UK warns against all but essential Sri Lanka travel - BBC News

The UK is advising against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka after the Easter Sunday bombings in which more than 350 people died.

The Foreign Office says terrorists are very likely to try to carry out indiscriminate attacks there, including in places visited by foreigners.

Eight Britons were among those killed by suicide bombers at churches and top-end hotels in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa.

More than 500 people were injured.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins said the government was now talking to the travel industry about helping the 8,000 British tourists believed to be in Sri Lanka if they decide they want to cut short their visits.

The Foreign Office has issued advice to any Britons still in Sri Lanka:

• Remain vigilant, keep up to date with developments and follow the advice of local security authorities and hotel security staff

• Keep a low profile, avoid crowded public places, large gatherings (including religious gatherings and places of worship) and any demonstrations.

• Avoid travelling during periods of curfew (other than to or from the airport)

• Keep in touch with family and friends and make them aware of any plans you may have

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he hoped to be able to change the advice once the current security operation had concluded.

"My first priority will always be the security of British citizens living and travelling abroad.

"We all hope the situation will return to normal very soon, and that the Sri Lankan tourism industry is able to get back on its feet following the terrorist attacks.

"We will do all we can to help the Sri Lankan authorities in the meantime," he added.

Among the victims of Sunday's bombings were Anita Nicholson and her children Annabel, 11, and Alex, 14, who were visiting Sri Lanka on holiday from their home in Singapore.

Dr Sally Bradley and William Harrop were also on holiday from western Australia where they were living.

London siblings Daniel, 19, and Amelie Linsey, 15, died after their father tried to rescue them from one of the bombings.

And IT director Lorraine Campbell, 55, from Greater Manchester, was staying at Colombo's Cinnamon Grand Hotel on a business trip when she died.

A team of family liaison officers has been sent to Sri Lanka to support the families of British victims and help repatriate the deceased.

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2019-04-25 15:09:33Z
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Sri Lanka suicide bomber was previously arrested and then released - CNN

Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim -- one of two sons of a spice tycoon who blew themselves up in Sunday's attacks -- detonated a device at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo, the official told CNN.

"It was the suicide bomber of the Cinnamon Grand bomb attack who was released earlier," the official said.

Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim and his brother Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim were previously identified as two of the suicide bombers in Sunday's attacks, which left at least 359 people dead across the country.

Police have confirmed to CNN that they are holding the brothers' father, Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, a wealthy spice trader, on suspicion of aiding and abetting his sons.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the elder Ibrahim was in custody, as were all other members of the Ibrahim family known to police.

CNN has not been able to reach Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim or other members of his family for comment.

In an interview with CNN, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the suspected bombers were upper and middle class, well-educated and educated abroad, a profile he described as "surprising." He added that several of them were under surveillance ahead of the attacks, but that there had not been "sufficient" evidence to take them into custody.

Meanwhile, a huge international criminal investigation is ramping up in Sri Lanka, with six foreign police agencies and Interpol assisting local police, including Scotland Yard from the UK and the FBI from the US.

Gunasekera told CNN that officers from Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) have raided five safe houses across the country in connection with Sunday's attacks. Those locations have since been sealed for forensic investigation.

More than 70 suspects have been taken into custody on a range of charges, including suspicion of terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, Gunasekera said. Four high level suspects are being held by TID, and 33 are being held by CID, he added.

Of those arrested, four suspects are female, and all are Muslims. Gunasekera said most of them are family members and friends of the suspected suicide bombers. None of those arrested are foreigners.

Significant raids were carried out on Wednesday night, he added, in which 16 people were arrested at various locations, most near the capital Colombo. Three shotguns and two walkie-talkies were also seized.

As police continue to investigate how a previously little known terror group managed to pull off a huge and coordinated series of attacks, Gunasekera also revealed that police had confirmed that an explosion in the predominantly Muslim area of Kathankudi, in eastern Sri Lanka, in early April was a test run by the terrorists. In that explosion they blew up a motorcycle.

On Thursday, police said search operations were currently underway across Colombo, including the setting up of roadblocks. Police have asked the public not to panic, a police spokesman told CNN.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert and numerous controlled demolitions have been carried out of suspicious packages and vehicles in recent days. However, Gunasekera said that he did not believe the controlled demolitions on Thursday were of actual explosives.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe warned of the potential for more attacks in the country. In his CNN intevriew, he said authorities were targeting "sleepers" -- terrorists who could activate to initiate another round of attacks.

"Police and security forces are rounding up those involved, but they're also rounding up the sleepers, those used on second and third rounds (of attacks)," he said.

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2019-04-25 13:50:00Z
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Sri Lanka suicide bomber was previously arrested and then released - CNN

Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim -- one of two sons of a spice tycoon who blew themselves up in Sunday's attacks -- detonated a device at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo, the official told CNN.

"It was the suicide bomber of the Cinnamon Grand bomb attack who was released earlier," the official said.

Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim and his brother Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim were previously identified as two of the suicide bombers in Sunday's attacks, which left at least 359 people dead across the country.

Police have confirmed to CNN that they are holding the brothers' father, Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, a wealthy spice trader, on suspicion of aiding and abetting his sons.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the elder Ibrahim was in custody, as were all other members of the Ibrahim family known to police.

CNN has not been able to reach Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim or other members of his family for comment.

In an interview with CNN, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the suspected bombers were upper and middle class, well-educated and educated abroad, a profile he described as "surprising." He added that several of them were under surveillance ahead of the attacks, but that there had not been "sufficient" evidence to take them into custody.

