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Defence Minister knew nothing about sinking
of ship

At a special meeting of Ministers held in Parliament yesterday (June 17), it was disclosed that Defence Minister Thilak Marapana knew nothing about the sinking of a LTTE ship off the Mullaitivu coast until the vessel's explosion and sinking were over.

Answering the Ministers, Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe said that any steps in this regard could be considered only after receiving the report of the Monitoring Mission which is currently investigating the incident. At this meeting, Ministers expressed their doubts whether this could be an act of sabotage as not only the Defence Minister, but also the Head of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy did not know anything about the incident until it was over.

The position of the Navy in this regard is that they did not attack the ship but it exploded on its own and sank, while the Presidential version is that the vessel was sunk because no illegal activity could be tolerated in the name of peace. The LTTE's position is that the ship was attacked and sunk by the Navy.

Meanwhile, the Defence Minister is said to have inquired from relevant sources as to why he was not informed about the incident.

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