The father of two of the Sri Lanka suicide bombers has been
arrested on suspicion of aiding his sons, Sri Lanka's former navy chief said.
Millionaire spice trader Yoonus Ibrahim, who is the wealthy
father of Inshaf and Ilham Ibrahim, has been arrested for helping the pair to
carry out bomb attacks at two hotels in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Easter Sunday.
Jayanath Colombage, who is now a counter-terrorism expert at
the Pathfinder Foundation, confirmed the arrest today.
Well educated and successful brothers, Inshaf and Ilham
Ibrahim were responsible for the bomb blasts in luxury Shangri-La and Cinnamon
Grand hotels in Colombo on Easter Sunday. The brothers detonated their suicide
vests as guests were eating breakfast.
Their attacks claimed the lives of at least 41 foreigners,
including eight British holidaymakers - three of whom were children.
Hours later, as police raided their mansion in an exclusive
neighbourhood of Colombo, Ilham's pregnant wife Fatima blew herself up, killing
her three children and three officers.
Inshaf was a successful businessman and owned a copper
factory (pictured below) thought to be where the explosives were made and that
was raided by police.