Meanwhile, a huge international criminal investigation is ramping up in Sri Lanka, with six foreign police agencies and Interpol assisting local police, including Scotland Yard from the UK and the FBI from the US.

Gunasekera told CNN that officers from Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) have raided five safe houses across the country in connection with Sunday's attacks. Those locations have since been sealed for forensic investigation.

More than 70 suspects have been taken into custody on a range of charges, including suspicion of terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, Gunasekera said. Four high level suspects are being held by TID, and 33 are being held by CID, he added.

Of those arrested, four suspects are female, and all are Muslims. Gunasekera said most of them are family members and friends of the suspected suicide bombers. None of those arrested are foreigners.

Significant raids were carried out on Wednesday night, he added, in which 16 people were arrested at various locations, most near the capital Colombo. Three shotguns and two walkie-talkies were also seized.

As police continue to investigate how a previously little known terror group managed to pull off a huge and coordinated series of attacks, Gunasekera also revealed that police had confirmed that an explosion in the predominantly Muslim area of Kathankudi, in eastern Sri Lanka, in early April was a test run by the terrorists. In that explosion they blew up a motorcycle.

On Thursday, police said search operations were currently underway across Colombo, including the setting up of roadblocks. Police have asked the public not to panic, a police spokesman told CNN.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert and numerous controlled demolitions have been carried out of suspicious packages and vehicles in recent days. However, Gunasekera said that he did not believe the controlled demolitions on Thursday were of actual explosives.

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2019-04-25 12:15:00Z
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Sri Lanka suicide bomber was previously arrested and then released, government says - CNN

Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim -- one of two sons of a spice tycoon who blew themselves up in Sunday's attacks -- detonated a device at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo, Sudarshana Gunawardana said.

"It was the suicide bomber of the Cinnamon Grand bomb attack who was released earlier," Gunawardana said.

Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim and his brother Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim were previously identified as two of the suicide bombers in Sunday's attacks, which left at least 359 people dead across the country.

Police have confirmed to CNN that they are holding the brothers' father, Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, a wealthy spice trader, on suspicion of aiding and abetting his sons.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the elder Ibrahim was in custody, as were all other members of the Ibrahim family known to police.

CNN has not been able to reach Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim or other members of his family for comment.

In an interview with CNN, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the suspected bombers were upper and middle class, well-educated and educated abroad, a profile he described as "surprising." He added that several of them were under surveillance ahead of the attacks, but that there had not been "sufficient" evidence to take them into custody.

Meanwhile, a huge international criminal investigation is ramping up in Sri Lanka, with six foreign police agencies and Interpol assisting local police, including Scotland Yard from the UK and the FBI from the US.

Gunasekera told CNN that officers from Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) have raided five safe houses across the country in connection with Sunday's attacks. Those locations have since been sealed for forensic investigation.

More than 70 suspects have been taken into custody on a range of charges, including suspicion of terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, Gunasekera said. Four high level suspects are being held by TID, and 33 are being held by CID, he added.

Of those arrested, four suspects are female, and all are Muslims. Gunasekera said most of them are family members and friends of the suspected suicide bombers. None of those arrested are foreigners.

Significant raids were carried out on Wednesday night, he added, in which 16 people were arrested at various locations, most near the capital Colombo. Three shotguns and two walkie-talkies were also seized.

As police continue to investigate how a previously little known terror group managed to pull off a huge and coordinated series of attacks, Gunasekera also revealed that police had confirmed that an explosion in the predominantly Muslim area of Kathankudi, in eastern Sri Lanka, in early April was a test run by the terrorists. In that explosion they blew up a motorcycle.

On Thursday, police said search operations were currently underway across Colombo, including the setting up of roadblocks. Police have asked the public not to panic, a police spokesman told CNN.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert and numerous controlled demolitions have been carried out of suspicious packages and vehicles in recent days. However, Gunasekera said that he did not believe the controlled demolitions on Thursday were of actual explosives.

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2019-04-25 10:57:00Z
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Sri Lanka attacks: Who were the bombers? - BBC News

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Two of the nine bombers in Sri Lanka were the sons of a wealthy and well-known spice trader, local police sources have told the BBC.

All but one of the nine have been identified and most came from "middle or upper middle class" families.

UK officials have told the BBC they think it is highly likely that the Islamic State group (IS) was linked to the bombings - but it remains unclear whether it inspired, planned or directed the attacks.

Some 32 Sri Lankan nationals are known to have joined IS in Iraq and Syria.

As the sweeping investigation into the Easter Sunday bombings - which hit churches and hotels, killing 359 people - continues, here is what we know about the suspects.

Spice trader's sons

Two of the bombers were the sons of spice trader Mohammad Yusuf Ibrahim who is based in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

One of them detonated his explosives at the city's Shangri-La hotel while breakfast was being served. The other targeted the restaurant at the high-end Cinnamon Grand hotel which is a short distance away.

Their father has been arrested and is now in custody.

His daughter-in-law detonated explosives during a police raid at the family's villa on Sunday, apparently to avoid arrest.

Several people, including children and police officers, were reportedly killed in that blast.

The family's wealthy background matches the description of the attackers given by the authorities.

"They are financially quite independent and their families are quite stable financially," Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Former student

One of the attackers studied in the UK, officials say.

Abdul Latif Jamil Mohammed visited south-east England in 2006-7 to study but did not complete a full university degree, a senior Whitehall official told the BBC.

He reportedly studied aerospace engineering at Kingston University.

