COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s top court extended on Wednesday a travel ban on ex-PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and ex-finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, as their brother, ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is expected to return after fleeing the crisis-hit country.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives and then Singapore earlier this month to escape a months-long popular uprising over the role his family played in the country’s worst economic meltdown in memory.
He left the country after protesters stormed his home and presidential offices, demanding his resignation. Days later, Rajapaksa’s resignation letter was dispatched from Singapore to Sri Lanka and officially accepted by Parliament on July 15.
It was unclear when the ex-president would return, but Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena told reporters on Tuesday night that Rajapaksa “is not in hiding nor in exile.”
Gunawardena said: “He will come soon but I don’t know when.”
As Rajapaksa remains abroad, the Supreme Court extended until Aug. 2 an overseas travel ban on his brothers.
The court said in a statement that the order was issued following a petition “requesting the court to issue an order for an investigation against the people responsible for the current economic crisis.”
Protests flared up on the island nation of 22 million people in March and have spread across the country as people struggle with daily power cuts and shortages of basic commodities such as fuel, food and medicines.
Sri Lanka has run out of foreign currency reserves, leaving it unable to pay for imports. In May, the country officially defaulted on its debt.
Protesters have blamed the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka’s most powerful political family, for mismanagement of the country’s finances.
The political dynasty began with Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president from 2005-2015. His three brothers were also involved in politics at that time. Gotabaya led the defense ministry, Chamal — the eldest of Rajapaksa siblings — was speaker of parliament, while the youngest sibling, Basil, was a cabinet minister.
After Mahinda’s presidential term ended, he was absent from the top leadership for three years until becoming prime minister in 2018.
When Gotabaya won the presidency in 2019, the family’s grip on power strengthened: Chamal Rajapaksa was soon named minister of irrigation and state minister of home affairs, and of national security and disaster management, while Basil was appointed finance minister. Mahinda’s son, Namal Rajapaksa, became minister of youth and sports.
Though the Rajapaksas have all resigned from government over the past few months amid mounting demonstrations, protesters continue to demand investigations into the family’s role in the economic crisis.
After his resignation, Gotabaya Rajapaksa no longer enjoys immunity from prosecution, but many people remain skeptical of the new government’s willingness to investigate the former leaders.
Sri Lanka’s new president Ranil Wickremesinghe, a Rajapaksa ally, last week appointed a Cabinet comprising the same politicians that served under the former president.
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Sri Lanka extends travel ban on Rajapaksa brothers as ex-president expected to return
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Sri Lanka extends travel ban on Rajapaksa brothers as ex-president expected to return
- Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled earlier this month to escape months-long popular uprising
- Protesters have blamed family for mismanaging country’s finances
Explosion at US embassy in Oslo, no injuries: police
OSLO, Norway: Norwegian police reported on Sunday an explosion at the US embassy in the capital Oslo, but said there were no casualties.
The explosion occurred around 1:00 am local time (0000 GMT), the Oslo police department said in a statement, adding they did not know the cause of the blast.
Public broadcaster NRK quoted police incident commander Michael Dellemyr saying the blast hit the entrance of the embassy’s consular section.
“At around 1:00 am we received several reports of an explosion. We arrived shortly afterward and confirmed that there had been an explosion that hit the US embassy,” he told NRK.
“There is minor damage,” he said.
“We are not going to comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion” because “it is very early in the investigation,” he said.
The police statement said investigators were in contact with the embassy about the incident and there was a huge police deployment on site.
Residents near the embassy said they heard a loud blast.
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the blast.
“My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police,” he said.
“There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air,” he said.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East over American military operations in Iran and several have faced attacks as Tehran hits back at industrial and diplomatic targets.
But police gave no indication the incident near the embassy in Oslo was connected to the conflict.
The explosion occurred around 1:00 am local time (0000 GMT), the Oslo police department said in a statement, adding they did not know the cause of the blast.
Public broadcaster NRK quoted police incident commander Michael Dellemyr saying the blast hit the entrance of the embassy’s consular section.
“At around 1:00 am we received several reports of an explosion. We arrived shortly afterward and confirmed that there had been an explosion that hit the US embassy,” he told NRK.
“There is minor damage,” he said.
“We are not going to comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion” because “it is very early in the investigation,” he said.
The police statement said investigators were in contact with the embassy about the incident and there was a huge police deployment on site.
Residents near the embassy said they heard a loud blast.
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the blast.
“My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police,” he said.
“There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air,” he said.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East over American military operations in Iran and several have faced attacks as Tehran hits back at industrial and diplomatic targets.
But police gave no indication the incident near the embassy in Oslo was connected to the conflict.
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