No Laws In Sri Lanka To Arrest People Who Join Foreign Terror Groups: PM Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told Sky News that Sri Lanka does not have any laws to arrest individuals who join a foreign terrorist organisation.

Speaking to Tom Cheshire of Sky, Lankan Prime Minister noted that his government was aware of radicalised members of Muslim community in Sri Lanka who joined Islamic State (IS) and returned back but they could not be arrested as joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law.

Wickremesinghe also confirmed there was a "breakdown of communication” and that the government could have prevented the attacks or at least reduced their number.

He claimed that if the vital information been correctly transmitted to the relevant authorities, including himself, anti-terror measures could have kicked into gear "much faster".

Wickremesinghe also promised that an investigation into why the intelligence never reached him. He said that heads of defence would be replaced "within the next 24 hours" which will be followed by a complete overhaul of the police and security forces "in the coming weeks".