Ira De Silva, from London, Ontario, Canada has written a very interesting and thought provoking letter, which appeared in your issue of the 8th June, where the visit of Bob Rae is criticised and the folly of our representative in Canada, in recommending the visit, is exposed, as Rae is Pro-LTTE. In saying so, the letter says "I am laying out all these facts and request your help to negate this act of foolishness by clueless people in the mission and some individuals in the Foreign Office in Sri Lanka. It is high time we had people who have a good knowledge of the politics of the countries they are sent to, pay attention to what politicians in these countries do and protect Sri Lanka."

Time and again your editorials, articles and letters to the press accused the government of appointing favourites, relatives and failed politicians to serve in our missions abroad. Recently, Mr. S. L. Gunasekera, that eminent lawyer, hard-hitting anti-LTTE speaker and writer, spoke over the electronic media and lamented the poor quality of our representatives in missions abroad and recommended the appointment of real diplomats from the Foreign Service. Late Mr. Lakshman Kadiragamar, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, did an excellent job himself and also selected men who were capable.

Will our President Mahinda Rajapaksa pay heed? Surely he will, as he knows the whole country is behind him.