Ex-President's residence contacted by SIS several occasions before Terror Attacks

Colombo (News 1st); Former SIS Director Nilantha Jayawardena said he had contacted President Maithripala Sirisena's official residence on multiple occasions before the April 21st attacks last year after receiving foreign intelligence warnings of an impending attack.

In a testimony to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the 2019 April 21st Attacks, former State Intelligence Service Director Nilantha Jayawardena said he had contacted the then President Maithripala Sirisena's official residence on six occassions on the month of the attacks.

The calls were made on the 8th, 9th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of April 2019.

However, it was not revealed at the commission whether the foreign intelligence warnings of the attacks received on the 4th of April last year had been conveyed during these phone calls.

The former SIS Director said the warnings sent by foreign intelligence units on the attacks could only be considered as information and not an intelligence information.

He told the commission the SIS had to develop that information to an intelligence report.