Colombo: The US on Thursday dismissed Sri
Lanka's charge that it had provided financial support to
Sarath Fonseka during the January 26 presidential polls and
asked Colombo to ensure safety of those who had supported the
defeated opposition presidential candidate.
"There is no truth to the Sri Lankan Defence
Secretary's claims that the US provided financial support to
the opposition candidate in Sri Lanka's presidential
election," a US Embassy statement said here.
Earlier, in an interview to the 'Strait Times',
powerful Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother of
incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa, accused several Western
nations, including the US, of conspiring with Fonseka.
"We are 100 per cent convinced that Western countries
with vested interests were backing him (Fonseka). Even the US,
and countries like Norway, spent lots of money on his
campaign," the newspaper had quoted Gotabhaya as saying.
"As noted in previous Embassy statements, the US
backed no candidate but strongly supported a free, fair, and
credible democratic process," the statement said.
"In that spirit, we now urge the Sri Lankan Government
to protect the rights of those who supported the opposition or
other candidates in the election and to ensure the safety and
security of representatives of the press. The free expression
of opinion and peaceful participation in the political process
are fundamental democratic rights, which all citizens of Sri
Lanka should enjoy," it said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 11, 2010, 20:57