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Prime Minister says sorry for Government?s lapse
26 Apr, 2019
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today expressed his sincere regret to the people of the country for the Government?s lapse which resulted in the Easter Sunday bombings.
In a special statement the Prime Minister said that specific information about the attack had been provided by foreign intelligence sources.
While reiterating he did not receive critical information prior to the attack, the Prime Minister said he will not run away from his responsibility.
“As Prime Minister, I share in the collective responsibility for this. I express my sincere regret to the people of our country for the Government?s lapse. But, it is not enough to simply apologise. We have to make sure these mistakes are never repeated in the future. We must take measures to prevent such systemic failures, and commit ourselves to safeguard all human life,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the Government will rebuild the three churches affected by the attack.
“I have discussed with His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, along with the State Minister of Defence and Heads of the Security Forces, about resuming the regular worship in our Churches. We are working hard to ensure the safe resumption of all religious activities,” he said.
He also said that a daring operation of the magnitude seen on Easter Sunday could not have been pulled off without the knowledge and support of international elements.
“We have received information that some of the suspects are currently in foreign countries. In such a situation, we need foreign assistance and expertise,” he added.
He also said that?Sri Lanka has a very narrow definition of aiding terrorism. Therefore, existing laws are insufficient to deal with the extraordinary situation Sri Lanka is faced with.
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