COLOMBO, Dec 3: The Sri Lankan government has decided to re-enforce the Prevention of Terrorism Act and introduce tough new emergency regulations to prevent terrorist attacks in future, defence sources say.
The government took the decision following the suicide blast in Colombo last Friday targeting Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary and brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, Gotabaya Rajapakse,
The sources say a competent authority is to be appointed and its permission will be required for any organisation to have dealings with the LTTE.
The re-introduction of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which allows arrest of any person for questioning, comes after four years during which a de facto moratorium was placed on its enforcement under the ceasefire agreement signed between the Liberation Tamil Tigers Elam and the government in February 2002.
“Now there is no choice but to re-introduce the Prevention of Terrorism Act, in order to curb the LTTE’s suicide missions and other terrorist acts,” a defence ministry spokesman said, adding that the government was also considering re-introducing a ban on the Liberation Tamil Tigers Elam which was lifted following the ceasefire.
