Laws to ban proscribed terrorist groups to be implemented in future : President

President Maithripala Sirisena has said that the government is currently holding talks on formulating new laws to ban proscribed terrorist groups.

Addressing a meeting with heads of media outlets this morning, the President said that consultations have alreay been held with private lawyers while a special discussion is set to take place along with the Attorney General in this regard today (Apr 26).

However, with the Emergency Regulations in place, the President pointed out that measures could be taken to that effect prior to passing the relevant laws.

Mr. Sirisena said that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) during a private discussion with him had admitted that there were lapses in the security which eventually led to last Sunday's attacks.

The President who was in Singapore at the time of these incidents said that he was made aware of these attacks only after they had taken place.

Further, he opined that the recent terrorist attacks might have been undertaken as a retaliatory move against his anti-narcotic campaign. This, he said was because underworld groups and terrorist groups maintain links with each other.

Meanwhile, the main suspect suicide bomber who was involved in the explosion at Shangri-La hotel has been identified as Zahran Hashim, the Military Intelligence Director said during the meeting. The suspect had been identified using his past photographs and movements, the Director noted. However, he said that a DNA test will also be conducted to determine the identity of the suspect.

Commenting on the suspects who were involved in the tragic explosions, the President said that the government lacked evidence to file charges against the suspects desite being informed through intelligence reports that they were affiliated to terrorist groups.

A mechanism is to be implemented to register the members of every household at their respective Grama Niladhari Divisions considering the present situation in the country, he said.