QResear.ch

#16724699 at 2022-07-12 19:18:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #21095: 8Kun the Most DDOS Site on the Net Edition

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/sri-lanka-president-fails-bid-to-flee-country

Sri Lanka President fails bid to flee country

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has attempted to flee the country, which was met with failure after airport staff foiled his plan and forced him to retreat.

Rajapaksa is set to officially resign on Wednesday following months of demonstrations aimed at toppling the government and ending his reign as President. He was reportedly trying to escape to Dubai on Monday night.

The attempt was thwarted after immigration staff denied the president's request to access the VIP area of the airport to stamp his passport, officials said. He would not stand in the other queues out of fear of being among the public in light of the resentment felt toward him.

Due to the two aforementioned factors, Rajapaksa missed four flights to the UAE and he had to return to a nearby military base alongside his wife.

Though unconfirmed, officials told AFP that the president was mulling using a navy patrol craft to leave Sri Lanka in a bid to flee the outrage against him.

As President, Rajapaksa has immunity from arrest, and he reportedly wants to go abroad before resigning from his post to curtail any arrests. He could face charges of corruption and economic mismanagement. His actions bankrupted the country and led to the worst financial crisis in recorded history.

He could also face accusations of war crimes, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during his time as Sri Lanka's minister of defense when he ended the civil war in 2009 with bloody means. For more than a decade, the allegations against him have not made it to any court of law.

His brother, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, was also prevented from boarding a flight to the United States over accusations of widespread corruption.

Following news of the Rajapsksas attempting to flee Sri Lanka, a motion was filed to the supreme court seeking an order to prohibit the former finance minister, former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and several others who served in Rajapaksa's administration from being able to leave the country due to the damage they have done to the population and the economy.

The protests against the Rajapaksa administration culminated in the president fleeing his official residence in the capital as protestors were gathering around the presidential palace. The demonstrators later broke into the palace and have been there since, with security guards and personnel not doing anything to stop them.

In response, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe summoned an urgent cabinet meeting to discuss a "swift resolution" to a potential power vacuum after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence Saturday.

Wickremesinghe, who is next in line of succession if Rajapaksa resigns, invited political party leaders to join the meeting and also asked for parliament to be convened urgently to discuss the crisis, his office said in a statement.

Sri Lanka went into default on its $51 billion foreign debt in April and is currently negotiating a bailout with the International Monetary Fund.

#16698014 at 2022-07-09 17:21:58 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #21062: Where is John Galt? Edition

Sri Lankan president to resign - media

Gotabaya Rajapaksa will leave office amid mass protests and economic turmoil

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will resign, effective next week, local media reported on Saturday. Rajapaksa earlier left his residence in Colombo as thousands of protesters laid siege to the compound.

Rajapaksa's resignation was announced by Sri Lankan news outlet Newsfirst, which cited Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. His resignation came hours after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared that he would also be willing to step down, paving the way for an interim government followed by elections.

Sri Lanka has been rocked by protests for several months, with the unrest driven by soaring inflation and shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. The country defaulted on its foreign debt in May, and fuel rationing was introduced earlier this month, with armed troops deployed to filling stations.

The economic crisis has been blamed partly on the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting fall in tourism revenue for the island nation. However, Rajapaksa's government has been fiercely condemned for its policies of lavish spending and careless tax cuts, while printing money to pay off foreign bonds.

Changes in the country's government did little to allay public anger, and protests continued through May and June after Rajapaksa's brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, stepped down as Prime Minister, handing the job to Wickremesinghe.

A crowd believed to number around 100,000 descended on Rajapaksa's presidential palace earlier on Saturday, as officials told reporters that the president had been "escorted to safety." With his whereabouts unknown, the demonstrators forced their way into the building, where they raided its kitchen and swam in Rajapaksa's private pool.

According to Newsfirst, Rajapaksa will leave office on Wednesday. Parliament will likely choose a caretaker president, and Speaker Abeywardena will likely take over as Prime Minister, local media reported.

https://www.rt.com/news/558708-sri-lanka-president-resigns/

#16412944 at 2022-06-08 07:30:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #20763: Awrite Awrite Awrite Edition

War on Boats

Like the previous Russian oligarchs mentioned in the War on Boats, there are connections between Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko and Rothschild banking interests. Plus, Melnichenko owns two boats. In March 2022, following the EU sanctions imposed on the number of Russian businessmen, the Italian authorities seized his Sailing Yacht A, a $500-million luxury vessel, in the port city of Trieste. His second boat, Motor Yacht A, worth $300 million, was last reported in Dubai.

