Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s claimed that over 200 LTTE cadres had secretly left the country through his (Rajapaksa’s) intervention during the last week of the Vanni offensive. Mangala made the allegation at a Foreign Ministry media briefing on Monday(26) evening.
In response, former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said, that the government was striving hard to discredit the former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, which had defeated terrorism against numerous odds. The military brought the war to an end on May 19, 2009. Further, he alleged that the government had made contradictory statements on a number of issues, including matters connected with ex-LTTE cadres.
This unprecedented accusation had been made in the wake of the passage of the Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) Bill recently in Parliament.
Meanwhile, top Joint Opposition spokesperson and Matara District MP Dallas Alahapperuma yesterday called the foreign minister’s accusation a blatant lie.
Addressing the media at Dr N. M. Perera Centre, Alahapperuma alleged that an attempt was made to tarnish the good name of a person who had rendered yeoman service to the nation.
The SLFPer accused Minister Samaraweera of willfully harming the former Defence Secretary’s reputation.
MP Alahapperuma alleged that the government had been engaged in a political project to cover up its failures. With the country in chaos, the Yahapalana rulers had no option but to propagate lies.
