Major General Nanda is Lanka’s acting Army Chief

COLOMBO: Lankan President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, Mahinda Rajapakse has appointed Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army, Major General Nanda Mallawarachchi as the acting Army Chief, media report here said on Sunday.

“He will serve in this capacity until Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka,  now undergoing treatment in a Singapore hospital, recovers and  returns to his post,'' Colombo-based Sunday Times newspaper  reported here.

Although Major General Mallawarachchi has been overlooking most of  the responsibilities of the Army Commander his official appointment  has come only on Friday.

Battle-hardened Army Chief, General Fonseka, who miraculously survived with serious injuries in a suicide bomb attack on his car in Colombo on April 25, was flown to Singapore last month for further medical attention and according to the media report he had  undergone further surgeries there.