Russian billionaire Andrei Melnichenko is a self-made billionaire with major investments in Switzerland-based fertiliser giant EuroChem Group, and Russia-based coal energy company SUEK.

Melnichenko visited Sri Lanka in March 2021, and held discussions with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and several other senior government officials.

Melnichenko is the second such high-profile personality to visit Sri Lanka in that timeframe for potential investment opportunities. Earlier in January, Nathaniel Rothschild, British-born financier and a member of the Rothschild family, visited the country to explore Sri Lanka's viability for a potential electronic venture.

https://www.themorning.lk/russian-billionaire-andrey-melnichenko-in-colombo/
====

In 2015, Andrei Melnichenko and Nathaniel Rothschild structured a deal together offering $100 million in cash, plus refinancing of at least $450 million in debt notes for the takeover of Asia Resource Minerals Plc (ARMS), a London-listed operator of coalmines in Indonesia…

http://johnhelmer.org/offshorization-in-the-wilds-of-borneo-andrei-melnichenko-and-nathaniel-rothschild-make-monkey-of-kremlin/

=====

How deep do the connections go between these oligarchs and the bankers and their boats?

https://www.ft.com/content/43c8c692-1341-11e5-ad26-00144feabdc0

#16269206 at 2022-05-13 21:39:41 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #20580: Hold The Line and Dont Back Down Edition

Food Riots In Sri Lanka Turn Deadly As Protesters Beat Up Police, Burn Down Politicians' Houses

Two months ago, we noted the first Arab Spring 2.0 incident when, as a result of soaring food, energy (and everything else) prices, thousands of angry Iraqis took to the street to protest. Needless to say, their complaints did not get much traction, and in the meantime food prices have only exploded to fresh record highs, far surpassing the levels hit in 2011 when riots against, you guessed it, food prices toppled most MENA political regimes (not without some CIA backing).

Daftari is right, and not just about Iran (and Iraq), but also Sri Lanka, where protesters angry at the soaring prices of everyday commodities including food, have burned down homes belonging to 38 politicians as the crisis-hit country plunged further into chaos, with the government ordering troops to "shoot on sight."

Police in the island nation said Tuesday that in addition to the destroyed homes, 75 others have been damaged as angry Sri Lankans continue to defy a nationwide curfew to protest against what they say is the government's mishandling of the country's worst economic crisis since 1948.

The Ministry of Defense on Tuesday ordered troops to shoot anyone found damaging state property or assaulting officials, after violence left at least nine people dead since Monday, according to CNN; it is unclear if all of the deaths were directly related to the protests. More than 200 people have been injured.

The nation of 22 million is grappling with a devastating economic crisis, with prices of everyday goods soaring, and there have been widespread electricity shortages for weeks. Since March, thousands of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets, demanding that the government resign.

The military had to rescue the country's outgoing Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in a pre-dawn operation on Tuesday, hours after he resigned following clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters. The military were called after protesters twice tried to breach the Prime Minister's Temple Trees private residence compound overnight, a senior security source told CNN.

Rajapaksa's resignation came after live television footage on Monday showed government supporters, armed with sticks, beating protesters at several locations across the capital, and tearing down and burning their tents. Dozens of homes were torched across the country amid the violence, according to witnesses CNN spoke to.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/food-riots-sri-lanka-turn-deadly-protesters-beat-police-burn-down-politicians-houses

#16242741 at 2022-05-09 19:31:41 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #20546: Redpill Baker on Mossad in 1 Post Edition

Sri Lankan prime minister resigns after weeks of protests
Four people, including a ruling party lawmaker, died in Monday's violence
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa announced on Monday that he had submitted his resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his brother. The resignation arrived after weeks of protests over the country's growing inflation turned violent, requiring the government to impose a curfew and involve the military.
Four people, including a ruling party lawmaker, died in Monday's violence, police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa told the Associated Press. President Rajapaksa imposed a countrywide curfew Monday evening lasting until Wednesday morning.
For more than a month, protests have spread across the country, drawing people across ethnicities, religions and class. For the first time middle-class Sri Lankans also took to the streets in large numbers, marking a dramatic revolt by many former Rajapaksa supporters, some of whom have spent weeks protesting outside the president's office.
The protests underscored a dramatic fall from favor of the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka's most powerful political dynasty for decades. The brothers were once hailed as heroes by many of the island's Buddhist-Sinhalese majority for ending the country's 30-year civil war, and despite accusations of war atrocities, were firmly entrenched at the top of Sri Lankan politics until now.

https://apnews.com/article/business-sri-lanka-indian-ocean-ad2724840cc42f4556797ad868559fae

#16241950 at 2022-05-09 17:36:22 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #20545: Anons Have Been Meeting the FLASH Edition

Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa Resigns Amid Massive Clashes, Curfew

Now that the Prime Minister has resigned, President Rajapaksa is expected to invite all the political parties in Parliament to form an all-party Cabinet.

