COLOMBO, May 05 (Agencies): Sri Lanka has expelled over 600 foreign nationals, including around 200 Muslim clerics, since the Easter suicide bombings blamed on a local jihadi group, a minister told AFP on Sunday.
Home Affairs Minister Vajira Abeywardena said the clerics had entered the country legally, but amid a security crackdown after the attacks were found to have overstayed their visas, for which fines were imposed and they were expelled from the island.
"Considering the current situation in the country, we have reviewed the visas system and took a decision to tighten visa restrictions for religious teachers," Abeywardena said.
"Out of those who were sent out, about 200 were Islamic preachers."
The Easter Sunday bombings that killed 257 people and wounded nearly 500 were led by a local cleric who is known to have travelled to neighbouring India and had made contact with jihadists there.
The minister did not give the nationalities of those who have been expelled.
"There are religious institutions which have been getting down foreign preachers for decades," Abeywardena said. "We have no issues with them, but there are some which mushroomed recently. We will pay more attention to them."
A letter from Pope Francis addressed to him was read out at the end of the service in which the pontiff said he prayed that "hearts hardened by hatred may yield to His will for peace and reconciliation among all his children."
At St. Anthony's Shrine in Colombo, one of the sites targeted by Easter suicide bombings that killed 257 people, a Mass was celebrated for a small group of children and youth as a means for inner healing. Almost all churches remained closed with armed soldiers and police guarding them.
Authorities canceled Sunday services after reports emerged that a Catholic church and lay institution could be targeted this weekend.
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