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The Jungle Telegraph by alia

Mixed up Communications
Indian diplomats in Colombo are acutely embarrassed over reports attributed to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that their intelligence agencies had warned Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee that Tiger guerrillas had no plans to go to war if the ongoing peace efforts failed. They were taking great pains to explain to local officials that the assertions were not correct.

Concerns of the diplomats have been heightened after reports gained currency in the local media. Editorials in some vernacular media lambasted Indian intelligence agencies for what they called their ineptness and lack of foresight over developments in Sri Lanka. A Cabinet minister had told a TV talk show, there need be no fears over security if peace talks run into problems. This was because Indian intelligence agencies had told their own Premier there was no cause for such worries.

The story first surfaced after reports by sections of the media reporting a "pre-cabinet" session - the unofficial meeting before the regular weekly cabinet sessions. Such briefings are given only to selected media personnel and it is not clear whether Premier Wickremesinghe really made those remarks.

No barriers for cupid
The cupid's arrow appears to have struck hard on some top sleuths in the nation's spy world, men who portrayed themselves as tough characters.
The talking point in a leading agency is how a secretarial type was forced to obey orders from an elderly boss.

It was to go on a shopping spree when off duty. Other "under cover" agents caught up with the couple holding hands and criss-cross over the floor of a City supermarket.
The boss, they say, has been told of the tryst. But he chose to ignore it all, say insiders.

They point out there is no one to brief the top rungs about the sad state of affairs. In the meanwhile the boss himself is said to be too busy with his own problems after sending close relatives for foreign training.

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