Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

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Singha
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Singha »

given the SL fascination to be a south asian UK and british silver tongue, this is one bait they will fall for.
sections of sinhalese elite consider themselves a cut above dirty unwashed non-oxbridge yindians.

in the process their police top brass and information sources will be exposed to attempts to cultivate moles.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by chetak »

Singha wrote:given the SL fascination to be a south asian UK and british silver tongue, this is one bait they will fall for.
sections of sinhalese elite consider themselves a cut above dirty unwashed non-oxbridge yindians.

in the process their police top brass and information sources will be exposed to attempts to cultivate moles.
looking into the internal matters of India would also be a big part of any such gora units and offices to "analyze intelligence reports"

It would give them a plausible excuse to develop "sources" within India too and also engineer some more rabinder singh type of R&AW recruits/defections.

their normal sources may have dried up after Modi's and Doval's arrival.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by A_Gupta »

Because of the Negombo event:
Social media temporarily blocked
Social media platforms including Whatsapp, facebook and youtube have been temporarily blocked in Sri Lanka, official sources said.
They said that the decision to ban the social media has been taken in an effort to stop the spread of rumours following violence erupted between groups of civilians in Negombo this evening.

A curfew has been imposed in the Negombo area until 7am.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/top_story/Soc ... 155-166485
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by A_Gupta »

Wall Street Journal reports: (paywall):
https://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-st ... 1557080734
Sri Lanka Bombers Blew Up Motorcycles, Lost Fingers Honing Deadly Skills
Authorities cite evidence that local planners followed terror group’s designs from the internet to build bombs used in a series of suicide bombings that left more than 250 people dead

(Sorry I can't quote more, I don't have a WSJ subscription).
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by A_Gupta »

Part 2 of Ameer Ali's essay:
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index. ... infamy-ii/
In the ethno-religious democracy of Sri Lanka the primary objective of every politician and every political party is not to work for the prosperity of the country and its people or its economy but to capture the ethnic or religiously divided vote bank to remain in or capture power. It is this political strategy of present and past regimes that has weakened rule of law in Sri Lanka. Recent governments have all been coalitions. One important component in these coalitions had been the SLMC and its splinter ACMC. In such a coalition, if the government shows tolerance towards lawlessness of the supporters of one segment of the coalition, how can it deny the same tolerance towards the lawlessness of the supporters of another segment? It was this dilemma and the powerlessness of Muslim coalition partners in the government to deliver justice to Muslim victims that made a militant section of Wahhabi activists to seek revenge. To put it bluntly, while the Sinhalese politicians were tolerating unruly far-right Buddhists and their anti-Muslim rampaging, Muslim politicians had no choice but to tolerate Wahhabi extremists who were becoming militant in front of their eyes. Let us illustrate this point with two instances.

One of the monks closely associated with anti-Muslim violence is Galagoda Atte Gnanasara. There is ample evidence to prove this monk’s un-Buddhist behaviour. He is no doubt in prison now, but not for his involvement in violence but for contempt of court in relation to an unrelated case. However, how does one explain the attempt by some prominent Buddhists including one Mahanayake to get him released from prison through Presidential pardon on the eve of this year’s independent day celebrations? Although the move failed because of wide spread protests this episode demonstrates clearly the prevailing attitude within certain influential groups, which seem to believe that justice, law and order must serve the interests of them more favourably than those of others.

The second instance is related to the Mawanella bigotry in December last year. This bigotry was a clear signal to the government that something far more sinister and serious was brewing within the Muslim community. Although the police took some action and made few arrests no one bothered to go to the bottom of that incident and dig out what motivated those bigots to do what they did. Was that a deliberate neglect? Had that been done there would not have been a Bloody Easter. However, after that, there was one shooting incident in which the victim was a minister’s secretary. Police made an arrest, but according to that minister the person arrested was released because of pressure from a powerful politician. Doesn’t this show that politicians and political groups are protecting even criminals among their supporters in order to safeguard their respective vote banks? This is the tragedy in Sri Lanka.
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Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Peregrine »

Christian-Muslim clashes rock Sri Lanka town hit by Easter attacks

Extra troops and police have been deployed to Negombo and a curfew is in effect

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church appealed for calm and an alcohol ban on Monday (May 6) after a personal feud erupted into clashes between Christians and Muslims in a town scarred by the Easter suicide attacks.

Hundreds of security forces entered Negombo to impose a curfew after dozens of Muslim-owned shops, homes and vehicles were attacked.

St. Sebastian's church in the town 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of capital Colombo was one of three churches and three hotels hit by suicide bombers on Apr 21 killing 257 people.

"I appeal to all Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters not to hurt even a single Muslim person because they are our brothers, because they are part of our religious culture," said Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo.

"Therefore please avoid hurting them and try to create a better spirit of understanding and good relations between all the communities of Sri Lanka," he said in a video message to the country.

LIQUOR BAN SOUGHT

The cardinal visited Negombo, held talks with clerics at a mosque and appealed to the government to shut bars in the Catholic-dominated town known as "Little Rome", said his spokesman Father Edmund Tilakaratne.

"As a temporary measure, the cardinal asked the government to order the ban on liquor sales in Negombo area," Tilakaratne told AFP.

In another televised appeal, Ranjith appealed to Christians, Buddhists and Muslims to show restraint.

Negombo suffered the highest death toll in the Easter Sunday attacks that were claimed by the Islamic State group. The bomb at St. Sebastian's killed more than 100 worshippers.

A top police officer said two arrests were made after the latest clashes and more suspects had been identified through CCTV footage.

The officer said all will be prosecuted under emergency laws approved after the Easter attacks.

"At least three people were injured in the clashes," the officer told AFP. "Although we have arrested only two suspects at the moment, many more have been identified and we will go after them."

The officer said an alcohol-fuelled personal dispute between two groups degenerated into the clashes.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a statement the government will compensate those who lost property in the night-time clashes.

Unverified video circulating on social media showed mobs throwing stones at Muslim businesses, destroyed furniture inside homes, shattered windows and overturned vehicles.

AFP was unable to immediately verify the footage.

A few hundred extra troops and police were deployed late on Sunday as authorities imposed a night-time curfew in the town.

The government blocked access to WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media platforms for several hours to prevent what it called the spread of rumours and videos aimed at instigating unrest.

The curfew was lifted on Monday morning and social media was working again by noon Monday.

Sri Lanka's main international airport is located in the area, but police said there was no disruption.