He later studied in Australia before returning to Sri Lanka.

"I can confirm the suicide bomber had been in Australia," the country's prime minister, Scott Morrison, said on Thursday. "They departed in early 2013."

He added: "They had a spouse and child visa at that time as well but they had not returned to the country."

Suspected ringleader

Islamist preacher Zahran Hashim is suspected of being the bombers' ringleader. Police do not know whether he detonated one of the suicide bombs or is still at large.

An IS video that was released after the group said it had carried out the attacks appears to feature him prominently.

In the video, he can reportedly be seen pledging allegiance to the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The UK government believes it is highly likely IS were linked to the bombings although the full extent of the group's role is not clear, officials have told the BBC.

Sri Lanka's Muslim community have said they warned the authorities about Mr Hashim for years prior to the attacks.

"This person was a loner and he had radicalised young people," Hilmy Ahamed, vice-president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, told AFP news agency,

"Nobody thought these people were capable of carrying out an attack of such magnitude," he added.

Mr Hashim's sister told the BBC: "I came to know about his actions only through the media. Even for a moment, I never thought that he would do such a thing.

"I strongly deplore what he has done. Even if he is my brother, I cannot accept this. I'm not worried about him anymore."

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2019-04-25 11:08:48Z
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Prince William meets Christchurch attack survivors in New Zealand - BBC News

The Duke of Cambridge has met survivors of the Christchurch mosque attacks, in which 50 people were killed in March.

The duke also met some of the officers and medics who were among the first at the scene of the shootings.

He got a traditional Maori greeting from New Zealand's PM Jacinda Arden at the start of his two-day tour.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Sussex will join the Duchess of Cambridge at an Anzac Day service at Westminster Abbey later, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

Anzac Day commemorates the military veterans of Australia and New Zealand.

Prince William performed a hongi with Ms Ardern as he was welcomed in Auckland, before attending a service there.

He also met four-year-old Alen Alsati - who was injured in the attack and awoke from a coma earlier this week - at Starship Children's Hospital.

Skip Twitter post by @KensingtonRoyal

The Duke of Cambridge meets five year old Alen Alsati, who is recovering in Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland after being injured in the Christchurch mosques terrorist attack.

Alen woke from a coma earlier this week after suffering critical injuries in the attack. pic.twitter.com/XcNAsIw7xt

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 25, 2019

End of Twitter post by @KensingtonRoyal

He then travelled to Christchurch, where he asked officers and medics about how they had put their training into practice.

"Nothing really trains you for seeing it in real life", said the duke, who has spent time as a pilot with the air ambulance service in East Anglia.

"I'm sure the team pulls together," he said.

New Zealand police commissioner Mike Bush said the "emotion was palpable" during the visit and the duke was concerned with how those involved were coping a month on from the attacks.

"His main piece of advice was to talk to each other, to not bottle things up - to support each other to talk about what they saw and what they do afterwards," he said.

At the police headquarters, dozens of messages from the people of Christchurch were pinned up along the corridors, thanking officers for their work after the shootings.

Among them was a card that said: "You never give up and you never ever will give up trying to save NZ."

Prince William is travelling on behalf of the Queen at the request of Ms Ardern.

She said the visit would "bring comfort" as the duke had a "close connection" with New Zealand and Christchurch in particular.

"His visit provides the opportunity to pay tribute to those affected by the mosque terrorist attacks and show support to the local and national community," she said.

William offered prayers for the Christchurch community and described the attacks as a "cruel nightmare".

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Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) in World War One.

And Kensington Palace said the duke would "pay tribute to the extraordinary compassion and solidarity" displayed by New Zealanders following the attacks.

It is not the first time he has visited Christchurch in the wake of a tragedy.

In 2011, he attended a memorial service after an earthquake killed 185 people.

In a speech that day, he said: "My grandmother once said that grief is the price we pay for love. Here today, we love and we grieve."

The Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge also visited New Zealand in 2014, on their first official tour.

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2019-04-25 10:30:00Z
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Sri Lanka suicide bomber was previously arrested and then released, government says - CNN

Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim -- one of two sons of a spice tycoon who blew themselves up in Sunday's attacks -- detonated a device at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo, Sudarshana Gunawardana said.

"It was the suicide bomber of the Cinnamon Grand bomb attack who was released earlier," Gunawardana said.

Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim and his brother Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim were previously identified as two of the suicide bombers in Sunday's attacks, which left at least 359 people dead across the country.

Police have confirmed to CNN that they are holding the brothers' father, Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, a wealthy spice trader, on suspicion of aiding and abetting his sons.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the elder Ibrahim was is in custody, as are all other members of the Ibrahim family police are aware of in the country.

CNN has not been able to reach Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim or other members of his family for comment.

In an interview with CNN, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the suspected bombers were upper and middle class, well-educated and educated abroad, a profile he described as "surprising." He added that several of them were under surveillance ahead of the attacks, but that there had not been "sufficient" evidence to take them into custody.

Meanwhile, a huge international criminal investigation is ramping up in Sri Lanka, with six foreign police agencies and Interpol assisting local police, including Scotland Yard from the UK and the FBI from the US.

Gunasekera told CNN that officers from Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) have raided five safe houses across the country in connection with Sunday's attacks. Those locations have since been sealed for forensic investigation.

More than 70 suspects have been taken into custody on a range of charges, including suspicion of terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, Gunasekera said. Four high level suspects are being held by TID, and 33 are being held by CID, he added.

Of those arrested, four suspects are female, and all are Muslims. Gunasekera said most of them are family members and friends of the suspected suicide bombers. None of those arrested are foreigners.

