President reveals moves to stop Iran visit
No details on where the pressure came from but proposed oil deal ruined by Donald Trump’s move and oncoming sanctions
That international power play has reached newer levels in Colombo was underscored by President Maithripala Sirisena during his state visit to Iran this week. “They tried to stop me from coming to Teheran,” he told a small group of journalists accompanying him. However, he did not identify who brought pressure on him, whether it came from Colombo-based Western diplomats, local officials or both.
Sirisena appeared relaxed as he sat at the head of the dining table in the 20th floor Presidential Suite of Espinas Palace Hotel. An extraordinary feature of the US$400 dollar a room luxury hotel, atop one of the tallest mountains surrounding the Iranian capital, is the bird’s eye view it offers of the town with its myriad buildings. A row of snow-capped mountains form the source of water supply as it melts and fills a reservoir. The supply has now become inadequate to the town and the Iranian government is negotiating with neighbouring Afghanistan for more water.
Sirisena’s remarks came in the backdrop of the decision by the United States President Donald Trump to cancel the nuclear deal or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran -- a move that shocked the International Community. This is a framework agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and a the world’s 6 most powerful nations, known as P5 plus 1 -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the Unites States, Britain, Russia, France and China. The aim of the deal was to limit the Iranian nuclear programme and it was initiated by the then US President Barrack Obama.
Trump pledged during his 2016 election campaign to exit the deal though the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and western intelligence assessments, after extensive monitoring, have said there have been no violations by Iran. Now, the US President wants to re-introduce sanctions on Iran. Such a move which would include an oil embargo will affect efforts by Sri Lanka to obtain oil supplies from Iran. During talks with Iranian leaders, Sirisena appealed for Iranian crude at concessionary terms though Colombo still owes US$ 257 million (Rs. 40 billion) for previous purchases made during the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration.
“This is not the first time I have come under pressure,” Sirisena revealed adding that “we are a sovereign nation and we have to decide what is good for our country. I did not pay heed to the demands asking me not to go.” He said the same pressure came when he planned a visit to Qatar in October last year. “I was asked not to go,” he said. He rejected that advice too and made a state visit. Today, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has become a good friend of Sri Lanka. When Sirisena broke journey at the VIP Lounge of Al Hamad International Airport in Doha en route to Teheran on Saturday for five hours, the Emir had sent him lunch. It had been prepared at the latter’s palace. Sheikh Al Thani, a wind surfing enthusiast, is known to unobtrusively slip into Sri Lanka’s east coast without the glare of publicity for brief holidays. This is under the watchful eyes of personnel from the Sri Lankan Presidential Security Division.
The request not to visit Qatar came during what was then known as the Gulf crisis. In June last year, the Foreign Ministries of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt declared they were severing diplomatic relations with Qatar. Saudi Arabia then shut its land borders with Qatar, and together with three other countries, imposed a land, sea and air embargo. Later, Jordan also announced it was severing diplomatic relations. These countries charged that Qatar supported “terrorism,” main- tained cordial relations with Iran and meddled in the internal affairs of their countries. Qatar hit back saying there was no “legitimate justification” for the actions by the countries involved and rejected their claims.
Sirisena revealed that yet another previous occasion on which pressure was brought on him was over a visit to Pakistan for three days from March 22 this year. “This was an occasion when the President of Sri Lanka has been invited to be the chief guest at their Independence day ceremony. I had happily accepted this because it was a great honour for Sri Lanka and also for the office of the Presidency,” he said. “I know there will be some people who are upset by these decisions I have taken. I believe strongly that I have taken them correctly, and therefore have no cause for fear or worry,” he added.
The President dealt frankly with a variety of issues. The Editorial Director of a newspaper group asked about Minister Sarath Fonseka and whether he held back gazetting of subjects assigned to him after the latter’s outburst. Both at a news conference and at the UNP’s May Day rally, Fonseka severely criticised Sirisena for not appointing him as Law and Order Minister. Fonseka also said choosing Sirisena to contest the presidency in 2015 was a mistake.
The President replied “yes”, and went on to explain. He (Fonseka) had made offensive remarks against him for not being given the Law and Order portfolio. This was serious misconduct. As a Field Marshal, Fonseka came under a chain-of –command with him (Sirisena) at the apex as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Fonseka was thus liable for disciplinary action. He had chosen to ignore that. He was unable to appoint him to the Law and Order portfolio in view of protests from various quarters. That had included Police higher ups and the Attorney General’s Department. In the light of human rights violation allegations against Fonseka, several countries including the United States, Australia and those in the European Union have refused him (Fonseka) visas to travel to their countries. “The Police Department comes under the Law and Order Ministry. The vast volume of cases of alleged human rights violations emanates from there. How could I therefore give him this ministerial portfolio,” he asked. “Also what would have been my position if he had made those offensive remarks after taking over the portfolio? He has shown that he is capable of doing so,” said the President.