Muslims make up around 10 per cent of Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka's 21 million population and Christians about 7.6 per cent.

SECURITY FOR SCHOOLS

Meanwhile, public schools reopened on Monday for the first time since the Easter attacks, with heavily armed police and troops guarding schools.

"The attendance was poor today, but we maintain a high level of security," the top police officer said. "Most parents are adopting a wait-and-see approach and we hope attendance will be back to normal very soon."

The country has been under a state of emergency since the Easter bombings.

Security forces and police have been give sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects.

The government has blamed the Easter bombings on a local militant organisation which had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

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Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Peregrine »

Investigators reveal wealth and privilege of Sri Lanka bombers – Stephanie Findlay and Chathuri Dissanayake - FT

Associates of spice trader brothers baffled by their quiet radicalisation

Inshaf and Ilham Ibrahim were part of the Sri Lankan elite. Sons of a spice tycoon, they spoke fluent English and Ilham’s copper factory on the outskirts of Colombo was thriving.

But the two men were living a double life. On Easter Sunday, they were part of the group of suicide bombers who killed more than 250 people — a toll reduced from 359 after the health ministry cited confusion in counting body parts — in a wave of synchronised attacks on churches and luxury hotels.

The attacks have raised difficult questions about Sri Lanka’s ability to handle the terrorist threat. Indian intelligence had warned Colombo of an imminent attack in a detailed report, which was followed by increasingly urgent calls.

They have also shown once again that even wealthy and prominent members of the community can fall prey to radicalisation. Those involved in the September 11 2001 attacks included well-educated individuals, such as Mohamed Atta.

Those who knew the Ibrahim family are in disbelief. “They were polished,” said one businessman whose sons played with the Ibrahims when they were boys. “They didn’t look as if they were radical. I can’t imagine that they would do something like this.”

Now their father, Mohammed Ibrahim — an intimate of senior Sri Lankan politicians — is in police custody and his multistorey white villa is a crime scene. The building is wrapped in yellow police tape after Inshaf’s pregnant wife detonated her explosives killing herself, her children and the police officers who had come to search the house.

“He’s not a guy with a big long beard who wore his religion on his sleeve,” said a Colombo spice trader, who attended a meeting with Mr Ibrahim less than two weeks ago. “He started his life as a cook,” said the trader, explaining that Mr Ibrahim went on to build his business from scratch.

Sri Lanka remains in a state of emergency and a nationwide night-time curfew is in place. Colombo’s streets, lined with fluttering white mourning ribbons, are patrolled by the military and police, as authorities hunt for six more suspects. Hundreds of Muslims have fled their homes for safety in mosques fearing reprisal attacks.

The US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina Teplitz, has warned that “the terrorist plotting is ongoing” and the FBI and UK counter-terrorism police are assisting the investigation.

Defence officials say Zaharan Hashim, also known as Mohammed Zaharan, one of the ringleaders of the National Thowheeth Jama’ath, an Islamist group, orchestrated the bombings. Intelligence officials on Friday said they believed he was one of the bombers at the Shangri-La hotel and that he had died in the attack. Ilham, one of the brothers, was identified as the second suicide bomber at the Shangri-La.

Hashim, who was known to Indian intelligence agencies for vitriolic social media posts, appeared in a video released by Isis after the attacks, serving as a reminder of the global threat posed by the group despite the destruction of its caliphate in Syria.

Sri Lankan defence officials have confirmed that most of the bombers were from the country’s prosperous Muslim community, which accounts for fewer than 10 per cent of the population but is prominent among industry leaders in the majority Buddhist country.

“Those who have means and time, only they can afford to procure materials for mayhem like this,” said Animesh Roul, a south Asia counter-terrorism expert at the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, a New Delhi-based think-tank. “Isis has inspired extremist groups and individuals in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. It has immense influence over the local radicals and we have seen devastation.”

The deep rift between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena, who also serves as defence minister, following an attempted coup in October last year, has contributed to a breakdown in the workings of the government.

Hemasiri Fernando, the top defence ministry official, resigned on Thursday evening, but was defiant to the end. “I have disseminated the information I received and carried out my responsibility, however, certain officials and relevant departments have not acted accordingly, and as a result we had to face this terrible tragedy,” he said in his resignation letter.

While the investigation proceeds, some in Sri Lanka are worried whether the country’s vital tourism sector, which accounts for 5 per cent of the island’s $86.5bn economy, will ever get back to normal. The US and UK have both issued travel advisories to their citizens.

“Before the attack, hotel occupancy was around 75 per cent, now the occupancy has come down to less than 10 per cent, and most of those guests are journalists,” said M Shanthikumar, the president of Colombo City Tourist Hotel Association. “It’s incredible, it’s hundreds of millions of dollars lost,” he said. “It will take a long time to forget the whole thing.”

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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

Stepping back Sri Lanka is the battleground of three powers and the Sri Lanka Muslims are the pawns.

The biggest player is China with proxy of Pakistan backing Rajapakse.
The second player is US that wants to counter China and hopes to use Pakistan. (US Ambassador statement is revealing).
I dont know who their SL pawn is. Could Sirisena who was sleeping on the job.

The third player is India. No proxies but clearly opposing China and Rajapakse.
Two of the SL players : Sirisena and Rajapakse are anti-India.
And Pakistan is proxy for China, US and even SL which hates India.

SL is headed for a long drawn out strife.

In a three cornered game if two players come together the game is over.
And the key is in Pakistan.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Prem »

Let Buddhists of Sri Lanka adopt MiyanMaar policy and get into civil war again so they are forced to consider merging with Motherland.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Supratik »

Vips
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Sri Lanka minister asks security forces to avoid incidents that may lead to radicalisation of Muslims.
Sri Lankan security forces should avoid the incidents that caused some people face social stigma during the search operations after the Easter Sunday blasts carried out by a "cult" within the community, as it may lead to radicalisation of moderate Muslims in the country, a Minister has warned.

Minister of City Planning, Water Management and Higher Education Rauff Hakeem said Muslims welcome and support the security forces and police to carry out search operations following the April 21 carnage in which over 250 people were killed.

There have been few incidents of concern during these operations, which should be avoided as these could lead to radicalisation of moderate Muslims in the country, he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror on Monday. (Classic black mailing threat - Ignore what we do and appease us or else.....)

"Some people have suffered social stigma as a result of some minor happenings during search operations being sensationalised. One must not get carried away if Islamic literature written in Arabic or in Tamil is found in a house. It may not be terrorist literature.

