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• Other companies also can apply for maritime security operations; President’s intervention ends controversy, but money laundering and bribes probes continue
• Since 2012, Navy lost Rs. 1.2 billion a year, because of privileges given to AGMSL; Rajitha and Wijeyadasa in fierce battle over issue

The Sri Lanka Navy on Friday took charge of all weapons held in two ships in the Galle Harbour by Avant Garde Maritime Security Limited (AGMSL) in a prelude to provide other approved companies to engage in maritime security. The military hardware was both on board the floating armoury “MV Mahanuwara” and “MV Avant Garde” that had returned after a nearly two-month-long voyage from the Red Sea. The move to take charge of all the weapons on board the two ships came on the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena who is also the Minister of Defence.

“In future, the Sri Lanka Navy will handle the issue of weapons and ammunition to those operating private maritime companies. Such weapons will be held in the Navy’s armouries and a fee will be levied for the service provided,” Navy spokesperson Captain Akram Alavi told the Sunday Times. However, he said, the Navy will not be providing Sea Marshals. That will be the responsibility of the maritime security service provider. “We have been involved in a similar operation of keeping account of the weapons and issuing them. This was done during the period 2009 to 2012,” he said.

The move means AGMSL can continue to operate and meet its legal obligations to foreign parties to provide maritime security. However, it will not possess any military hardware including automatic weapons and ammunition. Its requests will have to be made to the Navy which will maintain a record and charge the company accordingly. Thus AGMSL will not have to retrench employees or cease operations. However, like a Sword of Damocles, the on-going inquiry into the weapons haul found on MV Avant Garde as well as accusations of money laundering hangs over the company. The move, a Defence Ministry source said, is a prelude to the Government broad-basing the business of providing maritime security services from Sri Lanka. The idea is to provide opportunities for other approved companies to compete by signing up with their own clientele. Until this week, the AGMSL had a tie-up -a “joint venture” agreement- with the fully state owned Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Limited (RALL) and had a total monopoly in the multimillion dollar business. Henceforth RALL will not engage in any deals involving maritime security.

How the Navy tracked back MV Avant Garde

Curtain comes down on controversy
That brings the curtain down on months of controversy over Avant Garde even though investigations will proceed on whether there was money laundering, bribery or corruption involved during its operations. The controversy began in January after a Police raid on the floating armoury “MV Mahanuwara.” The Police inquiry report was handed over to Attorney General Yuvanjan Wijayatilake who ruled that there was insufficient evidence to file a case against AGMSL. Claims that the armoury was illegal were further vitiated by a communication from the former Defence Secretary H.M.U.D. Basnayake (appointed by the present Government) to AGMSL. Later, AG Wijayatilake, who studied further evidence, ruled that the private security company could be further probed for money laundering and/or bribery and corruption. That probe is now under way.

The issue re-ignited again after the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) boarded “MV Avant Garde” in Galle on October 6 and reported that a haul of weaponry and ammunition was found. Details of a complaint in this regard were made to the Harbour Police in Galle by then acting Southern Naval Area Commander, Commodore N. Heenatigala. He gave full details of the voyage of the vessel from the Red Sea to the seas off southern Sri Lanka and the events that followed. They were revealed exclusively in these columns last week.

Avante Garde Maritime Services Limited (AGMSL) Chairman Nissanka Senadipathi in Nigeria with top Sri Lanka defence officials of the previous administration. From left: K.B. Egodawala, then Chairman (RALL), Major General (retd) Kapila Hendavithana, former Chief of National Intelligence, General Jagath Jayasuriya former Chief of Defence Staff and now Sri Lanka Ambassador to Brazil, then Army Commander General Daya Ratnayake and former Commander of the Navy, Admiral Jayantha Perera. They are with senior Nigerian defence officials.

Investigations have now revealed that there was a serious disparity on the number of weapons found on board MV Avant Garde and the letter of authorisation given by the Ministry of Defence. A ‘Whom It May Concern’ letter dated September 23 and signed by Saman Dissanayake, Senior Assistant Secretary (Civil Security), Ministry of Defence which the Sunday Times has seen said that “weapons and equipment authorised to be carried” on board the vessel were two Light Machine Guns (LMGs) made in China, (serial numbers were given), eight drums (ammunition), one T-56 automatic rifle made in China (serial number given) and 2,000 rounds of (7.62 39 mm) ammunition. It, however, did not make reference to the voyage from the Red Sea. The names of three Sea Marshals on board and their National Identity Card numbers were also given. The Navy has denied it received a copy of this letter though it was copied to the Commander. The Navy found a copy when its officers boarded the vessel. In addition, Air Vice Marshal (retd.) G.M. Premachandra, General Manager, Maritime Division of AGMSL, had also on September 23 written to the Ministry of Defence, seeking permission for the same number of weapons and ammunition approved by Dissanayake. However, the Navy raid on the vessel revealed that there were 816 rifles of different types and 202,674 rounds of live ammunition.

