Sri Lanka Marks 40th Year of Independence
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — This former British colony’s 40th year of independence was marked on Thursday with a pageant that displayed Sri Lanka’s racial diversity.
President Junius R. Jayewardene and his wife watched the parade in front of the Parliament building, where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt in August by an outlawed group opposed to a peace pact with India to end the Tamil separatist rebellion.
Death threats against Jayewardene and his officials prompted tight security Thursday, which included the president switching to another car from the Rolls-Royce he normally uses.
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