"There may be (check the play of words)anti-Osama Bin Laden or anti-extremist literature with some people. The security forces could get help from the Department of Muslim Affairs to interpret such literature," the Minister told reporters.

Hakeem also said that the bombings had been carried out by a cult living among the Muslims which earlier attacked the "mainstream mosques in certain Middle Eastern countries". (needless equal equal)

When asked about the weapons being found in some mosques, during the searches, Hakeem said places of worship should not be used to keep arms, adding that "terrorist activities and ordinary crimes should not be mixed up".
:rotfl:

All in all the Malsi have perfected the art of playing victims, appealing to the sense of political correctness of the non malsic rulers, politicians and media. After India suffered it and was lectured to it is now the turn of rest of the world to face the reality.

All democratic, rich and docile countries (especially small European ones) will be facing this situation. Only the totalitarian and communist countries like China and Burma are the ones which will not be messed with by the malsic forces.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

If Minister Hakeem is sincere he should ask his community to report the bad eggs among them. he cant claim thse guys are a cult after the bombings.
Also looks like quite a disproportional amount of Muslims vis a vis the demographics are in positions of power.
A minister here, a governor there and soon the authorities are full of World Muslims, to use Shiv's analogy, shielding the cults.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by NRao »

Vips wrote:Sri Lanka minister asks security forces to avoid incidents that may lead to radicalisation of Muslims.

.................................

All in all the Malsi have perfected the art of playing victims, appealing to the sense of political correctness of the non malsic rulers, politicians and media. After India suffered it and was lectured to it is now the turn of rest of the world to face the reality.

All democratic, rich and docile countries (especially small European ones) will be facing this situation. Only the totalitarian and communist countries like China and Burma are the ones which will not be messed with by the malsic forces.
Like the ISIS is listening in and agreeing with the Minister.

Strange guys.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Tuan »

kit wrote:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 155353.cms

A former head of Sri Lanka’s military intelligence and close aide of the Rajapaksa family is allegedly trying to hinder probes by various countries into the deaths of their citizens in the recent terror attacks at China’s behest. Major General (Retd) Kapila Hendawitharana, who headed military intelligence during the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime and is the current head of security for the Shangri-La Hotels in Sri Lanka, is said to be obstructing the investigations into the Easter bombings, ET has learnt. According to audio tapes heard by ET, Hendawitharana is allegedly conniving with Chinese security agencies to sabotage the probes. China fears the investigations would allow many countries to expand their presence in the island nation and adversely affect Chinese interests there. Sri Lanka, while absent from the second edition of the BRI summit, is a key pillar in Beijing’s strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region, building infrastructure including the Hamabantota port. Following the April 21 suicide attacks and bombings, including at the Shangri-La in Colombo, countries including the US sent their probe agencies to Sri Lanka to assist local investigators. US teams visited the Shangri-La, where a number of its citizens were killed, ET has learnt. Hendawitharana allegedly urged Chinese officials to use diplomatic means as a “deterrent action” to sabotage cooperation between the Sri Lankan and foreign investigating agencies as the increased presence of foreign powers would be detrimental to Chinese interests in the island nation. Hendawitharana is heard telling the Chinese officials that foreign powers might even get access to Sri Lanka’s airports and ports as part of their efforts to assist local security agencies. China has allegedly helped the ex-spymaster’s family members in getting education abroad, ET has learnt. Hendawitharana was dismissed by army commander Sarath Fonseka as an unqualified “logistics man” but was promoted to Major General by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the defence secretary under Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2006. He was brought back as chief of National Intelligence and given broad oversight over all Lanka’s intelligence agencies.
A_Gupta wrote:The Colombo Telegraph reports:
Exclusive: Gota’s Intelligence Czar Caught Red Handed As Chinese Mole
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index. ... ssion=true
But Colombo Telegraph can exclusively reveal that Hendawitharana, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s right-hand man in the Defence Ministry, is an agent of the Chinese Intelligence. We can today reveal audio recordings of Hendawitharana, who is also the security head of Shangri-La, telling a Chinese Intelligence Officer to use diplomatic means as a “deterrent action” to sabotage the relationship between the US and Sri Lanka.
Hendawitharana is privy to American involvement in Sri Lanka’s new war against terror because of his role in security at Shangri-La, but his concern is not for his employer, in whose hotel so many innocents died, but instead for his handlers in Chinese Intelligence and his political contacts in the Joint Opposition.

In the audio recording, available exclusively below, Hendawitharana tells his Chinese handler to “appraise your diplomatic channels to work on the US-Sri Lanka relationship.”
So, the verdict is National Thowheed Jamaath or NTJ, what a knee-jerk reaction? I was surprised that this low-profile group did manage to launch a rather complex and sophisticated attack, with multiple suicide bombers at different places roughly simultaneously.

Indeed, due to the long civil war against the Tamil Tigers, during which the latter launched numerous terrorist attacks in Colombo, the Sri Lankan Security Forces are well-versed into countering such operations.

Therefore, I wonder how such an attack on this scale, scope, and magnitude can occur under the nose of the Sri Lankan military intelligence?

This recent article attempts to explain how and why the Sri Lankan military wanted to avoid an international investigation by UNHRC that was mainly lobbied by the Christian minorities among the Tamil diaspora headed by Reverend Father S. J. Emmanuel, who is a Sri Lankan Tamil Catholic priest, activist and president of the Global Tamil Forum, an umbrella organization for Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora groups in the Western nations, particularly the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.

As a former Sri Lankan military intelligence analyst, who later acted as an informant on the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Canada, I am certain that the Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Corps knew very well who were acting behind the doors in this attempted UN international inquiry.

Moreover, the current dysfunctional Sri Lankan government and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe did assure to the UNHRC that his government, if re-elected, will hold an inquiry into alleged war crimes, but flip-flopped suddenly.

Hence the Sri Lankan military wanted a regime change in Sri Lanka in the upcoming elections, preferably, a government headed by the former military hardliner Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

It is against this backdrop one should gather intelligence, analyze and assess on the perpetrators behind the April 21 Sri Lankan bombings.

Please ponder the improbable!
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

Two questions Tuan.

1) Gotbaya Rajpakse is being revealed as Chinese agent under influence. How does this compute?
2) Your 4 para, who are you talking about?
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ACJU instructs mosques to control sound during prayers
http://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news ... 108-166605
ssuing a set of guidelines to be followed during the Ramadan month, the All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ulema (ACJU) yesterday instructed the mosques to control the volume of their loudspeakers to ensure that the sound would not affect others outside of it.

