Gen Fonseka returns from US

(November 05, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka arrived today morning and was welcomed at the VIP Lounge at the BIA, Katunayaka. The private media was not given access to cover his arrival and thereafter Gen Fonseka was driven under a tight security cover. Security had been intensified along the Katunayaka road as well.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama is due to explain to the media today morning about the diplomatic efforts by the government to prevent Gen Fonseka being interviewed by the US Department of Homeland Security.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United States, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, expressed gratitude to the US government Wednesday for consultations that allowed General Sarath Fonsaka, Chief of Defense Staff, to forego an interview with the US Department of Homeland Security.

According to the statement issued by the Sri Lankan embassy in Washington, "General Fonseka left the United States for Colombo Tuesday night.(November 03, 2009) He did not take part in questioning prior to his departure by the Department of Homeland Security or any other agency of the US Government."

“I want to personally thank the State Department and Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Ambassador in Sri Lanka, for their cooperation in this matter,” Ambassador Wickramasuriya said.

Last week General Fonseka, who was then in the United States, received a phone call from an official of the Department of Homeland Security requesting an interview. Subsequently he received a letter from the department requesting that he present himself for the interview on the 4th of November in Oklahoma City, Okla.

-Sri Lanka Guardian