Significant raids were carried out on Wednesday night, he added, in which 16 people were arrested at various locations, most near the capital Colombo. Three shotguns and two walkie-talkies were also seized.

As police continue to investigate how a previously little known terror group managed to pull off a huge and coordinated series of attacks, Gunasekera also revealed that police had confirmed that an explosion in the predominantly Muslim area of Kathankudi, in eastern Sri Lanka, in early April was a test run by the terrorists. In that explosion they blew up a motorcycle.

On Thursday, police said search operations were currently underway across Colombo, including the setting up of roadblocks. Police have asked the public not to panic, a police spokesman told CNN.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert and numerous controlled demolitions have been carried out of suspicious packages and vehicles in recent days. However, Gunasekera said that he did not believe the controlled demolitions on Thursday were of actual explosives.

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2019-04-25 09:56:00Z
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Sri Lanka spice tycoon suspected of helping sons in suicide attacks - CNN

Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim was arrested Sunday following attacks at hotels and churches. His adult sons, Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim and Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, blew themselves up in Sunday's attacks.

On Thursday, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera told CNN that their father, Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, was is in custody on suspicion of aiding and abetting his sons. Gunasekera added that all other members of the Ibrahim family are believed to be in custody.

In an interview with CNN Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the suspected bombers were upper and middle class, well-educated and educated abroad, a profile he described as "surprising." He added that several of them were under surveillance ahead of the attacks, but that there had not been "sufficient" evidence to take them into custody.

Meanwhile, a huge international criminal investigation is ramping up in Sri Lanka, with six foreign police agencies and Interpol assisting local police, including Scotland Yard from the UK and the FBI from the US.

Gunasekera told CNN that officers from Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) have raided five safe houses across the country in connection with Sunday's attacks. Those locations have since been sealed for forensic investigation.

More than 70 suspects have been taken into custody on a range of charges, including suspicion of terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, Gunasekera said. Four high level suspects are being held by TID, and 33 are being held by CID, he added.

Of those arrested, four suspects are female, and all are Muslims. Gunasekera said most of them are family members and friends of the suspected suicide bombers. None of those arrested are foreigners.

Significant raids were carried out on Wednesday night, he added, in which 16 people were arrested at various locations, most near the capital Colombo. Three shotguns and two walkie-talkies were also seized.

As police continue to investigate how a previously little known terror group managed to pull off a huge and coordinated series of attacks, Gunasekera also revealed that police had confirmed that an explosion in the predominantly Muslim area of Kathankudi, in eastern Sri Lanka, in early April was a test run by the terrorists. In that explosion they blew up a motorcycle.

On Thursday, police said search operations were currently underway across Colombo, including the setting up of roadblocks. Police have asked the public not to panic, a police spokesman told CNN.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert and numerous controlled demolitions have been carried out of suspicious packages and vehicles in recent days. However, Gunasekera said that he did not believe the controlled demolitions on Thursday were of actual explosives.

CNN's Ivan Watson and Rebecca Wright contributed reporting.

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2019-04-25 08:40:00Z
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Iran's FM Javad Zarif: I don't think Donald Trump wants war - Aljazeera.com

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif does not believe US President Donald Trump wants war with Iran, but he has told Reuters news agency that Trump could be lured into a conflict.

"I don't think he wants war," Zarif said in an interview at the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York on Wednesday. "But that doesn't exclude him being basically lured into one."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Zarif's remarks.

Zarif said a so-called "B-team", including Trump's NSA John Bolton, an ardent Iran hawk, and conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could goad Trump into conflict with Tehran.

190424134820957

"Those who have designed the policies that are being pursued do not simply want a negotiated solution. But let me make it clear that Iran is not seeking confrontation, but will not escape defending itself," he said.

In somewhat cryptic remarks, Zarif also warned of the possibility that people could try "to plot an accident" that could trigger a broader crisis.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration withdrew last year from an international nuclear deal with Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions. Earlier this month, the United States blacklisted Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions.

The US blacklisting of the IRGC, Iran's most powerful security organisation with huge stakes in the economy, was the first time any nation has labelled another country's military a "terrorist" organisation.

Zarif said Iran would act with "prudence" in response to what he saw as dangerous policies by the US. In one example, he said Iran would still allow US warships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil artery.

Rules of engagement

Zarif called the decision on the IRGC "absurd" but suggested that Iran did not plan to respond militarily unless the US changed the rules of engagement guiding how it interacts with Iran's forces. The US military has not suggested it would change its behaviour after the blacklisting.

"We will exercise prudence but it doesn't mean that if the United States changed the rules of the game, or changed the rules of engagement, it would be able to get away with that," Zarif said.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and some senior military commanders have threatened to disrupt oil shipments from the Gulf countries if Washington tries to strangle Tehran oil exports.

Carrying one-third of the world's seaborne oil every day, the Strait of Hormuz links Middle East crude producers to markets in the Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond.

Asked if US warships could still pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Zarif - a veteran diplomat who has been foreign minister for more than six years - said: "Ships can go through the Strait of Hormuz."

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"If the United States wanted to continue to observe the rules of engagement, the rules of the game, the channels of communication, the prevailing protocols, then in spite of the fact that we consider US presence in the Persian Gulf as inherently destabilising, we're not going to take any action," Zarif said.

The US has accused Tehran of destabilising the Middle East and helping to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that began in 2011.

Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, the overseas arm of the IRGC, appeared on front lines across Syria.

