Terrorist Organization, Terrorists & Its Network Identified - Commander of the Army

Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, Commander of the Army after an audience with His Eminence Dr Malcolm Ranjith, Cardinal, Archbishop of Colombo yesterday morning (22) at Colombo Bishop’s House in response to Media queries underlined the need for proper coordination among all intelligence wings since a lapse on the part of sharing such vital information had unfortunately occurred.

 

“There is no need to place blame on anyone but the Army was not educated on this. The Army given authority to conduct search, arrests and road blocks would be able to do a better job in future and I appeal everyone to remain calm and quiet, irrespective of ethnic or religious differences at this critical moment”.

 

Following are the excerpts of his clarifications given to Media on the occasion;

“After HE the President’s return home last night, a special Security Council session was held this morning (22) with attendance of Hon Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, several Ministers and all others, including Secretaries, Chief of Defence Staff, Tri-service Commanders, IGP and others. There we discussed how these incidents took place and measures that should be adopted in this regard.

We equally discussed how repetition of such incidents could be avoided in future. Respective agencies or services have their own roles and tasks. For example, Police, Army, Navy and Air Force have their own separate service roles. Similarly, we discussed role of the political authority, judicial authority, etc at different levels. HE the President specifically underscored several areas that should be implemented without fail.

 

If I talk about the Army, as of now it has no legal provisions to act under existing environment but considering the national requirement, the Army has already deployed troops across the country for security purposes. We want to ensure no recurrence of riots like 1983 July take place in the country where multi-ethnic communities are living.

 

Police curfew like yesterday would continue today as well in order to ensure peace. This is to ensure security for people. During this discussion, possibilities of vesting certain responsibilities in the Army were taken up. There HE the President directed relevant authorities to keep the Army informed of such analyzed information as soon as possible. For example, the Army sought the approval to conduct search, vehicle checks, surveillance operations and arrest of a person even in the absence of Policemen at least during this emergency period.

 

In addition, we have identified the network of this organization. Measures that should be taken as regards those identified elements were also discussed during this special session. We are also investigating into their international connections, local networks, their spread in different locations and all other links, etc.

 

I must also clearly state that there has been a lapse on the part of sharing intelligence. It does not mean that I take the responsibility for the Army. I believe as per HE the President’s decision, there will be an integrated sharing of intelligence among all agencies in future and this would be the best for the country.

 

If I were to give a message to the public, I appeal all of you to remain calm and support the Army’s intended roles, irrespective of ethnic, religious or any other differences. I also request you to confide in us and our roles for the sake of your security. We expect we would get those authoritative provisions for Army operations. We would certainly apply them within the prevailing legal framework in the correct manner.

 

As the Commander, I wish we had emergency regulations enacted at least for a short period. There you have required provisions. Similarly, we would be able to search but it is essential to arrest any suspect too at this moment. It is not necessary to heap blame on anyone but the Army is sincerely not at all enlightened on the series of explosions. But the Sri Lanka Police had been aware of it in advance.

 

Information that we get is adequate but the problem is that we don’t have authority to take action. We pass vital information to others who should activate on what has been given. This is where the problem lies. Army troops have been deployed everywhere in the country and more and more troops would be mobilized depending on requirements. I believe the normalcy would return shortly.

I had cordial discussions with the Cardinal and we must be able to provide security to him and should not allow this situation develop into an ethnic or religious conflict. When looked at closely, this is not a mere conflict between Christians and Islamists but there could be different perspectives and aspects related to it beyond our understanding. I urged the Cardinal to restrict his movements for the time being and meet people only at his residence. He must not unnecessarily be a target of violence.

This terrorist organization is small but we cannot ignore its foreign links. The things they have used prove that they have received foreign training. Possibly those facilities could be available here in Sri Lanka as well. They could have received foreign funds for atrocities. There can be so many such organizations in the country, although I cannot divulge them”. (Ends)