New Delhi:

As the nationwide protest continues to intensify, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday resigned, a move that is likely to pave the way for a new cabinet in the crisis marred country.

This comes days after President Gotbaya Rajapaksa in a special meeting on Friday requested the Prime Minister to step down as a solution to the ongoing political crisis in the country, Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror reported.

Now that the Prime Minister has resigned, President Rajapaksa is expected to invite all the political parties in Parliament to form an all-party Cabinet.

Earlier, the opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) confirmed that its leader Sajith Premadasa will not accept the PM's post in an interim government.

On Monday morning protesters held a demonstration opposite the Temple Trees, the official residence of the prime minister, urging Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa not to resign.

Following their meeting with the prime minister, they clashed with anti-government protesters near the Temple Trees. At least 16 people who sustained injuries have been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital.

The resignation came shortly after he put out a tweet urging the general public to exercise restraint.

"While emotions are running high in #lka, I urge our general public to exercise restraint & remember that violence only begets violence. The economic crisis we're in needs an economic solution which this administration is committed to resolving," Mahinda said in a tweet.

Responding to Mahinda's tweet, former Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara said, "The only violence was perpetrated by your 'supporters' - goons and thugs who came to your office first before going on to assault the peaceful protestors."

Sri Lanka has been plunged in weeks of economic crisis stemming from a foreign exchange shortage which has led to a shortage in essential supplies such as fuel, food and medicines.

Protests have been ongoing for days calling on the government and lawmakers to find urgent solutions.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sri-lanka-pm-Mahinda-Rajapaksa-resigns-amid-economic-crisis-2959187

#15398625 at 2022-01-17 18:47:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #19477 - I Have A Dream Edition

Sri Lanka Sentences Prison Official to Death for Killing 27 Inmates

A High Court in Sri Lanka sentenced on Wednesday a top prison official to death over the 2012 brutal execution of 27 inmates that triggered global condemnation.

The Colombo-based court convicted Emil Lamahewage, the Prison Commissioner, but acquitted co-accused police commander Moses Rangajeewa for lack of evidence.

The judges read the sentence and ordered to take Lamahewage to the same prison where the massacre happened.

According to Sri Lankan media, Lamahewage told judges that the case against him was "built on a political conspiracy."

A riot erupted inside the Welikada prison in the capital Colombo when police started a crackdown against drugs in November 2012. Troops were called in to restore order and witnesses claimed eight of the 27 killed inmates were called out by name and executed. The clash left nearly 50 people injured.

According to court documents, the crime scene was later manipulated to make it look as if the victims attacked the guards.

The mass killing triggered global condemnation of the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the current prime minister of the island nation.

It was the worst mass killing since the massacre of inmates at the same prison that took place during the 1983 'Black July' pogrom against the Sri Lankan Tamil minority in Colombo.

Only 20 of the 73 Tamil political prisoners survived an organized attack by Sinhala prison officials and other convicts. Nobody was processed for the death of the 53 inmates.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/15784-sri-lanka-sentences-prison-official-to-death-for-killing-27-inmates

#7490136 at 2019-12-12 19:51:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #9580: Whose afraid of the big bad Bear?! Edition

China grips Sri Lanka with artificial island off Colombo

COLOMBO – China, no stranger to building islands, has finished one off the coast of Colombo that gives Sri Lanka, a strategically located South Asian nation, the potential of erecting a futuristic business hub.

Billed as Port City Colombo, the 269 hectares of land reclaimed off the coast of Sri Lanka's largest city was officially declared part of the country last weekend. The night sky above Colombo's coast lit up with fireworks to mark the moment this Chinese-led venture was formally able to begin attracting foreign investors.

Seasoned observers reckon the island will further deepen China's economic ties with debt-strapped Sri Lanka, where India, the U.S. and Japan are also vying for influence. But it was China that provided the $1.4 billion investment to dredge the sea and build the artificial island. It is the largest foreign direct investment project ever undertaken in Sri Lanka.

Diplomatic sources in Colombo say Port City Colombo stands apart from other big-ticket ventures in the country, a big beneficiary of China's belt and road largesse. Billions of dollars in Chinese loans have resulted in a slew of projects – a port, airport and highways.

