KP was undoubtedly a prize catch, second only to Prabhakaran. The Sri Lankan people have not yet been credibly told why we did not get him two years ago, in September 2007 if we have our dates right, when he was taken to custody in Thailand. The grapevine has it that loose tongues in Colombo, yapping about the arrest, were part of the reason that KP was originally set free. It is not only we who wanted to interrogate this man who may well be the single biggest repository of invaluable information of LTTE operations and funding presently alive. Indian intelligence too would have dearly loved to get their hands on him and the reason that he was not in our custody nearly two years ago may well have been a desire on Thailand’s part not to antagonize India by handing him over to us rather than them. It was thus most unfortunate from our national perspective that word that he was then in Thai hands leaked resulting in the bird being freed. That is why this time round nobody is saying clearly and unequivocally where KP was taken. Colombo coyly says ``South East Asia,’’ Thailand says ``not here’’ although there’s an admission that he was flown to Colombo via Bangkok and Malaysia says nothing at all!

How KP was taken, or where he was arrested, is now only of academic interest. What matters now is that he is in custody and currently under interrogation by the Sri Lankan authorities. While it would be useful to know who he was talking to - two Tamil visitors from London in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur according to one report - that is not of high priority. According to this version KP walked out of the hotel room talking to someone on his mobile phone, leaving his visitors in the room. The mobile phone caller is supposed to have heard a thud and then the phone had gone dead. Thereafter, this report said, there was no trace of KP or the man who drove him to the hotel who had remained in the car. The stuff of thrillers no doubt, if correct, but still incidental to the beans he will hopefully spill, the information that must be elicited. Intelligence agencies in many parts of the world will prize an opportunity to talk to him. He, after all, has intimate knowledge on a variety of matters including gun running and drug trafficking. As the LTTE’s chief arm procurer over a period of many years, he will be privy to a lot of information including the sources of arms, how they were paid for and even the obtaining of fictitious end user certificates to enable the purchases.

There have been reports that Sri Lanka will be willing to hand the suspect to India once investigations here have been completed although Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella was ambivalent about that. But he did say that Colombo will ``respect’’ any request from India. While the exchange of intelligence between different sovereign countries for reasons of mutual interests as well as world order is commonplace, it is known that such exchanges often do not cover the totality of what is known. Self-interest is partly the reason for that. Sri Lanka’s self-interest demands that the maximum possible cooperation is obtained from concerned foreign countries to follow-up leads that are likely to emerge from KP’s interrogation. His very arrest, we are sure, would not have been possible without significant support from our foreign friends as the defence secretary has confirmed. The concerned diplomatic and security agencies of the Sri Lanka government deserves maximum plaudits for the behind-the-scene work they did to enlist such assistance.

There is no doubt that the three decade long war with the LTTE, which many thought was unwinnable, had beefed not only Sri Lanka’s military muscle but also its diplomatic and intelligence gathering skills notwithstanding the blatantly bad appointments the administration heaps on our missions abroad. Sadly, succeeding governments have regarded the country’s diplomatic service as a massive pork barrel from which patronage is dispensed on a sickening scale. All kinds of unsuitable people are posted to the country’s embassies and high commissions abroad for reasons of relationship, friendship and political pay-offs. Our diplomatic missions and intelligence agencies must necessarily be of the highest calibre so that when the occasion demands, as was the case during the long years of the war, there is the ability to deliver. The failure to win custody of KP when he was first arrested two years ago is an example of ham handed blundering with the ground lost then fortunately now recovered. Despite the rank bad appointments, sufficient professionalism has been retained in the various agencies to ensure some successes in their areas of coverage. KPs arrest is one of these. Nevertheless, it is time that the political establishments turns the searchlight inwards about the flagrant abuse of tax money to fund appointments that bring the country no benefits. It would also be useful if a long hard look is taken at the spread of our overseas mission, many of which do not justify their existence in cost – benefit terms.