President offers frank exchange of views with troops and the Police

Her Excellency, the President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga as Commander in Chief of tri-services on Tuesday (26) evening met a cross- section of the military and Police hierarchy with a view to exchanging of views on matters of security concern vis a vis the status quo of the peace process an the P-TOMS.

The meeting at BMICH to a packed audience was cordial and turned out to be a forum for free exchange of views, identification of setbacks and operational matters that were directly related to national security in the country.

Hon Minister of Buddha Sasana, Public Security, Law and Order & Deputy Minster of Defence, Mr. Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security Law and Order Tilak Ranaviraja, Hon Deputy Minister of Public Security, Law and Order Jayaratne Herath, Secretary Defence Major General (Retd) Asoka Jayawardena, Chief of Defence Staff and the Commander of the Navy Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri, Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Shantha Kottegoda, Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Donald Perera and Inspector General of Police Mr. Chandra Fernando were at this specially convened meeting of the servicemen and the Police.

President in her address to the gathering emphasized the need to sustain the cease-fire agreement despite LTTE provocations and importance of issues related to implementation of welfare measures of the tsunami victims through the P-TOMS. She also referred to some media reports, which spoke of LTTE camps in government controlled areas and praised the Armed Forces and the Police for their dedication and commitment in the efforts towards creating peace in the island.

President also made herself available to take questions that were posed to her by the audience and went on clarifying and answering those queries, dispelling any doubts.