Colombo: Fire gutted a Muslim-owned clothing chain in Panadura, 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of the capital Colombo, Saturday where days earlier Buddhist mobs attacked Muslim shops in deadly violence condemned by the international community, police said.
Sri Lankan police were investigating the cause of the blaze which Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem, the most senior Muslim in President Mahinda Rajapakse's cabinet, described as an arson attack.
He said the fire at the "No Limit" clothing store in Panadura, 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of the capital Colombo, was the latest attack against Muslims, who account for about 10 percent of the 20 million population in the mainly-Buddhist country.
Hakeem blamed the government for failing to control a hardline Buddhist group widely blamed for riots on Sunday and Monday that also destroyed hundreds of homes and shops.
"Irrespective of who is responsible for the terrible events that unfolded... none would dispute that it was a serious dislocation of the ability of the state to maintain the rule of law," Hakeem said after an emergency meeting Saturday with Rajapakse.
Hakeem, who is under pressure from his minority community to resign over the government's failure to deal with the unrest, called for an independent investigation.
The President said he was ordering a probe into "recent disturbances".
"I will be appointing a high-level panel to inquire into recent disturbances," the President said on Twitter.
In a separate pre-recorded message released to reporters, Rajapakse also accused unnamed "foreign forces" of stirring unrest to destabilise his country.
"Foreign forces which have tried to destabilise our country are behind attempts to stir communal and religious unrest," he said without naming anyone.
Last Sunday, a mob led by militants from Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Power Force, which rails against the country's Muslim minority, hurled gasoline bombs and looted Muslim homes and businesses in the same district.
The attacks killed three people and wounded more than 50. Muslims shut their shops on Thursday to protest the violence and demand justice. The government has promised an impartial investigation and police have detained more than 30 people in connection with the attacks.
Bodu Bala Sena has been gaining followers and is believed to enjoy state support. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's powerful defense secretary and the president's brother, once made a public appearance supporting the group's cause.
Sri Lanka is still deeply scarred by its 1983-2009 civil war between the Buddhist Sinhalese majority and ethnic Tamil rebels, who are largely Hindu, but Buddhist-Muslim violence has been relatively rare.
The United Nations, European Union and the United States have expressed concern about the violence and have urged the government to protect religious minorities.
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