Chief Opposition Whip to make statement

ChiefOppositionWhipJohnAmaratunga,whohad gone on an official tour to Palestine together with PresidentMahindaRajapaksa, had been asked by the United National Party (UNP) to make a statement once he returns, its General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said yesterday.

Mr. Attanayake told Daily Mirror that Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had informed the UNP working committee that he had asked Mr. Amaratunga to make a statement once he returned to the island. Mr. Wickremesinghe had also informed the working committee that Mr. Amaratunga had sought his permission to attend a ceremony that was to be held at the Church of the Nativity in Palestine which interested him as he was also Catholic.