Port City Colombo will not join this list; the FDI project comes at no financial cost to Sri Lanka.The project began in September 2014, when Chinese President Xi Jinping first visited Sri Lanka. It involved China Communications Construction Company, the giant developer and most active builder when it comes to Sri Lanka's BRI projects, through an affiliate, China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC). Officials at CHEC Port City Colombo, a company floated by CHEC for this venture, are targeting investors from the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and China in their endeavor to turn the island into "South Asia's premier residential, retail and business destination," as the company states in its promotional material.

Financial analysts in Colombo reckon that Port City Colombo's location will allow it to draw Indian businesses. At the company's road show in Mumbai, India's financial capital, one message was driven home – that the new hub is a two-hour flight away.

But as CHEC Port City Colombo points toward its goal of attracting a further $13 billion in property development investments, it awaits some action in the Sri Lankan parliament, which needs to pass several pieces of legislation, including one to make the island a special economic zone. Some of the legislation is contentious, especially that calling for a new legal regime and regulations that some observers are likening to the "one country, two systems" formula China uses with Hong Kong. That will require an amendment to Sri Lanka's constitution.

Thulci Aluwihare, head of strategy and business development at CHEC Port City Colombo, says a strong government push is needed if the legislative hurdles are to be cleared. "There is a draft SEZ law waiting for cabinet approval," he said. "Till such time we can only do soft marketing to attract potential investors."
According to Malik Cader, a former director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, the legislation has absorbed English common law principles regarding dispute resolution within Port City Colombo. "The government needs to get these laws approved because [other] countries in South Asia are getting bullish to attract foreign investment, and this opportunity cannot be lost."

Influential domestic business lobbies are making a similar case. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the island's oldest and largest business association, is throwing its weight behind Port City Colombo, saying it will give Sri Lanka's digital and information technology companies a boost. "The Port City is an opportunity for Sri Lankan tech and startups to upgrade and look outside," said Shiran Fernando, the chamber's chief economist, insisting that the island could eventually become a smart city.

Sri Lanka's new, pro-China government, headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, appears to have heeded this call. Political allies of the president, elected in a landslide in November, said in late November that modern laws are needed to attract foreign investors to the project. "Advanced financial and commercial investments are planned," said Basil Rajapaksa, younger brother of Gotabaya and a former economic minister. And "they [commercial investments] need a different legal framework."

Sri Lanka began tilting toward China while Mahinda Rajapaksa was president, from 2005 to 2015. On Saturday, Mahinda, now the prime minister, was present to celebrate a milestone for which he laid the foundation.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Belt-and-Road/China-grips-Sri-Lanka-with-artificial-island-off-Colombo

#7368681 at 2019-11-25 05:46:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #9424: Learn your Q trip!Fuckery is Fun NS!Edition

Sri Lanka's Central Bank Governor Submits Resignation


Coomaraswamy says his decision is for personal reasons. Governor to chair his final policy meeting this week.

Sri Lankan central bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said he submitted his resignation earlier this month and plans to leave his post in December.

The decision was due to personal reasons and not related to recent political changes following last week's election, Coomaraswamy said by phone from Colombo. He'll chair his final monetary policy decision on Nov. 29 and leave the bank on Dec. 20, he said.

"I tended a letter of resignation on Nov. 4. It has nothing to do with elections and politics," he said. "It has been in the making" since last year, but had been put on hold due to the 2018 political crisis and April terror attacks, he said.

Under his leadership since July 2016, the central bank has raised interest rates to a six-year high to curb inflation and took measures to stem the currency's slide. The bank cut rates twice this year after economic growth took a knock from political turmoil and the Easter Sunday bomb attacks, which hurt tourism to the island nation.
Sri Lanka's presidential election this month was won by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother of strongman President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who ruled from 2005 to 2015.

The governor said he tendered his resignation to President Maithripala Sirisena. Mohan Karunaratne, a spokesman for new president Rajapaksa, wasn't immediately available to comment.
https://www.bloomberg.com//news/articles/2019-11-25/sri-lanka-s-central-bank-governor-submits-resignation

#6350823 at 2019-04-28 21:15:06 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8120: Through Tempest, Storm, And Darkest Night Edition

No Mass for Sri Lanka's Catholics; no veils for Muslim women

AMPARA, Sri Lanka (AP) - The effects of Sri Lanka's Easter suicide bombings reverberated across two faiths Sunday, with Catholics shut out of their churches for fear of new attacks, left with only a televised Mass, and Muslim women ordered to stop wearing veils in public. Many across the nation knelt before their televisions as Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, delivered a homily before members of the clergy and the country's leaders in a small chapel at his residence in the capital.

