One of the masterminds arrested in Saudi Arabia: President

President Maithripala Sirisena said one of the masterminds who orchestrated the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka was arrested in Saudi Arabia a couple of days ago.

The President said this during a meeting with the representatives of Muslim Civil Organizations including the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulema (ACJU) at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday (8).

He said officials from Sri Lanka also went to Saudi Arabia to arrest this person who was one of the masterminds behind the attack.

“This suspect arrested in Saudi is one of the masterminds behind the attack. Altogether, we have identified 130-140 suspects as being involved in this terror group and some of them died in suicide bomb attacks,” he said.

He said the security concerns had been addressed and the situation in the country was better now.

“It is the false reports that mislead people now. When the government is trying to make things better, some elements from both the government and the opposition sides are trying to sabotage our attempts,” he said.

He said the government was doing its best to resolve issues and hindrances faced by the Muslim community at this moment and requested them to be patient a little while longer.