaged during the clashes between two groups in Porutota-Kochchikade, Negombo last evening. PM has instructed the relevant authorities to assess the damages caused owing to the unrest. Accordingly, the Office for Reparations under the Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, more..

May 6 (AD) Minister of Postal Services and Muslim Religious Affairs M.H.A. Haleem has handed over the committee report on regulating Arabic schools (Madrasah) to PM Ranil Wickremesinghe today. Reportedly, the laws implemented in foreign countries and the Pirivena Education Act in Sri Lanka have been taken into consideration while preparing this report. All Madrasahs would be regulated and abide by a set of rules and regulations common for all educational institutions, more..

May 6 (DM) All Ceylon Jammiyathul Ulama (ACJU), the Muslim theologians of SL, has called on the remaining members of the Muslim terrorist groups to surrender to the Security Forces. Ash-Sheikh Fazil Farook, the ACJU media secretary said that a programme to rehabilitate the misguided youth can be prepared in collaboration with the govt if they surrender to the authorities. He further said that the details of the lectures delivered by Zahran Hashim, the leader of Thawheed Jama'ath Org more..

May 6 (EN) Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka fell 7.5% from a year earlier to 166,975 in April amid the Easter Sunday bombings. The Easter Sunday bombings killed over 250 people, including 42 foreigners, and injured over 500, including 37 foreigners. India, traditionally SL's largest tourism market, fell to second place with arrivals falling 21.5% to 29,860 tourists in April. UK took the number one spot, with arrivals falling 5.2% to 26,063 tourists. more..

May 6 (Island) Fast bowler Lasith Malinga will not feature in the two ODIs against Scotland in Edinburgh later this month, a SLC spokesman said. 35-year-old is in India currently playing the IPL. Mumbai Indians, who played their last group game yesterday, are through to the playoffs and if they go all the way to the final, Malinga will have to remain in India at least till the 12th of May. The national cricket team leaves for England on Tuesday (7th May) and will train in London for ten days before more..

May 6 (EN) Sri Lanka has arrested two persons over violent incidents in the Negombo area, on Sunday night, police said, while the govt said compensation would be paid to owners of property that had been damaged. A Church in Negombo was one of three targeted by Islamist bombers on Easter Sunday. Police Spokesman said several three wheelers and motorcycles had been damaged. There were also complaints of three cases of assault involving fisticuffs, but no one was hospitalized, more..

May 6 (Sun) ASOS billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen today said an emotional farewell to his three children who were killed in the Easter Sunday terror attack in Sri Lanka. The tycoon wrapped his arms around his wife Anne and their surviving daughter Astrid as the three white coffins draped with flowers and balloons were carried into Aarhus cathedral in Denmark. Alma, 15, Agnes, 12, and five-year-old Alfred Povlsen died during more..

May 6 (PMD) Seven new foreign Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to SL presented their credentials to President Sirisena at the President’s House in Colombo today. Envoys who presented credentials are: Mr Ashraf Shikhaliyev – Ambassador of Azerbaijan, Mr Daniel Chuburu – Ambassador of Argentina; Mr David Holly – High Commissioner of Australia; Mr Artis Bertulis – Ambassador of Latvia; Mr Julius Pranevicius – Ambassador of Lithuania; more..

May 6 (PMD) A request has been made to the President by several persons not to telecast the occasions when the security forces conduct search operations in houses and public places through the media. Furthermore, clear instructions have been given to the security forces not to allow participations of civilians when conducting search operations and it has to be conducted exclusively by the members of the security forces. At present, a special security programme has been more..

May 6 (GDI) Chairman of the UGC Prof. Mohan de Silva says that there is no university named Sharia University under the jurisdiction of the UGC. Issuing a press release UGC Chairman further says that no such university has requested permission nor given authority by the UGC to conduct educational courses. The complete media release is as follows: “Attention of the UGC is drawn to several news items regarding more..

May 6 (AD) Nine of the ten suspects, who were arrested at the copper factory allegedly used to manufacture the bombs detonated at three churches and three luxury hotels on Easter Sunday, have been released on bail. Colombo Additional Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage delivered the bail order today. Two personal bails of Rs 500,000 were imposed on each suspect while the other suspect named Karupayya Rajendran Abdulla was ordered to be further remanded until May 20th for more..

May 6 (MFA) As at Monday (6), the number of foreign nationals who have been identified as killed is 44. The fatalities were: 1 from Bangladesh, 5 from China, 11 from India, 3 from Denmark, 1 from Japan, 1 from the Netherlands, 1 from Portugal, 2 from Saudi Arabia, 2 from Spain, 1 from Switzerland, 2 from Turkey, 6 from the UK, 1 from USA, 2 holding US and UK nationalities, one (01) holding Swiss and Dutch nationalities, 1 holding Dutch & SL nationalities, 2 holding Aus/SL nationalities. more..

May 6 (DM) Western Province Governor Azath Salley said that he knew of a judge who aided and abetted extremist terrorism and that he would provide all the information to the Prez about the judge. He said that it was reported that about three to four judges were involved in supporting terrorism and that he was well aware of one such judge. “I will be getting documents of a judge who was involved in aiding and abetting terrorism. more..

