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The international community has come forward to assist Sri Lanka in carrying out the operation to crack down on the Islamic extremist group that carried out a series of barbaric attacks on churches and five star hotels on Easter Sunday.

Foreign investigative institutions like Interpol, FBI of the US, Scotland Yard of the UK and Australia's anti terror investigators have already arrived in Sri Lanka to assist local authorities to crack down on the network that carried out the Easter Sunday attacks.

Sources from the Foreign Ministry said that these foreign investigators have arrived in the country to assist local investigators at the expense of their respective governments.

"This is a gesture of pure goodwill since their expertise is being provided to Sri Lanka at no cost to the Sri Lankan government," the source said, adding that it is an indication of the country's standing  before the international community and the success of the country's foreign policy.

Responding to the criticism leveled by the 'joint opposition' led by former President, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa that the government had failed to handle the current crisis, the source noted that the country has received unconditional support from the international community at this juncture due to the government's foreign policies and the situation would have been quite the opposite had the Rajapaksa led illegal government was in power at the time of the attacks.

"Had the attacks happened during the 52 day illegal government, the international community that did not recognize the administration would not have come forward to support," the source added.

Governor of the Eastern Province, Mohamed Hizbullah has dismissed allegations that National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) was responsible for the multiple bomb blasts that terrorized Sri Lanka on Sunday. The Governor made these remarks in a phone conversation with The Leaders Online, a Malaysian news outlet. 

“Some people claim it is Thowheed Jamaath. We are investigating. We are consistently investigating but there are no evidence against any party, any community or any group. They are innocent but we are sure we can identify them (the perpetrators),” said Hizbullah to The Leaders Online on Sunday.

Rajitha says 'NTJ' involved

However, the Sri Lankan government said yesterday that some of the suicide bombers and others arrested were linked to an obscure radical Islamist group known as National Thowheeth Jamath, a group the government singled out to police for monitoring as a possible threat after the foreign security services issued their warning.

The sophistication of the Easter-morning attacks indicated to Sri Lankan and international terror experts that whoever carried them out likely had help from experienced international terrorists, perhaps even al Qaeda or Islamic State, Sri Lankan officials said.

“We have found that NTJ was involved in the attacks,” said Health MInister Rajitha Senaratne, using an abbreviation for what he called “a local organization.”

Britain has sent a team of counter-terrorism police to Sri Lanka after the deadly bombing attacks that killed at least 359 people, including eight Britons, on Easter Sunday.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said family liaison officers had been sent to Sri Lanka to support and assist the families of British victims and help with repatriation of their bodies.

“The attack was complex, tightly co-ordinated and designed to cause maximum chaos, damage and heartbreak,” Mr Hunt told MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

“The UK will never stand by in the face of such evil, so today we stand in solidarity with the government and people of Sri Lanka, who have been making enormous strides towards stability and peace after the conclusion of the civil war almost 10 years ago.”

Mr Hunt spoke with Tilak Marapana, the Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Monday evening to offer his condolences and the UK’s assistance with the investigation.

After eight explosions ripped through hotels and churches across the country, an improvised pipe bomb found on Sunday evening was destroyed by security services at Colombo airport.

Mr Hunt said that the device was probably meant to harm fleeing civilians.

British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke to Sri Lankan leader Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier on Tuesday. Mrs May stressed the UK’s solidarity with the people of the South Asian nation.

“The leaders discussed the strong connection between the UK and Sri Lanka, and the need to stand together in the fight against terrorism,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

“Prime Minister Wickremesinghe expressed his gratitude for the UK’s support.”

Mr Hunt spoke of religious persecution, referring to the Christchurch mosque attacks during Friday Prayer on March 15, where 50 people died and 50 were wounded.

“We must respond by bringing people together – the exact opposite of what was intended by the perpetrators,” he said.

Ruwan Wijewardene, Sri Lanka’s Minister of State for Defence, said that preliminary investigations into the bombings suggested that they were in retaliation for the Christchurch attack.

ISIS on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attacks, without providing evidence.