More significantly Dissanayake’s letter, notwithstanding the issue in focus, had given further legality to AGMSL. He says, “The Ministry of Defence of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka informs that Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd. (RALL), a company duly incorporated under the company laws of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka affiliated to the Ministry of Defence has entered into an agreement with Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd. having its registered office at, No: 613 Bangalawa Junction, Kotte Road, Kotte, Sri Lanka to provide armed personnel on board vessels for maritime security.

“The Sea Marshals and weapons belonging to Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd. are under the authorisation given by the Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka. We do hereby grant permission to the above company to carry weapons, ammunition and equipment …..” How a Senior Assistant Secretary and not the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence could provide such authorisation has now become the subject of an inquiry. This came on the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena.

At the weekly meeting of ministers on Wednesday (November 4), the issue was raised by Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka and Rajitha Senaratne. Details of the heated discussions that ensued were reported last week. In addition, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera pointed out that the Nigerian Government had taken up the position that Nigeria and Sri Lanka had signed an agreement and that should be honoured. He was alluding to the one brokered by AGMSL Chairman, retired Major Nissanka Senadipathi. For this purpose Senadhipathi accompanied top Sri Lankan military officials who were then serving in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces to the Nigerian capital, Abuja, as our picture on this page today reveals. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe concurred with the view that agreements with foreign governments had to be respected. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake alleged that those at Avant Garde had paid US$ 150,000 a month to the Maldives’ former Defence and National Security Minister, Colonel (Ret.) Mohammed Nazim, now serving a jail sentence in his country for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to oust the President of the Maldives. A company official, however, said no such payments were made. When Nazim was the Defence Minister, AGMSL Chairman Senadpathi was named as maritime affairs adviser to the Government of Maldives. This reference in the AGMSL website has since been pulled out. Minister Malik Samarawickrema said these were issues that would have to be investigated.

MV Avant Garde anchored at Galle Harbour. Pic by Gamini Mahadura

Ministers in war of words
As the angry tempo grew at the minister’s meeting, President Maithripala Sirisena adjourned proceedings and declared that a special session devoted to a full discussion on Avant Garde would be summoned. That ministerial meeting was held on Monday (November 9).

By the time this meeting had ended, Minister Senaratne and colleague Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had begun a war of words, some of them acrimonious and in gross violation of the signed pledge all ministers made before President Sirisena to uphold “the collective responsibility of the Cabinet of Ministers.” The President said this pledge was required to “establish a new political culture and to demonstrate our commitment towards it.” That it came even before Sirisena could, as announced previously, introduce a Code of Ethics for Ministers showed cracks were appearing in the Yahapalanaya Government. It began with Minister Senaratne, the official spokesperson of the cabinet, making remarks defending his role at last Thursday’s news conference. Here are edited excerpts:

Q: Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe says that no decision has been taken to cancel the agreement with Avant Garde. You had said that the President had decided to cancel it.
A: He (Rajapakshe) never spoke a word at the Cabinet meeting. He is only speaking to the newspapers.
Q: He has said that a decision was taken only to call for a report on whether the operation could be handed over to the Navy?
A: No, No. What the Navy Commander said was that they can carry out that operation. He even said that the Navy was doing it earlier.
Q: The Defence Secretary is reported to have said that the agreement on this cannot be cancelled in a hurry.
A: No, he did not say that. Even Mr Suhadha Gamlath (Solicitor General) said the best is to cancel it and hand over to the Navy.
Q: There were reports that the comments made by you at Monday’s Special Cabinet meeting were recorded by a minister.
A: I too was told about it.
Q: The JVP leader has charged that certain sections of the media have taken money not to report about the Avant Garde issue.
A: That is reflected in the media.
Q: Do you agree with what has been said?
A: Yes, I agree on that. The way money has been spent. Difficult to think that many have escaped. When you read the media you can identify that.
Q: Has there been any link between the situation in the Maldives and this vessel?
A: Yes. The Navy commander gave a report. The report also says that the vessel was due to come to Colombo, but had gone to the Galle Harbour. It was in Maldivian and Indian waters. It was questioned whether there were weapons on board. They said the vessel carried no weapons except three meant for the Sea Marshals. They also said a local was the captain, but he was found to be a foreigner.

