low
graphics version | feedback
| help
More arrests after Sri Lanka
attack
Troops search a flat where four rebels blew
themselves up
Sri Lankan police have made more arrests in connection
with a botched attempt to ambush a ministerial motorcade last Friday in
which at least 23 people died.
 | ||
| ||
|
|
|
| ||
Another 12 people have been taken in for questioning
following the arrest of six suspects at the weekend.
Officials said they were also trying to establish where weapons used in the attack, which took place in the centre of Colombo, had been stored.
The six who were detained soon after the attack had travelled to the capital from the war-torn north.
Police took them in after recovering documents from suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bombers involved in the attack.
Special team
Investigations are being conducted by a special police team, which is looking into how security was breached on a route that leads to the heavily-guarded parliament building.
Officials said the guerrillas had apparently intended to ambush a motorcade of government ministers and senior officials - including Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte - on Friday after they left parliament.
But one guerrilla blew himself up after being
spotted in a Colombo street before the motorcade set out.
Twenty-three people, including 14 civilians, died as police and rebels engaged in a gun battle in crowded streets. Some 80 people were injured.
Peace efforts
The following day, four of the attackers blew themselves up as commandos raided a block of flats in eastern Colombo, and security forces killed a fifth rebel during the raid.
The latest attack came amid efforts to organise
peace talks between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, with Norwegian
mediation.
The guerrillas are fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east.
President Kumaratunga said she was still willing to talk to the Tamil Tigers to find a political solution to the long-running conflict, which has claimed over 55,000 lives in the past two decades.
The president herself narrowly escaped assassination in a December suicide bomb attack, which killed 26 people.
Officials said they were also trying to establish where weapons used in the attack, which took place in the centre of Colombo, had been stored.
The six who were detained soon after the attack had travelled to the capital from the war-torn north.
Police took them in after recovering documents from suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bombers involved in the attack.
Special team
Investigations are being conducted by a special police team, which is looking into how security was breached on a route that leads to the heavily-guarded parliament building.
Officials said the guerrillas had apparently intended to ambush a motorcade of government ministers and senior officials - including Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte - on Friday after they left parliament.
 The attack took place in the centre of
Colombo |
Twenty-three people, including 14 civilians, died as police and rebels engaged in a gun battle in crowded streets. Some 80 people were injured.
Peace efforts
The following day, four of the attackers blew themselves up as commandos raided a block of flats in eastern Colombo, and security forces killed a fifth rebel during the raid.
 President Kumaratunga: Still willing to
talk |
The guerrillas are fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east.
President Kumaratunga said she was still willing to talk to the Tamil Tigers to find a political solution to the long-running conflict, which has claimed over 55,000 lives in the past two decades.
The president herself narrowly escaped assassination in a December suicide bomb attack, which killed 26 people.
|
Search BBC News
Online | |
|
||
|
 Advanced search options | |
|
See also:
Internet links:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Links to other South Asia stories are at the foot
of the page.
