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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka Mass Cancelled over 'Specific Attack Threat' |
| 2019-05-03 |
| [AnNahar] Sri Lanka's Catholic Church has cancelled plans to resume Sunday services following a "specific threat" of fresh kabooms against at least two places of worship, a front man said. The archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, had wanted to resume regular mass from May 5, but the new information made them put it off indefinitely, his front man told AFP Thursday. "On the advice of the security forces, we have decided not to have Sunday masses in any of the churches," the front man said. "There is a specific threat against two locations." The Church had planned to resume Sunday public services for the first time since the Easter Sunday attacks that killed 257 people. Last Sunday the cardinal conducted a private memorial mass that was broadcast live on television after cancelling all public services. On Tuesday, he said he was closely monitoring investigations into the April 21 suicide kabooms against three churches and three luxury hotels and wanted to be sure of the security situation before returning to regular services. The services were cancelled a day after all political parties scrapped May Day rallies amid fears of kabooms. The cardinal had hoped to start regular services at a few churches from Sunday and then expand depending on the situation. - ARMED GUARDS - Armed guards have been stationed outside churches across the country since the Easter attacks. The cardinal has also been given several bodyguards and a large security contingent. However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... he returned a bullet-proof limousine that was given by the government and instead travelled in an ordinary car. "I am not afraid. I don't need bullet-proof vehicles to go about. The Lord is my protector," he said. "But I want security for my people, and for the country." Police say they have placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! more than 150 suspects since the attacks and have accounted for all six jihadi suspects who were declared as most-wanted. Two suspects have been killed while the other four were in jug, police said. The Easter attacks were blamed on the local National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) whose leader was among the jacket wallahs. The group had pledged an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... The corpse count from the attacks has climbed to 257, authorities said earlier Thursday, warning that the final number would rise further. At least 40 of the dead are foreigners, with some missing tourists still to be accounted for. According to the latest count, 496 injured were admitted to hospitals, with 47 still being treated and 12 of those in intensive care. The government had given a toll of more than 350 but brought this down last week, blaming double counting of bodies that were badly mutilated in the six blasts. |
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