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With establishment of the Overall Operations Command (OOC) on Monday (29) evening, security operations, being conducted by all Army, Navy, Air Force troops and Police areas within the Western Province and Puttalam District came under the OOC for operational purposes, as additional troops with sister services and the Police in the past 24 hours intensified their emergency search and clear operations under the command of the OOC, commanded by Major General Sathyapriya Liyanage, Overall Operational Commander who is also the Commander Security Forces - West, Army Media Unit said.
 
Rear Admiral W.A.S.S Perera of the Navy, Air Vice Marshal W.L.R.P Rodrigo of the Air Force and Superintendent of Police L.K.D Anil Priyantha function as Coordinating Officers of Navy, Air Force and the Police in the OOC respectively with the OOC coming under the purview of the Chief of Defence Staff.
 
In the past 24 hours, those troops and Policemen enforced road blocks, mobile patrols and conducted search operations in the general areas of Colombo, Matara, Dickwella, Bandarawela and several other areas.
 
Meanwhile, as violence-hit part of the eastern region has returned to near normalcy and the general public reinforcing their full confidence in the Army, Major General Aruna Jayasekara Tuesday (30) visited several major areas in the East and supervised the status quo.
 
In Batticaloa, Thannamunai, security provided by the Army enabled St Joseph’s Church to go ahead with its annual feast and divine Pooja as planned with hundreds of devotees attending it. More than 800 devotees and 125 Catholic priests were present at this feast. Bishop of Batticaloa Rt Rev Joseph Ponniah and Bishop of Trincomalee Diocese had brief exchange of views with the visiting Major General Jayasekara and commended the Army for its ongoing security arrangements as well as the security provided to the Church feast amid existing threats.

Similarly, Army troops prioritized the provision of security to the South Eastern University in Oluvil, Ampara, the main seat of learning in the East. Likewise, Major General Jayasekara in the past 24 hours had separate meetings with Buddhist, Catholic and Islamic religious dignitaries in Batticaloa, Ampara, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee and discussed measures that could be applied to maintain law and order and apprehend suspicious violent elements in specific areas.

In addition, Security Forces strengthened their searches in Kalmunai, Nintavur, Saindamaradu, Samanthurai, Kaththankudy, Nappatthumunai, Potuvil, Batticaloa and Ampara areas and handed over several suspects to the Police in respective areas, including 1 suspect with ISIS literature, swords and knives. 

"At the time this report was posted, Security Forces are still continuing their operations in the Eastern region," the Army Media Unit said.

The leader of the Islamic State (IS) group, Abu Bakr al-Babhdadi has come out making a public declaration that the IS group would seek revenge for its loss of territory as well as claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka that killed over 250 plus civilians including foreigners.

Baghdadi has made this statement through a video recording, which is also his first public appearance in five years. He was seen since 2014, when he proclaimed from Mosul the creation of a “caliphate” across parts of Syria and Iraq.

In this new footage, Baghdadi has acknowledged the defeat at Baghuz, the group’s last stronghold in the region. Baghdadi has said that the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka were carried out as revenge for the fall of the Syrian town of Baghuz.

Looking at Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks that were primarily targeted at Catholic churches and five star city hotels, a recent analysis notes that IS targets churches because of the belief that the concept of the holy trinity goes against the concept of one God. 

As for the reason to target hotels, it is believed that the reason would be the decree issued by IS to target nationals of countries that belong to the coalition states, and hotels and popular restaurants are considered as places where nationals of coalition states would become victims. 

However, the BBC has stated that it is not clear when Baghdadi’s video was recorded. IS has reportedly said it was shot in April.

The footage was posted on the militant group's al-Furqan media network.

A US State Department spokesman has been quoted as saying by BBC that the tapes would be inspected by analysts to ascertain their authenticity, adding that the US-led coalition remains committed to ensuring any IS “leaders who remain are delivered the justice that they deserve.”

In the past two years, although ISIS has lost territory the size of Britain inside Syria and Iraq, it still has 08 official branches and more than 02 dozen networks regularly conducting terrorist and insurgent operations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, according to the US National Strategy for Counter-terrorism.

