Sri Lanka arrests top Muslim leader over 2019 Easter terror attacks
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By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
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Colombo: Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested a prominent Muslim lawmaker and his brother over suspected connections to the Easter Sunday suicide bombings in 2019 that killed 269 people.
Rishad Bathiudeen is a former Cabinet minister who currently leads an opposition party in Sri Lanka’s Parliament. He and his brother, Reyaj Bathiudeen, were arrested in the capital for “aiding and abetting the suicide bombers who committed the Easter Sunday carnage,” said police spokesman Ajith Rohana.
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2021/04/21 17:14 Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, center, observes two minute silence for the victims of 2019 Easter Sunday attacks during a service at. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, center, observes two minute silence for the victims of 2019 Easter Sunday attacks during a service at St. Anthony s Church in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Wednesday marked the second anniversary of the serial blasts that killed 269 people. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) A Sri Lankan woman holds a portrait of her relative who died in 2019 Easter Sunday attacks during a service at St. Anthony s Church in Colombo, Sri La. A Sri Lankan woman holds a portrait of her relative who died in 2019 Easter Sunday attacks during a service at St. Anthony s Church in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Wednesday marked the second anniversary of the serial blasts that killed 269 people. (AP Photo/
A Sri Lankan Catholic archbishop appealed to the country's Muslims on Wednesday to reject extremism and join Catholics in determining the truth behind Easter Sunday suicide bombings in 2019 that killed 269 people.
The head of Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday accused the government of stalling investigations into Easter Sunday bombings two years ago that killed 279 people.
Nearly 200 people were arrested within days of the attacks on hotels and churches, but no one has yet been charged.
Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, who led commemorations on the second anniversary Wednesday, said he was “deeply saddened” by the lack of progress in the investigation.
“We have to stress that what is happening at the moment is an attitude of ‘no care’ where all factors are not properly investigated,” the cardinal said at a commemorative service in Colombo.