Sri Lankan president orders deployment of police to prevent religious conflict

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Sri Lankan president orders deployment of police to prevent religious conflict

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Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has ordered the deployment of special police teams to prevent further religious conflict in the country following attacks on churches in the capital during the weekend, the official Daily News reported on Tuesday.

While condemning the attacks on the churches southeast of capital Colombo on Sunday, Kumaratunga ordered the police to investigate into the incident and bring those responsible to justice.

"We do not want to invite another conflict of religion to this country especially at a time that we are trying to resolve the prolonged ethnic conflicts of which we all are fed up," she said.

Kumaratunga said that stern action would be taken against anybody who tries to create violence or conspire attacks on religious places.

She urged peace-loving people especially from influential Sinhala Buddhists of the country to abide by the great compassion of the Buddha and stop from joining any extremist forces that are trying to use violence against churches.

The latest attacks on the churches come in the wake of the death of a prominent monk who died of a heart attack during his visit to Russia earlier this month.

A state funeral was held for the 56-year-old Gangodavila Soma who was known for his campaign against conversions from Buddhism to Christianity in Independence Square in Colombo on Wednesday.

There were rumors that the demised monk was murdered by Christian fundamentalists but forensic experts have confirmed his natural death.

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