Colombo: Sri Lanka's Opposition presidential candidate and former Army chief Gen Sarath Fonseka on Monday backtracked on his sensational allegations that the Defence Secretary had ordered security forces that all surrendering LTTE leaders in the last phase of the war must be "killed".
Less than 24 hours after he ignited a controversy, Fonseka at a hurriedly convened press conference claimed his remarks have been misinterpreted and said the Sri Lankan army never violated any international norm during the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Fonseka in an explosive interview published in the Sunday Leader newspaper on Sunday accused Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering Commander of the Army's 58th Division, Brigadier Shavendra Silva, to kill surrendering LTTE leaders during the last phase of the war in mid-May 2009.
Sri Lankan forces eliminated surrendering Tiger leaders on the orders of the defence secretary who had instructed that "all LTTE leaders must be killed",he claimed in the interview.
Fonseka's apparent volte face came even as the island nation's government said his comments were "motivated" and that it will consider legal options against him for making baseless allegations against the Defence Secretary and his subordinate.
Fonseka said on Monday he would take responsibility for what happened at the hands of the military right throughout the war against terrorism as the then Army Commander, and no field commander acted in violation of any international law in this respect.
"General Fonseka said that the state is hurling cooked up allegations against him by misinterpreting a media statement made by him," the Daily Mirror Online reported.
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