Sri Lankan Parliament Approves Committee To Investigate Easter Bombings

The Sri Lankan Parliament has unanimously approved the formation of a select committee to look into the factors that led to the Easter Sunday bombings and come up with possible measures to avoid such attacks in future, according to a media report.

Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 258 people and injuring over 500 others.

The motion to set up the committee, which will have 12 members, was passed unanimously in Parliament on Wednesday. The Speaker will nominate the committee chairperson and its members.

The committee would investigate whether the law enforcement authorities possessed prior intelligence relating to the attacks, if there were deficiencies in the state machinery that led to such attacks or whether any other factors contributed to such terrorist attacks, the Times Online reported on Wednesday.

The committee would also look into what action should be taken to prevent such attacks in the future and if there are any other matters connected.

It will have powers to fix its quorum, demand papers and records, summon any person to Parliament or before the committee.

It will also have powers to interview witnesses under oath, conduct meetings outside Parliament in any part of the country and to obtain the services of specialists and experts in the relevant fields to assist the committee.

The committee will be given the authority to submit interim reports and to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of Parliament.

The committee will have to present a report to Parliament within three months of the date of its first sitting, the report said.