Thursday, August 18 2005 19:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: The Sri Lankan Parliament today (August 18, 2005) extended a state of emergency, imposed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga last week, following the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar by suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

The extension was passed by a vote of 124-21 after Public Security Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake asked Parliament to vote in favour of the motion to extend the emergency for a period of one month.

Wickremanayake said such a strong framework was needed to investigate crimes like murder, intimidation, extortion and child conscription, after legislators debated for six hours at an extra-ordinary session called by the President.

Though the Chandrika Kamaratunga-led Government is in a minority following the withdrawal of support to it by the main Marxist coalition partner, the Government was confident of getting the emergency extension approved by the Parliament.

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) had offered their conditional support for the motion, paving the way for the extension without any difficulty in the floor of the House.

The emergency laws give sweeping powers to the military to make arrests, interrogate suspects and conduct search operations anywhere in the island.

Meanwhile, police continued to round up suspects, but no arrests or breakthrough was made in the investigation into Friday's (August 12, 2005) slaying of Kadirgamar, Police Deputy Inspector General Pujith Jayasundara said.