In a statement, the ACJU said the loudspeakers should be directed invert of the mosque premises when conducting sermons and special night prayers.

“During the Zuhr salat, the sound volume of radios in houses should be controlled to make sure only the residents can hear them and that it won’t affect neighbours. We also encourage all to share special meals and sweets which are being made during the Ramadan month among neighbours without any religious differences,” the ACJU said.

It said the women could perform Taraweeh prayer at their homes if the environment is not conducive to go out to the mosque in the night.

The ACJU further said those who arrive at mosques should not park their vehicles within the mosque premises.

“Those who come to mosques in vehicles due to unavoidable circumstances should park their vehicles without causing hindrance to others,” the guidelines said.
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Police raid leased n’ eliya guest house used for training by Zahran
http://www.dailymirror.lk/front_page/Po ... 238-166612
The security forces on Sunday raided the guest house ‘Blue Eye Inn’ at Dharmapalapura Road in Ruwan-Eliya, Nuwara Eliya, which is said to have been used by National Tawheed Jamaat (NTJ) leader Mohamed Zahran and his accomplices for their clandestine operations.

The discovery was made from leads provided by the State Intelligence Unit after interrogating an individual who is considered to be the one who provided technological know-how to the followers of Zahran.

Under interrogation, the suspect had admitted to have attended a training class conducted by Zahran at Blue Eye Inn. He said the session was attended by 35 participants including those who blew themselves up on Easter Sunday.

The group members who had arrived in Nuwara Eliya at 4.30 a.m. had been transported to the venue in two vans. The participants who had been ordered not to communicate with each other had been trained in the use of firearms.

Sources said the members attached to the intelligence unit had found three maps of Nuwara Eliya from the guest house. The suspect who was brought to Nuwara Eliya by the intelligence unit had assisted in locating the guest house.

Furthermore, two suspects who had indirectly aided Zahran to conduct these classes were arrested. The officers will also question the guesthouse owner who had leased the building to the suspects.
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http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Easte ... 172-166572
Easter Sunday carnage: The big picture of Intelligence failure and how to fix it
Only the tip of the iceberg of a wider intelligence failure
On November 30, last year, two Policemen, PC Walpita Gamage Niroshan Indika Prasanna and PC Ganesh Dinesh, who were on duty at the Vavunathivu Police were hacked to death by unknown assailants, who got away with the service revolvers of their victims.

The Police arrested an ex -LTTE cadre, who still languishes in remand custody, charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

However, military and Police raids after the Easter Sunday attack uncovered the disturbing details that the attack was a work of Islamic terrorists. The driver of terrorist ring leader Zahran Hashim, Mohommed Shareef Adam Lebbe (53) alias Ghaffor Mama revealed the group’s involvement and led the Police to a safe house, where one of the service revolvers was found along with a cache of other weapons. The other was found buried in the terrorist hideout in Vanathavilluwa. Two suspects have since been arrested.

Also in December, intelligence agencies failed to follow up with the disturbing evidence uncovered in the Vanathavilluwa hideout. Again, it was a politically sensational investigation into the vandalism of Buddha statues that led to the Vanathavilluwa site, and not some proactive intelligence operation.

Now, there are scandalous details of a discovery of a sprawling terrorist training centre with a visible watch tower in the heart of Kattankudy, a crowded city of 60,000 people.
There were also early warnings by local Muslims of Zahran’s preaching of hate. Protests were held in the town since 2014, and a final dozier on Zahran’s preaching was handed over to the Defence Secretary in January this year.

The sectarian strife in the town culminated into a clash in March last year between the local Sufis and Zahran’s followers. Intelligence agencies did not follow up on any of those leads.
One should ask how did that happen – and why did that happen?
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NTJ assets worth Rs. 7 bn to be confiscated – Police
http://island.lk/index.php?page_cat=art ... tle=203805
The CID is to obtain a court order to confiscate over Rs. 7 billion in properties and Rs. 140 million in gold and cash owned by the proscribed National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) terrorist group.
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https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index. ... war-looms/
Was China The Hidden Signifier? Easter & The Weaponization Of Religion As A New Cold War Looms
In addition to the selected churches, suicide bombers hit three carefully chosen five star hotels, out of a line-up of six or seven star class hotels on Colombo’s sea-front luxury hotel strip where tourists gather, indicating that this was also a planned and systematic attack on the country’s already debt trapped and currency manipulated economy.

The Galadhri and Taj Hotels that are located on the same Colombo sea-front luxury hotel strip that flank Shangri La Hotel escaped unscathed, as did other sea front hotels in the same strip – Galle Face Hotel, Hilton Hotel, and Ramada. The other two hotels that were targeted, the Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury Hotels, were owned by local Sri Lankan conglomerates. John Keells which owns Cinnamon grand is building its latest Cinnamon Life property development with the China construction company.

Four oceanic scientists who were staying at Kingsbury Hotel were among the six Chinese nationals who lost their lives during the Easter Sunday bomb blasts in Sri Lanka, according to the Chinese Embassy in Colombo. The deceased included Li Jian, 38, and Pan Wenliang, 35, who were senior engineers at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (SCSIO).Two others, Li Dawei, 30, and Wang Liwei, 26, were from the First Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources, the state run Global Times reported on Wednesday. They had been scheduled to board the Chinese research vessel Shiyan 3 and start China-Sri Lanka joint scientific exploration missions in the East Indian Ocean.

Websites of both the institutions, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and The Institute of Oceanography turned black and white to mourn the dead scientists. Li, along with four other scientists had arrived at the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo on April 18 and 19, respectively. They were supposed to participate in a joint scientific cooperation between China and Sri Lanka, the SCSIO said. The embassy said another five people from the Chinese Academy of Sciences were injured.
The design of the attack, the venues picked, churches located among coastal communities with congregations whose livelihoods largely depend on fisheries and Indian Ocean resources in Colombo, Negambo and Batticaloa, as well as the targeting of luxury ocean front hotels, suggest a theme, as well as, a coded message from the masterminds of the carnage.

