Sri Lanka's government was locked in a war of words with the powerful president on Saturday over a landmark Norwegian-brokered ceasefire with Tamil Tiger guerrillas. President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who has sweeping powers to sack the government and suspend parliament, on Friday, criticised her archrival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for keeping her in the dark about the truce.
"This is entirely incorrect. Unfortunately the president was not present at this meeting of the cabinet (when the truce was discussed)," the government retorted in a statement.
The government is ready to debate the truce in parliament which Kumaratunga's party lost control of in an election in December, the statement said.
Kumaratunga belongs to the main opposition party and has in the past lampooned Wickremesinghe for his peace plans but says she supports Norway's efforts to end a war that has killed more than 64,000 people. Kumaratunga said she would voice specific concerns in the next few days about the Friday's truce agreement which could pave the way for the first peace talks in seven years.
The December polls were fought on competing peace strategies with Kumaratunga taking a much tougher stance than Wickremesinghe on the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The rebels are fighting for a separate Tamil state for minority Tamils in the country's north and east.
Bureau Report