News
UK assessment of Sri Lanka based on civil society and media, too – Lord Goldsmith
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Lord Zac Goldsmith has said that there was no blanket requirement for information to be independently verified before being submitted to London.
Minister Goldsmith has said so in response to Lord Naseby seeking an explanation as regards the responsibilities et al of British Defence Attaches against the backdrop of the UK government dismissing reports submitted by wartime UK defence attache here Lt. Col. Anthony Gash.
Lord Naseby has asked the following question on April 21: whether the information contained in despatches written by UK defence attachés must be independently verified before submission; if so, whether it is standard practice to ensure that such attachés are briefed to that effect; and if so, what record, if any, they hold of Lieutenant Colonel Gash, being so briefed.
Lord Goldsmith who also serves as Deputy to the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab has provided the following answer on April 29: “Reports from UK Military attachés and diplomats take a wide variety of forms. Some report events which they have directly observed; some report the views or assertions of others; some focus on judgements or provide analysis. There is no blanket requirement for information to be independently verified before submission, which in many situations will not be possible. The context of reporting will inform the weight that is attached to it. Reports from our defence attachés, together with many other sources, contribute to the UK government’s overall understanding of events overseas.”
Lord Naseby, also on the same day has asked what sources they used to inform their assessment of the situation in Sri Lanka during the civil war in that country between 1 January and 18 May 2009.
Lord Goldsmith responded: “The UK government’s assessment of the situation in Sri Lanka during the civil war was informed by a broad range of internal and open source reporting, including from our High Commission in Colombo, international organisations, civil society and media.”
In respect of the Sri Lanka Armed Conflict, Lord Naseby has asked what criteria they used to assess the credibility of evidence reports they have received which related to the situation in Sri Lanka during the civil war in that country between 1 January and 18 May 2009; and whether it has ever been their practice to accept reports from unnamed sources.
Lord Goldsmith has responded: “Reports from UK Military attachés and diplomats take a wide variety of forms. Some report events which they have directly observed; some report the views or assertions of others; some focus on judgements or provide analysis. These, along with other sources, contribute to the UK government’s overall understanding of events overseas.
Lord Naseby has asked the Government whether further to the despatches written by Lieutenant Colonel Gash, the former defence attaché of the British High Commission in Sri Lanka about events in that country between 1 January and 18 May 2009 relating to the civil war, whether they consider all reports by UK military attachés and diplomats to be evidence based-assessments.
Lord Goldsmith has responded: “Reports from UK Military attachés and diplomats take a wide variety of forms. Some report events which they have directly observed; some report the views or assertions of others; some focus on judgements or provide analysis. These, along with other sources, contribute to the UK government’s overall understanding of events overseas.” (SF)
… reminds AKD led over 560 protests during Yahapalanaya
Former Yahapalana Minister and United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday (19) alleged that the JVP, which carried out over 560 protests during the 2015-2019 period, was now bent on preventing the Opposition from exercising its democratic right to protest.
Recalling the declaration made by the JVP at the height of the violent protest campaign in July 2022 that it would set the Parliament ablaze, the former parliamentarian lashed out at the JVP-led administration for using the police excessively to curb political opposition. Ranawaka said this while addressing the media at the former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Flower Road Office .
Commenting on the protest campaign launched by the Maha Sangha, demanding presidential pardon for General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Ven. Galagotaatte Gnanasara, the ex-Colombo District lawmaker alleged that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake used a combination of police, investigative units and JVP cadres to break up the monks’ protest. The government went to the extent of compelling the JVP/NPP-run Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to deprive the peaceful protesters of basic toilet facilities, he alleged.
The government’s actions proved that only those with prior approval from JVP Pelawatte headquarters could launch protests in Colombo, its suburbs or in the provinces. The police have become a political tool in the hands of the JVP, the ex-Minister said. (SF)
By SK Samaranayake
Six people were killed and seven others injured when a speeding bulker lorry carrying cement and concrete ploughed into several vehicles and a shop on the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road at Kurugoda, Akurana, yesterday (19).
Four of the victims, two women and two men, died on the spot in the accident which occurred around 10.30 am, according to Alawathugoda Police.
Police said the bulker, travelling at high speed from the Matale direction, collided with three three-wheelers, two motorcycles and two lorries before veering off the road and crashing into a commercial establishment.
Five of the injured were rushed to the National Hospital of Kandy, where hospital sources said two remained in critical condition.
The bodies of the four victims were placed at the Akurana Hospital, where two others, who suffered minor injuries, were also receiving treatment.
The driver of the bulker was arrested by the Alawathugoda Police Traffic Division and is to be produced before court.
Investigations are being conducted under the supervision of Central Province Senior DIG Lalith Pathinayake.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
owledging that there had been an administrative lapse on the part of the President’s Office in 2019 when Maithripala Sirisena granted presidential pardon to Ven. Gnanasara Thera, Convener of Janathawadi Joint Opposition Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday (19) urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to rectify whatever those shortcomings and release the General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena.
Addressing the media at the former President Ranil Wickrekmesinghe’s Flower Road Office, Prof. Peiris emphasized that it was not fair to hold Ven. Gnanasara accountable for lapse or technical fault of others at the Presidential Secretariat during President Sirisena’s tenure.
Prof. Peiris was flanked by UNP Chairman Wajira Abeywardena and United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka.
The fresh appeal was made on behalf of Ven. Gnanasara in the wake of President Dissanayake and JVP heavyweight Anura Kumara Dissanayake ruling out fresh presidential pardon for the monk. Minister Lal Kantha declared that the government couldn’t under any circumstances meet the continuing monks’ protest demanding Ven. Gnanasara’s release. President Dissanayake dismissed repeated appeals for Ven. Gnanasara’s release when he addressed the NPP really in Badulla.
Sirisena granted presidential pardon in May 2019 even before he completed a year of his six-year term of rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court during proceedings of the media personality Prageeth Ekneligoda’s 2010 January disappearance in the Homagama Magistrate’s court.
At the onset of the regular weekly briefing, Prof. Peiris said that he would report to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) today (20) morning as requested by the commission. “The CIABOC wanted to record my statement regarding a meeting I chaired at the ministry after the conclusion of the war in 2009 pertaining to an ongoing investigation.”
Commenting further on the imprisonment of Ven. Gnanasara, the former parliamentarian said that President Sirisena intervened following a spate of requests made on behalf of BBS General Secretary by the Mahanayakes, Anunayakes and other Maha Sangha.
The Supreme Court on 10 September, 2026 rescinded the presidential pardon granted in late May 2019.
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Ranawaka accuses govt. of using JVP cadres and police to suppress political opponents
Six killed as speeding bulker crashes into vehicles, shop in Akurana
Prof. Peiris, summoned by CIABOC, appeals for Ven. Gnanasara’s release
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