Sri Lanka’s main opposition presidential candidate narrowly escaped a stoning by suspected pro-government activists at a rally on Friday, but at least 20 of his supporters were seriously injured in the attack days ahead of the vote.
Rocks and stones were hurled into the crowd of some 20,000 people during a speech by Maithripala Sirisena, who is mounting a serious challenge against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Friday evening.
Mobile phone footage of the rally shared on social media showed people trying to cover their heads and duck stones thrown from a nearby multistoried building.
Photo: AFP
Several victims were seen in blood-splattered clothing and being helped into vehicles to be taken away to hospitals. The assault came as the EU urged Sri Lankan authorities to ensure a peaceful campaign and a fair election, while monitors warned of an escalation of violence.
Sirisena said attackers targeted him as he addressed a rally at Pelmadulla, 120km southeast of the capital, Colombo.
“This attack demonstrates the presidency’s democracy, good governance and how he protects election laws,” Sirisena told reporters.
He blamed pro-government elements for unleashing the attack.
Sirisena said he was whisked away to safety by his bodyguards, but at least 20 people were injured in the incident.
It was not immediately clear how many were involved in the attack, but police said an investigation was underway and arrests were yet to be made.
The attack came hours after Sri Lanka’s Ministry of External Affairs warned the EU not to be “prescriptive” about next week’s elections, after Colombo-based ambassadors urged the government to ensure a peaceful poll.
The ministry was responding to a statement issued earlier on Friday by ambassadors that Sri Lankans should be “free to choose their leaders without violence or fear.”
“Domestic elections are not for foreign government representatives to be prescriptive about, that too, a few days ahead of the polls,” the ministry said in a terse statement.
It accused the diplomats of commenting “on an issue of a strictly domestic nature” and added that Sri Lanka was capable of holding free and fair elections.
Almost all recent elections have been marred by allegations of voter intimidation, abuse of state resources and other electoral malpractice.
The EU statement came a day after Sirisena told foreign envoys that he feared the government may deploy troops to block minority Tamils from voting against Rajapaksa, who came to power in 2005 and is South Asia’s longest-ruling leader.
Rajapaksa is despised by many Tamils after overseeing the crushing end to a 37-year separatist rebellion in 2009 which sparked accusations of rights abuses.
Sirisena left the Rajapaksa administration in November to become the main opposition candidate at elections on Thursday next week.
He has been endorsed by the Tamils’ largest political party, which accuses the incumbent of failing to pursue reconciliation in the wake of the conflict against the Tamil Tiger rebels, which left some 100,000 dead.
Sirisena also has the support of Muslims, the second-largest religious majority in the country, and represents a serious threat to Rajapaksa, who called the election two years ahead of schedule.
This week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Sri Lankan government to ensure the elections are peaceful and that minorities, including Tamils and Muslims, are able to vote without fear.
The ruling party’s vote sank 21 points at a local election in September, suggesting that the president’s own popularity may be waning five years after he was credited with ending the long and bloody separatist war.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of