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) called on all stakeholders including the public to focus attention on resolving systemic deficiencies which allowed for the Easter Sunday attacks to be carried out.

TISL Executive Director Asoka Obeyesekere said, “the revelation that certain tiers of the country’s security apparatus were aware of intelligence reports regarding an impending attack, raise many questions regarding the information sharing protocols of state agencies and the manner in which such information is acted on by the political leadership”.

It has been TISL’s long standing position that there is a need for greater information sharing across all state agencies. Obeyesekere added, “the current culture of secrecy which has been reinforced by legislative provisions and the establishment code, continues to foster an environment where public institutions are operating within their own silos, with limited common purpose. Through experience we have seen this resulting in examples of two competing agencies investigating the same issues, with a reluctance to share information, thereby clearly working against the public interest”.

TISL also highlighted the role that corruption can play in eroding national security, particularly on issues of procurement. On several occasions in the past, Sri Lanka’s national security has been exposed as a result of allegedly fraudulent procurement and tender practices in addition to allegations of serious conflicts of interest.

“The recent lapses in information sharing, illustrate the devastating consequences of a closed state. Striving for a more open state, which communicates internally and with a shared purpose is essential. This requires reforming civil service procedures to bring them in line with 21st century practices. If lessons are to be learnt from these tragic events, the political and bureaucratic leadership must drive these much needed reforms,” Obeyesekere said.

Parliamentarian Ashu Marasinghe said that Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Arjuna Ranatunga had offered to relinquish his Cabinet portfolio to facilitate the entry of Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka as the Minister of Law and Order.

Marasinghe claimed that Ranatunga made this offer at the government's group meeting.

According to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the Cabinet can only comprise of 30 members and as such, Fonseka can be appointed as a Cabinet Minister only if a another Cabinet Minister would resign.  

A group of UNP MPs also requested President Maithripala Sirisena in writing to appoint the Field Marshal as the Law and Order Minister yesterday.

Retired Major General Kapila Hendawitharana, a former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) who had been dismissed by Army Commander Sarath Fonseka as an unqualified “logistics man” was promoted to Major General by Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2006, and brought back to the high post of Chief of National Intelligence, and given very broad oversight powers over all of Sri Lanka’s intelligence and counter-terrorism agencies, the Colombo Telegraph report.

Hendawitharana and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence are suspects in the several white van abductions of journalists, the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda and the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge, all of what were done by the Military Intelligence under their command, according to the CID.

After being removed from office in January 2015, Hendawitharana was immediately given employment as head of security for the Shangri-La Hotels in Sri Lanka, where he works to this day for a high salary. This was after Rajapaksa and his defence ministry were implicated in the land deal for the Shangri-La. 

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The National Peace Council of Sri Lanka called on the Sri Lanka government to contain the developing situation of vigilante justice and mob attacks particularly on the broader Muslim community.

"We draw the government’s attention to the urgent need to contain the developing situation of vigilante justice and mob attacks particularly on the broader Muslim community. We urge the government to establish mechanisms to address these situations with appropriate public messaging and to instruct law enforcement authorities to act swiftly to demonstrate that such acts will not be tolerated," the National Peace Council said in an open letter addressed to the the President, PM and MPs. 

They pointed out that there is a communication vacuum and it is the government’s responsibility to provide accurate and timely information to the public.  

"False rumours and misinformation cannot be stopped by legislation – they can only be countered by facts and credible and accurate information.  The government must speak with one voice on this matter."

They called on President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe put aside their personal and political differences and collaborate whole-heartedly and without reservation to bring this situation under control. 

"The high cost of this political in-fighting was most clearly revealed in failures to share vital intelligence. We cannot afford a second breach.  We urge all Members of Parliament to put aside their political differences and act responsibly to support the long-term national interest,"  they said.

Full text of the open letter sent to the President, PM and and Members of Parliament is found below.

