Sri Lanka to train Pakistan army in Tamil land

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 August 2009, 07:20 GMT]
“We received a request from Pakistan to train their officers on our small team operations, so we have decided to open several new training schools in Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya to train local and foreign military officers,” said Colombo’s new Army Chief Jagath Jayasuriya, reported, Daily Mirror, Friday. The newspaper further quoted the military chief saying that there was a big demand from foreign countries to have their forces trained by Sri Lanka. But Political observers said that it was a ploy of Colombo, Pakistan and probably some others too, to check the current presence of Indians in Vanni.

Gen. Jayasuriya told Daily Mirror that the SL army was to set up permanent military camps in the ‘liberated’ North and it had ordered pre-fabricated buildings from China to build military camps that would be installed soon.

“In response to numerous requests from the region and elsewhere, the Sri Lankan Army is planning to provide military training for foreign security forces taking into account the successful and innovative military strategies that were put in place to defeat the LTTE,” the military chief was quoted by Daily Mirror.

The General was painted differently by BBC Thursday, as one who upholds the favourite rhetoric of the West: ‘reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction,’ and as one who downplays his predecessor Sarath Fonseka in expanding militarization.