Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother, then the de...
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother, then the defense secretary, crushed Tamil Tiger separatists with such ferocity ten years ago that Western powers sought war crime trials against them and greeted their defeat in elections later with barely concealed glee.
Rajapaksa cannot contest for president again, but his brother Gotabaya is ready to make a bid, his aide has said. With Islamic State claiming responsibility for the Easter Sunday attacks in which more than 350 people were killed, Sri Lanka has been thrust further into the global limelight. “No other country has persecuted and weakened their own armed forces and intelligence services in this manner. Terrorists observe these things and plan accordingly,” he said.
But government officials said many of these secret intelligence cells were disbanded because they faced allegations of abuse, including torture and extra judicial killings, during the war and in the months afterwards, officials said. For the Sinhalese nationalists who fully backed the measures against the Tamil separatists, the new attacks have already fueled calls for strong leadership.
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