|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Major General Fonseka will not be transferred - Defense Sec
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo,
SLT 7.30 a.m Thursday 2 January.
Defense Secretary Austin Fernando said that Major General Sarath Fonseka,
Security Forces Commander in Jaffna will not be transferred because some one
requests him to be transferred. Speaking at a media conference held at the
Ministry of Defense, yesterday (Wednesday) Fernando said, " We have not
received any letter from any politician or anyone else requesting General
Fonseka to be transferred from the North. The transfers are not done on
anybody's request." However, Fernando said that Admiral Sarath Weerasekaras
transfer was a routine one and the government did not do it on anyone's
request. Reports said that United National Party Member of Parliament
T.Maheshwaran asked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe to remove General
Fonseka and Admiral Sarath Weerasekara, the top commanders from the Jaffna
peninsula. Speaking on the issue of High Security Zones, Fernando said that
there were conflicting reports on the number of house and people who have
been displaced because of the high security zone. "General Fonseka's says
that 8000 houses would have been there while the Government Agents figures
are 15,000. The LTTE says that 29,000 houses would have been in the zone. It
is not clear and we have to get the correct figures. We got to verify and
plan the whole thing." In response to a question the defense secretary said
that Army's presence in the area cannot be considered as a violation of the
MOU signed between the LTTE and the government. Commenting on his tour to
the North on Tuesday the defense secretary pointed out that people in
Gurunagar told him that they were not harassed by the Armed forces and even
the government agent confirmed it. The Defense Secretary also said that the
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission would fix a meeting on 14 January in Muhamalai
to discuss the issues concerning the High Security Zones. He was of the
opinion that some of the issues could be resolved by discussions. Fernando
emphasized, "We are optimistic" However, the defense secretary lamented that
the LTTE would not be willing to give up their heavy weapons. He said, " It
looks that they are not willing to give up the heavy weapons.
Published: Wed Jan 1 20:31:05 EST 2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ASK WIMAL!
|
This session has now ended!
ANSWERS 1-17, 22-23 HERE!.
The Lanka Academic is delighted to announce its next guest in its
series of Q & A sessions: Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, the Propaganda
Secretary, a member of the Political Bureau, and the leader of the
group of Parliamentarians of People's Liberation Front (JVP), in Sri
Lanka. Submit your questions for Mr. Weerawansa and view his answers
here. As usual, we will forward your questions to
him in batches and will post the answers as they arrive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
O
T
H
E
R
H
E
A
D
L
I
N
E
S
|
|
|
|
Sri Lanka seeks compromise with Tigers over resettlement issue
Press Trust of India,
Colombo,Wednesday, January 01, 2003.
Sri Lanka will seek a compromise with Tamil Tiger rebels over their demand for shrinking military bases in the name of resettling refugees, a top defence official has said.
Defence Secretary Austin Fernando said the Scandinavian team monitoring a truce between government forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had called for a fresh meeting between the two sides within two weeks to discuss the issue.
"I am optimistic that we can discuss these matters and come to a compromise," Fernando told reporters here.
More...
Published: Wed Jan 1 16:15:08 EST 2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Navy commander denies report on shooting incident
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo,
SLT 2.00 p.m Wednesday 1 January.
Navy Commander Admiral Daya Sandagiri denied news reports that a fisherman
was shot dead by the Navy in Muttur yesterday. He said that investigations
have revealed that the fisherman's died due to drowning and the injured
fisherman did not have any gunshot injuries Sandagiri said that the Navy
does not go to the area often and it was wrong to accuse the navy of killing
the fisherman.
Published: Wed Jan 1 02:52:19 EST 2003
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
