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Foreigners in or out: PM asks Lankan Int. chiefs
By Anthony David
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked heads of state intelligence agencies whether they wished the continued presence of foreign experts helping the intelligence services. If they did not want their presence, he was willing to reconsider their services, he told them at a Temple Trees meeting on Friday.
They are learnt to have acknowledged the usefulness of foreign expertise in intelligence gathering mechanisms but did not respond either way to the issue of the presence of these advisors at the regular heads of intelligence services meetings.

Earlier President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga called upon the UNF government to order the American national present at top secret meetings of the Sri Lanka intelligence community to leave the country immediately. The directive was given to Defence Secretary Austin Fernando last Tuesday. He met President Kumaratunga together with retired DIG Merril Gunaratne, who is now Defence Advisor to the Ministry of Defence.

The meeting was the direct outcome of the exclusive revelations in The Sunday Times last week. The report disclosed that defence circles were highly perturbed over the presence of an American at recent meetings of the Sri Lankan intelligence community chaired by Mr. Gunaratne, who is tasked to oversee all intelligence matters. These were at regular meetings where crucial intelligence was discussed.

According to sources at Janadipathi Mandiraya, President Kumaratunga had raised issue over why she, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces, had not been kept informed of the presence of the American or on matters related to his role. Mr. Gunaratne had explained that US assistance had been obtained through the good offices of Minister Milinda Moragoda to improve on some aspects of the workings of the intelligence services, the sources said.

The same sources revealed that President Kumaratunga told the Defence Secretary and the Defence Advisor that her strong objections were not over assistance being obtained to improve some aspects of the intelligence services. She said she was fully aware of the events that had occurred and pointed out that the presence of the American national at regular meetings of heads of national intelligence agencies where highly sensitive issues were discussed was reprehensible, these sources added.

She had said that she wanted the person concerned to be asked to leave the country immediately. Defence Secretary Austin Fernando had asked for time to take action, according to same sources. The Sunday Times has learnt that the American national concerned is an official of a US Government agency.

When asked by The Sunday Times whether any officers of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) or any other officer of the US Government is helping Sri Lanka to improve gathering of intelligence, Bruce A. Lohoff, Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy in Colombo said, "No Comment." He also said he had "no comment" to make on the news report last week. He was also asked whether the United States had been helping in the formation of an intelligence analysis cell and whether US officers had been repeatedly visiting Sri Lanka in this regard, Mr. Lohoff said, "No comment."

"There has been increased military co-operation between the US and the Sri Lankan governments," Mr. Lohoff said."The Government of Sri Lanka and the US do, indeed, share a robust programme of military co-operation," he added.

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