President Sirisena said he was unaware that police had been warned of bombing threats.
By Amantha Perera and Pamela Constable Pamela Constable Foreign correspondent covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Asia, Latin America and immigration Email Bio Follow April 26 at 6:39 AM COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said Friday that intelligence failings allowed the devastating Easter attacks to take place and that a major reorganization of security services would occur in the coming days.
He also confirmed that Zahran Hashim, identified as the mastermind of the attacks, was killed in a blast at the Shangri-La Hotel in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. Police are looking in particular for former soldier Bathrudeen Mohammed Mohideen, known as Army Mohideen, who they say helped train the nine suicide bombers. Investigations show the bombers were mostly well-educated and from affluent backgrounds.Under tight security, mosques across Colombo held Friday prayer services, and thousands of Muslims attended, despite an appeal by Muslim government officials to stay home as a security precaution.
“I wanted to come to say my prayers for all the victims of this terrible killing, that God should welcome them in heaven,” said Nizam Wellampitia, 81, a white-bearded cloth seller. “Both Jesus and our prophet said we should never harm others. We do not even like to kill a bird — the people who did this are brainwashed, and they will go to hell.”Since the attacks on Sunday, social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp have been shut down by the government.
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