Sarath Fonseka Makes Explosive Claims on Rajapaksa–Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization Surrender Issue
Sarath Fonseka yesterday made sensational claims stating that the Rajapaksa family had engaged in discussions with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Amnesty International to allow leaders of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization, including the respected leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, to surrender. He added that the military, however, had intended to eliminate them completely.
Sarath Fonseka said that Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Basil Rajapaksa held discussions with the ICRC chief and an Amnesty International representative on the morning of May 17, 2009, to create an opportunity for the organization’s leaders to surrender.
He further claimed that he released a video of a telephone conversation allegedly taking place between the then Defence Secretary and Shavendra Silva on the evening of May 17, 2009, regarding allowing the organization’s leaders to surrender.
According to the conversation, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization leaders had preferred to surrender to a third party, while the government side insisted that they surrender only to the Sri Lankan Army. This disagreement, he said, led to the collapse of the surrender arrangement.
Fonseka stated that by the final stages of May 2009, the organization’s leaders were confined to an area of around 400 meters and were fully aware of their imminent situation.
He added that on May 19, 2009, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization was completely defeated after they refused to surrender to the Army.
He also claimed that the journalist who recorded the telephone conversation fled the country due to safety concerns, and that he obtained the video later through a third party.
