Only conditional support from Udaya for an international inquiry

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila has extended conditional support for an international investigation into the latest Channel 4 allegations that the then Brigadier Suresh Sallay, in his capacity as Sri Lanka’s Minister Counsellor in Malaysia, facilitated the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide attacks.

Addressing the media at the PHU office at Pitakotte, the Attorney-at-Law said that an international inquiry could be agreed to depending on the outcome of a local probe conducted with the participation of representatives of the Opposition Leader and the Catholic Church.

The former Power and Energy Mnister said that the local inquiry should be tasked with verifying C4 allegation that Sallay had met a group of would-be suicide cadres in a coconut estate in the Puttalam district.

Sallay promoted to the rank of Maj. General on 22 May, 2020, is on record as having said that he hadn’t been to Sri Lanka the whole of 2018 and never left Malaysia, during that period, for any other country, either.

An adjournment debate on the Easter Sunday carnage and national security is scheduled for 21 and 22 September.

The Colombo District lawmaker said that nothing could be further from the truth than the claim a group of Muslim extremists sacrificed lives to facilitate the victory of a Sinhala Buddhist hardliner at the 2019 presidential election.

MP Gammanpila said that those who pushed for an international inquiry should keep in mind that there were three external investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks.

A fresh inquiry could cause quite a serious setback to the ongoing judicial processes, MP Gammanpila alleged, adding that the latest C4 drama would be advantageous to the real conspirators.

Lawmaker Gammanpila said that he was concerned over the former Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, refusing to assist the investigation after alleging a grand conspiracy pertaining to the Easter Sunday carnage on the eve of his retirement.