REFUGEE

The President’s security advisors it is learnt are looking at the possibility of earning the people’s sympathy towards the President during the election campaign by using various terrorism threats. It is also reliably learnt that Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was in the process of conducting a proper study on the matter.

The Defence Secretary and several other officials have had a secret discussion last Friday to explore the possibility of the repercussions of having a bomb explosion in a meeting attended by the President. An advisor to the Defence Ministry, two senior officers from the Army and a


senior Navy officer had also attended the discussion.

Military sources said the Military Police personnel had entered into the residence of retired Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka at midnight on the 25th to remove the vehicles provided to the General on an order issued by the Defence Secretary.

Although the Defence Secretary had ordered Army Commander Lt. General Jagath Jayasuriya to send Military Police personnel to the General’s residence, the Army Commander had objected to it. Lt. General Jayasruiya had said that if the General was subject to any harm due to a reduction in his security, the Army soldiers would hold him responsible and would even stone him.

Sources said Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had then reprimanded the Army Commander saying he would issue the order and get it done himself and had ordered the Military Police personnel to visit the General’s residence.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has told the Ravaya newspaper that General Sarath Fonseka harbored immense hatred towards him. He had made this statement when the Ravaya newspaper had questioned him if the General has been provided with adequate security after his retirement.

The newspaper report further states, “Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told Ravaya newspaper that although it was Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge who handled the security provided to the former Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka, the General was angry with him.”

The Defence Secretary has also said that since the General’s request for the bullet proof vehicle used by the Army Commander be handed over to him could not be granted since he was retiring from the service, the government had taken steps to give him the second bullet proof vehicle used by the Army Commander.

He noted that since the General was assigned a larger contingent of security personnel even more than the President, he could not be provided with a similar contingent after his retirement.

Gotabhaya Rajapksa has said the General had spread a false story about the request to return his official residence. The Defence Secretary has said since the General was in possession of two official residences assigned to the Army Commander, he was asked to return one in writing. He also said that he had heard the General was planning to move into a rented house on the 20th.

Sources from the Presidential Secretariat say that the statement about Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa not entering politics is part of a media campaign spearheaded by Managing Director of Triad advertising agency, Dilith Jayaweera to drown the opposition raised by senior SLFP members against the Rajapaksa family.

Sources said Triad’s media campaign was launched following the mud slinging campaign carried out against Gotabhaya by senior SLFP members in the Kurunegala District as well as members of the UNP following news that he was planning on contesting at the next general

election from the Kurunegala District and the negative publicity received by Gotabhaya due to his rift with General Sarath Fonseka.

Dilith Jayaweera has personally undertaken the task of trying to resolve the issues faced by Gotabhaya by meeting with several ministers from the Kurunegala District and also organizing a personal meeting with UNP parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera at the Golf Club in Colombo. Dilith had managed to get Dayasiri to agree that he would not attack Gotabhaya. Dilith had even taken Dayasiri for an event that evening where he was introduced to Gotabhaya.

Sources also said that Dilith had advised the Defence Secretary to keep silent for a few weeks until the campaign was duly completed.