Zarif said Iran would remain "vigilant" in Syria and in Iraq after investing resources to fight there. "And we will not simply abandon that, that fight," Zarif said.

'PhD' in sanctions busting

Zarif, the US-educated architect of the 2015 nuclear deal who came under attack from anti-Western hardliners in Iran after Trump pulled out of the agreement last year, signalled Tehran would be resilient in the face of US sanctions.

"I mean, there are always ways of going around the sanctions. We have a PhD in that area," Zarif said.

The US on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran's eight biggest buyers, most of them in Asia, to continue importing limited volumes.

Zarif acknowledged that oil sanctions hurt ordinary Iranians and the government would do whatever it could to sell oil to provide for its citizens.

When asked who else Iran might consider selling oil to, Zarif said: "If I told you, we won't be able to sell it to them."

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2019-04-25 06:56:00Z
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Sri Lanka attack shows ISIS is not 'Junior Varsity': counter-terror expert - Fox News

Despite a weakened presence in places such as Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State terrorist group remains a serious threat, said Aaron Cohen, a counter-terrorist and security expert, on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday.

Cohen, a former member of Israel’s elite special forces, said the Easter attack on Sri Lanka churches, hotels and other sites that claimed the lives of more than 300 people showed that ISIS appears to be sowing terror through small, affiliated groups.

"The fact that Sri Lanka was able to be attacked by a terror group which essentially had no name at first before ISIS connected the thorns," Cohen said, "and the fact that this terror organization is connected to ISIS as a smaller proxy organization, or a puppet organization, and the fact that ISIS is able to connect these threads to wannabe, nomad terror groups" means the pressure on them "must stay on."

"Fox & Friends" host Ed Henry recalled when President Barack Obama in 2014 likened ISIS to a junior varsity basketball team in an attempt to downplay the terrorist group's level of threat to international security.

SRI LANKAN WOMAN LOSES MOST OF HER FAMILY IN EASTER BOMBINGS

"Here we are years later...they can still take deadly action," Henry said to Cohen.

"What I will say is unlike junior varsity sports teams, terror organizations are extremely well-funded by countries such as Iran," Cohen said, "continue to not only pay terrorists to carry out acts of terrorism, but fund their families in case they're lost in the acts of terrorism because they're looked at as heroes."

As the death toll from the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka rose to 321 on Tuesday, the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, claimed responsibility and released images that purported to show the attackers, while the country’s prime minister warned that several suspects armed with explosives are still at large.

A top Sri Lanka government official said the suicide bombings were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists in apparent retaliation for the New Zealand mosque massacres last month that a white supremacist has been charged with carrying out.

SRI LANKA'S LEADER CALLS FOR OFFICIALS' FIRINGS AS EASTER SUICIDE BOMBERS REVEALED TO BE 'WELL-EDUCATED PEOPLE' WHO STUDIED ABROAD

Cohen said that ISIS militants "are masters in guerrilla warfare, people shouldn't take this lightly."

The security expert said that ISIS uses the Internet to recruit militants.

"They use...the dark web to build, plot, plan, and execute a wave of what we call nomad or solo terror attacks," Cohen said.

ISIS, which traces its roots back to the bloody emergence of Al Qaeda in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, has survived past defeats and is waging a low-level insurgency in areas it was driven from months or even years ago.

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The Islamic State group, which has lost all the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, has made a series of unsupported claims of responsibility and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that investigators were still determining the extent of the bombers’ foreign links.

Sri Lankan authorities have blamed the attacks on National Towheed Jamaar, a little-known Islamic extremist group in the island nation. Its leader, alternately known as Mohammed Zahran or Zahran Hashmi, became known to Muslim leaders three years ago for his incendiary speeches online.

The IS group’s Aamaq news agency released an image purported to show the leader of the attackers, standing amid seven others whose faces are covered. The group did not provide any other evidence for its claim, and the identities of those depicted in the image were not independently verified.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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2019-04-24 16:27:09Z
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Two Sri Lanka bombers were sons of Colombo spice tycoon, sources say - CNN

The brothers, Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim and Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, are sons of spice trader Mohamed Ibrahim, two sources with knowledge of the investigation said. Mohamed Ibrahim is the founder of Colombo-based Ishana Exports, which describes itself on its website as the "largest exporter of spices from Sri Lanka since 2006."

Mohamed Ibrahim was among dozens of people detained in the wake of the attacks, which killed 359 people and injured more than 500, the sources told CNN. Video footage shows Ibrahim being led away by police. Authorities have not announced any charges against him.

The brothers' identities were first reported by Indian news outlet Firstpost, citing intelligence sources in India. CNN has not been able to reach Mohamed Ibrahim or other members of his family for comment.

Sri Lanka's State Defense minister Ruwan Wijewardene told reporters at a press conference earlier on Wednesday that those responsible for the attacks on Easter Sunday were well educated, from upper middle-class families, and financially independent. That was a "worrying factor," he said.

According to neighbors and members of Colombo's Muslim community, the Ibrahims are one of the wealthiest Muslim families in the capital, with connections to the country's business and political elite.

Pamuditha Anjana, a neighbor in the Dematagoda district of Colombo, told CNN the Ibrahim family was "very well connected, very rich, politically connected as well."

Reyyaz Salley, chairman of Colombo's Dewatagaha Mosque, one of the largest and oldest in the city, said the elder Ibrahim was "a really nice person, a business-minded person who did export of spices."

"We knew him as a normal person and as a businessperson," he said.

