Navy, Army chiefs meet Trincomalee civil, religious leaders

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 November 2004, 08:45 GMT]
Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri, Chief of Defence Staff and the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy Tuesday morning met a group of religious dignitaries of all faiths and civil leaders representing all communities in Trincomalee town. Chief of Defence Staff said he and the SLA Commander had come to Trincomalee to review the current security situation in the east port town, which witnessed several violent incidents on Monday and to make necessary steps to bring normalcy. Religious and civil leaders expressed their opinions on how to bring normalcy in the troubled town.

Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri Tuesday accompanied by Major General Shantha Kottegoda met with the civil group at the Navy House in the Trincomalee Naval Dockyard and discussed ways and means to restore normalcy in the Trincomalee town.


Defence Staff addresses the civil and religious leaders in Trincomalee

Mr.Dagfinn Aadnesis, Trincomalee head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) with the Head of the naval Monitoring Team Mr.Jan Sjolin and Mr.Jan Ledang attended the briefing. Mr.Patrick Walder, Head of the Sub-Delegation of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in Trincomalee was present at the discussion. Ms Britto Helleland, UNHCR representative in Trincomalee also took part in the meeting.

At the commencement of the meeting, Mr.Upali Hewage, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) outlined the objective of the discussion to the participants.

Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri noted that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have brought several benefits to the people and the country and urged the civil leaders to make the peace council system to function effectively.

SLA Eastern Regional Commander Major General Nanda Mallawarachchi, Major General Saliya Kulathunge, General Officer Commanding of Trincomalee Brigade 22, Mr.Neville Wijesinghe, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Eastern Region, Mr.Upali Hewage, Senior Superintendent of Police, Trincomalee district and Government Agent, Trincomalee Mr.Gamini Rodrigo and several military officials participated in the discussion.