TEHRAN, Apr 22 - Sri Lanka said on Monday it was invoking emergency powers in the aftermath of devastating bomb attacks on hotels and churches, blamed on militants with foreign links, in which 290 people were killed and nearly 500 wounded.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The emergency law, which gives police and the military extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders, will go into effect at midnight on Monday, the president's office said.
Colombo, the seaside capital of the Indian Ocean island, was jittery on Monday.
Police said 87 bomb detonators were found at the city's main bus station, while an explosive went off near a church where scores were killed on Sunday when bomb squad officials were trying to defuse it.
A night curfew will go into effect at 8 p.m., the government announced.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion was focusing on militants in the Buddhist-majority country, Reuters reported.
Investigators said seven suicide bombers took part in the attacks while a government spokesman said an international network was involved.
Police had received a tip-off of a possible attack on churches by a little-known domestic extremist group some 10 days ago, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The intelligence report, dated April 11 and seen by Reuters, said a foreign intelligence agency had warned authorities of possible attacks on churches by the leader of the group, the National Thawheed Jama'ut. It was not immediately clear what action, if any, was taken on the tip-off.
Police said 24 people had been arrested, all of whom were Sri Lankan, but they gave no more details.
Source: Reuters
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