By Rathindra Kuruwita
United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarians criticised Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s recent claim that he knew the locations of all LTTE leaders and that if he wanted to, he could take them one by one.
UNP MP Lakshman Senevirathne asked the Defence Secretary why he doesn’t attack them and put an end to the war.

“Gotabhaya has stated that he knows where the LTTE leadership is. Our question is why he does not attack these identified targets,” he said.

“This comes from a man who allowed Kumaran Padmanathan (KP), the LTTE’s veteran chief procurement officer who was caught shopping in the Thai underworld for the latest military technology, to escape,”

Seneviratne told Parliament yesterday.

UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake added that the Defence Secretary has told the LTTE leaders to change their hideouts. “I don’t understand what he was thinking. Why would anyone allow the enemy the chance to escape? This kind of behaviour is an indication that the allegations of Mangala Samarasinghe and Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi are true.”

Meanwhile, UNP MP Lakshman Seneviratne added that despite the government claims, the LTTE has brought the war to the south and the North Central Province.