(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –President Maithripala Sirisena briefed the diplomatic community about the progress of the operations carried out by the security forces to strengthen security situation and said that the situation is 99% secure now. He thanked the international community for the cooperation and assistance provided to Sri Lanka at this time of need and urged them to continue to provide economic assistance and lift the adverse travel advisories issued to tourists.
Addressing Ambassadors and High Commissioners of United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, United States, Germany, Australia and EU, at the President’s Official Residence in Colombo today (May 27), he said that large number of the terrorists and suspects have been arrested and huge quantity of explosives and weapons have been seized.
Explaining the successful operations carried out by the security forces and intelligence services, he thanked the envoys for the intelligence expertise and cooperation provided by those countries.
President Sirisena said that he was confident that with the current successful operation and with the assistance of foreign expertise on intelligence, the threat of terrorism could be eliminated. He said that in order to ensure non-recurrence of such terror attacks in the future, new regulations are being enacted and new security institutions will be set up under the restructuring of security services.
The envoys of foreign countries and the representatives of international agencies were unanimous in their expression of fullest support to President Sirisena to curb terrorism in Sri Lanka, and thanked the President for the briefing. They said that the information provided are useful for them to evaluate the situation and assured that the travel advices would be reviewed as soon as possible.
When the envoys asked about the extension of the emergency, President Sirisena replied that it was essential to extend emergency for another month because of the ongoing operations conducted by the security forces. He expressed confidence that the emergency could be lifted at the end of the one month period.
Secretary to the President, Udaya R Seniviratne, Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Ariyasinha and Additional Secretary Esala Weerakoon were also present at this discussion.
