21, April 2019
Junta expands purge as Sudan plans to unveil civilian rule 0
Sudanese authorities have arrested several top members of ousted President Omar al-Bashir’s ruling party in a bid to mollify protesters who are pushing for a civilian rule.
The arrests came as authorities said they had searched Bashir’s home and found suitcases loaded with more than $351,000 and six million euros, as well as five million Sudanese pounds.
Sudan’s attorney general also ordered the formation of a committee to oversee investigations into crimes involving public funds, corruption and criminal cases related to recent events.
The crackdown, observers say, is intended to placate protesters who want the military council which took over after toppling Bashir to hand power to civilians.
The new moves were taken on the eve of protest leaders’ planned announcement of a ruling civilian council they say will replace the country’s current ruling military body.
On Saturday, military rulers and protest leaders held a round of negotiations as thousands of demonstrators massed outside the army headquarters, calling for a civilian rule.
“We clarified our main demand, which is the transfer of power to civilian authorities,” Siddiq Yousef, a senior member of the umbrella group leading the protest movement, told state television.
“We agreed to continue negotiations to reach a solution that satisfies both the sides, so that the transfer of power will happen in a peaceful way,” he said.
He did not say whether protest leaders will go ahead with their planned unveiling of a ruling civilian council on Sunday.
Since Bashir’s ouster on April 11, Sudan has been ruled by a 10-member military council which has so far resisted calls to transfer power to a civilian body.
The foot-dragging has prompted thousands of protesters to remain camped outside the army headquarters in central Khartoum, calling on the military rulers to step down.
Protest leader Ahmed al-Rabia said he expected mounting pressure from the street and from the international community to make the military council cede power in “two to three weeks”.
“We are done with the easy part (toppling Bashir). We want to remove the entire regime,” said Rabia.
In order to appease the protesters, the military council has agreed to demands such as detaining Bashir and releasing many political detainees and protesters.
On Saturday, authorities arrested Ahmed Haroun, the acting head of Bashir’s party, former first vice president Ali Osman Taha, former Bashir aide Awad al-Jaz, the secretary general of the Islamic movement Al-Zubair Ahmed Hassan and former parliament speaker Ahmed Ibrahim al-Taher.
Parliament speaker Ibrahim Ahmed Omar and presidential aide Nafie Ali Nafie were also put under house arrest.
The military council further said it will retire all eight of the officers ranked lieutenant general in the National Intelligence and Security Service.
A judicial source also said Sudan’s public prosecutor had begun investigating Bashir on charges of money laundering and possession of large sums of foreign currency without legal grounds.
However, the measures are unlikely to pacify the protesters and the push for power transition is expected to continue.
Source: Presstv
22, April 2019
Sri Lankan police make two dozen arrests as death toll from blasts hits 290 0
Sri Lankan police have arrested two dozen people in connection with a string of bomb attacks on several churches and hotels that have claimed the lives of at least 290 people.
The country went on lockdown on Easter Sunday after eight apparently coordinated blasts hit churches filled with worshipers as well as luxury hotels in the capital Colombo, and the cities of Negombo and Batticaloa.
Police announced the dramatic rise in the death toll on Monday morning, saying some 500 people had also been injured in the attacks, the worst of their kind since the end of Sri Lanka’s devastating civil war a decade ago.
There were 32 foreigners among those killed, including nationals from Britain, the United States, Turkey, India, China, Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Three police officers were also killed several hours after the attack, when they raided a house in Colombo. Police reported an explosion at the house.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility, but police say they have already made 24 arrests in connection with the bloodshed.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told reporters that “so far the names that have come up are local,” but investigators will look into whether the suspected attackers had any “overseas links.”
An intelligence memo warning of a possible attack had circulated 10 days earlier, raising questions about whether more preventative measures could have been taken.
Some intelligence officers were aware of this incidence. Therefore there was a delay in action. What my father heard was also from an intelligence officer. Serious action need to be taken as to why this warning was ignored. I was in Badulla last night
President Maithripala Sirisena, who was on a private visit to India and Singapore, called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council early on Monday, according to a government source.
He expressed his shock at the explosions, saying he had issued directives to the law enforcers – including police and the Special Task Force – to carry out investigation into the incident and take action against those involved.
