Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told a foreign news channel that his country would not allow even the United Nations (UN) to investigate the alleged war crimes committed during the last phase of the Eelam war.

“I will not allow any investigation by the UN or any other country. There is nothing wrong happening in this country. I am the Secretary of Defense. Take it from me, we will not allow any investigation,” Gotabaya told the Asia Today programme. He pointed out that the Sri Lankan public did not want any investigation, as there was no reason to have one.

ACTION AGAINST FONSEKA UNDER ARMY ACT: Gotabaya denied that the government was itching to arrest the former Army Commander and joint Opposition candidate, Gen Sarath Fonseka, out of political vendetta. If Fonseka was talking of arrest, it was his “imagination” he said.

“He (Fonseka) has made many mistakes. He has divulged certain sensitive information to the public and spoken about them in public meetings. He has accused me of doing certain things. This is very wrong. Action might be taken against him for this under the laws of the country. There is the Army Act or other penal laws (which can be invoked,” Gotabaya added.

“But he is not going to be arrested for being an Opposition candidate. We have had many elections in this country, and no one has been arrested,” the Defense Secretary asserted.

On the issue of scaling down security for Fonseka, Gotabaya said that retired army chiefs could not claim the same level of security as they had when they were in service.

WILL NOT ALLOW TIGERS TO REGROUP: Asked if the Tamil Tigers were finished and if there was any chance that they might regroup, Gotabaya said that they were “finished”. At any rate, he would “ensure” that they did not regroup, he said.

Only 5 pc of london’s tamils want to return: Only five per cent of the Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates and refugees in London want to return to their homeland, an Indian researcher has discovered. Manohari Velamati of Jawaharlal Nehru University, during his fieldwork in London in 2008 found that most of the Lankan Tamils there had no “emotional attachment” to their homeland.