Sarath Fonseka returns to Lanka after dodging warcrimes grilling

Sri Lankan chief of defence staff General Sarath Fonseka returned to the country today after cutting short a US visit to skip grilling by the authorities there on alleged human rights violations during the last phase of the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"We facilitated General Fonseka's early departure ahead of his Wednesday meeting with the Department of Homeland Security(DHS)," foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama told reporters here.

He said Fonseka had earlier agreed to be questioned, but the government feared he would be asked to provide evidence against defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. While Fonseka has a green card, Gotabhaya, brother of president Mahinda Rajapaksa, holds US citizenship.

"General Fonseka is a high-ranking public official and our position is that he cannot be used as a source against another high ranking official. That's incriminating," he said.

The Sri Lankan government yesterday said Fonseka, who was scheduled to have a meeting with the US authorities in Oklahama, was allowed to leave without any questioning after "diplomatic contacts and endeavours".

It said, "The ministry of foreign affairs appreciates the receptive and constructive attitude adopted by the US  authorities, which in turn allowed General Fonseka to leave the United States without any damage to the national interest of Sri Lanka and to the dignity of his Office."