U.S. has sought Fonseka release?

Former Sri Lankan military chief Sarath Fonseka

The U.S. has sought release of the jailed former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka, according to a local nationalist English newspaper. The U.S. Embassy here said the report was not accurate.

“The U.S. has warned the government that the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva would be moved against Sri Lanka unless the defeated presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka, whom the U.S. considered a political prisoner, is released from prison forthwith,” the newspaper, The Island said. Quoting unnamed sources, the news report said that the warning was conveyed at a meeting between a U.S. diplomat and a top Minister representing the main political party in the ruling UPFA coalition, the SLFP.

“The conversation between a U.S. Embassy official and a Sri Lankan Minister was not reported accurately,” said the U.S. embassy spokesperson in Colombo, in an e-mail communication to

The Hindu , when asked if the U.S. had sought the release.