Sirisena disclosed that it was only after a meeting he had with Fonseka that he directed the subjects assigned to him be published in a Gazette notification. According to UNP sources, accompanying Fonseka for the meeting with Sirisena were Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe and former UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema. The previous week, official spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne announced at a media briefing that Fonseka “apologised.” This drew an angry retort from Fonseka who claimed he had not apologised. This week, Senaratne, known well for his contradictory and sometimes comical declarations, said Fonseka had only “expressed his regrets” and “not apologised.” Evidently he has been jolted by Fonseka’s denials. Call it whatever, Fonseka quite clearly recanted his remarks which Sirisena said were offensive. That was how Sirisena agreed that the subjects assigned to him as Minister of Sustainable Development, Wild Life and Regional Development be published.
As revealed exclusively in these columns last week, before Fonseka directed his tirade against Sirisena at a news conference, he had a meeting with the President. There, he sought to seek the release of retired Major General Amal Karunasekera. He was the Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI) when Fonseka served as the Commander of the Army. This week, a state counsel told Mount Lavinia Additional Magistrate Lochana Abeywickrema that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was now probing whether Fonseka was involved in the abduction and torture of Keith Noyahar, Associate Editor of the now defunct Nation news- paper. That incident had occurred in May 2008. Maj. Gen. Karunasekera who was arrested in connection with the same incident was further remanded till May 30 by Magistrate Abeywickrema also this Wednesday.
Speaking further on corruption, Sirisena said in Teheran that two of the government departments where corruption was most prevalent were the Customs and the Excise Department. He said surveillance cameras were installed at various points in the Customs to determine what was going on. Soon they were damaged and were not working. He noted that the Excise Department served little or no purpose and there was a strong need to shut it down and create another body to deal with its functions.
Sirisena cited an example of corruption levels at the Excise Department. He had helped a Polonnaruwa District youth who had the requisite qualifications to join the Excise Department. Sometime later the youth had called on him to express his gratitude. Sirisena had asked how he was and whether his work was good. “I was shocked at his reply. He said he had already built a new house and had plans to buy a new car soon,” lamented the President. “Why are we allowing such a department to continue,” he asked.
Essentially, Sirisena’s visit to Teheran was just for one day, (last Sunday), though the media team had arrived early and left late. The only informal exception for the President’s official programme was a visit to Golestan Palace on Monday morning en route to the airport. This is one of the oldest historic monuments in Teheran and is a world heritage site. “After seeing Teheran, I wished I could have stayed for three or four more days to learn about Iran”, he declared whilst heaping praise on the country’s civilisation.
In some aspects, the visit was a nightmare for the Presidential entourage, including the media. A day ahead of Sirisena’s arrival, media personnel accommodated in rooms on the 19th floor, just one below the Presidential suite on the 20th, were asked to vacate their rooms with their valuables. They were allowed to return only in the late afternoon that Saturday. The rooms were screened. It did not stop there. Every day, after the media personnel left their rooms in the morning for coverage, their electronic door keys were jammed. A ride in the lift to the 19th floor meant having to come down to the reception on the ground floor for a new key. Instructions were shouted out in ‘broken English’ by a Presidential Guard in civvies with a pistol strapped around his waist. He walked from one end to the other on the 19th floor.
There were embarrassing moments for Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader and Minister Rauff Hakeem. Some Iranians mistook him, with his overgrown stubble, for an Iranian and spoke to him in Persian language. Much worse was when he accompanied Sirisena as a member of the Sri Lanka delegation for joint negotiations with President Dr Hassan Rouhani. A guard kept looking at his face and at his photo identity card (issued by the Iranian authorities) many a time. He may have thought there was a difference and wanted to make sure it was the same person. An Iranian official tried to point out that he was a Sri Lankan government minister but he was brushed aside. Hakeem was cleared after the guard had moved his head many times between his picture in the card and his face. Not only for the guard, but also for others who watched it, it was a pain in the neck.
There was equal embarrassment for Dharmasiri Bandara Ekanayake, Senior Media Director to the President. He was one of those listed in the official programme for talks between Sri Lankan and Iranian presidents. A Presidential Guard said “you no go.” When Ekanayake asked “why,” he replied “you media, you media. Media no go.” It was lost on the guard that it was internationally recognised practice for an official handling the media on behalf of a head of state to be present at such discussions. The idea is to brief the media, in this instance an essential element in the promotion of good relations between Sri Lanka and Iran. Ekanayake did not give up. He fought his way through after arguing with the guards and protesting to the bureaucrats.
Sirisena and Rouhani had a one-on-one meeting for more than 45 minutes. Sirisena said he did mention the money Sri Lanka owed to Iran for fuel imports but the Iranian leader had made no comment. This was followed by the joint negotiations which lasted around 90 minutes. Thereafter, in terms of the official programme, agreed to by Colombo and Teheran, the next engagement was: “Signing documents – Press Conference (No Q & A).” Presidential Guards directed all media personnel without cameras to leave the upper floor of the Iranian Presidential Secretariat immedi-