The closing of all of Sri Lanka's Catholic churches - an extraordinary measure unheard of in the church's centuries on this island off the southern tip of India - came after local officials and the U.S. Embassy in Colombo warned that more militants remained on the loose with explosives a week after bombings claimed by the Islamic State group and aimed at churches and hotels killed more than 250 people.

Before services began, the Islamic State group claimed three militants who blew themselves up Friday night after exchanging fire with police in the country's east. Investigators sifting through that site and others uncovered a bomb-making operation capable of spreading far more destruction. "This is a time our hearts are tested by the great destruction that took place last Sunday," Ranjith told those watching across the nation. "This is a time questions such as, does God truly love us, does he have compassion toward us, can arise in human hearts." Later on Sunday, President Maithripala Sirisena banned all kinds of face coverings that may conceal people's identities. The emergency law, which takes effect Monday, prevents Muslim women from veiling their faces. The decision came after the Cabinet had proposed laws on face veils at a recent meeting. It had deferred the matter until talks with Islamic clerics could be held, on the advice of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

In a rare show of unity, Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa had attended the Mass in person. Their political rivalry and government dysfunction are blamed for a failure to act upon near-specific information received from foreign intelligence agencies that preceded the bombings, which targeted three churches and three luxury hotels. Police said they had arrested 48 suspects over the last 24 hours as checkpoints mounted by all of Sri Lanka's security forces sprung up across this country of 21 million people. Those arrested include two men whom authorities recently appealed to the public to locate. The government also warned that it would crack down on those spreading false information and making inflammatory remarks.

Police, meanwhile, entered the main mosque of National Towheed Jamaat on Sunday afternoon, just a day after authorities declared it and another organization terror groups over the bombings. Police entered the mosque, located in Kattankudy in eastern Sri Lanka, and stopped an interview among foreign journalists and mosque officials. Later, a senior police officer dispersed journalists waiting outside, saying authorities were conducting a "cordon and search operation." Police then left, locking up the mosque just before afternoon prayers were to start.

Authorities banned National Towheed Jamaat over its ties to Mohammed Zahran, the alleged mastermind of the Easter Sunday bombings. Zahran and masked others had pledged their loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before carrying out the attacks, showing the danger the extremist group poses even after losing all its territory in Iraq and Syria.

https://www.breitbart.com/news/no-mass-for-sri-lankas-catholics-no-veils-for-muslim-women/

#6287300 at 2019-04-23 20:03:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8040: Nothing to Lose Your Head Over Edition

Death toll from Sri Lanka attacks rises to 321

The death toll from a series of terrorist attacks that took place in Sri Lanka on April 21 has risen to 321, the country's State Minister of Defense and Mass Media Ruwan Wijewardene said, addressing the parliament.

According to the minister, as many as 521 people were wounded in Sunday's explosions. He added that according to preliminary investigation findings, extremists had carried out the attacks by way of revenge for the March 15 shootings at two New Zealand mosques.

Sri Lanka's former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in turn, blamed the April 21 attacks on the country's government. "Sri Lanka became an easy target for terrorists because the government was busy persecuting intelligence officers," he said. "The government has always made it clear that national security is not a priority for intelligence agencies," Rajapaksa added.

Meanwhile, Wijewardene emphasized that the country's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as well as himself, had not received invitations to participate in the National Security Council's meetings since October 2018.

On April 21, a series of terrorist attacks, unprecedented in the country's history, took place in Sri Lanka. A total of eight explosions occurred in high-end hotels and churches in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa during Easter services. The country's authorities confirmed that the explosions had been carried out by suicide bombers who were Sri Lankan nationals. As many as 40 suspects have been arrested in relation to the attacks.

On March 15, shooters opened fire in two mosques in New Zealand's city of Christchurch, killing 50 and leaving another 50 wounded.

http://tass.com/emergencies/1055100

#6273050 at 2019-04-22 15:20:24 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8021 Smells like.... Victory Edition

"Dear Secretary of State Clinton,

We are writing in advance of your meeting with the Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs, GL Peiris, to encourage strong US action to end impunity for war crimes in Sri Lanka.

