Colombo: President Chandrika Kumaratunga today (Nov 6) lifted the state of emergency she announced two days earlier but was preparing a new measure to boost the authority of the armed forces to respond to threats, a Government official said.

The official, who is in charge of printing Government decrees, said Kumaratunga had cancelled the emergency, which officials had said would last for 10 days.

Nevielle Nanayakkara said the President's office has sent new executive orders to expand the powers of the armed forces to respond to threats to the country's law and order, but not to the extent allowed for in a state of emergency.

The emergency would have given broad power to the military, which Kumaratunga controls, to make arrests, interrogate suspects and search houses at will. It also would have banned public gatherings, given the President lawmaking powers and allowed media censorship.

It was not immediately clear why Kumaratunga lifted the emergency, but it coincided with the return of her rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to Colombo from a trip to the US today.

Kumaratunga, who has broad constitutional powers, fired three of Wickremesinghe's Cabinet colleagues and suspended Parliament on November 4 and stationed additional armed military men around the capital. She had imposed the emergency on November 5.

Agencies