More terror attacks feared

Masses cancelled, tourists rush to flee but some Muslims pray defiantly

CATHOLIC churches in Sri Lanka cancelled all masses until further notice over concerns that they remain a top target of Islamic State-linked extremists, even as authorities said yesterday a suspected local leader blew himself up in the Easter suicide bombings.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith told journalists that church officials had seen a leaked security document describing Catholic churches and other denominations as a major target for attackers.

Ranjith, who is archbishop of Colombo, the capital, also asked the faithful to stay at home for their own safety. “We don’t want repetitions,” he said.

The cardinal’s comments come after the US Embassy in Sri Lanka warned the public to stay away from places of worship over the weekend, a stark alert underlining that authorities believe members of the group remain at large.

The group’s leader, Mohamed Zahran, killed himself in a suicide bombing at the Shangri-La hotel, one of six hotels and churches targeted in the attacks that killed at least 250 people on Sunday, police said yesterday.

Police also said they had arrested the second-in-command of the group, called National Towheed Jamaat

Several mosques held services despite the warning. At one in Colombo, police armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles stood guard outside.

Meanwhile, yesterday, men and boys in a Muslim neighbourhood in the capital did something everyone had warned them not to do: they came together to pray.

Hundreds gathered at Masjidus Salam Jumma mosque for their communal Friday prayers, one of many mosques that conducted services despite warnings of more bomb attacks by Islamic State-claimed militants.

And while praying through tears to Allah to help their countrymen, all stressed one thing. The attacks targeting churches and hotels came from people who didn’t truly believe the teachings of Islam.

They are “not Muslims. This is not Islam. This is an animal”, said Akurana Muhandramlage Jamaldeen Mohamed Jayfer, the chairperson of the mosque. “We don’t have a word to curse them.”

Up until the call to prayer echoed through Colombo’s Maligawatta neighbourhood at noon, it wasn’t certain the community would be able to pray.

Sri Lankan police are trying to track down 140 people believed to be linked to Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the bombings.

The Daily Mail reported that thousands of British tourists were scrambling to flee Sri Lanka yesterday after the UK Foreign Office warned it was no longer safe.

Officials were now braced for a mass evacuation. There are 8 000 Britons in the country. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt issued a warning that another attack was “very likely”. |

AP