One year after the end of the armed conflict, Sri Lanka has failed to undertake any meaningful steps to investigate serious allegations of laws-of-war violations, despite repeated calls from the international community to do so. A commission of inquiry that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa created on May 15, 2010, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), is not empowered to investigate such allegations and seems designed to deflect international criticism rather than to uncover facts and ensure accountability."

https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/05/27/letter-secretary-clinton-sri-lankas-lessons-learnt-and-reconciliation-commission

#6267445 at 2019-04-22 00:00:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8014 Anons May Never Look at Bunnies The Same

What's Behind the Terrorist Attacks in Sri Lanka?
More than 200 people have been killed in simultaneous explosions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that also injured several hundred victims. The coordinated attacks took place on Sunday morning. According to media reports, there were eight blasts in all, including at churches in Negombo and Kochchikade in the country's west, and Batticaloa in the east. Three luxury hotels in the capital Colombo were also targeted.
It is unclear who carried out the attacks. Sri Lanka's government has declared an indefinite national curfew and blocked social media networks such as Facebook and WhatsApp in order to prevent rumors spreading that might spark intercommunal violence, as happened in March 2018 when Buddhist mobs attacked Muslim mosques, businesses, and homes.
The targets. Sri Lanka has 22 million inhabitants. Of these, about three-fourths are ethnic Sinhalese, most of whom are Buddhist. Nearly a fifth of Sri Lankans identify as Tamil-either of Sri Lankan or Indian extraction-and are mostly Hindu. About 10 percent of the population is Muslim, and 7 percent Christian - a group that includes both Tamil and Sinhalese.

Given that three of the blasts occurred at churches, timed for Easter services, at least part of the attack was aimed at the country's 1.5 million Christians. The almost simultaneous blasts left no time to warn other churchgoers. The ability to launch several attacks all at once suggests a degree of sophistication, planning, funding, and reach.
Reuters cites the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, which represents more than 200 churches, as having recorded 86 incidents of discrimination, threats, and violence against Christians last year. The other main targets seem to be people who would frequent Colombo's hotels-usually a mix of tourists, business people, and wealthy locals. At least 30 of the dead are believed to be foreigners.
While authorities are still piecing together what happened, the blasts bear at least some resemblance to the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, which simultaneously targeted two luxury hotels, a busy railway terminal, and a Jewish outreach center. According to Indian intelligence, the Mumbai attacks were designed not only to cause the highest possible number of casualties but also to target groups-uch as Western tourists-that would lead to the greatest amount of international media coverage. One of the 2008 attackers was apprehended, and the others successfully identified, leading authorities in India to declare the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group responsible. But there are several differences with Sunday's attacks in Sri Lanka, not least the fact that they were spread out across the country instead of concentrated in a single city, and that unlike Mumbai, no hostages were taken.
Was there any warning?
On April 11, a top Sri Lankan police official reportedly issued an advisory warning of potential suicide attacks on churches. (This letter has not been independently verified by Foreign Policy.) In that letter, deputy inspector general Priyalal Dassanayake wrote that a radical Islamist group called National Thoweeth Jama'ath was planning nationwide attacks.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe acknowledged that some information about a planned attack had been circulating. "We must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken," he said.
Wickremesinghe's comments could be interpreted as a criticism of President Maithripala Sirisena, the commander of the country's security forces.

Sri Lanka's politics has been in turmoil recently. Sirisena became president in 2015 after he won a surprise victory over the strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had controlled the country's politics for more than a decade. Sirisena appointed his ally Wickremesinghe as prime minister, and the two set out to reform the country's economy and seek accountability for atrocities committed during the country's civil war.

But Sirisena and Wickremesinghe fell out in 2018, leading the former to suspend parliament and appoint his one-time rival Rajapaksa as the new prime minister. Weeks later, under pressure from the country's Supreme Court, Sirisena reinstated Wickremesinghe as prime minister. Relations between the two have not recovered, with observers expecting Sirisena to seek a fresh mandate at tThat led to the formation of an armed insurgent group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamhe polls. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's economy has grown at a tepid 4 percent, the currency has weakened, and Colombo has struggled to repay loans from donors such as the International Monetary Fund. In one case, Sri Lanka lost a major port-as well as 15,000 acres of land-to China after it could not repay funds it had borrowed for infrastructure projects.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/21/whats-behind-the-terrorist-attacks-in-sri-lanka/

#6267095 at 2019-04-21 23:22:48 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8014 Anons May Never Look at Bunnies The Same

"Dear Secretary of State Clinton,

We are writing in advance of your meeting with the Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs, GL Peiris, to encourage strong US action to end impunity for war crimes in Sri Lanka.

