Dayasiri suspects "external force" directed Zahran

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara yesterday told the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday terror attacks that an investigation should be conducted to ascertain why the suicide bomber assigned to attack the Taj Samudra Hotel failed to detonate his explosives there. 

By Sandun Jayawardana

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara yesterday told the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday terror attacks that an investigation should be conducted to ascertain why the suicide bomber assigned to attack the Taj Samudra Hotel failed to detonate his explosives there. 

Under questioning by PSC members, Mr Jayasekera however, admitted that he had no evidence to back up claims he made to a television channel that the bomber did not carry out the attack at the Taj due to the presence of some "highly connected individuals" who were at the hotel.

The comments during the TV interview were what prompted the PSC to summon Mr Jayasekera to testify. 

The SLFP General Secretary urged the PSC to obtain a guest list from the hotel so that it can identify the foreigners and locals who were at the hotel on the day of the incident and the night before.  

Mr Jayasekera maintained that it was his belief that an "external force" directed Easter Sunday attack mastermind Zahran Hashim. "This is a suspicion I have as a politician given that certain countries are attempting to influence events in this country. Why did the bomber leave the Taj and blow himself up in Dehiwala? In the absence of any conclusive proof that ISIS was directly behind the attacks, this suspicion will remain in the minds of the people," he told the PSC. 

(Pics by Sameera Weerasekara)