February 20, 2002	Wednesday	Zilhaj 7, 1422

COLOMBO, Feb 19: Sri Lanka’s attorney general on Tuesday ordered the arrest of a former minister in connection with the massacre of 10 Muslim opposition party supporters during the December parliamentary election.

Police said they had surrounded the home of former power minister Anuruddha Ratwatte in an upscale Colombo suburb. “He will likely not be kept in a jail cell tonight, but will be remanded into a hospital,” a police official said.

So-called hospital bail is common for prominent officials when they are arrested in Sri Lanka.

Ratwatte is an army general, a former junior defence minister and the uncle of President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

He has denied knowledge of the massacre, which occurred in the central hill town of Madawala soon after voting ended.

The killings were blamed on gunmen loyal to the then-ruling People’s Alliance party and raised communal tensions.

Courts had earlier issued arrest warrants against Ratwatte’s two sons.

They disappeared after the election, which ended the seven-year rule of the People’s Alliance.

The election brought the United National Party to power with the support of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, to which 10 of the victims belonged.

The killings sparked riots in the central hills in early December, leading the government to impose a curfew for several days to keep a lid on tensions.—Reuters