Marine affairs and the ocean is a red thread that runs through the design and detail of the selected targets in the Easter Sunday crime in Sri Lanka.
No inland cities in Sri Lanka were targeted and a pattern emerges in the design and targets of the Easter Sunday attacks. It would appear that the designers of the attack had an interest in Sri Lanka’s coastal communities, ocean front and marine affairs, perhaps to draw a security cordon sanitaire around the strategically located Indian Ocean island that sits on top of major global energy and trade routes and crucial global internet Undersea Data Cables (UDC). After the attack and arrival of doves of intelligence experts and agencies the fisheries habours in the island were locked down.

In other words, it would appear that the masterminds had an interest in Sri Lanka’s oceans and marine affairs; or, what the US ambassador in Sri Lanka termed, “Maritime Domain Awareness” (MDA), in a recent interview on Ada Derana TV regarding the United States’ Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), assistance for so-called ‘poverty alleviation’ to Sri Lanka.
Critical researchers on religious co-existence and conflict who study deep structures and patterns of conflict and amity between multi-religious communities are increasingly convinced that the bomb blasts at 3 churches blasts are part of a wider systematic post-war weaponization of religious identity politics by external parties to Divide, Distract and destabilize this strategically located Indian Ocean island which is in the cross-hairs of Cold War tensions between the United States, India and allies on the one hand and China on the other.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by A_Gupta »

http://colombogazette.com/2019/05/07/ch ... ence-ties/
China and Sri Lanka discuss defence ties
China and Sri Lanka had talks on the defence relationship between both countries.

The Defence Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, Senior Colonel Xu Jianwei met the new Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, General S H S Kottegoda (Retd) at the Ministry, the Defence Ministry said today.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

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Global Times from China reports:
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1148769.shtml
China-Sri Lanka cooperation unaffected after attacks
While the Sri Lanka terror attacks that killed four Chinese scientists last month inevitably raised some concerns about China-Sri Lanka cooperation and the security of Belt and Road (B&R) projects, Chinese institutes and operators in Sri Lanka told the Global Times on Monday that all cooperation remained unaffected.

China nonetheless needs to strengthen counter-terrorism and intelligence cooperation with countries like Sri Lanka along the routes of the B&R to safeguard its overseas interests, ncluding the security of Chinese personnel, Chinese analysts said.
....

Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow at the Hainan-based National Institute for the South China Sea, said that China and Sri Lanka have profound cooperation on ocean exploration, especially the exploration of marine resources.

"The East Indian Ocean and the South China Sea have a similar climate environment, so the two sides can share experiences and technologies, and China has technological advantages which can help Sri Lanka improve its personnel training and equipment," Chen said.

The attacks have brought great losses to Sri Lanka as well as the Chinese team, but its impact on cooperation between the two sides was limited, Chen noted.

"The attacks were not targeting China or the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, so there is no need to be too scared. Sri Lanka is not the only country threatened by terrorism along the routes of the B&R," Chen said.

Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences' institute of international relations and an expert of South Asian studies, said that the attacks tell China that security cooperation with countries like Sri Lanka is urgent and necessary.

"The attacks show that countries like Sri Lanka have not enough capability to prevent massive terrorist attacks. So as long as China cares about its overseas interests and the BRI, it should strengthen cooperation with its partners' national security agencies to realize intelligence sharing," Hu said.

Chen noted that countries like Sri Lanka also need security cooperation from China to guarantee the success of joint projects in their territories. "The BRI cooperation should not focus only on economy, trade and infrastructure construction. Security is a key to ensuring the safety of cooperation in other fields," Chen said.

The South China Sea institute noted in its report that the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka and relevant institutions will firmly promote oceanology cooperation with Sri Lanka "to comfort the souls of the victims [of the attacks]."
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Tuan »

ramana wrote:Two questions Tuan.

1) Gotbaya Rajpakse is being revealed as Chinese agent under influence. How does this compute?
2) Your 4 para, who are you talking about?
Sir,

I am just stating the facts. I do not want to speculate. I am still trying to connect the dots.

As for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, he is not only a Chinese agent but also an anti-India and anti-west bully, particularly, the UN. He was always critical of the United Nations and of western governments. He accused the UN of having been infiltrated by terrorists "for 30 years or so", and as a result, the UN was fed incorrect information. He also alleged that Britain and the EU were bullying Sri Lanka, and concluded that Sri Lanka "does not need them", and that they don't provide any significant amount of aid to the country. Ironically in 1990 his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was caught attempting to bring evidence of human rights violations to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the evidence was confiscated by the government during which Rajapaksa justified foreign intervention in Sri Lankan affairs. The person that demanded western nations to limit and put conditions on foreign aid was also Mahinda Rajapaksa. (Gotapaya's Wikipedia page backs it up with good citations)

In paragraph 4, I referred to Reverend Father S. J. Emmanuel.

In paragraph 5, I cited myself as a former Sri Lankan military intelligence analyst.

P/s: According to locals, India played a role during the 2015 presidential elections in Sri Lanka, thus they say, 2020 elections would be China's turn.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

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I am gong to underline the significant details in this article:
A_Gupta wrote:http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Easte ... 172-166572
Easter Sunday carnage: The big picture of Intelligence failure and how to fix it
Only the tip of the iceberg of a wider intelligence failure

On November 30, last year, two Policemen, PC Walpita Gamage Niroshan Indika Prasanna and PC Ganesh Dinesh, who were on duty at the Vavunathivu Police were hacked to death by unknown assailants, who got away with the service revolvers of their victims.

The Police arrested an ex -LTTE cadre, who still languishes in remand custody, charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

However, military and Police raids after the Easter Sunday attack uncovered the disturbing details that the attack was a work of Islamic terrorists. The driver of terrorist ring leader Zahran Hashim, Mohommed Shareef Adam Lebbe (53) alias Ghaffor Mama revealed the group’s involvement and led the Police to a safe house, where one of the service revolvers was found along with a cache of other weapons. The other was found buried in the terrorist hideout in Vanathavilluwa. Two suspects have since been arrested.

Also in December, intelligence agencies failed to follow up with the disturbing evidence uncovered in the Vanathavilluwa hideout. Again, it was a politically sensational investigation into the vandalism of Buddha statues that led to the Vanathavilluwa site, and not some proactive intelligence operation.

Now, there are scandalous details of a discovery of a sprawling terrorist training centre with a visible watch tower in the heart of Kattankudy, a crowded city of 60,000 people.

There were also early warnings by local Muslims of Zahran’s preaching of hate. Protests were held in the town since 2014, and a final dossier on Zahran’s preaching was handed over to the Defence Secretary in January this year.

