<p class="title">As the Islamic call to prayer echoed through the subdued streets of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, crowds of Muslims were greeted with an unusual sight: their golden-domed Mosque flanked by soldiers armed with assault rifles.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Security has ballooned in the seaside capital since a series of coordinated suicide attacks at hotels and churches on Easter Sunday killed 253 people and sent shockwaves through an island state that had enjoyed a decade of relative peace.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nearly 10,000 soldiers were deployed across the Indian Ocean island state to carry out searches and provide security for religious centres.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Fears of retaliatory sectarian violence have already caused Muslim communities to flee their homes amid bomb scares, lockdowns and security sweeps.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But at the Kollupitiya Jumma Masjid mosque, tucked in between sleepy side streets, hundreds defied government calls to stay at home, attending a service they say was focused on a call for people of all religions to help return peace to Sri Lanka.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's a very sad situation," said 28-year-old sales worker Raees Ulhaq, as soldiers hurried on dawdling worshippers and sniffer dogs nosed their way through pot-holed lanes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We work with Christians, Buddhists, Hindus. It has been a threat for all of us because of what these few people have done to this beautiful country."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sunday's bombings shattered the relative calm that has existed in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka since a civil war against mostly Hindu ethnic Tamil separatists ended 10 years ago.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sri Lanka's 22 million people include minority Christians, Muslims and Hindus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Muslims and Christians have largely lived peacefully side-by-side, immune from much of the tension that exists between the religious groups in many parts of the world.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Most Sri Lankans are praying that the church blasts five days ago will not open up irreversible rifts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Not all Muslims are terrorists," Abdul Waheed Mohamed, a 43-year-old engineer, said after leaving Friday prayers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Every day since this carnage happened, me, my family, and all, we are praying to God, please bring us peace." </p>
<p class="title">As the Islamic call to prayer echoed through the subdued streets of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, crowds of Muslims were greeted with an unusual sight: their golden-domed Mosque flanked by soldiers armed with assault rifles.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Security has ballooned in the seaside capital since a series of coordinated suicide attacks at hotels and churches on Easter Sunday killed 253 people and sent shockwaves through an island state that had enjoyed a decade of relative peace.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nearly 10,000 soldiers were deployed across the Indian Ocean island state to carry out searches and provide security for religious centres.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Fears of retaliatory sectarian violence have already caused Muslim communities to flee their homes amid bomb scares, lockdowns and security sweeps.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But at the Kollupitiya Jumma Masjid mosque, tucked in between sleepy side streets, hundreds defied government calls to stay at home, attending a service they say was focused on a call for people of all religions to help return peace to Sri Lanka.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's a very sad situation," said 28-year-old sales worker Raees Ulhaq, as soldiers hurried on dawdling worshippers and sniffer dogs nosed their way through pot-holed lanes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We work with Christians, Buddhists, Hindus. It has been a threat for all of us because of what these few people have done to this beautiful country."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sunday's bombings shattered the relative calm that has existed in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka since a civil war against mostly Hindu ethnic Tamil separatists ended 10 years ago.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sri Lanka's 22 million people include minority Christians, Muslims and Hindus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Muslims and Christians have largely lived peacefully side-by-side, immune from much of the tension that exists between the religious groups in many parts of the world.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Most Sri Lankans are praying that the church blasts five days ago will not open up irreversible rifts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Not all Muslims are terrorists," Abdul Waheed Mohamed, a 43-year-old engineer, said after leaving Friday prayers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Every day since this carnage happened, me, my family, and all, we are praying to God, please bring us peace." </p>