{"id":46443,"date":"2016-04-30T17:19:20","date_gmt":"2016-04-30T21:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=46443"},"modified":"2016-04-30T17:19:28","modified_gmt":"2016-04-30T21:19:28","slug":"46443","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=46443","title":{"rendered":"How Mahinda Rajapaksa Went To Thailand And Met Udaya Weeratunga Who is Wanted in Sri Lanka For Questioning"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sunday Times Political Editor From Bangkok<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Captain Kolitha Ekanayake took off on a SriLankan Airlines Airbus A 330-200 the previous Saturday morning to Bangkok, no one realised that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was on board, was flying into a serious controversy.<\/p>\n

From a front row seat in the Business Class he watched television and sipped tea throughout the three hour flight. Seated next to him was former External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris. He pored over that day\u2019s issue of our sister newspaper, the Lankadeepa, and was soon fast asleep with his head bowed down.<\/p>\n

The only other politician to accompany Rajapaksa was Western Provincial Councillor Upali Kodikara. Interesting enough, both Peiris and Kodikara had called on President Maithripala Sirisena, soon after the January 2015 presidential election to ascertain whether they could join the United National Front (UNF) Government. They did not succeed. Now they are once again close allies of Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

Clad in a suit that has seen better days, Kodikara was in the Economy Class. When the curtain separating the Business Class from the Economy section was drawn during breakfast service, Kodikara moved it every now and then to keep a watch on Rajapaksa. He then briefed four bodyguards of Rajapaksa including a Gazetted officer, who were seated near him, of the well-being of the former President during the flight.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As the flight began its descent, the \u2018fasten seat belts\u2019 sign lit up overhead. The thud of wheels down for landing saw Rajapaksa walk towards the toilet just ahead of the flight deck. Cabin crew were busy lifting up the window covers whilst standing in the aisle. Suddenly, one of the bodyguards rushed in from the Economy Class to stand outside the toilet door. When Rajapaksa emerged, from one of his back pockets he pulled out a bottle of men\u2019s French cologne and handed it over to Rajapaksa. Then, from his other back pocket he took out a brush. Rajapaksa groomed himself and stood there as cabin crew, even those in the Economy Class, ignoring the \u2018fasten seats belt\u2019 signs trooped in to take photographs. Some took selfies. Even if he is no longer President, Rajapaksa seems to have not lost his fan club. Even when he came in to board the flight, the same scenes played out.<\/p>\n

Alighting from the aircraft at Bangkok aiprort, Rajapaksa walked with his entourage to the VIP lounge. There, he was greeted by Sri Lanka\u2019s ambassador to Thailand, Kshenuka Seneviratne, foreign secretary during the Rajapaksa administration. The Foreign Ministry in Colombo had directed her to provide protocol assistance. This was after Rajapaksa\u2019s office wrote to the President\u2019s Secretary and the Foreign Secretary informing them of his trip to Bangkok. Also present were some Sri Lankan residents though it is not clear how they obtained clearance to enter the high security VIP area. This was to become an issue during the former President\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n

Less than an hour later, Rajapaksa and his entourage were on a domestic flight to Udon Thani, a province where some areas are described as the gateway to Laos, (Northern) Vietnam and southern China. It is separated by the Mekong River. The town of Udon Thani with a military airfield was a staging area during the Vietnam War. There, Rajapaksa was invited by Ven. Phraku Vinaipornsarwut Chatamaytee, the Chief Incumbent of a Buddhist temple in the village of Nohnsumran. On hand when he arrived there were a handful of Sri Lankans living in Thailand. Two of them claimed to be the \u201cowners\u201d of Rajapaksa\u2019s visit to Bangkok and Udon Thani. This week, in Bangkok, they were sending a list around saying they could not manage the expenses on their own and seeking financial assistance to balance their budgets.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa \u2018s visit took a startling turn in Udon Thani. On hand to meet him were not only Thai dignitaries from that province. There was also another visitor, a most wanted man in Sri Lanka, a man wanted for questioning over the MIG-27 procurement scandal. He is Rajapaksa\u2019s first cousin Udayanga Weeratunga, one-time ambassador to the Russian Federation during the Rajapaksa administration. He was moving around freely and was not identified. He worshipped members of the clergy and mixed with the handful of Sri Lankans present. One of them, who has been boasting that he was a sponsor of the Rajapaksa visit, posted pictures in his Facebook page. It did not take time for Weeratunga to be identified. The news went viral.<\/p>\n

