Sri Lanka’s president declared a state of emergency Wednesday, deepening the country’s political crisis as her political rival was set to meet with President Bush in Washington. President Chandrika Kumaratunga further asserted her power across this troubled island nation, but officials insisted she wouldn’t restart a bloody 20-year civil war and would honor a shaky cease-fire with Tamil Tiger rebels. The crisis began Tuesday when Kumaratunga — who accuses Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of being soft on the rebels — fired three top ministers, suspended Parliament and deployed troops around the capital. The emergency order was certain to infuriate the Tiger rebels, who have fought a two-decade war for independence for the country’s Tamil people, but have held to a cease-fire with the government for more than 18 months. Full Story