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Link between spice traders and Easter terrorists being probed – Trade Minister
Rs 3.72 billion worth of pepper imported between 2015 and 2019
By Saman Indrajith
Investigations were underway to ascertain information about a nexus between spice traders and the Easter Sunday terrorists, Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena told Parliament yesterday.
Minister Gunawardena said so in response to a question by SLPP MP Mohamed Muzammil, who said that one of the leading sponsors of the Zahran Hashim’s group that executed the Easter Sunday terror attacks was Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, who had been a JVP national list candidate for parliamentary elections. “Ibrahim’s sons were involved in the attacks and there had been a nexus between spice traders and Muslim extremist groups. Ibrahim was one of the wealthiest pepper exporters. The funds earned through pepper exporting were channeled for the terrorist activities.”
Minister Gunawardena said that investigations were underway to uncover more details about the nexus between pepper exporters and terrorists.
Minister Gunawardena said that between the years 2015 and 2019 the highest amount of pepper had been imported to the country by various businessmen at the expense of the local pepper cultivators. The total amount was five million kilos at a cost of Rs. 3.72 billion.
“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had stopped importing pepper. Today, the pepper farmers sell a kilo of pepper at Rs 600-800 a kilo,” the Minister said.
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“Improve the quality of infrastructure and services provided to tourists visiting the country.” – President
President Anura Kumara Disanayake emphasized the necessity of providing high-quality infrastructure and services for tourists visiting Sri Lanka, as the country has gained significant international recognition as an attractive tourist destination.
Accordingly, the President instructed officials to pay special attention to this matter and take necessary actions.
President Disanayake issued these instructions during a discussion held today (17) at the Presidential Secretariat with officials from the Ministry of Tourism.
During the discussion, officials briefed the President on the budgetary allocations designated for the Ministry of Tourism and the projects being implemented under those funds.
With the tourism sector taking a new step forward, Sri Lanka aims to attract three million tourists this year. The discussion also extensively covered the utilization of these budgetary allocations for the development of essential infrastructure to support this goal.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tourism and Foreign Employment Vijitha Herath, Deputy Minister of Tourism Dr. Ruwan Ranasinghe, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Aruni Ranaraja, along with a group of senior officials from the Ministry of Tourism, attended this discussion.
The French Navy Ship PROVENCE arrived at the Port of Colombo on a formal visit on Sunday (16 Mar 25) morning.
She was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy in compliance with the time-honoured naval traditions.
The 142.20m long Destroyer is Commanded by Captain Lionel SIEGFRIED and manned by a crew of 160 members.
During the stay in the island, crew members of PROVENCE will visit some tourist hotspots in the country and the ship is scheduled to depart the island on 20 Mar.
The Court of Appeal this [17] morning dismissed the writ petition filed by former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon, seeking an interim injunction to prevent the execution of the arrest order issued by the Matara Magistrate’s Court against him.
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