Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka, now on a private visit to the United States, has been told to face a “voluntary meeting” with the Department of Homeland Security, prompting fears in Colombo that Washington is asserting its legal authority over the “war crimes” report released last week.

While Australia and Indonesia are engaged in diplomacy to resolve the problem of the growing number of Sri Lankan asylum seekers drifting into their seas, the people-smuggling racket originating from the eastern coast of Sri Lanka is continuing unabated, the Sunday Times learns.