Colombo: Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff
General Sarath Fonseka returned to the country on Thursday after
cutting short a US visit to skip grilling by the authorities
there on alleged human rights violations during the last phase
of the war against LTTE.
"We facilitated General Fonseka's early departure ahead
of his Wednesday meeting with the DHS (Department of Homeland
Security)," Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told
reporters here.
He said Fonseka had earlier agreed to be questioned, but
the government feared he would be asked to provide evidence
against Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. While Fonseka
has a green card, Gotabhaya, brother of President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, holds US citizenship.
"General Fonseka is a high-ranking public official and
our position is that he cannot be used as a source against
another high ranking official. That's incriminating," he said.
The Sri Lankan government yesterday said Fonseka, who was
scheduled to have a meeting with the US authorities in
Oklahama, was allowed to leave without any questioning after
"diplomatic contacts and endeavours".
It said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs appreciates the
receptive and constructive attitude adopted by the US
authorities, which in turn allowed General Fonseka to leave
the United States without any damage to the national interest
of Sri Lanka and to the dignity of his Office."
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 05, 2009, 19:26