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General News
11/4/2009 9:48 PM ET
(RTTNews) -
Sri Lankan Chief of Defense Staff General Sarath Fonseka is returning home from the U.S. without being grilled on alleged human rights violation during the last phase of the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) earlier this year, the government said Wednesday.
The development came soon after Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama summoned the U.S. ambassador Patricia Butenis and demanded that Washington desist from any exercise to engage General Fonseka in a dialogue on the war.
Washington's eagerness to question and use General Fonseka as a possible source against Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa over charges of excesses by the security forces and the LTTE during the 34-month war led to an outrage in the Island nation.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that following "diplomatic endeavors," the U.S. has allowed General Fonseka to leave the country. He left the U.S. Wednesday morning to return to Colombo. General Fonseka, who led the war against the LTTE as the Army chief, is a U.S. Green Card holder and his daughters are in the state of Oklahoma.
The statement also said that the Sri Lankan war hero was not subjected to any questioning prior to his departure by the United States Department of Homeland Security or any other agency of the U.S. Government.
Earlier, the U.S. Department of Home and Security had sent word to General Fonseka's daughter's home in Oklahoma that he should volunteer to be interviewed Wednesday at 3.30 pm Sri Lankan time (1000 GMT) and be a source of information on the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The foreign office statement came hours after a lawmaker of the Marxist JVP, Samantha Vidyaratne told Parliament that he had received information that Fonseka, who was scheduled to have a meeting with the U.S. authorities in Oklahama, has left for Colombo.
Fonseka, who oversaw the army's final campaign against the rebel Tamil Tigers in May, which led their annihilation, is scheduled to arrive in Colombo Thursday, the MP said.
"In the same way this brave soldier rid the country of terrorism, he is now on his way home without betraying the nation," Vidyaratne said.
by RTT Staff Writer
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