How did Weeratunga enter Thailand? Authoritative official sources here told me there was no record at the Thai Immigration over his visit. Though the Department of Immigration in Colombo cancelled his Diplomatic Passport, it is known in Police circles in Colombo that he was still using it. Evidently, officials say the Sri Lanka Government\u2019s communication of the cancellation had not reached many foreign Governments. However, according to the source, Thai Immigration had already placed him on its watch list. Hence, the possibility of Weeratunga arriving in Laos or Vietnam on a different passport, and entering Thailand illegally by crossing the Mekong River separating the two countries is not being ruled out. In the alternative, these source say, he could have even used the diplomatic passport.<\/p>\n

It is a common practice for tourists who visit the Golden Triangle area (where the borders of Burma and Laos are separated by the Mekong River), to travel to the Laos side. The trip costs around Thai Baht 150 (about Rs. 600). The most common commodity for sale are bottles of \u2018wine\u2019 with a dead cobra with its hood wide open inside. There is also a variety of liquor smuggled from China and handicrafts.<\/p>\n

Weeratunga originally ran Club Lanka, a small Sri Lankan restaurant in Kiev, the Ukranian capital. Thereafter, then President Rajapaksa appointed him Sri Lanka\u2019s envoy to Moscow taking over from ambassador Neville Ranasuriya, the former Brooke Bond\u2019s chairman. Weeratunga was forced to give up a record nine-year tenure after President Sirisena was voted into power. He did not return to Sri Lanka since the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) began investigations into his role in the Sri Lanka Air Force purchase of MiG-27 from Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Interesting enough, Weeratunga surfaced in Udon Thani when an FCID team led by Senior DIG Ravi Waidyalankara was this week in Kiev probing the MiG-27 deal \u2013 and looking for Weeratunga. Earlier, the Ukranian authorities showed hesitance over a probe team from Sri Lanka visiting that country. Since then, a series of diplomatic activity has been under way. Some initiatives were pursued with the help of the United States. This resulted in a Sri Lankan delegation, which visited Kiev two months ago, signing a close co-operation agreement on matters relating to crime and extradition. The FCID team\u2019s visit comes in that backdrop. Also under investigation is a charge that Weeratunga sold or helped transfer weapons to Ukrainian rebels using his diplomatic identity as a cover.<\/p>\n

Last year, Weeratunga surfaced in the Iranian capital of Teheran. He walked into the Sri Lanka Embassy there and wanted officials to endorse an affidavit. It was to claim his personal effects, which he said, were arriving in Colombo in a container. The Embassy officials said they would assist him in the task only if he returned the Diplomatic Passport. He did not do so. Weeratunga infuriated UNF leaders recently when he gave a newspaper interview where he said if he were to be arrested, Russian President Vladimir Putin would intervene on his behalf and released a photograph of him taken with Putin and some others. President Sirisena was livid by the remarks and urged the Police not to be deterred by such remarks.<\/p>\n

There is little doubt that former President Rajapaksa has to explain the circumstances under which Weeratunga came to Udon Thani. More so since he is aware that his first cousin was being sought by the FCID for alleged fraudulent and corrupt activity. Otherwise he would be accused of meeting Weeratunga in a pre-arranged exercise that appeared suspicious. Already a Government MP has raised the issue in Parliament and asked that both, Rajapaksa and Peiris be questioned on the appearance of Weeratunga in the Thai city of Udon Thani to meet them.<\/p>\n

In a statement on his Facebook page, Weeratunga says that he knows he\u2019s wanted in Sri Lanka for questioning, but given the victimisation of Rajapaksa Government officials by the so-called Yahapalana Government, he will not be setting foot on Sri Lanka. However, all that the Yahapalana Government says about him is putta-pul boru (concocted lies), he says.<\/p>\n

He asks how he could continue to do his studies in Ukraine if he supplied weapons to anti-Ukraine (pro-Russian) forces, a charge levelled against him. He says the other accusation against him, that if complicity in the murder of a Sri Lankan driver in Russia is also false and that in the criminal court case into that incident, he has been exonerated. He says that he has lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in Sri Lanka on the decision by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry to destroy his personal belongings (which he has refused to come and claim).<\/p>\n

Courtesy: Sunday Times<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Sunday Times Political Editor From Bangkok When Captain Kolitha Ekanayake took off on a SriLankan Airlines Airbus A 330-200 the previous Saturday morning to Bangkok, no one realised that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was on board, was flying into a serious controversy. From a front row seat in the Business Class he watched …<\/p>\n

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