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April 9, 1996
Web posted at: 12:20 a.m. EDT (0420 GMT)









Sri Lankan leader expands state of emergency

Sri Lankan president

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- With the government still engaged in a civil war with Tamil rebels, the president of Sri Lanka announced a nationwide state of emergency Monday.

The order by President Chandrika Kumaratunga gives the military wide powers to arrest and jail suspects, including separatists, and gives her the right to enact laws without parliament's approval.

Her staff said they had information that the guerrillas were "preparing to perpetrate acts of violence" during local elections in June.

The opposition criticized the move as an attempt to curb political activity, and predicted Kumaratunga will use the powers to postpone the elections. The government postponed them in 1995 for one year.

A state of emergency has remained in force in the entire country almost continuously since 1983 when the ethnic war broke out. Kumaratunga retained it only in Colombo and the war-torn north and east after she came to power in 1994. Her latest declaration reimposes it nationwide.

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