One year after the end of the armed conflict, Sri Lanka has failed to undertake any meaningful steps to investigate serious allegations of laws-of-war violations, despite repeated calls from the international community to do so. A commission of inquiry that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa created on May 15, 2010, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), is not empowered to investigate such allegations and seems designed to deflect international criticism rather than to uncover facts and ensure accountability."

https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/05/27/letter-secretary-clinton-sri-lankas-lessons-learnt-and-reconciliation-commission

#6261084 at 2019-04-21 08:46:03 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8006 New Bakers Gettin Reps

Sri Lanka averts rift spilling over to UN rights session
March 20, 2019
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's leader has abandoned plans to oppose his prime minister's support of a United Nations resolution that would give the island nation more time to address war crime allegations stemming from its long civil war.
On the U.N. human rights council agenda this week is a report by High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet criticizing Sri Lanka for failing to fulfill its pledge to investigate alleged atrocities by the military and now-defunct Tamil Tiger rebels. The co-resolution up for adoption on Thursday would extend Sri Lanka's deadline by two years.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena came into power in 2015 promising to help the war-torn country reconcile, including by investigating allegations during the rule of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. With an eye toward upcoming elections, Sirisena has changed his stance.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/sri-lanka-averts-rift-spilling-over-to-un-rights-session

Sri Lanka Explosions Target Churches and 3 Hotels, Killing At Least 129
April 21, 2019
-At least 129 people were killed and nearly 500 hospitalized from injuries after explosions went off at three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, the state-run Daily News reports.
A security official told The Associated Press that the fatalities included church goers and hotel guests.
-In Colombo, the capital, blasts were reported at St. Anthony's Shrine and three high-end hotels. Explosions were also reported at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, north of the capital, and at Zion Church in the Eastern Province of Batticaloa.
St. Sebastian's Church posted photos of the aftermath on Facebook, pleading for relatives to "come and help if your family members are there."
On Twitter, Harsha de Silva, a member of Parliament, said there were "many casualties including foreigners."
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera tweeted the bomb blasts killed "many innocent people" and seemed "to be a well coordinated attempt to create murder, mayhem and anarchy."
According to the BBC, President Maithripala Sirisena issued a statement calling for people to remain calm and support the authorities in their investigations.
https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=715631652

#4335237 at 2018-12-16 16:51:43 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #5524: Pull My DECLAS Finger Edition

Disputed Sri Lankan prime minister resigns

Dec. 15 (UPI) – Mahinda Rajapaksa has resigned as prime minister of Sri Lanka, capping weeks of political tension in the country over his appointment.

Rajapaksa told Sri Lankan Members of Parliament belonging to the United People's Freedom Alliance political party of his departure, Sri Lankan newspaper The Daily Mirror reported.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Rajapaksa, also a former president of the island nation, said he wants new elections to be held in Sri Lanka.

"Since I have no intention of remaining as Prime Minister without a general election being held, and in order to not hamper the President in any way, I will resign from the position of Prime Minister and make way for the President to form a new [government]," Rajapaksa said

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2018/12/15/Disputed-Sri-Lankan-prime-minister-resigns/4951544881207/

#4129499 at 2018-12-03 16:52:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #5257: Open Your Heart And Your Mind Edition

Sri Lanka court bars Rajapaksa from office, disputed PM to appeal

COLOMBO (Reuters) - A Sri Lankan court issued an order preventing Mahinda Rajapaksa and his disputed cabinet from holding office on Monday, heightening the island's political drama and drawing an immediate vow to appeal from the prime minister.

The South Asian nation has been in crisis since President Maithripala Sirisena replaced Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with Rajapaksa in October, then issued an order dissolving parliament and called for a general election.

Sirisena's decisions have prompted legal challenges and on Friday the Appeal Court began hearing a petition by 122 legislators challenging Rajapaksa's authority to hold office after he lost two no-confidence votes last month.

"The damage that will be posed by temporarily restraining a lawful cabinet of ministers from functioning would be…outweighed by the damage that would be caused by allowing a set of persons who are not entitled in law to function as the prime minister or the cabinet of ministers," judge Preethipadhman Surasena said.

The judge issued the interim order against Rajapaksa and his cabinet, and asked them to appear in court on Dec. 12 to explain on what basis they hold office. The order will be in place until a final judgment, whose date has not been set.

Rajapaksa said in a statement his government would lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The decision puts a further brake on Rajapaksa's disputed government after parliament voted last week to halt payment of ministers' salaries and travel expenses…..

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-politics/sri-lanka-court-bars-Rajapaksa-from-office-disputed-pm-to-appeal-idUSKBN1O20Y1?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29

#3912353 at 2018-11-15 13:53:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4975: ebake

Sri Lanka MPs brawl in parliament as new PM contests result of no-confidence vote

A fight broke out among rival MPs in Sri Lanka's parliament on Thursday, one day after it passed a vote of no-confidence in the new prime minister controversially installed by Sri Lanka's president.

The speaker, Karu Jayasuriya, said the country had no government after Wednesday's vote, and no prime minister - neither the newly appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa nor his rival and predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was ousted by the president, Maithripala Sirisena, last month.

