Blast near Sinhala meeting venue

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, AUG. 6. On the eve of a crucial parliamentary debate on changing the Constitution, a bomb explosion, at the venue of a meeting of Sinhala nationalist organisations, opposed to the proposed change, injured three people here.

The bomb went off on Sunday evening, outside a building where members of the National Joint Committee (NJC), an umbrella organisation of Sinhala nationalist groups, were meeting to chalk out plans for protests over the next three days when the new Constitution would be debated and put to vote.

The three injured people were not from among the gathering, at which many Buddhist monks were also present.

``We all think this has been engineered by the Government. There is no one else who is affected by our opposition to the new Constitution,'' the secretary of the NJC, Mr. Piyasena Dissanayake, said.

A few kms from the bomb explosion, security personnel threw a cordon sanitaire around Parliament to thwart protestors and possible LTTE terrorist strikes when the debate on the controversial Bill began tomorrow morning.

According to reports, through out the weekend, police and army had been combing residential areas around the Parliament complex for potential disrupters.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, was expected to make a statement on the decision of the United National Party (UNP) to withdraw from the debate. The UNP has announced it would not support the Bill.

Meanwhile, Mr. A. Varatharaja Perumal, one of the leaders of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), called all Tamil-speaking MPs to extend their ``fullest support'' to the new Constitution, but to ensure that the deficiencies in it were corrected by proposing amendments during the debate.

``The question whether these amendments would be accepted or not is unnecessary. The opinion of the Tamil-speaking people in this matter should be expressed firmly. The Tamil-speaking MPs should pave the way now, so that the representatives of the Tamils would continue ton struggle in this issue. Although it is not possible to find solutions to all problems at the same time, it is necessary to keep open the way for political progress step by step,'' he said in a statement.

Red alert sounded

AFP, PTI report:

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troops and police were on maximum alert amid fears of bloodshed, as the Statute change is taken up for voting on Wednesday, officials said.

The Buddhist clergy warned they would march to Parliament on Tuesday, a day before the crucial vote, to protest against the Bill. The State-run Sunday observer said police could be engaged in a conspiracy by unidentified extremists to attack the monks, in an apparent bid to shift the blame to the Government.

Several ruling party MPs had checked into the safety of five-star hotels in Colombo over the weekend, as monks stepped up pressure on them to vote against the draft bill.

Horse-trading on

As the numbers game is on, Sri Lankan legislators were reportedly being offered huge cash gifts as President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party desperately sought a two-thirds majority in parliament for the passage of the Bill, officials said.

The Government needed 150 votes in a House of 225 members and according to analysts and politicians, was 10 short of the required numbers.

Opposition MPs alleged that the bidding had reached up to 60 million rupees ($ 750,000).

Minority Tamil politicians said at least five of Ms. Kumaratunga's supporters had decided to vote against the Bill. The Opposition UNP held hectic talks with its own members in a bid to minimise defections.

New bench

The Sri Lankan Supreme Court constituted a five-judge bench to decide on the legality of the new election reforms bill, approved by the Cabinet this week, the State radio said.

The bill, referred to the Court by the Cabinet for its urgent consideration before being formally submitted to Parliament for ratification, would be taken up for hearing on Monday.

15 rebels killed

At least 15 LTTE cadreswere killed in northern Sri Lanka today, as sporadic fighting continued between the Army and the guerrillas, an official release said.

Fourteen rebels were killed by troops in northern Jaffna peninsula in two different encounters, it said, adding that another rebel was killed in northeastern Welioya region.

Army said on Saturday that 39 rebels, a soldier along with a civilian had been killed in heavy fighting in different areas on Friday last.

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