Open Letter to the President, the Prime Minister, members of the Cabinet and Members of Parliament regarding the situation in Sri Lanka

 Your Excellencies:
 
We, the undersigned women and men, are members of civil society and are drawn from all religious and ethnic communities. Our common goal has been to advance the political, social and economic and cultural rights of the people by promoting peace, harmony and social justice for all.  We have engaged constructively with all governments in the past and will continue do so in this instance.
 
We are appalled by the carnage in Sri Lanka. Our sympathies are with the victims and their families and with our beloved country.
 
We urge the government to expeditiously establish the truth and find the perpetrators and their allies, within the framework of human rights standards.

We draw the government’s attention to the urgent need to contain the developing situation of vigilante justice and mob attacks particularly on the broader Muslim community. We urge the government to establish mechanisms to address these situations with appropriate public messaging and to instruct law enforcement authorities to act swiftly to demonstrate that such acts will not be tolerated.
 
We recognize the need for emergency laws to respond to this situation and rightly so. Yet, we note with deep regret that the emergency regulations published on 22nd April 2019 are overly broad. It is the responsibility of the government to take measures to ensure that mis-use / abuse of these extremely broad powers are anticipated and addressed.
 
There have already been reports of ill treatment during searches and there is an urgent need for law enforcement and security personnel to be informed that they must act professionally and with due care. Excesses experienced during times like this are likely to fuel insecurity nurture hate, and even lead to more violence.
 
There is a communication vacuum and it is the government’s responsibility to provide accurate and timely information to the public.  False rumours and misinformation cannot be stopped by legislation – they can only be countered by facts and credible and accurate information.  The government must speak with one voice on this matter.
 
We urge that the President and Prime Minister put aside their personal and political differences and collaborate whole-heartedly and without reservation to bring this situation under control. The high cost of this political in-fighting was most clearly revealed in failures to share vital intelligence. We cannot afford a second breach.
 
We urge all Members of Parliament to put aside their political differences and act responsibly to support the long-term national interest. We request a joint meeting with the President and Prime Minister to discuss this situation.
 
We, as civil society offer our assistance through our wide networks of community-based organisations.  They are currently engaged in advocating for calm, for peace, and national unity. These networks can share information and be source of feedback about consequential community issues that may arise. If the government develops the capacity to respond swiftly and decisively to such issues it would certainly strengthen the efforts of the authorities.
 
 Geoffrey AlagaratnamPresident's Counsel

Dr Vinya Ariyaratne
Sarvodaya

K.N.Deen
All Ceylon YMMA Conference 

Visaka Dharmadasa 
Association of War Affected Women (AWAW)

Fr Rohan Dominic
Claretian Missionaries (CMF)

Mangala Fernando
Women's Political Academy (WPA)

Fr Oswald Firth OMI
Peoples Association for Peace and Development (PAPD)

Manjula Gajanayake
Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV)

Saman Hamangoda
Partners in Alternative Training (PALTRA)

Rohana Hettiarachchi
People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL)

Sakunthala Kadirgamar
Law and Society Trust (LST)

Sepali Kottegoda
Women and Media Collective
Sri Lanka Women's NGO Forum

Viola Perera
Action Network For Migrant Workers (ACTFORM)

Jehan Perera
National Peace Council (NPC)

Fr Srian Ranasinghe OMI
Director Oblate Missions

Kumudini Samuel 
Women and Media Collective (WMD)

Christobel Saverimuttu
Sri Lanka Council of Religions for Peace (SLCRP)

Fr. Rohan Silva OMI
Centre for Society and Religion (CSR)

Padmini Weerasuriya
Mothers and Daughters of Lanka

Joe William
Centre for Communication Training (CCT)

Mohamed Adamaly (Attorney-at-Law)
Sanchia Brown (Women and Media Collective)
Shashika De Silva
Ramesh Fernando
Adrian Ferdinands
Lasantha Garusinghe (Attorney-at-Law)
Velayudan Jayachithra (Women and Media Collective)
Diana Joseph
Nishantha Kumara
Safi Nayaj
Shantha D. Pathirana
Shivantha Ratnayake (Centre for Communication Training)
Raja Senanayake (National Peace Council)
Vijayanathan Thusandra
Nagaratnam Vijayakanthan (National Peace Council)
Saman Seneviratne
Thiyagaraja Waradas (University of Colombo)
Subha Wijesiriwardena (Women and Media Collective)

Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera will lead the Sri Lankan Delegation to the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank to be held in Nadi, Fiji from 2nd to 5th May 2019.

The Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors provide opportunities for member governments to interact with ADB staff, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and representatives of observer countries, international organizations, and the private sector. ADB’s annual meetings have become a premier forum for the discussion of economic and social development issues in Asia and the Pacific. 

Delegates from 67 member countries will attend this meeting and the Sri Lankan delegates include Secretary to Treasury Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, Deputy Secretary to Treasury A.M.P.M.B. Atapattu, Director General of the External Resources Department Priyantha Rathnayake, Director General of the National Planning Department S.S. Mudalige and other senior officials from the Ministry of Finance.

ADB provides concessionary project loans to Sri Lanka annually amounting to approximately US dollar 800 million and there are already eight funding proposals in the pipeline  to the tune of USD dollars 815 million for the year 2019. Of which the Port access elevated highway with USD 300 million funding is ongoing now. The negotiations for the Railway efficiency improvement project loan of USD 160 million will be held in Colombo in May. This project is aimed at improving the railway signaling system and the age-old ticketing system.

On the sideline of the ADB annual meeting, arrangements have also been made to conduct the SAARC conference of Ministers of Finance on May 02, at Nadi in Fiji .

President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to lift the social media ban that was imposed after the Easter Sunday attacks, the Director General of the Government Information Department said today.

Access to popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram as well as messaging apps like Whatsapp and Viber along with Youtube were banned.

The Director General of Government Information Department Nalaka Kaluwewa also requested the general public to act with responsibility, now that the temporary ban on social media has been lifted.

Despite the appointment of a committee headed by Supreme Court Justice Vijith Malalgoda by President Maithripala Sirisena to probe the Easter Sunday attacks that killed over 250 persons including foreigners, the President has already announced the ‘guilty’ parties responsible for the failure in disseminating the prior intelligence received on the attacks.

The President’s announcement has come even before the committee has concluded and handed in its final report.

The Malalgoda committee was appointed soon after the Easter Sunday attacks by the President seeking an explanation on the failure of Sri Lankan authorities to act on the prior intelligence received on the Easter Sunday attacks.

Nevertheless, the President has now made public statements on those whom he claim were responsible for the breakdown in national security and intelligence.

The President has laid the blame squarely on former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundera.
During a meeting with officials of the Defence Ministry held this morning, President Sirisena has made a stern statement that Fernando and Jayasundera were solely responsible for the breakdown in national security and the failure to act on intelligence that resulted in the Easter Sunday attacks.

The President has further vowed stern action against Fernando and Jayasundera for the failure to act on their duties.

Meanwhile, UNF MP Wijedasa Rajapaksha has filed several police complaints seeking Fernando’s and Jayasundera’s arrest for their failure to carry out their duties.

One of Sri Lanka’s leading transportation service providers 'PickMe', categorically denied the false allegations circulating on social media of a donation made by PickMe to a third party religious organization. In a statement, PickMe Chairman Ajit Gunewardene called the allegation a 'fabricated story with sinister motives to take advantage and exploit the current tragedy  and serve some unknown personal agenda."

“I would like to vehemently deny that such an event ever took place and would categorically state that PickMe has not given any donation to such a party. This is a fabricated story with sinister motives to take advantage and exploit the current tragedy and serve some unknown personal agendas,” Gunewardene stated in his public statement also mentioning the proof of the photo is digitally edited.

Full Statement of PickMe Chairman Ajit Gunewardene:

A statement from the Chairman of PickMe Sri Lanka - Ajit Gunewardene

Dear All,

In the aftermath of the tragic events on Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka as a Nation has been shaken to its core. I have no fitting words to express my grief and concern towards all those impacted by this senseless violence.

