Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena suspended Parliament sittings for 10 minutes a short while ago and called for a special party leaders' meeting after heated discussions between government and opposition MPs regarding the Parliament debate on the X-Press Pearl disaster.
The Speaker called a special party leaders' meeting after Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe vehemently objected to the two-day debate, as he again repeated his warnings from yesterday that such a debate could adversely affect Sri Lanka's case filed in Singapore against the vessel's operators and owners.
Minister Rajapakshe insisted that the Speaker give a ruling on whether the debate can go ahead, but warned that he would be boycotting it as he did not wish to be associated with "traitors" who are calling for the debate.
Customs have detected 228 mobile phones and tabs valued at over Rs 30 million left behind in the duty free shopping complex at the Banaranaike International Airport today, Customs officials said.
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