But Mr Wickremesinghe said the terrorist group might have been linked to the attack.

On Sunday, Mr Hunt called the Sri Lanka attacks “wicked” and said everyone had a right to practise their faith in peace, safety and security.
“These despicable acts were carried out at a time when millions of Christians celebrate Easter while living under the shadow of persecution," he said.

"Many gather in churches at risk of attack. Countless more will have suffered threats or discrimination."

(The National)

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan police are holding a Syrian national in custody for questioning over the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels, three government and military sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

“The terrorist investigation division of the police arrested a Syrian national following the attacks for interrogation,” a source said. Two other officials with knowledge of the investigation confirmed the detention. “He was arrested after interrogation of local suspects,” a second source said.

No group has yet to claim responsibility for Easter Sunday’s suicide bomb attacks on three churches and four luxury hotels that killed 290 people and wounded about 500 people.

Indian security agencies had alerted Sri Lanka that another National Towheed Jamaath (NTJ) team led by Jal al-Quital alias Rilwan Marzag could carry out more attacks. Noufar Moulvi, brother-in-law of Hashim, recently returned to Sri Lanka from Qatar and had taken charge of the group, they added.

The Tamil Nadu-based cleric under watch by security agencies and the Tamil Nadu Towheed Jamaat (TNTJ) do not have any direct links with terrorism, officials said. “They have no links acts to terror but we have reason to believe that they contributed to radicalisation,” an officer said.

Indian counterterror experts described the NTJ as a self-radicalised Salafi group inspired by the IS, though a link between the two is yet to be established. They said a number of Sri Lankan Muslims who recently flew back from Qatar had been arrested for their alleged role in the bombings.

An intelligence officer, who requested anonymity, said the attacks couldn’t have been possible without months of planning and international players travelling to Sri Lanka to take part in the execution at different stages.

According to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi groups, IS supporters were celebrating the attacks, and one supporter had released photographs of three attackers, calling them “commandoes”.

Senior officials, who didn’t want to be named, said India extended support for the probe after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday and offered counterterror and medical support.

The first burials from Sunday’s bombings in Sri Lanka have taken place as the nation began a day of mourning and the death toll mounted.
Three minutes of silence were held across the nation on Tuesday to honour those killed, with the official toll now 310, according to police.

The silence began at 8.30am, coinciding with the start of Sunday’s attacks on Christian worshippers and hotel guests.

At St Sebastian’s, coffins were brought in individually for services in the run-up to a mass memorial beginning mid-morning. “There are so many bodies that we can’t accommodate them all at once,” Anthony Jayakody, auxilliary bishop of Colombo, told AFP.

Flags were lowered to half mast on government buildings, and people bowed their heads but tensions remained high. Bomb disposal squads were called to Kollupitiya railway station in Colombo after an unattended package was found on a train. The US embassy urged people to steer clear of the area before the all-clear was given.

A state of emergency has been brought in and a total of 40 arrests have been made, with the second overnight curfew lifting at 4am.

Parliament is due to convene on Tuesday, with an announcement expected from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Investigators are now hunting for clues on whether a local Islamist group named as the chief suspect in the attacks – National Thowheeth Jama’ath – received “international support”, said cabinet minister and government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne.

A woman kneels next to a coffin during a mass burial of victims at a cemetery near St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