Our deepest condolences go out to the bereaved families and we hope that those who suffered injuries will make a full recovery very soon.

It has come to my attention that there is a false allegation circulating on social media and other communication channels of a donation made by PickMe to a third party religious organization.

I would like to vehemently deny that such an event ever took place and would categorically state that PickMe has not given any donation to such a party. This is a fabricated story with sinister motives to take advantage and exploit the current tragedy and serve some unknown personal agendas.

As proof of this I give the following:

The original photograph of the digitally edited version used in this story, was in fact taken on the 4th of September 2014 in the United Kingdom, when the Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham made a donation to the organization ‘Islamic Relief’. The official link to this can be found here: https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/islamic-relief-receive-h…/

It goes without saying that PickMe had absolutely no involvement with this since the company was not even founded in 2014!

But it saddens us all that certain parties will resort to such despicable and cheap tactics to tarnish the image of a successful Sri Lankan startup which we are all proud of.

PickMe is a homegrown Sri Lankan startup, founded in June 2015. The company now has a diverse group of investors which include established Sri Lankan companies and renowned Sri Lankan business-personnel. 

Our Board of Directors represents our shareholders and consists of Ajit Gunewardene as Chairman, Conrad Dias (representing LOLC PLC.), Dinesh Rodrigo (representing Interblocks Ltd.), Ruchi Gunewardene (Managing Director - Brand Finance Lanka) and Jiffry Zulfer who is the CEO of the company, managing its day to day operations.

Over the past 3 years we have revolutionized transport and mobility for all Sri Lankans while creating income opportunities for thousands of our people. We will continue to provide a convenient transportation solution to anybody using our service. Through our latest ventures - PickMe Logistics and PickMe Food; we will work towards revolutionizing the Logistics industry and Food industry of Sri Lanka as well.

We are an organization that is continuously looking to the future, therefore the PickMe team will provide an uninterrupted service for our patrons, who depend on our platform for their day to day needs, as well as our partners who depend on us for their income.

I would further like to extend my gratitude to the driver partners and the PickMe team who assisted our patrons during the past week. All parties worked tirelessly to ensure reliable and secure passage for those traveling home as well as for those who needed airport transfers during curfew.

Amidst the darkness of this troubled period, we are proud to witness the amazing resilience and solidarity of the Sri Lankan people and the potential for our Nation to rise up stronger from the ashes.

I am sure that all of us will do our part in rebuilding Sri Lanka and keeping our beautiful country free from violence, hate and negativity.
Thank you!

Ajit Gunewardene, Chairman - PickMe

The United States (US) has reportedly stated that it believes members of the militant group blamed for Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks may be at large and planning more assaults.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz has made this observation to Reuters on Tuesday.

“We do believe that the terrorist threat is ongoing and there may be active plotters. Active members of the attack group that carried out the terror attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large,” Ambassador Teplitz has said.

“We certainly have reason to believe that the active attack group has not been fully rendered inactive. We do believe that there is active planning underway,” the Ambassador has added.

Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a propaganda video, asserted that the battle for Baghouz, ISIS's final bastion in eastern Syria, "is over." 

Baghouz, the last piece of populated land held by ISIS, which once spread across a third of Iraq and Syria, is roughly equivalent to the size of the United Kingdom and attracted 40,000 fighters to its cause."There will be more to come after this battle," said al-Baghdadi, apparently referring to the final fight in Baghouz.

Meanwhile, an audio message was also put out, purportedly of al-Baghdadi, saying that the April 21 attacks in Sri Lanka, which left at least 253 people dead, was "vengeance" for ISIS's "brothers in Baghouz".

"Your brothers in Sri Lanka have healed the hearts of monotheists [ISIS members] with their suicide bombings, which shook the beds of the crusaders during Easter to avenge your brothers in Baghouz," al-Baghdadi was reportedly heard saying.

"Our battle today is a war of attrition to harm the enemy, and they should know that jihad will continue until doomsday," he mentioned in the video.

Wearing a black robe with a beige vest, al-Baghdadi gave an 18-minute address in the video. However, it is unclear when the footage was filmed.