Hilmy Ahamed, vice president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, was aware of Mohamed Ibrahim as a prominent member of the community. He described him as "very rich" and added that his sons were "well educated overseas."

Ahamed doubted Mohamed Ibrahim had any idea of what his adult sons were planning. "He was a busy businessman," he said. "He probably totally neglected what was happening around him. I doubt that he had knowledge."

Other bombers named

British security sources in the UK identified another bomber as Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, saying that he studied in the southeast of England from 2006 to 2007. Wijewardene, the state defense minister, said investigators believe one of the bombers had studied in the UK and was a postgraduate student in Australia before returning to Sri Lanka.

Shiral Lakthilaka, an adviser to Sri Lanka's President, identified one of the men who blew himself up at the Shangri-La hotel as Inshan Seelavan, and described him as the "mastermind" of the attacks. Other officials have named a radical extremist, Zahran Hashim, as another key figure in the attacks. His whereabouts are unknown.

Both Ahamed and Salley said they had repeatedly attempted to warn authorities about Hashim, pictured in a photograph released by a news agency affiliated with ISIS Tuesady. Hashim, a radical Islamist preacher, was known to the local community for ranting against moderate Muslims and Buddhists.

"We reported him to national intelligence about three years ago," Ahamed said, adding he had taken DVDs of Hashim's preachings to show officials. |At the end of 2018, in December, when we had this crisis where some youth damaged Buddhist statues, we went back again to intelligence and gave them all the info we had on him and told them they should try to catch him."

In one of Hashim's videos, uploaded to YouTube and reviewed by CNN, the preacher said that non-Muslims who refused to convert to Islam should be killed. "If he is a Kafir, he is to be killed according to the Sharia Law," he said on the video, an interpretation of Islam that Ahamed described as "extremist" and incorrect.

Ahamed said that authorities failed to act on the warnings, but added that had not taken Hashim too seriously either, a move he now regrets.

"We are totally embarrassed as a community. We have failed as a community to monitor what was happening in our backyard," he said. "Most of these young people are radicalized online. That is what worries me, as a parent of two young boys. We are always worried that they might be radicalized through the internet."

Ahamed was not the only Muslim leader attempting to raise the alarm about creeping radicalization within the community. Salley, the Dewatagaha Mosque chairman, said that he had repeatedly warned about Hashim's activities.

When CNN visited the mosque on Wednesday, two large banners erected outside read that "terrorism and extremism has no place in Islam" and "we stand with Christian brethren in grief, you are with us."

"On February 11, I sent videos to (Sri Lankan) intelligence quoting this guy, the videos he made promoting jihad," Salley said. "We never expected this guy was going to do something (so extreme) but he was brainwashing the people, to a certain extent."

"There and been videos of him coming out against other religions and groups," he added. "Video clips were given to police and no action was taken."

Police and intelligence spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment about the alleged warnings about Hashim. The government has previously acknowledged and apologized for failing to act on warnings received from Indian intelligence that Hashim and his followers were planning a terrorist attack.

"He was talking about jihad," Salley said. "These are all very dangerous messages for the country. First and foremost I never ever expected something disastrous, I never thought in my life ... If the authorities had take our advice this could have been prevented."

CNN's Ingrid Formanek, Nikhil Kumar, Jo Shelley, Will Ripley, and journalists King Ratnam and Iqbal Athas contributed reporting. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh contributed reporting from London.

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2019-04-24 17:16:00Z
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North Korea’s Kim Jong-un Arrives in Russia for Meeting With Putin - The New York Times

SEOUL — Wearing a black fedora and black overcoat, a smiling Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, stepped off an armored train that had taken him on a daylong journey from Pyongyang to the Russian port city of Vladivostok on Wednesday.

Mr. Kim’s arrival came a day before he is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin as part of the North Korean leader’s efforts to fend off American pressure to give up his nuclear weapons arsenal.

Accompanied by senior Russian officials, Mr. Kim listened to a military band before stopping for a rare, short interview with the Russian television network Rossiya 1.

“I hope this visit will be successful and fruitful,” Mr. Kim said. “I hope that during talks with esteemed President Putin I will have a detailed discussion of the settlement process on the Korean Peninsula and the development of our relations.”

Mr. Kim is the first North Korean leader to travel to Russia since his father, Kim Jong-il, visited there in 2011, signaling that Mr. Kim is trying to foster ties with his country’s old Soviet allies while his diplomacy with President Trump remains deadlocked.

Mr. Kim’s meeting with Mr. Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, in late February ended abruptly when the North Korean leader rejected Mr. Trump’s proposal for a “big deal” in which the United States would lift sanctions in return for a quick dismantlement of the North’s entire nuclear weapons program. Mr. Kim offered only a partial dismantlement in exchange for lifting the most harmful economic sanctions.

North Korea has since grown increasingly frustrated with Washington, conducting a weapons test and accusing Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, John R. Bolton, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of sabotaging the negotiations. Mr. Kim said he was willing to meet Mr. Trump again, but only if the United States made a new proposal that the North could accept by the end of the year.

A recent report by the United Nations sanctions committee has accused Russia of helping North Korea circumvent international sanctions through illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil and coal. But there is doubt over Russia’s ability to ease the pain of sanctions for North Korea.

Image

Mr. Kim is the first North Korean leader to travel to Russia since his father, Kim Jong-il, visited the country in 2011.CreditAlexander Safronov/Press Office of the Primorye Territory Administration, via Associated Press

Moscow is obligated to honor the United Nations sanctions it has voted for. And North Korea and Russia share a short border, precluding the kind of widespread smuggling believed to be taking place between the North and China. Mr. Kim has met China’s president, Xi Jinping, four times as he sought help from China, which accounts for more than 93 percent of the North’s external trade.