May 6 (FT) United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) High-Representative Miguel Moratinos visited Sri Lanka on 30 April to pay his respects to the people and Govt of Sri Lanka and express the support of the UN for the Govt’s efforts in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism. This is the first visit by any high-level official to Sri Lanka since the heinous terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday that targeted three Catholic churches and three hotels in the country. more..

May 6 (GT) While the Sri Lanka terror attacks that killed four Chinese scientists last month inevitably raised some concerns about China-Sri Lanka cooperation and the security of Belt and Road (B&R) projects, Chinese institutes and operators in Sri Lanka said that all cooperation remained unaffected. China nonetheless needs to strengthen counter-terrorism and intelligence cooperation with countries like Sri Lanka along the routes of the B&R to safeguard its overseas interests, including more..

May 6 (DN) Zahira College in Colombo, SL's largest Muslim edu institution set an example by enforcing security measures to ensure the safety of students and staff in light of the prevailing security situation in the country. School which is closed for Ramadan holidays had put up notices at the premises requesting all visitors including staff, from entering the school premises clad in full-face helmets, burqa, niqab or more..

May 7 (CT) It takes two hands to clap and make a noise, and what a deadly noise did Sri Lankans hear during that fatal Easter Sunday? In the first part of this analysis the Muslim leadership hand was identified and discussed. Second part looks at the hand of govts that governed this country since independence and how they laid the remainder of the bricks that paved the bloody road. Long before Ashraf and his SLMC allowed Islamism creep into Muslim politics, Bandaranaike (SWRD) more..

May 7 (CT) The discussion of the town has changed overnight. High hopes (rather high talks) of the proposed constitutional change by the so-called yahapalana govt have been thrown to the back seat. The sophisticated lives of Colombo elites seem to have changed back to the zero level of square and the members of the clubs might have started finding a guy like Premadasa or Rajapaksa to manage the filed. (As always the way that it happened, upper stage elitists of our society would not put more..

May 7 (CT) It was at the crack of dawn that the troops fanned out to surround the predominant Muslim town of Sammanthurai in a pre-planned search and find operation; one of many in the Ampara District since the bloody Easter Sunday massacre carried out at three Christian churches and an equal number of up market hotels in the Metropolis, which claimed the lives of some 250 persons and injured hundreds of others. more..

May 7 (GV) We hadn’t seen him in years, ever since he left to work abroad. So, on the day of his return, his mother invited the extended family to lunch. As he walked through the door we reacted collectively, gasped audibly. He wore a sharp suit but sported one of those long, unkempt, rowdy beards. Perhaps, I thought, there are no barbers in Saudi Arabia. (You never know, it’s a weird place). Then one of my aunts, his senior by a good thirty years, got up, arms extended – to give him a hug. more..

May 7 (GV) For people of my generation, as Sharika Thiranagama wrote in her recent article, news like the Easter Sunday blasts does not initiate a new fear, it ignites an old one. I do not feel scared or angry. There is just a complete paralysis of the self. A feeling of “We have been here before”. A trauma that has been lingering, hovering over these years of peace, has just been revived. When I first heard the news, I was convinced that this was our violence, our people with grievances, more..

May 7 (SO) Dismissing allegations in the media that some Muslim politicians have fostered and promoted Islamist fanaticism in the country, Eastern Province Governor M.L.A.M. Hizbullah said if there is evidence that any Muslim politician is suspected of having connections with the National Thawheed Jamaath (NTJ), it should be brought to the notice of the law enforcement authorities without making baseless allegations. more..

May 7 (ST) Ever since the LTTE was militarily crushed finally in May 2009, SL has been wallowing in triumphalism. This is not to belittle the achievement of the country’s security forces which were dismissively discarded particularly by so-called western experts/analysts as incapable of militarily defeating LTTE. Western media were not remiss in propagating these views and adding their own condescending expertise and denigrating armed forces for violating int'l humanitarian law. more..

May 7 (Island) The country is limping back to normalcy, albeit under tight security. Roads are getting busier and attendance in workplaces is reportedly improving. This is a positive sign. Terrorists must be denied the pleasure of crippling the country, for their modus operandi is to bring chaos out of order and thrive in anarchy. Life must go on, come what may. Sri Lankans are no strangers to living with terror; they did so for nearly three decades, undeterred by bomb blasts. more..

May 7 (ST) The economic consequences of the terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday and the events that followed would weaken the economy, especially the country’s external finances and capacity to meet foreign debt obligations. International financial assistance is urgently needed to save the economy from this perilous predicament. The cumulative impact of the current terrorism would be to destabilise the economy and slow economic growth. The terrorist attacks would impact adversely, more..

May 7 (Island) The word counselling became much popular in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Tsunami. Along with the word counselling, there was another buzz word that came to the fore. That was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Another assumption also followed these words, the myth that everyone who undergoes a traumatic event should have counselling. There was a renewed interest about trauma and counselling, especially after the cricket team was attacked by terrorists in Pakistan. more..

May 7 (CT) Leader of NFF MP Wimal Weerawansa says that there is a clear nexus between the 1/30 proposals of the UNHRC and the terror attacks initiated by Wahhabism. He made this remark during an event titled the hidden agenda of the terror attacks, which was held in Colombo on 5 May. Speaking further at the event, MP said, “When a fortnight had lapsed since the Easter Sunday attacks, the people still continue to think that more..