Rajapaksa blames Lanka govt of dropping guard on LTTE

Former Lanka strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa has blamed Sirisena Government for letting the guard down on LTTE by downsizing "intelligence operations" on the group's erstwhile strongholds in the Tamil-dominated northern regions.
Rajapaksa, two term former President who oversaw the ending of country's two-and-a-half decade-old separatist war led by LTTE in 2009, also blamed President Maithripala Sirisena's policies for a recent assassination attempt on a prominent moderate Tamil politician.
Lankan police has last month arrested four former cadres of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for allegedly plotting to assassinate Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, MA Sumanthiran, who is working closely with Sirisena government to achieve reconciliation with the Tamil minority.

"They (Sirisena government) removed military camps and reduced the level of intelligence operations. Now they are seeing the results of that irrational action," Rajapaksa said, commenting on the assassination plot.
He said his government had rehabilitated some 12,000 LTTE members and released them back into the society but questioned Sumanthiran for his silence on the decision.
"Now they are blaming me for releasing them. At the time Sumanthiran never said they should not be released," said Rajapaksa.
A media report said that Nallavan, a former LTTE member was approached by another former LTTE member to assassinate Sumanthiran, describing him as a traitor to the Tamil cause.

The Sirisena government has released the Tamil civilian lands held by the military and released some of the LTTE suspects who had been detained over a long period of time without charges.