Sri Lanka has confirmed that it has decided to deny visa to well known US singer Akon after an unidentified group of people attacked the premises of a media group sponsoring the event.In a separate development the JS Tissanayagam , the Tamil journalist from Sri Lanka sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment on various charges has been named as the foreign journalist of the year at the British Press Awards in London. The Director General of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), Lakshman Hulugulle told a news conference that a group has taken responsibility for the attack on the media group and the police are investigating the incident. He, however strongly denied government involvement in the attack. In response to a volley of questions on whether the decision to deny visa to the American singer was linked to the attack, he maintained that it was the prerogative of the Government to grant or deny visa to any person and no reason has been disclosed in the case of Akon.The attack has been criticized within and outside the island nation. Mr. Hulugulle was at pains to emphasise that the Government had nothing to do with the attack on the Sirasa Television group, one of the sponsors of the planned Akon concert in Sri Lanka. The awarded Tamil journalist J S Tissainaygam was convicted under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) by the Sri Lankan Court was granted bail pending appeal by the Appeal Courts in January this year .