A woman kneels next to a coffin during a mass burial of victims at a cemetery near St. Sebastian Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters 
National Thowheeth Jama’ath is a newly formed group in Sri Lanka committed to a militant and intolerant Islamist ideology. But though it is known for being a virulently anti-Buddhist and has been linked to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues, it has not previously been linked to terrorism. Four of its members were arrested in January.
Experts say it is unlikely the organisation would have been able to rapidly develop the capability to perpetrate a complex attack involving multiple suicide bombings without very significant outside assistance. Senaratne himself said it was not possible for such “a small organisation” to carry out such well coordinated suicide strikes.
As security forces continued combing Colombo for any more explosives, focus was shifting to the role that infighting within the government may have played in allowing Sunday’s attacks to occur.
An intelligence note detailing the names, targets and whereabouts of possible attackers was circulated in parts of the government but is understood not to have reached the cabinet nor the prime minister. It is unclear whether the country’s security council also considered the warnings.
Sri Lanka’s government has been divided into factions since a constitutional crisis late last year, when the prime minister and his allies stopped being invited to meetings of the country’s top security officials.
On Tuesday at St Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo – where scores died as they gathered for Easter Sunday prayers – a crowd of a few dozen people held candles and prayed silently, palms pressed together.
Some of them struggled to hold back tears and as the three minutes drew to a close, the crowd began to chant prayers.
The attacks were the worst against the country’s small Christian minority, who make up just seven percent of its population of 21 million. It is the worst atrocity since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended a decade ago.
President Maithripala Sirisena’s office said there was intelligence that “international terror groups” were “behind local terrorists” and that he would seek foreign help to investigate.
The state of emergency, which gave police and the military special powers to counter militant strikes, came into force at midnight. Suspects can be detained without a court order.
Tensions remained high and security heavy after a bomb discovered by police on Monday near one of the targeted churches blew up before police could defuse it. Although there was a powerful blast, no injuries were reported.
Police also found 87 bomb detonators at a Colombo bus station.
Details have begun to emerge about some of the foreigners killed in the blasts. The United States reported at least four Americans killed – including a child – and the Netherlands raised their toll to three.
A Danish billionaire lost three of his children in the attacks, a spokesman for his company said.
Eight Britons, eight Indians, two Australians and nationals from Turkey, France, Japan and Portugal, were also killed, according to Sri Lankan officials and foreign governments.
The suicide bombers hit three Colombo luxury hotels popular with foreign tourists – the Cinnamon Grand, the Shangri-La and the Kingsbury – and three churches: two in the Colombo region and one in the eastern city of Batticaloa.
Two additional blasts were triggered as security forces carried out raids searching for suspects.
Interpol said it was deploying investigators and specialists to Sri Lanka, and the US State Department warned of possible further attacks in a travel advisory.
Ethnic and religious violence has plagued Sri Lanka for decades, with a 37-year conflict with Tamil rebels followed by an upswing in recent years in clashes between the Buddhist majority and Muslims.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.

Sri Lanka's Muslim civil society movements and associations have called upon authorities to immediately arrest and punish the perpetrators of Sunday Easter bombings that killed more than 350 people, saying extremism in the name of Islam does not represent the religion.

A joint statement says authorities should also apprehend those who aided and abetted the attackers through incitement, financing and other support.

It says neither the National Thawheed Jamaath nor those who carried out the attacks represent Islam or reflect Muslim beliefs. The statement says they have misused and abused Islam in order to fit their own radical and anti-Islamic agenda, and are criminals.

The signatories include All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, the Muslim Council, Jama'athe Islami, the Memon Association of Sri Lanka and Anjuman-E Saifi.

U.S. experts joined four Sri Lankan film professionals in a panel discussion about how effective film distribution benefits Sri Lanka’s movie industry, artists, and audiences on March 30 at Hatch, a workplace for entrepreneurs. 

Speaking at the event, U.S. Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz said. “One of our core beliefs is freedom of speech, and movies are one of the most powerful ways that we can share our stories with each other.  Strong and transparent laws that protect film distribution will ensure that Sri Lankan creatives will drive economic growth, are paid fairly, and can share Sri Lanka’s stories with the world.”

Representing Film Independent, America’s premiere organization for independent moviemaking, entertainment lawyer Michael Donaldson and Global Media Makers Senior Program Manager Shari Page emphasized how film distribution is a key channel for storytellers to reach their audiences.  Moderated by Jaffna International Film Festival Director Anoma Rajakaruna, the panel included filmmaker Boodiee Keerthisena, a representative of Ceylon Theatres, and Chairman of Scope Cinemas Naveed Cader.  Following the panel, participants and audience members gathered for a networking event at Commons Café. 