The sectarian strife in the town culminated into a clash in March last year between the local Sufis and Zahran’s followers.
Intelligence agencies did not follow up on any of those leads
.
One should ask how did that happen – and why did that happen?
Ian Fleming(himself an MI6 operative) in Gold finger makes him say "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and thrice is enemy action!"

i am now veering to Tuan view that SL Police was willfully negligent due to orders from above.

hindsight is 20/20 but the underlying circumstances of the first incident was the bias against LTTE revival.
However the blind eye towards creeping NTJ jihadism is very disturbing.
Even putting all these red flags on a map would have aid some thing is going on.

Can some one put these places mentioned on Google Maps and post a screenshot?
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

Tuan thanks for the clarification.

I heard both the Rajapakses have US connections.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Tuan »

ramana wrote:Tuan thanks for the clarification.

I heard both the Rajapakses have US connections.
Apparently there was pressure from SL Tamils in the US to procecute Gotabhaya and therefore he recently left the US in the beginning of April, 2019.

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19A/ ... 9314CH.php
Former Defense Secretary and presidential hopeful Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was in the United States on a private visit, returned to the island this morning.

Reportedly, a massive crowd has gathered at the Bandaranaike International Airport to welcome the former Defense Secretary.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is a dual-citizen of Sri Lanka and the U.S. after returning to the island today has said that during his stay in the U.S. he has taken the necessary steps to denounce the U.S. citizenship.

While in the U.S. the presidential hopeful of the opposition party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Rajapaksa have been served notices charging him in two cases on torture and murder during war time.

Two cases have been filed in the United States courts against and the brother of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa by the daughter of murdered editor Lasantha Wickremetunga and a Tamil torture survivor.

After his arrival this morning Rajapaksa has reportedly dismissed the lawsuits filed against him as "baseless" and stressed that it will only motivate him and his supporters to push for political change in Sri Lanka.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is under prosecution for misappropriating state funds, was required to return to the country today under the travel restrictions imposed on him by the court. The Special High Court granted permission for former Defense Secretary to travel overseas from March 26 to April 12.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

So this Sri Lanka poltical party Podujana Peramuna (PP) is filled with Rajapakse brothers at the top?

Sirisena belongs to which party?
Where does JVP stand?
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by habal »

Tuan,

are you implying that sri lankan intelligence are still connected to interests of rajapakse brothers ?

don't they know that political backers of both isis and ltte in west are an intersecting crowd. Targeting coast means targeting China.

Link this to upcoming Iran confrontation, also link pakistan's IMF pressure, as attempt to chase China away from coastal areas of western Sri Lanka or sanitize the coasts and also pressurize gwadar.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Tuan »

habal wrote:Tuan,

are you implying that sri lankan intelligence are still connected to interests of rajapakse brothers ?
Yes! Absolutely. In fact, from top down ranks.
ramana wrote:So this Sri Lanka poltical party Podujana Peramuna (PP) is filled with Rajapakse brothers at the top?

Sirisena belongs to which party?

Where does JVP stand?
Please refer the below open sources, especially the links for empirical evidence from Wikipedia citations:

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka ... a_Peramuna

Maithripala Sirisena: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maithripala_Sirisena

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janatha_Vimukthi_Peramuna
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

Complicated but what we need is graphic.

Mahinda Rajapakse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahinda_Rajapaksa

Looks like during the time Wickramsinghe was ousted Oct-Dec is when the NTJ grew its fangs.

Why did Sirisena decide to dismiss Wickramsinghe?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranil_Wickremesinghe
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Tuan »

I believe that NTJ is just a cover story and ISIS is a backstop, which substantiates that cover story.

These kinds of "media framing" and intelligence orchestration are commonplace among the Sri Lankan intelligence circles.

They also did this effectively when they had engineered the Karuna defection in 2004, in which the then director of military intelligence Brigadier (now Maj.General) Kapila Hendawitharana played a key role.

To fully answer habal's question, the Rajapaksa brothers not only have the backing of the Sri Lankan intelligence community but also its military.

Sirisena is still loyal to Mahinda Rajapaksa (his former boss) and is also pro-China. He decided to dismiss Wickramasinghe simply because the latter doesn't align with the former's policies.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Lilo »

IANS reports of a terror network aimed at India created by Jihadis acting out of Paki High Commission in Colombo related to which a major terror plot targeting India was recently busted by NIA. It also details how Paki jihadis established themselves amongst SL muslims since past 14 years (post Tsunami) creating sleeper cells & fanning Islamic Jihad . This is the underlying basis for the steady flow of ISIS recruits from the Maldives,SL & to some degree TN&KL region .
The recent SL bomb blasts is a culmination of this process.
Terror Trail-I: Lashkar's grand plot in Lanka, B'desh & Maldives (IANS Exclusive)
IANS | New Delhi
Last Updated at May 7, 2019 08:15 IST

India's deep state is well versed in the art of intelligence warfare. Its human intelligence-led inputs to the Sri Lankan establishment, though unutilised, showed that they were on top of their game. India has been tracking the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) for sometime now. New Delhi moved with great alacrity passing on direct actionable intelligence in the weeks and days leading up to the Easter Sunday bombings. And this happened from material accessed during interrogations of an ISIS suspect arrested in India.

The Sri Lankan government even had a warning that Catholic churches were among the possible targets. The suspect gave Indian investigators the name of a man - Zahran Hashmi - he had trained, who is associated with a Sri Lankan extremist group implicated in the bombings. The shadowy man, Zahran Hashim, was identified in a video of the purported attackers released by ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday macabre massacre.

IANS met several top intelligence functionaries to piece together the emergence of Sri Lanka as the new terror central. While doing so, it unearthed a gargantuan and deep-seated Lashkar plot which goes back at least 14 years showing how LeT had invested for years in Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and even Malaysia as part of a larger encirclement strategy of India.

Indian intelligence has been alive to this and has used all its skill sets and ground-level inputs to mitigate the terror threat emanating from the island and other neighbouring countries. It needs to be established here that ISI C Wing and LeT are two sides of the same coin as far as jihad is concerned.

ISI has been using Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK) as a proxy to radicalise unemployed Muslim youth in Sri Lanka and coax them to join the NTJ. In parallel, India has bolstered its security apparatus in Tamil Nadu and Kerala due to the strong presence of NTJ members in these states.

