Sri Lanka president Sirisena: PM was sacked over assassination plot

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka's president said on Sunday he sacked his prime minister mainly because of the alleged involvement of a Cabinet minister in a plot to murder him.

In the televised address to the nation, President Maithripala Sirisena said that he had been investigated by the United States.

Ranil Wickremesinghe and his former nemesis and formerly strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa to take over the prime minister and form a new government.

"This information (received by investigators) contains a number of details hitherto hidden to the people," Sirisena said. "The informant has made a statement regarding a Cabinet minister involved in the conspiracy to badbadinate me."

He did not reveal the name of the minister nor did he explain the claims credible.

Sirisena's supporters have spoken to him, but Sunday was the first time Sirisena had commented on it.

A police informing named Namal Kumara who first came out with the alleged badbadination plot told reporters Sunday that Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet colleague, Sarath Fonseka, train army commander, were behind the badbadination plot.

There was no immediate comment from Wickremesinghe or Fonseka on the allegation.

The alleged plot has been under police investigation, but no arrests have been made.

Wickremesinghe has called Sirisena's move to an unconstitutional and said he can get his majority support in Parliament.

On Saturday, Sirisena Suspended Parliament in an apparent move to give Rajapaksa time to try to muster enough support to survive any no-confidence vote.

The speaker of Parliament urged Sirisena to Wickremesinghe's rights.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said in a letter to Sirisena on Sunday that the continued suspension of Parliament would have "serious and undesirable consequences."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington is following the events in Sri Lanka "with concern" and called on Sirisena to reconvene parliament.

Meanwhile, one person died and two others were wounded on Sunday in a shooting at the Petroleum Ministry, in the first violent incident since the political turmoil began on Friday with the sacking of Wickremesinghe.

Pushpa Soyza, a spokeswoman at Colombo National Hospital, said three people were admitted to the hospital following the shooting, and one of them had died.

Arjuna Ranatunga, who was petroleum minister under Wickremesinghe, said one of his security guards opened fire when Rajapaksa supporters mobbed him and protested against him.

Opposition lawmakers, supporting the new prime minister, asked Wickremesinghe to vacate his official residence or face a forcible eviction.

Hundreds of Wickremesinghe supporters continued to gather on Sunday evening for the second consecutive day, Sirisena and Rajapaksa waving party flags and denouncing. Buddhist monks performed religious rites to invoke blessings on Wickremesinghe.

Jayasuriya said in the letter that he had "a request to protect the rights and privileges" of Wickremesinghe "until any other person emerges from within Parliament". He said the request came from two senior lawmakers from the sacked prime minister's party.

"This request is particularly important in the context of various threats through the media," Jayasuriya said, adding that "the inevitable takeovers" would have "serious international implications."

Tensions have been building between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe for some time, as the president did not approve of some of the economic reforms being introduced by the prime minister. Sirisena was also critical of the investigation of crimes against humanity during Sri Lanka's long civil war, which ended in 2009.