Film Independent is a non-profit organization aimed at helping filmmakers create movies, build audiences, and diversify the film industry. An expert on intellectual property rights laws, Mr. Donaldson is an award-winning author whose books on clearance and copyright are used in over 50 film schools.  Ms. Page has worked as a casting associate and producer for over 27 productions including the Golden Globe winning series “Californication” for Showtime. Mr. Donaldson and Ms. Page are in Sri Lanka as part of the Global Media Makers program, an innovative mentoring initiative and cultural exchange program designed to foster relationships between American filmmakers and industry professionals with international social issue filmmakers.

The Interpol said that the agency is is ready to offer full support to the Sri Lankan authorities in investigating the country's deadliest terror attack that killed 290 people in a series of eight blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in the country.

Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock in a Twitter message said, "Interpol strongly condemns the horrific attacks and has offered its full support to the investigation being carried out by national authorities."

Eight coordinated explosions targeted Easter worshippers and high end hotels popular with international guests. 

FBI arrives in Sri Lanka

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy Nancy Van Horn said that a team of FBI officers have arrived in Sri Lanka to help local authorities to carry out investigations into teh serial bomb blasts that rocked the island nation on Easter Sunday.

The Government Analysts' Department also confirmed that both the INTERPOL and FBI would be sending officers to help Sri Lanka with the investigations into the the deadly attacks.

Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera who is in New York to represent Sri Lanka at the Financing for Development Forum of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres on 16 April 2019. 

At the meeting, the Secretary-General recalled his visits to Sri Lanka in the past including his first visit in 1978. Stating that he was impressed by the peaceful resolution of the recent political crisis in Sri Lanka, the Secretary-General reaffirmed the commitment of the United Nations to continue to support the people of Sri Lanka including in the reconciliation and sustainable development agenda.

Meeting with UNICEF Executive Director

Samaraweera also held discussions with the Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta H. Fore on the sidelines of the ECOSOC forum in New York on 16th of April. They discussed matters related to financing for Early Childhood Development (ECD).

The Finance Minister said that studies across the world have proved that children who participate in ECD programmes attain higher earnings and the childcare facilities initiative that was introduced via Budget 2019 will be a first step in promoting quality services for the early childhood stage.

Samaraweera shares Sri Lanka’s experience in inclusive growth at ECOSOC forum

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera is representing Sri Lanka at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development (FfD) convened by the President of ECOSOC, Inga Rhonda King, at the latter’s invitation.

Participating in the Ministerial Financial Dialogue Panel Discussion on ‘Promoting Inclusive Growth Reducing Inequalities’ on 15 April, the Minister shared with the FfD, measures taken in Sri Lanka towards this end, including details of the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ concessionary loan scheme which was launched in mid-2018 with the objective of creating 100,000 young entrepreneurs especially in the villages. 

Addressing the General Debate of the FfD on 16 April, Minister Samaraweera explained some of the measures taken by Sri Lanka including in the 2019 budget to address identified challenges in sustainable and equitable development. 

Stating that financial commitments are increasingly challenging for countries like Sri Lanka that are subject to significant fiscal constraints, the Minister emphasised the need for international cooperation including for supporting measures to prevent and mitigate the debilitating impacts of climate change in vulnerable economies. 

The Minister urged for greater public-private partnerships and multi-stakeholder initiatives globally, to ensure the successful achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so that no one is left behind.

Islamic State fighters carried out the Easter Sunday attacks against churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed at least 310 people, according to ISIS’s Amaq propaganda agency.

“A security source to Amaq agency: the implementers of the attacks which targeted nationals of Coalition member nations and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday were from fighters of the Islamic State,” the message posted on social media on Tuesday, April 23 read.

At least 310 people were killed when suicide bomb blasts ripped through three hotels and three churches as worshippers attended Easter services in Sri Lanka.

In a later statement, ISIS named seven people it said carried out the attacks: Abu Hamza attacked St Anthony’s Church in Colombo; Abu Khalil struck St Sebastian’s in Negombo; Abu Muhammad hit the Church of Zion in Batticaloa; Abu Obaida, Abu al-Bara and Abu Mokhtar “detonated a number of explosive devices” and then detonated their explosive vests at the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels in Colombo; and Abu Abdallah “clashed with police officers and killed three” in Dematagoda.