Moments later, MPs came to blows next to the speaker's chair in undignified scenes captured on video within the chamber. More than 50 MPs were involved in the fight and some who fell on the floor were kicked by rivals.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/sri-lanka-crisis-parliament-mps-brawl-fight-video-latest-Rajapaksa-wickremesinghe-a8634431.html

#3865423 at 2018-11-12 13:14:01 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4914 You're a shill! No, you're a shill! Edition

Western diplomats shun meeting with Sri Lanka minister on political crisis

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Eight Western countries stayed away from a meeting with Sri Lanka's government on Monday to register their protest against President Maithripala Sirisena's decision to dissolve parliament, diplomatic and government sources said.

Sri Lanka has been in political turmoil since Sirisena fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last month and appointed a pro-China former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his place.

Western countries led by the United States and the European Union had been urging Sirisena to convene parliament and let the legislature determine who should be prime minister.

Sirisena reconvened parliament on Nov. 14, but on Friday, he dissolved it and ordered a general election for Jan. 5.

Foreign Minister Sarath Amunugama called the heads of 43 foreign missions for a meeting on the political situation on Monday but only a handful turned up, the sources said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-politics/western-diplomats-shun-meeting-with-sri-lanka-minister-on-political-crisis-idUSKCN1NH1FG

#3833253 at 2018-11-10 15:03:44 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4872 Weekends are for Shitposting Edition

Sri Lanka president dissolves Parliament, calls for election

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Sri Lanka's president has dissolved Parliament and called for elections on Jan. 5 in a bid to stave off a deepening political crisis over his dismissal of the prime minister that opponents say is unconstitutional.

An official notification signed by President Maithripala Sirisena announced the dissolution of Parliament effective midnight Friday. It said the names of candidates will be called before Nov. 26 and the new Parliament is to convene Jan. 17.

Sri Lanka has been in a crisis since Oct. 26, when Sirisena fired his prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa. Both say they command a majority in Parliament and had been expected to face the 225-member body on Wednesday after it was suspended for about 19 days.

Foreign Minister Sarath Amunugama told The Associated Press on Saturday that the president dissolved Parliament due to the need to go to the people to find a resolution to the crisis.

https://www.timesunion.com/news/world/article/Sri-Lanka-president-dissolves-Parliament-calls-13380085.php

#3628323 at 2018-10-27 19:46:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4605: False Flag(s) Edition

Political Upheaval in Sri Lanka Deepens as President Sacks PM, Top Ministers

A political crisis is deepening in the populous island nation on the Laccadive Sea.

On Saturday, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena suspended parliament until November 16, a day after removing Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and replacing him with opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, who previously served the sixth president of Sri Lanka from 2005-2016.

"The president has prorogued the parliament," Cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne told reporters, Japan Times reported Saturday. The president suspended all meetings of the 225-member house until mid-November, according to AFP.

However, Wickremesinghe claims that he has a majority in parliament.

"I have the majority in the parliament, convene the parliament to resolve this," Wickremesinghe said during a press conference in the country's capital of Colombo on Saturday.

"As far as the prime ministership is concerned, the person who has the majority support in parliament has to be the prime minister, and I have that majority of support," Wickremesinghe said, according to the Associated Press. "It is not necessary for us to create a crisis. It is not necessary for the people of the country to suffer."

The parliament suspension means, however, that Wickremesinghe will not be able to prove his majority.

On Friday, the South Asian country's Media and Finance Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, referred to Rajapaksa's appointment as "an anti-democratic coup," while a European Union delegation confirmed Saturday that it is closely monitoring the situation in the island nation of some 23 million.

"We urge all parties to fully act in accordance with Sri Lanka's Constitution, to refrain from violence, to follow due institutional process, to respect the independence of institutions, and freedom of media," the delegation announced Saturday, Japan Times reported.

Political tensions in between between Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) and Sirisensa's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) have been high since Sirisensa recently condemned Wickremesinghe's party for not thoroughly looking into an assassination plot against the president. Sirisena also accused India's intelligence services of being involved in the assassination plot, although that claim has been denied by intelligence members.

Although neighboring India has not yet officially reacted to the events in Sri Lanka, the country has been concerned with Rajapaksa's relationship with China, after Rajapaksa spent billions of dollars helping rebuild China after the end of a 26-year-long civil war against Tamil separatists in 2009.

The investment deeply indebted Sri Lanka and resulted in giving China control of a strategic southern port on the island, a move criticized by both India and the United States.

https://sputniknews.com/asia/201810271069279998-political-upheaval-sri-lanka-prime-ministers/