By Kesara Abeywardena
President’s spokesman Harim Peiris yesterday accused the Defence Minister and the Defence Ministry for delaying and not adhering to orders from the President to act swiftly on ceasefire violations by the LTTE.

President’s spokesman Harim Peiris told a news conference yesterday that the incident near Delft last week was a good example of a situation where orders from the President who is the commander in chief of the armed forces were not carried out properly when there was a clear violation of the ceasefire of the MoU by the LTTE. He said the reluctance of the Defence Minister to act swiftly delayed action for more than a day and the vessels were in mid sea till then. He said the Defence Minister had told the President that he had to consult the peace delegation in Berlin before issuing orders.

When asked what action the President would take for her orders not being carried out, he said. "You will know when the action is taken, adding that the delay was with the Defence Ministry and not the armed forces since the orders are issued via the Defence Ministry to the three forces.

The Presidential Secretariat also refuted news items in government media that orders from the President had confused military officers. Peiris said that this was a deliberate distortion since the President’s orders last Friday dealt specifically with the Delft incident and did not refer to the future. He said an apology is sought by the government for carrying the news item.

Peiris also said the President had sought clarification from the Prime Minister regarding media reports that Japan’s special envoy Yasushi Akashi had been appointed an adviser on International Relations to the government of Sri Lanka. He said the President was "amazed" at seeing the reports since Akashi was an official of the Japanese government. He questioned how an official of one government could act as an adviser of another government.