The rise of IS and its vile and noxious thought process of establishing a Caliphate has found takers in Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives. At least 200-250 Maldivians have reportedly fought for the IS in trouble spots like Syria and these are mules who make the trek to Yemen where they are further indoctrinated and trained, then sent on wars sometimes to Mali and Chad for fighting or to the combat zone in Iraq and Syria to fight under the IS flag.

A Tokyo-based online magazine 'The Diplomat' validated this saying a December 2015 report by the Soufan Group, a private intelligence agency run by former FBI agent-turned contractor Ali Soufan, put out a count of foreign fighters who'd volunteered to fight for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Four South Asian countries featured in that list - Malaysia, Pakistan, India, and the Maldives - sending an estimated 393 fighters among them. It was the island nation in the Indian Ocean that sent analysts and headlines into a tizzy with the rise of radical Islam with its bent towards Salafist tendencies. It had by far the highest per capita fighters in the sandbox.

The Indian deep state has been following Islamic militancy in Sri Lanka, a fertile breeding ground since 2004. The tipping point in the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the emerald isle has Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)'s hand prints all over it. A special group headed by LeT's Muzzamil Bhat from Sialkot and his lackeys made forays into Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka between 2005 and 2007, knowing fully well that these areas could be used to further their agenda and to encircle India.

Muzzamil Bhat is one of the planners of 26/11 and is reported to be the architect of the Chittisinghpora massacre. The entire construct of this plan to use these countries as a launchpad to train terrorists was part of his larger architecture.

The FBI in its 26/11 chargesheet named Bhat as D, a key LeT military commander, who was involved in the Chittisinghpora massacre in Jammu and Kashmir on the eve of President Bill Clinton's visit to India in March 2000.

In its second chargesheet, filed in a Chicago court, the FBI named an ISI officer, Major Iqbal, and four LeT operatives - Sajid Majeed, Abu Qahafa, Abu Alqama and the unknown Lashkar member 'D'. About 'D' the chargesheet states that after the arrest of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in Pakistan in connection with the 26/11 attacks, he became the overall operational commander of LeT.

According to FBI, 'D', who is yet to be arrested by Pakistan, was a handler of David Coleman Headley. Headley told Indian investigators that Muzzamil was involved in the Chittisinghpora massacre. In turn, Headley also said Muzzamil was most trustworthy lieutenant of Lakhvi and apart from Chittisinghpora killings of Sikhs, he planned the Akshardham temple attack in September 2002.

According to Indian security establishment sources, Muzzamil is a Kashmiri born in 1976. He is married and his family lives in the Gujranwala town of Pakistani Punjab.

Bhat, on the other hand, is a planner and his understanding was that with Indian intelligence and security forces keeping a close vigil on southern India in those years, he reckoned that taking the training camps offshore would be a better idea. SIMI was already active in southern India, they had set up a southern chapter across the four states, while Bhatkal had become a new centrifuge.

Terror central was moving from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra to the southern part of India. Hence Muzzamil arrived in Sri Lanka to test the waters and quickly realised that there was traction amongst Tamil Muslims after the Tsunami, ditto in Bangladesh among the Rohingyas between 2004-2008.

But RAW which was extremely active in both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka did not allow Bhat or his henchmen to stabilise their operations.

In 2011, ably abetted and assisted by ISI officer Amir Zubair Siddiqui (Counselor in the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo), a new name popped up on the radar - Zakir Hussain - who began to actively consort with and recruit Tamil Muslims on the island. The plan was to recruit them and unleash hell on diplomatic missions in Chennai and Bangalore, but RAW once again found the scent and pursued them to cut off their feed stock of financing, explosives and weapons.

India engaged with Colombo and brought it up to speed on Siddiqui's shenanigans who was then packed off from Sri Lanka. The diplomat Amir Zubair Siddiqui's plot was to attack the US Consulate in Chennai, Israeli Consulate in Bengaluru, Eastern Naval Command HQ in Visakhapatnam and ports across the country.

Once RAW had blown his cover, NIA moved in to chargesheet Siddiqui who was then visa counselor at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo. Siddiqui was arrested for allegedly conspiring to attack vital establishments in India and was quietly withdrawn even before the NIA's request under Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty (MLAT) reached Colombo.

The terror plot was uncovered after the NIA police personnel arrested an ISI agent Mohammed Zakir Hussain (37) through the 'Q' Branch of the Tamil Nadu police in 2013. The reason was that he was gathering details about vital installations in Tamil Nadu and sent photographs to Siddiqui. Hussain used his counterparts Sivabalan and Mohammad Salim to circulate fake currency in the state.

During questioning, Hussain also confessed that he had also used Rafeeque (29) to pump in fake Indian currency in the state.

A much larger network of Maldivians, Sri Lankan Muslims and Malaysian Tamils was discovered through this overarching probe. The hunters caught up with the quarry - Zakir Hussain - and another lynchpin was caught in Malaysia and the cartel was busted. Muzzamil Bhat was the spider who spun the web across the three countries and began the process of indoctrination in Sri Lanka. His tireless efforts paid dividends for he planted the seeds as far back as the mid 2000s. He was the first to connect the dots between Thowheed Jamaat which proselytises (mainly among the Tamil community), fights for "pure Islam" and actively promotes construction of mosques in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan Tamil Muslim areas.
(To be continued)
--IANS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F3vZkPi2Mw
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

So has connections to the David Headley case too.

Even though the article headline is LeT the case has ISI palm prints all over

I know IANS is US NRI owned and hence the fiction of LeT is there.

I think India should seek extradition of David Headley if there is any link shows up as his pleas bargain was about 26/11 and any new information would make it null and void.
The fact that Sri Lanka has been on the boil since 2004 means he could have linkages.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

LiLo don't forget to post part II when it shows up.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by SSridhar »

Lilo, thanks for posting this crucial news item.