These remarks angered Rajapakshe. He hit back on the electronic media saying there were Goda Perakadoruwas (fake lawyers) who were trying to talk of law. Avant Garde had not paid kappan or ransom to them and they were angry. He said these were people who had taken part in the abortive 1988-89 rebellion to overthrow the Government. Senaratne hit back again, this time saying there were selfish pole vaulters who had no allegiances but kept creeping in from one party to another. He said those ‘canine kind’ were not there even in the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, but did not name anyone. Justice Minister Rajapakshe was also in a spat with Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. He was to pun on his title and call him a Vel Vidane. In the days of ancient kings, it is they who looked after vast tracts of paddy fields. The inference was that he was a Marshal of Paddy Fields. If that was Rajapakshe, the Justice Minister’s left handed compliment to the man who led troops to victory against Tiger guerrillas, there was more. The Minister claimed that he had gifted 26 national suits to Fonseka ahead of the 2010 presidential elections. A Fonseka aide remarked that this was a bribe to get a ministerial appointment had the former Army Commander won, but Fonseka himself told a news conference that the national dresses were of such poor quality cloth that his driver used them to wash his car. Earlier, after a spat with JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Rajapakshe claimed he had donated a large amount of money to the JVP for its election campaign. Dissanayake was to tell a party colleague that whoever visited Rajapakshe should not even accept a cup of tea hereafter. Otherwise, the Minister would announce that at news conferences. Senaratne is the official spokesperson for the Government and is thus authorised to make statements, however provocative and often, misleading he is. On the other hand, Rajapakshe has no such status and is not only violating President Sirisena’s guidelines on good governance and his goal of ushering a new political culture, but is also assuming the role of another spokesperson. He is getting hammered from three fronts, the JVP, Fonseka and his own cabinet colleague but is getting little support from his own party.

Monday’s special ministerial meeting began with President Sirisena announcing that Law and Order Minister Tilak Marapana had resigned. In a special article to the Sunday Times today, Marapana explains why he quit the Cabinet of Ministers. See Page 16. “It is in the best interests of the Government and the party,” he says. By hindsight, he told the Sunday Times that he believed he stood vindicated. Sirisena perhaps expected less political heat to be generated with that announcement. That was not to be. There was vociferous criticism from Ministers Ranawaka and Senaratne. The meeting also saw several heated exchanges. Both questioned whether there was a “permit” (meaning an End User Certificate or EUC) to cover every weapon. Saman Dissanayake, Senior Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Defence replied that there was “no such permit” but there was a “covering letter for all” issued by former Defence Secretary B.M.U.D. Basnayake. Ranawaka said that the weapons on board “MV Avant Garde” belonged to the Government. (Basnayake was appointed to that position by the present Government). They were ones issued to the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Police, he alleged. What was serious, he argued, was that the registration numbers of 59 weapons were not clear. They had been defaced. He said this warranted detailed investigation because of serious connotations.

Ranawaka was to remark that there were those lured by money and women. He did not identify anyone. Though quite clearly not intended for him, Police Chief N.K. Illangakoon who has been invited for the special meeting, appeared hurt. He said he had never in his career taken such bribes nor accepted women. Then, the Navy Commander, Vice Admiral R.C. Wijegunaratne, gave a detailed account on maritime security, particularly on the issues arising from the detection of weapons on board MV Avant Garde. He also circulated among those who took part an eight-page report on the initial findings of the Navy investigations into this vessel.

Navy’s concerns
The Navy chief noted that “if the ship’s intentions were genuine, it would have declared the cargo at the earliest possible time to Port authorities and the Sri Lanka Navy, since it is carrying dangerous cargo and cannot wait out at sea without any security arrangement. On the contrary, the ship, ship agents and Avant Garde (Pvt) Ltd wanted to be away from the territorial seas and decided it appropriate not to divulge the type of cargo and other intentions of the ship. Hence the intentions of AGMS (Pvt) Ltd create serious doubts about their operations.” He said that the Navy had traced the route taken by MV Avant Garde which had passed through the territorial waters of Maldives and India. (See Navy map).

Among the other points made by the Navy Chief:
g There is no validity in the claim that the ship was beyond the territorial seas. The Sri Lanka Navy, as the flag state of the ship, has the absolute authority on board the ship out at high seas.
g An authorised letter is required for the vessel to sail in the high seas with such a large quantity of weapons from the Red Sea to Sri Lanka. If an authorised letter with the heading ‘To Whom It May Concern’ is given for three weapons (with three Sea Marshals), obviously a similar letter is mandatory for a large quantity of weapons.

