Grenade attack kills 5 at UNP meeting

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 March 2002, 06:59 GMT]
Five civilians were killed and at least twenty others were wounded in a grenade attack at the ruling United National Party (UNP) election meeting held at Kohuwala area, a suburb of Colombo, Friday night, police said.

Police said four people were killed on the spot and another succumbed to injuries later at Kalubowila hospital. The wounded were admitted to Kalubowila and Colombo hospitals, medical sources said.

With these killings the electioneering for the forthcoming local government elections, scheduled to be held on March 20 has entered a crucial period, police sources said.

In the meantime, the main opposition People's Alliance (PA) has appealed the Commonwealth Secretariat, SAARC organization and European Union to send observers to monitor the forthcoming local government elections. Its general secretary and Kandy district parliamentarian Mr.D.M.Jayaratne said that such monitoring is vital to ensure free and fair local government election in the south of the country.

Meanwhile the Leader of the Opposition Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse said he is to deploy observers selected from various local trade unions and institutions to monitor local government election with the sole objective of holding free and fair elections. He has sought the assistance of the Government Medical Officers' Association and Sri Lanka Lawyers' Association in this regard.