By securing a meeting with Mr. Putin this week, Mr. Kim sought to reaffirm his image as a global player despite the failure to reach an agreement with Mr. Trump in Hanoi. His meeting with Mr. Putin also sent a signal to Washington that Mr. Kim was expanding his diplomatic chess game.

“If perception is indeed reality, North Korea has come to be perceived as now a player in Northeast Asia, meaning Kim’s carefully calibrated P.R. offensive is working — much to Washington’s dismay,” said Harry J. Kazianis, the director of Korean studies at the Center for the National Interest, a research institute in Washington.

“And in the long run,” Mr. Kazianis said, “such a strategy could very well pay off, if Kim is no longer perceived as a threat, leading eventually to a weakened sanctions regime.”

Russia and China have supported American-led sanctions against the North at the United Nations Security Council, but at the same time have provided the North with a buffer against American pressure. They support the North’s argument that the United States and North Korea should resolve their differences in “a step-by-step approach” by trading security guarantees for North Korean actions toward complete denuclearization.

With talks with Washington stalled, Mr. Kim may align more closely with Beijing, Moscow or both, in much the same way as the United States tried to bring Seoul and Tokyo together to deter China’s ascendancy and combat a nuclear North Korea.

If Mr. Kim concludes that his two-way diplomacy with Mr. Trump is in vain, he may play off Mr. Putin’s desire to increase his own influence in Asia. Japanese news outlets reported this week that during his meeting with Mr. Kim, Mr. Putin could call for the reopening of so-called six-party talks on the North’s nuclear disarmament.

Before the 2009 collapse of the talks — which included China, Russia and Japan as well as the United States and North and South Korea — they had produced denuclearization deals, but they were later abrogated.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly cited the talks as a prime example of how past administrations’ dealings with North Korea failed and how his own leader-to-leader diplomacy with Mr. Kim stood a far better chance of bringing about Pyongyang’s denuclearization.

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2019-04-24 15:22:30Z
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Philippines' Duterte Talks Trash (Literally) To Canada, Threatening War Over Garbage - NPR

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"I want a boat prepared" to take tons of trash back to Canada, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday, issuing threats over a long-simmering dispute. In this 2015 photo, Filipino environmental activists wear shipping container costumes to call on Canada to remove the garbage from a port in Manila. Aaron Favila/AP hide caption

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Aaron Favila/AP

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte wants Canada to come get tons of trash that was wrongly sent to his country — and he's threatening extreme steps if Canada doesn't clean up the situation. "We'll declare war against them," Duterte said Tuesday.

The president was referring to a large shipment of municipal trash that has sat in Manila since its arrival in 2013 and 2014. The more than 100 shipping containers had been declared to hold recyclable plastic. But when the doors were opened, customs officials found "household trash, plastic bottles and bags, newspapers, and used adult diapers," according to Filipino news outlet ABS-CBN.

"I will not allow that kind of s***," Duterte said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that Canada has attempted to provide educational grant money to the Philippines — on the condition that it also accept the garbage.

Duterte said he wants the trash gone within a week, even if he has to return it by force.

Both the garbage and the argument over its fate have been ripening for several years. In 2016, a Filipino court ruled that the garbage should return home. But since then, the case has continued to simmer.

In response to Duterte's remarks, Canada says it has already been working to resolve the trash dispute, adding that it has changed its regulations about hazardous waste shipments.

On Wednesday, Canada's Embassy in the Philippines said, "A joint technical working group, consisting of officials from both countries, is examining the full spectrum of issues related to the removal of the waste with a view to a timely resolution."

The embassy added that Canada is committed to ensuring the waste "is processed in an environmentally responsible way."

As for Duterte's threat of starting a war over the trash, Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines John Holmes was quoted by ABS-CBN saying, "I won't comment on the specific words of the president or his tone but I will say this. Our prime minister committed and has recommitted to resolving this issue, including taking the waste back to Canada."

As Canada's CBC reports, an environmental law firm in Canada issued a legal opinion last week accusing Canada of being "in violation of the international Basel Convention, which forbids developed nations from sending their toxic or hazardous waste to developing nations without informed consent."

Duterte addressed the trash topic at the end of a news conference about two strong earthquakes that hit the Philippines Monday and Tuesday, causing at least 16 deaths. After focusing on the latest updates in the recovery effort, the president spent several minutes discussing the garbage fight.

"I want a boat prepared," Duterte said, tapping a conference table for emphasis. "I'll give a warning to Canada, maybe next week, that they better pull that thing out — or I will set sail" and return the rubbish.

"I cannot understand why they're making us a dump site," Duterte said.

Duterte said he doesn't care what Canada does with the garbage: "Eat it if you want to."

He jokingly suggested Canadians should prepare a gala reception to mark the repatriation of the refuse, which dates from the previous Filipino administration headed by President Benigno Aquino III.

"Prepare and celebrate," Duterte said, "because your garbage is coming home."

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2019-04-24 14:32:00Z
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Philippines' President Duterte threatens to sail garbage back to Canada - NBC News

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April 24, 2019, 1:08 PM UTC

By Reuters

MANILA — Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte berated Canada on Tuesday in a long-running dispute over waste exported to the Southeast Asia nation, threatening to sail it back to Canada.

