Army Commander rebuffs Gen Fonseka's claims

Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya today categorically refuted the accusations levelled against him by the ex-Chief of Defence Staff, General Sarath Fonseka.

At a meeting held at Kilinochchi, Army 58 Division Headquarters with the participation of high-ranking officials of the Army who directly contributed in the humanitarian mission to liberate the North, Commander Jayasuriya noted that the logic behind General Fonseka's argument that he (Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya) should not be promoted to the rank of Army Commander is baseless and said that the Commanding Officers, Brigade Commanders, Task Force Commanders, and Divisional Commanders who actively participated in the mission to liberate the country from the clutches of terrorism will substantiate his contribution in the ground operations.

"The staff present here today will evident whether I was serving in 'Hold Formation' position as claimed by Gen. Fonseka or offensive operations," he said.

Commander Jayasuriya said that Gen. Fonseka has forgotten the changes and replacement of officers and soldiers that he did immediately after assuming duties as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army but has instigate a move to find faults with him claiming that the present changes at the Army Head Quarters are unacceptable.

"Gen. Fonseka as the Commander of the Army did the same changes such as deploying the soldiers and officers of his mother unit to manoeuvre the Army Head Quarters, and it has been the tradition for the past 19 consecutive years," Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya noted.

Army Commander went on to say that the former Commander Fonseka made major changes in appointments in the Army in accordance with his wish, which Gen. Fonseka is seeing as misconduct now.