President security stops letter bomb

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 January 2000, 11:55 GMT]
A letter bomb addressed to the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge was detected at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo today, said sources. It was later defused by the bomb disposal unit of the Sri Lanka Army, the sources said.

Security personnel found a device with a clock-mechanism when they x-rayed a parcel which was received around 10 a.m. this morning. They handed it over to the Presidential Security Division (PSD).

It was immediately taken to Galle Face by PSD personnel and defused there by the bomb disposal unit, the sources added.

Fragments are being analysed by forensic expert, the sources said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the device.