Sri Lanka Defence Secretary denies ordering to kill white flag waving Tiger rebels

Sri Lanka Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has said that he had never instructed the security forces to harm anyone who surrendered during the conflict but had told them to protect and assure the safety of those who surrendered.

Giving evidence at the hearing of the 'white flag' case at the Colombo High Court today, the Defence Secretary said the statement given by the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka to the Sunday Leader newspaper that he had given an order to shoot the LTTE rebels surrendering to the forces with white flags is totally incorrect and baseless.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa pointed out that 11,968 LTTE Tigers surrendered to the security forces at the end of the war and LTTE leaders like Daya Master and George Master were among them. There were both male and female LTTE leaders and five doctors among them as well.

He said about 5,600 former LTTE cadres have been released after undergoing rehabilitation.

The Defence Secretary said the government has even provided refuge to the relatives of top LTTE leaders like Thamilchelvan and Soosai and even Prabhakaran at the end of the humanitarian operation.

Rajapaksa has explained to the Court how the government had to confront many difficulties and face the pressure from international agencies due to Fonseka's allegations as a former Army Commander. Certain countries even halted the granting of Military training to Sri Lanka, the Defense Secretary has said.

During cross-examination, the Defence Secretary has said that it had so far not been reported that Tiger leaders who approached to surrender with while flags had been gunned down.

The Court concluded the recording evidence of the Defence Secretary today and adjourned the case until February 7.