Sri Lanka's president yesterday summoned parliament to ratify a state of emergency giving police greater powers as officers steppped up their hunt for the assassins of the foreign minister.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga has blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for Friday's killing of Lakshman Kadirgamar, which sparked fears that a ceasefire in place since February 2002 could break down. Kumaratunga, in a decree issued yesterday, ordered the assembly to meet tomorrow to ratify an initial declaration of emergency and extend it for one month. Police, empowered under the emergency to conduct searches without a warrant and detain people without charges, stepped up the hunt for Kadirgamar's assassins as well as other suspected rebels.
Police deputy Inspector-General Pujith Jayasundara said searches were intensified after the tightly-guarded cremation of Kadirgamar on Monday at Colombo's Independence Square public park. However, the murder weapon had not yet been recovered and no arrests had been made in connection with the killing, which the authorities believe would have been meticulously planned for months. The Tigers deny involvement in the killing of Kadirgamar.
At least two snipers shot Kadirgamar as he got out of his swimming pool in an upscale neighborhood. The gunmen had taken up position in an upper floor bathroom across from the minister's tightly-guarded home.
Police chief Chandra Fernando told reporters on Sunday that Kadirgamar was warned of heightened threats against his life and had been asked to move away from his private residence. However, he insisted on staying there and did not want his neighbors inconvenienced through search operations, Fernando said.
In the initial phase of searches near the minister's home, police recovered a grenade launcher and four spent bullets.
The grenade launcher had not been used in the attack, police said adding that they were still looking for the gun used to shoot Kadirgamar three times in the chest and the head.
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