Lanka coup bid takes new turn with state media involvement

COLOMBO, Jan 12: Sri Lankan police have questioned a government media boss in connection with a bid to assassinate President Chandrika Kumaratunga and establish a military regime, a state-run newspaper said Wednesday, reports AFP.

The Daily News which has been reporting on a wider conspiracy to stage a military coup following the attempt on Kumaratunga's life on December 18 said the questioning has thrown new light on the case.

"The parameters for questioning this individual are the manner in which the particular section of the state media was used to facilitate the plot to assassinate the president," the Daily News said quoting police sources.

The newspaper did not name the head of a "state media institution" who was implicated in the coup bid in which it said businessmen, the main opposition, private newspaper editors and military officers too were involved.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) accused the government of "fabricating evidence" to show a link between the assassination attempt and an alleged coup to form a military administration.

"We have all condemned the assassination attempt which the government itself said was the work of a Tiger suicide bomber," opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told reporters here.

"By all means, investigate the assassination attempt but don't fabricate evidence to show there was a coup and make that an excuse to crack down on media freedom and suppress democracy."

The Daily News said a wealthy ethnic Tamil woman identified as Renuka Shanmuganathan had been "intensively and extensively" questioned by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) sleuths in the past few days.

The newspaper had earlier said police evidence of the plot, announced by state radio on Sunday, included several taped telephone conversations. Top businessmen were directly linked to the conspiracy, it claimed.

"There are also reports that several army personnel too are linked to this alleged plot and there had been plans to capture power through a military coup if the president was killed in the town hall bomb blast," the Daily News said.

The state media said two newspaper editors, which it did not name, were linked to the conspiracy, although their alleged roles were not specified.

The opposition says the charges against it and journalists were made after Kumaratunga appeared on state radio and television for over three hours last week and lambasted her rivals and accused two military officers of treachery.

"While the government makes the army an easy sacrifice in the north in the hands of the LTTE (rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), the government blames them (the military) for conspiring with the LTTE," the UNP said.

"We call upon the people to rally round to protect the country from the presidential rage," the UNP said in a statement referring to Kumaratunga's scathing remarks after surviving the assassination bid.

Private newspaper editors and a media watchdog expressed fears that the government may use allegations of a conspiracy to crack down on journalists and crush media freedom ahead of parliamentary elections.

The Free Media Movement (FMM) described as "ludicrous" the charge that the editors were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Kumaratunga and establish a military regime.

The allegations of a plot to form a military regime have also seriously embarrassed the military.

Military spokesman Brigadier Palitha Fernando declined to comment on the charges that officers were involved and there has been no word from the army chief, Srilal Weerasooriya.