Sri Lanka president thanks Fonseka for support in defeating terror

Sri Lanka's former top military general Sarath Fonseka today met President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his last day in office, amid speculation that the two may be headed for a possible face-off in an early presidential election.

The architect of Sri Lanka's military victory over the LTTE, Fonseka bade farewell to the army today and said he will announce his future plans in a couple of days. Fonseka met Rajapaksa, who thanked him for his support in defeating terrorism in the country, reports here said.

Rajapaksa has appointed Air Force Chief Roshan Gunathilleke as the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in place of Fonseka, who spent 40 years in the army. Fonseka, 58, had resigned last week, saying that he felt the government has lost trust in him.
    
In a strongly-worded letter to Rajapaksa, he alleged that he was given the post of CDS, with "no authority", due to misleading reports of a likely coup in the island. He also accused the government of having no clear policy to "win the peace" with minority Tamils.

An alliance of opposition parties in Sri Lanka have arrived on Fonseka as their consensus Presidential candidate in the event of an early election. Rajapaksa was expected to advance the Presidential
election to cash in on his popularity in the wake of the victory over the LTTE. In a farewell ceremony, Fonseka said: "I will be serving the country in the future".