The prime minister would also attend the meeting, the source added.
Authorities earlier convened an emergency meeting involving the heads of the army, air force and navy, according to Economic Reforms Minister Harsha de Silva.
Witnesses said soldiers armed with automatic weapons stood guard outside major hotels and the World Trade Centre in the business district.
Heavy security measures are also reported outside the St. Sebastian’s church in the city of Negombo — one of the churches that came under attack.
Meanwhile, a police spokesman said the Sri Lankan military had found a homemade bomb near the departure gate of Colombo’s main airport late on Sunday as it was clearing a route in preparation for Sirisena’s return home. They disposed of the device in a controlled explosion, according to the spokesman.
Night-time curfew announced
A curfew that was enforced on the country from Sunday evening was relaxed early Monday morning, allowing many people to make their way home from the main airport, where they were stranded overnight due to the restrictions.
The government, however, ordered a night-time curfew that would run from 8:00 p.m. local time until 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday in the capital.
The curfew was announced as security forces said they are carrying out searches across the country for those behind the bomb attacks.
It was also announced that the president will declare a nationwide emergency from midnight on Monday.
“The government has decided to gazette the clauses related to prevention of terrorism to emergency regulation and gazette it by midnight,” the president’s media unit said in a statement.
According to the president’s office, Sirisena will ask for foreign assistance to help track what it called international links to the bombings.
The government has also blocked access to social media and messaging sites out of concerns that “false news reports … spreading through social media” could lead to violence.
The services will be suspended until investigations into the attacks are concluded, the government said.
This has, however, concerned many, who believe it is very important for people to be able to communicate at times of crisis.
“This really puts people who already have vulnerable access to communication in a much worse position. It is a dangerous precedent to set,” said Joan Donovan, director of the technology and social change research project at Harvard Kennedy’s Shorenstein Center.
Facebook issued a statement Sunday, offering its condolences to those “affected by this horrendous act,” stating it is “committed to maintaining our services and helping the community and the country during this tragic time.”
“We are aware of the government’s statement regarding the temporary blocking of social media platforms,” it said. “People rely on our services to communicate with their loved ones.”
‘Intl. network likely involved’
Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said on Monday that the attacks could not have succeeded without the help of “an international network.”
“We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country,” Senaratne said. “There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded.”
He said that authorities were warned two weeks before the attacks, and had the names of suspects.
Meanwhile, security experts have warned that the attacks bear the hallmarks of the Takfiri Daesh and al-Qaeda terror groups.
A senior Asian counter-terrorism official who declined to be identified said the attack was likely carried out by a group with “significant operational capability and skilled commanders.”
US issues travel warning
In another development, the State Department issued a travel advisory for its citizens traveling to Sri Lanka, saying that “terrorist” groups “continue plotting possible attacks in Sri Lanka.”
It listed several potential targets, including tourist spots, transportation centers, markets, malls, government offices, hotels and places of worship, saying terrorists could attack “with little or no warning.”
Muslim leaders urge ‘maximum punishment’ for perpetrators
In the meantime, top Muslim leaders in the county demanded “maximum punishment” for the perpetrators of the attacks.
They also offered their condolences “to the people of Christian faith and extend our hands of friendship in solidarity.”
The National Shoura Council, a group of 18 Muslim organizations, also said that the government must not “leave any stone unturned in its efforts to apprehend the culprits whoever they may be and to whatever part of the populace they may belong to.”
Fears of fresh post-civil war violence
The South Asian nation has a population of about 22 million people; 70 percent of whom are Buddhist, 13 percent Hindu, 10 percent Muslim and seven percent Christian, according to the country’s 2012 census.
Sri Lanka is reeling from a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009 with an estimated 100,000 deaths. The strife was mainly between the so-called Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, and ended when government forces defeated the rebels.
Authorities are now concerned that the new spate of violence could upset the fragile peace in the country.
Police have already reported a petrol bomb attack on a mosque in Sri Lanka’s northwest and arson attacks on two shops owned by Muslims in the west.
Moreover, the country has recently witnessed a surge in ultra-nationalist Buddhism led by its most powerful Buddhist organization, the Bodu Bala Sena.
Source: Presstv