Sri Lanka’s commanders report on Trinco

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 May 2005, 13:16 GMT]
Senior commanders of Sri Lanka’s security forces met Sunday with President Chandrika Kumaratunga to discuss the communal tension in Trincomalee, officials said. The Defense Secretary, the three Service Commanders and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had visited the Trincomalee district Saturday at the request of the President and briefed her on the civil unrest there.

The special District Committees set up three years ago were reactivated by the commanders to monitor and report on the situation in the area.

The committees, set up in 2002 amidst violence against the Muslim community were then led by heads of Sri Lankan security services in the area and included senior police personnel, local government authorities, religious leaders, civil society leaders and representatives of political parties, according to an official statement by the President’s office.