New Delhi, Jan. 28: Sarath Fonseka, who lost the presidential polls, had plotted to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapakse and create a “bloodbath”, Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan defence secretary and brother of the President, alleged in an exclusive telephone interview from Colombo on Thursday. However, Gen. Fonseka, a former Sri Lankan Army Chief, rejected the allegations and said they were “trumped up charges” to arrest him.
“Yes, he was planning (to assassinate the President.) It is not a secret,” Mr G. Rajapakse said, and pointed an accusing finger at “Western governments” for colluding with the retired general to oust President Rajapakse. Some foreign governments had funded the Opposition political parties, he said without elaborating.
“There was no reason for (Gen. Fonseka) to round up commandos and deserters. This is not politics,” he said, and alleged how Gen. Fonseka had drawn up a list” of top leaders and government officials and put together a team of Army deserters and retired commandos “to create panic”.
The defence secretary’s allegations came soon after the Sri Lankan defence ministry claimed in Colombo that there was “ample evidence” to prove that Gen. Fonseka hatched the conspiracy from two hotels in Colombo.
[The director of the Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hullugale, claimed that the President and his family were to be assassinated along Galle Road in Colombo or at the Lake House Junction in the commerce hub of Fort, PTI reports. He claimed nine Army deserters, arrested from outside a hotel in Colombo on Wednesday, were part of the plot and that investigations are underway. Reacting to the allegation, Gen. Fonseka said: “These are trumped up charges to arrest me for an attempted coup... My passport has been blacklisted and I cannot leave the country now.”]
In a separate telephone interview to this newspaper from Colombo, Sri Lankan foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama said there would be a “greater focus” on national reconciliation and the healing process in President Rajapakse’s second term in office.
Mr Bogollagama noted that the renewed mandate meant President Rajapakse’s government could carry forward his “vision” of a politically united and economically stronger Sri Lanka. He also said that with the re-election of President Rajapakse, the government would be able to approach bilateral and multilateral relationships from “a position of strength”.
The Sri Lankan government rejected the allegation that it had ulterior motives in deploying soldiers around the hotel Gen. Fonseka had been staying in. The government “did nothing”, Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse asserted, and dismissed Gen. Fonseka’s charge that the Sri Lankan Army attempted to eliminate him.
“(They) created an imaginary situation and sent out bogus SMSes (in the hope of garnering) sympathy of people,” he said in the government’s defence. Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse said the Sri Lankan government planned to initiate an inquiry, besides contemplating “civil and military action” against Gen. Fonseka for compromising national secrets. “He (disclosed) certain secrets that were discussed in the National Security Council and used it from a political platform ... which was wrong, illegal and unethical .... He can be charged under military law,” Mr G. Rajapakse alleged.
He evaded a direct reply when asked whether the government intended to “arrest” the retired general. Due legal process would be followed, was all he would say.
Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse said Sri Lanka, under President Mahinda Rajapakse, would continue to develop relations with India. “India is very important ... we have cordial relations. The President has got the confidence of the Indian leaders,” he said, adding that India extended valuable assistance for the development of the northern and eastern provinces. Both Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Mr Bogollagama maintained that development and national reconciliation would be the priorities for the government.
Ramesh Ramachandran