Ramana, from my post of Nov. 30, 2016, in the AQIS thread
There were several arrests in TN of ISI-sponsored spies. In September 2012, Thameem Ansari of Tiruchy was nabbed in connection with espionage activities for Pakistan's ISI. Pakistani diplomat in Colombo Amir Zubair Siddiqui was his handler. In April 2013, another suspected Pakistan spy Mohammed Sakir Hussain, a Lankan Muslim, was arrested by TN police. He was the first ISI Lankan spy to be arrested. A month after his arrest, his accomplice and another Lankan ISI spy, Mohammed Hussain Suleman Hussain, was arrested, but in Malaysia. The two were planning to send two Maldivian nationals to India to target US and Israeli consulates in Chennai and Bangalore. Then, Arun Selvarajan, another ISI operative and Lankan native was arrested in September 2014 in Chennai. The arrest of Arun Selvarajan was a big blow. He had not only recceed Kalpakkam for the ISI but had also been recruiting others. He was also an LTTE operative. The Q branch of TN Police (which was setup to handle Naxals in the 70s and which exclusively handles all terrorism-related issues in the State) had recovered pictures of US and Israeli consulates from him. Officials said the pictures had been mailed to his handlers in Pakistan and its Colombo high commission. Cyber signatures showed the pictures were downloaded in a computer within the premises of the high commission in Colombo and India shared that info with the Lankan authorities putting pressure on them to act. Now, under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, Lankan authorities were asked to share their probe details. Confronted with incontrovertible proof, Sri Lanka demanded Pakistan to withdraw Amir Zubair Siddiqui in 2014, which was complied with by GoP. Since then, there is a lull in the Lankan route. I only hope that this is a real lull and not because we are unable to catch them. Gotabaya Rajapakse, brother of then SL President Mahinda Rajapakse, was pressurized by India to take action against the LeT and something seems to have been done. High-quality FICN (which means these are printed at Peshawar & Malir, Karachi Government Presses) continue to flow into TN through Colombo. But, it is not as serious as through Nepal & Bangladesh.

SL itself has become a target for LeT and AQIS (which means ISI). Under the guise of providing tsunami relief, LeT’s Khidmat-e-Khalq entered into Maldives and Sri Lanka in c. 2005. In June 2009, the Delhi Police arrested Mohammed Omar Madani, a Bihari, and an LeT member who was recruiting Kashmiris, Naxals & Sri Lankan Muslims for LeT operations. There are reports of LeT training camps in SL though SL had denied these allegations. But, we know that one of the German Bakery bombers underwent training at an LeT camp near Colombo. The arrest of LTTE cadre Arun Selvarajan in Chennai (above) shows possible complicity between LTTE & LeT/ISI.

Now, to the AQIS. It has been my theory that AQIS is a PA creation and that PA fears IS. I also contend that AQIS and LeT are one and the same. The ISI changed its strategy after 26/11 and uses the faceless, transnational AQIS to conduct operations in all parts of India (except J&K) and use LeT / JeM exclusively for J&K operations where LeT can 'legitimately' claim that such operations are allowed because of the 'disputed nature' of the State.

The arrested Madurai terrorists who call themselves 'Base Movement' (an English translation of Al Qaeda) have said that they detest IS (see The Hindu report below) and are followers of OBL. If this is true, there is likelihood of support from ISI. However, their bomb attacks so far have been crude and ineffective. Very amateurish indeed. Their bombmaker is on the run and when nabbed, we will have more details.

To me, it looks more like remnants of SIMI, Al-Umma who have been behind the brainwashing and organization of this Base Movement.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by SSridhar »

Tuan wrote:So, the verdict is National Thowheed Jamaath or NTJ, what a knee-jerk reaction? I was surprised that this low-profile group did manage to launch a rather complex and sophisticated attack, with multiple suicide bombers at different places roughly simultaneously.

Indeed, due to the long civil war against the Tamil Tigers, during which the latter launched numerous terrorist attacks in Colombo, the Sri Lankan Security Forces are well-versed into countering such operations.

Therefore, I wonder how such an attack on this scale, scope, and magnitude can occur under the nose of the Sri Lankan military intelligence?
Yes, very true. That's why the negligence on the part of SL intelligence agencies comes as a big surprise after such detailed and precise information from India.
This recent article attempts to explain how and why the Sri Lankan military wanted to avoid an international investigation by UNHRC that was mainly lobbied by the Christian minorities among the Tamil diaspora headed by Reverend Father S. J. Emmanuel, who is a Sri Lankan Tamil Catholic priest, activist and president of the Global Tamil Forum, an umbrella organization for Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora groups in the Western nations, particularly the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.

As a former Sri Lankan military intelligence analyst, who later acted as an informant on the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Canada, I am certain that the Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Corps knew very well who were acting behind the doors in this attempted UN international inquiry.

Moreover, the current dysfunctional Sri Lankan government and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe did assure to the UNHRC that his government, if re-elected, will hold an inquiry into alleged war crimes, but flip-flopped suddenly.

Hence the Sri Lankan military wanted a regime change in Sri Lanka in the upcoming elections, preferably, a government headed by the former military hardliner Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
So, if one connects the dots, there is a possibility that the wanton disregard of terror information from India was deliberate, then. There are two threads. One, a plot to attack Christians by radicalized Muslims with help, prodding, funding and brainwashing from an external source. Two, an abetment by the SL agencies concerned.

Usually, coastal fishermen (at least in South India) are largely Christians. Is that the reason that the targets happen to be along the coast rather than some exotic 'maritime domain awareness' theory?
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

SS, Could it be these NTJ were being allowed to be nurtured by Sri Lanka as payback to India?
No govt can be so clueless for 15 years since 2004. Especially a internal strife ravaged country where police would have a sharply honed presence.
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Aditya_V »

Yes originally it was supposed to be a pincher movement to hit TN and humliate BJP, NTJ was given everything and unleashed except for the target. Balakot was a suprise and post that the targets were changed since sucide bombers could not be putback into the bottle
ramana
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by ramana »

Please expand with data. Think of it as a persuasive essay.
Tuan
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Re: Sri Lanka - News and Discussion- Post PM appointment crisis

Post by Tuan »

SSridhar wrote:So, if one connects the dots, there is a possibility that the wanton disregard of terror information from India was deliberate, then. There are two threads. One, a plot to attack Christians by radicalized Muslims with help, prodding, funding and brainwashing from an external source. Two, an abetment by the SL agencies concerned.
It is highly impossible this attack has taken place without the knowledge of the SL military intelligence and counterterrorism division, because SL intelligence has been highly vigilant that they had arrested Tamil university students who had pictures of Pirabhakaran in their wallets, a piper and drummer (nadaswaram and melam), who played a LTTE song in a Hindu wedding, Tamil youths visiting SL, who carried LTTE flags at a diaspora gathering in Geneva. These all have happened during preceding months but they could not detect this scale attack? na nah....please don't believe this media framing.
Usually, coastal fishermen (at least in South India) are largely Christians. Is that the reason that the targets happen to be along the coast rather than some exotic 'maritime domain awareness' theory?
I believe that the attackers' target was Christian religious institutions, which happened to be in the coastal areas, not the other way around.
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