COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Police recovered a suicide jacket here on Monday night, following a tip-off.

According to the Army, the jacket, packed with C-4 explosives, was recovered from Kollupitiya, a plush residential and commercial area."The police, after a telephone message regarding a suspicious parcel, immediately summoned the Army Bomb Disposal Squad to search it," the Army said.

The jacket contained 1,600 pellets, C-4 explosive powder, two arming devices, two arming switches and pouches concealed inside a bag when the police and the Bomb Disposal Squad defused it.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga had survived an LTTE suicide bomber attack during the December 1999 election campaign.

The recovery of the jacket comes 10 days ahead of the fifth Presidential election in which Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe are the main candidates.

Tiger courier?

According to the police, suicide jackets are normally smuggled into targeted areas by one LTTE cadre and subsequently detonated by another. "The police further believe that the LTTE suicide jacket would have been brought to the location by an unidentified Tiger courier in order to hand it over to another Tiger, probably to carry out the final intended mission in Colombo or its suburbs," the Army said.

Opposition boycotts Budget presentation

The main Opposition United National Party (UNP) and its electoral allies — the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) and the Up-country Peoples' Front (UPF) — on Tuesday boycotted the budget presentation by the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

The UNP's allies have been demanding that presentation of the budget be postponed to a date after the Presidential poll. The budget was presented by Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail