Two former army commanders are among nine new Ambassadors nominated by Sri Lanka and who are now awaiting approval from the respective countries.
The Foreign Ministry said that former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya and former Army Chief Daya Ratnayake have been nominated as Ambassadors to Brazil and Pakistan respectively.
Both Jayasuriya and Ratnayake played key roles during the war against the LTTE and were appointed Army Commander during the former regime.
Jayasuriya was Chief of Defence Staff before he was nominated to the post of Ambassador to Brazil while Ratnayake was Army Commander when the new Government took office.
Others nominated as new Ambassadors include former Foreign Secretary Kshenuka Seniviratne who was accused by some members of the opposition of handing over the renovation of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Geneva to a construction company with alleged LTTE links, while she was serving as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Geneva.
The Foreign Ministry however said that Seneviratne had been cleared of allegations raised against her and as a result has been nominated as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Thailand.
The investigation into the allegations found that the person alleged to have had links with the LTTE at the time Seniviratne was Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Geneva, was not an LTTE member as alleged and was not listed as a designated person for terrorism links. (Colombo Gazette)