That statement was followed by another release from Amaq which included an image it said was of the “perpetrators of martyrdom attacks in Sri Lanka.” The image showed eight similarly dressed individuals, some holding knives. One man whose face was not covered was holding an AK-type rifle.

The unmasked man appears to be Zahran Hashim, a self-styled Islamic preacher who was known to hold pro-ISIS views. He was earlier named on social media accounts supportive of ISIS as Abu Obaida, one of the hotel bombers, and CNN News 18 on Sunday named him as the Shangri La Hotel bomber.

In fourth release on Tuesday, Amaq published a video showing the eight militants pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Screenshot from an Amaq video showing the eight militants who attacked churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, April 23, 2019

There were at least eight explosions on Sunday. The first six – at the churches and hotels – were within 20 minutes of each other, while two later blasts at a hotel and a house in a Colombo suburb came later.

Police have detained at least 40 people as they investigate the attacks.

At a Tuesday press conference, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that other suspects remained at large, potentially with explosives, adding that some of the 32 Sri Lankans who travelled to the Middle East to fight with ISIS had returned and have been monitored by security forces since.

Wickremesinghe said a bomb targeting another hotel did not explode.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sri Lanka’s state minister of defense Ruwan Wijewardene told parliament that “preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch.”

Fifty people were killed in shooting attacks on two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch on March 15.

But New Zealand has “not yet seen” any intelligence reports linking the deadly bombings in Sri Lanka to last month’s mosque massacre in Christchurch, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office said on Tuesday.

“We understand the Sri Lankan investigation into the attack is in its early stages,” Ardern’s spokesperson said. “New Zealand has not yet seen any intelligence upon which such an assessment might be based.”

Wijewardene said investigations showed that a local group called National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) was behind the attack and was linked to a little-known radical Islamist group in India.

“This National Thowheeth Jama’ath group which carried out the attacks had close links with JMI it has now been revealed,” Wijewardene told parliament, in an apparent reference to a group known as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen India.

Little is known about JMI, other than reports it was established last year and is affiliated to a similarly named group in Bangladesh.

‘Family cell’ targeted hotelsPolice sources in Sri Lanka told AFP that the attackers who targeted two of the hotels hit Sunday were brothers, sons of a wealthy Colombo spice trader.

The brothers, whose names have not been revealed, were in their late twenties and operated their own “family cell,” an investigation officer said, adding that they were key members of the NTJ.

One checked into the Cinnamon Grand hotel and the other the Shangri-La on Saturday.

The next morning, at virtually the same time, they went to the hotels’ Easter Sunday breakfast buffets and blew up explosives-laden backpacks, an investigation officer said.

One brother gave false identity details when he checked into the hotel, the investigator said, but the other gave a real address which led police commandos to their family home in a commercial area of Colombo.

“When the Special Task Force went there to investigate, one brother’s wife set off explosives killing herself and her two children,” the officer said.

“It was a single terror cell operated by one family,” the investigator said.

“They had the cash and the motivation. They operated the cell and it is believed they influenced their extended family.”

Three police commandos were also killed in the blast, and several extended family members are among those in detention.

A fourth attack against another hotel failed, sources also told AFP, though it was not immediately clear if the bomber’s explosives had failed or he had chosen not to detonate them.

“This man had also checked into the hotel the previous day,” an official source told AFP.

But after the Shangri-la blast, staff became suspicious and the man was tracked to a residence near the capital. He blew himself up when confronted by police, the source said. Two bystanders were also killed.

Nilan Romesh Samarasinghe, a cousin of Makandure Madush, together with five other suspects who were arrested in Dubai with the drug kingpin were deported to Sri Lanka last night.

Mohamed Riyaz, Gayan Perera, Mohamed Jabeer, Suresh Ranasinghe and Rupasinghe Hewage arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at 4.45 a.m. today (17), aboard UL 226, the Police spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that they were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department at the BIA for further questioning this morning.