Manila has filed several diplomatic protests with Canada over tons of waste shipped to the Philippines between 2013 and 2014. Canada has said the shipment was a commercial transaction and was not backed by its government.

"For Canada's garbage, I want a boat prepared," Duterte told officials after being briefed on an earthquake that struck the Philippines on Monday.

"They better pull that thing out or I will set sail to Canada and dump their garbage there," Duterte added.

In a statement on Wednesday, Canada's embassy in Manila said officials from both countries were working on issues related to removing the waste "with a view to a timely resolution" and "to ensure the material is processed in an environmentally responsible way."

There have been other issues that have strained ties between Manila and Ottawa.

Last year, Duterte ordered the military to cancel a $233 million deal to buy 16 helicopters from Canada, after Ottawa expressed concerns they could be used to fight rebels.

In 2017 at the end of a summit of Asian and Western nations in Manila, Duterte berated Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for raising questions about his war on drugs.

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2019-04-24 13:08:00Z
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Sri Lanka's leader calls for officials' firings as Easter suicide bombers revealed to be ‘well-educated peo... - Fox News

Sri Lanka's president has called for the resignations of the country’s defense secretary and national police chief Wednesday after officials admitted to suffering a “major lapse” in communications in the lead-up to the Easter Sunday bombings, which have left more than 350 people dead.

The announcement comes as officials also revealed that the nine suicide bombers responsible for the attacks were “quite well-educated people” who are believed to have studied abroad and obtained degrees in places like the U.K. and Australia before returning to their homeland. Two of those bombers, they added, were a husband and wife duo.

"It was a major lapse in the sharing of information," deputy defense minister Ruwan Wijewardene told reporters Wednesday, according to AFP, just minutes before news broke that his boss may be on the way out. "The government has to take responsibility."

It wasn’t immediately clear who would replace the two key officials, but President Maithripala Sirisena said during a televised speech Tuesday that he planned to change the head of the defense forces within 24 hours.

CLERIC 'MASTERMIND' BEHIND SRI LANKA ATTACKS KNOWN FOR HATE-FILLED SERMONS, POSSIBLE ISIS LINKS

A priest conducts religious rituals during a mass burial for Easter Sunday bomb blast victims in Negombo, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday. (AP)

The looming shakeup in Sri Lanka’s leadership follows widespread criticism directed at its government for failing to act on warnings it received about the bombers in the days leading up to the attacks. Its top officials have issued and then walked back numerous statements in the aftermath, such as the affiliations of the bombers and possible ties to a recent mass shooting in New Zealand. The statements often have been made without any supporting evidence, adding to the confusion as investigators are still searching for answers. The official death toll on Wednesday rose to 359.

“We believe that one of the suicide bombers studied in the U.K. and later did his postgraduate in Australia before coming back and settling in Sri Lanka,” the Guardian quoted Wijewardene as saying Wednesday.

“This group of suicide bombers, most of them are well-educated and come from middle or upper-middle class, so they are financially quite independent and their families are quite stable financially, that is a worrying factor in this,” he added. “Some of them have I think studied in various other countries, they hold degrees, LLMs [law degrees], they’re quite well-educated people.”

Investigators also told the AFP that two of the bombers were sons of a wealthy spice trader in Colombo – Sri Lanka’s capital and site of many of the attacks. Two others, according to police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara, were a husband and wife duo.

That woman, two children and three policemen are said to have died in an explosion as authorities closed in on her late Sunday, hours after attacks were launched against three churches and three hotels.

This undated image posted by the Islamic State group's Aamaq news agency on Tuesday purports to show Mohammed Zahran, a.k.a. Zahran Hashmi, center, the man Sri Lanka says led the Easter attack that killed more than 350 people, as well as other attackers.

OCASIO-CORTEZ CALLED OUT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA SILENCE IN WAKE OF SRI LANKA ATTACKS

Gunasekara said 60 people have been arrested so far, while U.S. Ambassador Alaina Teplitz confirmed that a team of FBI agents and U.S. military officials are helping in the investigation.

Teplitz told reporters Wednesday that "clearly there was some failure in the system," but said the U.S. had no prior knowledge of a threat before the attacks, the worst violence in the South Asian island nation since its civil war ended a decade ago. She described the breakdown in communication amongst Sri Lankan officials as "incredibly tragic."

Sources close to the investigation told The Guardian that up to nine people linked to the bombings could still be at large. Among those arrested so far are six Pakistani refugees, including two women and two children. A police official says security footage and telephone records indicated that the refugees may have been in contact with one of the alleged church bombers, it added.

A view of St. Sebastian's Church damaged in suicide blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AP)

Sri Lankan authorities had earlier blamed a local extremist group, National Towheed Jamaar, whose leader, alternately named Mohammed Zahran or Zahran Hashmi, became known to Muslim leaders three years ago for his incendiary online speeches. On Wednesday, Wijewardene said the attackers had broken away from National Towheed Jamaar and another group, which he identified only as "JMI."

Teplitz declined to discuss whether U.S. officials knew about National Towheed Jamaar or its leader before the attack. "If we had heard something, we would have tried to do something about this," Teplitz said.

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Wijewardene also edged away from comments he made Tuesday that the bombings were retaliation for the March 15 mosque shootings by a white supremacist in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 50 people. He told reporters Wednesday that the mosque attack may have been a motivation for the bombings, but that there was no direct evidence of that.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday she hasn't received any official advice from Sri Lanka or seen any intelligence reports to corroborate the claims.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-04-24 12:32:22Z
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