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State of emergency ruled
http://www.sina.com.cn 2003/11/07 12:57  Shanghai Daily

  Sri Lanka's political crisis deepened yesterday when the president declared a state of emergency, but officials insisted she wouldn't restart a bloody 20-year civil war and would honor a shaky cease-fire with Tamil Tiger rebels.

  President Chandrika Kumaratunga further asserted her power across the troubled island nation as her rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was scheduled to go ahead with talks in Washington with US President George W. Bush.

  The state of emergency was declared to "take stock of the security situation" and would gosintoseffect at midnight tonight, said senior presidential aide Eric Fernando.

  It allows the military to enter homes without search warrants, arrest people without reason and hold them for lengthy periods. It also gives the president the power to enact laws and gives her extraordinary control over the media, allowing for the tight censorship that was common under earlier states of emergency.The crisis began on Tuesday when Kumaratunga - who has wide authority under the constitution to dismiss the government - made a dramatic power play while the prime minister was on a visit in the United States.

  Kumaratunga, who accuses the prime minister of being soft on the rebels, fired three top ministers, suspended Parliament and deployed troops around the capital.Yesterday, more than half the country's parliamentarians pledged support for the prime minister and rejected the dismissals.

  "We have full faith in the prime minister," Labor Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters, quoting from a letter that had been signed by 124 of the country's 225 members of Parliament.

  The broad support for the prime minister could make it politically difficult for Kumaratunga to dismiss Wickremesinghe.The emergencysgroupswas certain to infuriate the Tiger rebels, who have fought a two-decade war for independence for the country's Tamil people, but who have held to a cease-fire with the government for more than 18 months.

  The Tamil National Alliance, an umbrellasgroupsof four moderate Tamil political parties, swung behind Wickremesinghe yesterday. It controls 15 seats in the 225 member Parliament and gives vital support to Wickremesinghe's United National Front government that only has a two-seat majority.

  "The alliance of Tamil parties...strongly urges the president to refrain from action that would destabilize the peace process (and) bring about a situation of uncertainty," a statement by the TNA said.

  Wickremesinghe was to meet later yesterday with Bush to secure further US support for his drive to bring a lasting peace in the civil war, which has left 65,000 people dead since 1983.




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