Govt. hopes travel advisories will be withdrawn soon

By Ajith Siriwardana and 
Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya  
Claiming that no travel bans have been issued other than travel advisories for citizens in some countries, Public Security Minister Vijitha Herath said yesterday the embassies have expressed confidence regarding the security situation in the country and expressed hope that travel advisories will be withdrawn within the next few days.   
Speaking at a special press conference, the minister said that tourist arrivals have not been impacted due to the current situation adding that Israeli tourists had arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday as well.   

He requested politicians not to use the incident to gain political advantage while calling on the people not get misled by the rumours.   
The Minister said three suspects were arrested in connection with security threats to Israeli nationals in the Arugam Bay area adding that all the suspects are 
Sri Lankan nationals.   
“The arrested suspects are currently being questioned regarding the incident. Details about the suspects cannot be disclosed to the public as it will hinder the investigations,” he said.   
Responding to a question as to why the government did not inform the people regarding the intelligence information, the Minister said Sri Lankan authorities received intelligence information about a potential attack on Israeli nationals earlier this month but did not inform the public as it was not verified information.   
“However, we took all the steps to beef up security in tourist areas such as Ella, Arugam Bay, Weligama and Ahungalla soon after the information was received. Similar information had also been received by the authorities during the previous government as well,” he said.   
The Minister said the intelligence report had not given specific information on the nature of the attack but only on a positional security threat to Israelis who would gather at some isolated areas for a religious ritual at the end of October.