Retired Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka said that he would call his first press conference on Sunday.

General Fonseka, the highly speculated common candidate at the forthcoming Presidential election, has still not said anything about his candidacy. The JVP has already said that it would support the General as the common candidate while the UNP said its decision would be made known tomorrow.

Meanwhile, General Fonseka, commenting on Minister Kheliya Rambukwella’s statement on the security provided to him, told The Island yesterday that the present security was hardly enough even to prortect his home.

Minister Rambukwella said that General Fonseka has 103 soldiers and 26 Army vehicles in his security contingent. However, Fonseka said the security provided to him had been scaled down to 60 soldiers. He said the present Army Commander has 600 soldiers for his security

Meanwhile, Minister Rambukwella said that a retired Army Commander could not be given as many security guards as he would like to have and only General Fonseka had been provided with the highest security after retirement. "But we would enhance his security further after an assessment of threats against him," Rambukwella said.

On his claim that he had 600 personnel for his security, the Minister said he was not aware of his earlier security.