The Sunday Times weekly newspaper today revealed that the government had received warnings of a plot to kill the leaders of the national unity government during the military parade of the Independence Day Celebrations.

The President, according to sources close to him, was wearing a bullet proof jacket beneath his waist coat when he attended the Independence Day state ceremony.

According to the weekly political column of the newspaper, the warning spoke of a possible assault on a leader or leaders of the Government when they attended the military parade held outside the parliament complex at Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte. It was to take the form of an incident similar to the one in which Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was killed in 1981 when soldiers at a military parade got down from their vehicles and started shooting at the VVIP dais.

"Defence Secretary B.M.U.D. Basnayake who received the intelligence warning apprised President Sirisena and chaired meetings to plan counter measures. “Immediate precautionary measures were taken to ensure nothing untoward happened,” said a Government source privy to the warning and the events that followed. The warning, however, did not say who the exact target or targets were and from which specific quarter the threat emanated," the Sunday Times said.

"The source declined to elaborate except to say that the information “appeared credible.” Even ahead of the warning of such a surprise attack on Government dignitaries, President Sirisena had sought to have a ceremony to mark the 67th anniversary of independence on a low key. He felt there was no need to display neither the many weapons the military had acquired nor a fly past of fighter jets. He also did not wish the participation of hundreds of schoolchildren. The previous Government had formulated elaborate plans for the celebrations to be held in Weeraketiya, the home ground of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The new venue was chosen by Sirisena,"  the report further added.