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Sri Lanka “regrets” Fonseka’s remarks

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Monday expressed “regret” over the published derogatory remarks of its Army Chief, Sarath Fonseka, targeting a section of the Tamil Nadu politicians, after India lodged a strong protest.

Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad called up Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and protested against the remarks of the Sri Lanka Army Chief in an interview to state-run Sunday Observer weekly, describing a section of the Tamil Nadu politicians who are demanding cessation of hostilities against the LTTE and resumption of talks as “political jokers.”

“The Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka promised to look into the matter and conveyed regrets should any such comment have been made,” a spokesperson of the Indian High Commissioner said on the conversation between the High Commissioner and the Sri Lanka Defence Secretary.

Gen. Fonseka had asserted that the Indian government would not be influenced by pressure from a section of the political parties in Tamil Nadu to counsel Colombo to call off the ongoing war against the LTTE.

He said: “It [New Delhi] would not listen to the political jokers of Tamil Nadu whose survival depends on the LTTE ... If the LTTE is wiped out, those political jokers like [Tamil Nationalist Movement leader) P. Nedumaran, Vaiko and whoever who is sympathising with the LTTE will most probably lose their income from the LTTE.”

The Lake House Group, which publishes the Sunday Observer, announced on Monday that its Editor-in-Chief was being replaced. It is not clear if the replacement is related to the interview.

This is not the first time in recent weeks that the Sri Lanka Army Chief has got embroiled in a controversy over his statements in the media. His comments in another interview that Sri Lanka was a “Sinhala nation” had triggered protests in various quarters.

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