g MV Avant Garde has arrived without carrying a legal document and therefore this whole journey becomes illegal. The passage of MV Avant Garde, without obtaining prior approval and taking cover of an application claimed to have been forwarded on 23rd September 2015 has no legal logic and was not in the interest of the Flag State, which is Sri Lanka. The Navy’s view is that obtaining authority at the end of the journey could not have given any legal cover if the ship was checked or challenged by any Naval or Maritime Force during her voyage from the Red Sea, particularly during transits close to territorial waters of other countries. He noted that the region was patrolled, among others, by Combined Task Forces (CTF), Operation Ocean Shield led by NATO, European Union’s Atlanta as well as navies of China, South Korea and India. The Combined Task Force One Five One was set up after a UN Security Council resolution to counter piracy and allow free maritime movement. Among the countries from which vessels are deployed are those from Australia, Pakistan, South Korea, Turkey and the United States.

g All letters and attachments referred to by AGMS (Pvt) Ltd and RALL have not been received by the Sri Lanka Navy. This leads to serious suspicion that these documents are prepared after the exposure of the arrival of the ship on 5th October. It is the responsibility of RALL and AGMSL to inform the Navy about the movement of the ship with armaments since naval craft are patrolling the high seas. This is more so since MV Avant Garde is a Sri Lankan registered ship.

Vice Admiral Wijegunaratne revealed that India had raised concerns about fears of a Mumbai type attack in that country. In November 2008, armed terror groups carried out attacks on eight different locations in South Mumbai.

The discussion concluded with President Sirisena directing the Navy to take over the weapons on board the two vessels. He also directed the Navy to submit a report on the loss of revenue to it from AGMSL. It transpired at the discussion since October 2012 when RALL signed an agreement with AGMSL, the Navy incurred a loss of about Rs 1.2 billion a year. Further instructions followed from the Defence Ministry. Sirisena inquired how long it would take for the investigators to obtain a report from the Government Analyst. He was told that it would take two weeks. Police Chief Illangakoon was directed to ask the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct a detailed inquiry into the circumstances under which MV Avant Garde arrived in Sri Lankan waters with a haul of military hardware and to take legal action against those responsible. Government sources discounted reports that Sirisena had asked that action be taken against those named in a previous report from a State Counsel in the Attorney General’s Department that said there was a case to befiled against Avant Garde. “The investigations are focused entirely on the findings on board MV Avant Garde, the source said. This is other than the investigation now under way into allegations of money laundering, bribery and corruption.

Among those who took part in Wednesday’s special conference were Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiaratchchi, Senior DIG Ravi Waidyalankara, head of the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) and Senior DIG Ravi Seneviratne, head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was unable to attend since the Cabinet’s Economic Affairs Committee, which he chairs, was meeting at Temple Trees.

On Friday, AGMSL Chairman Nissanka Senadipathi scheduled a news conference at a reception hall cum restaurant in Talawatugoda. It was cancelled just two hours ahead of the event at 10 a.m. reportedly on the grounds that he was indisposed. However, a Government source said it was cancelled at the request of those at the highest levels after word did the rounds that he was proposing to make some revelations about a cabinet minister making allegations against him. This, however, could not be confirmed.

Alleged war crimes probe
Other than the Avant Garde issue, the Government is now giving priority consideration to put in place mechanisms to fall in line with the UN Human Rights Council resolution in September. Among other matters, it is to conduct a probe into alleged war crimes by troops and Tiger guerrillas. The pace is being hastened in the light of the visit next week by Samantha Power, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. She is expected to meet among others President Sirisena, Premier Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

One measure decided by President Sirisena at a meeting in the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday afternoon is the appointment of a ministerial committee to expedite the resettlement programmes. A minister who did not wish to be named said “we want to ensure the letters IDPs are not used any more in Sri Lanka.” A national level committee will be headed by Minister D.M. Swaminathan and will include Rauff Hakeem, Mano Ganeshan, Rishad Bathiuddin, Patali Champika Ranawaka and Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. This committee will liaise with two different provincial level committees in the North and the East. They will be co-chaired by the Governors and Chief Ministers of the respective provinces and include District Secretaries (Government Agents) and other senior officials.

A separate bureau is to be set up in the Prime Minister’s Office to follow up and monitor matters contained in the US-backed resolution which was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. Already, the Attorney General’s Department’s views have been sought on some aspects of the resolution. This would be in the form of “a report on possible suggestions on how some of the legal matters would have to be handled,” said a Government source associated with the task.

President Sirisena, no doubt, would have to be commended for the course of action he had taken. This comes at a time when both he and the Government were under severe criticism over not taking action against corruption and other serious irregularities — a promise that was made both at presidential and parliamentary elections. Ministers meet on Friday at a special session to hear details of Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s budget proposals ahead of them being presented to Parliament. As living costs mount and the rupee depreciates vis-à-vis the US dollar, the vast majority of parliamentarians are hoping there would be relief for the common man or those in the lower income brackets including those in the poorly paid state service. That will be a challenge for the Government which has plans to embark on several ambitious projects as well.