{"id":131962,"date":"2014-10-20T13:55:55","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T08:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=131962"},"modified":"2014-11-05T13:34:49","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T08:04:49","slug":"wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) is planning to launch a state-run airline aimed at providing low-cost travel for Sri Lankan migrant workers and tourists to the Middle East and India. The budget carrier, apparently conceived and advanced by close advisors to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is to be called Mihin Lanka, after the President (short for Mihindu, which is the Pali name for Mahinda). The non-transparent way in which the President&#8217;s coterie has advanced the airline has elicited extensive controversy.&#8221;\u00a0the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_116259\" style=\"width: 279px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-116259\" class=\"size-full wp-image-116259\" alt=\"Mahinda and Vass\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg\" width=\"269\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg 269w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin--192x300.jpg 192w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 269px) 100vw, 269px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-116259\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mahinda and Vass<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\">Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span>\u00a0found the related leaked cable from the\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=WikiLeaks&amp;x=10&amp;y=1\">WikiLeaks<\/a><\/span>\u00a0database. The cable dated March 09, 2007 was written by the US Ambassador to Colombo,<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Robert+O.+Blake&amp;x=7&amp;y=6\">Robert O. Blake<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The US ambassador wrote &#8220;Critics argue that the carrier&#8217;s lack of transparency stems from its leadership &#8211; a handful of politicians and advisors close to the President. According to a Civil Aviation Authority gazette, the Board of Directors of Mihin Lanka will be composed of Defense Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Gotabaya+Rajapaksa&amp;x=7&amp;y=6\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> (the President&#8217;s brother), Finance SIPDIS Secretary P.B. Jayasundera, Air Marshall Roshan Goonetilake, and Presidential Coordinating Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Sajin+Vass+Gunawardena&amp;x=10&amp;y=8\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Sajin de Vass Gunawardena<\/span><\/a>. Gunawardena, who has been appointed &#8216;Accountable Manager in charge&#8217; of the airline, has been linked to a number of past allegations of financial impropriety involving government procurement.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The airline is to be a fully government-owned company utilizing state funds. The initial capital contribution is estimated at around 500 million Sri Lankan Rupees (approximately USD 4.6 million), with an estimated total cost set at Rs. 1.5 billion (approx USD 13.8 million). The government initially intended to tap the state-run Foreign Employment Bureau and the Employees&#8217; Trust Fund for start up capital in the venture. After a strong public backlash supported by negative media reporting against using public funds, the government may be seeking financial backing elsewhere, but has not publicly identified possible alternate sources.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">&#8220;President Rajapaksa sacked Minister of Ports\u00a0and Aviation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mangala+Samaraweera&amp;x=12&amp;y=4\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Mangala Samaraweera<\/span><\/a>, who had opposed the Mihin Lanka arrangement (ref A). Rajapaksa did not appoint a replacement for Samaraweera, instead keeping the Ports and Aviation portfolio for himself. On February 17, Samaraweera, who had also served as Rajapaksa&#8217;s Minister of Foreign Affairs until he was removed in the January 28 cabinet reshuffle, sent a letter to the President listing a series of grievances (ref B). In this, Samaraweera stated his strong disapproval of the Mihin Lanka project due to the planned use of public funds and the rushed approval process that circumvented normal administrative and financial regulations.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Placing a comment the ambassador wrote; &#8220;Civil Aviation Authority officials and representatives of Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. appear less than enthusiastic about the Mihin Lanka venture. In fielding Post&#8217;s queries, they seemed cautious and uncomfortable, repeatedly stating that they were not aware of many key operational details. Post also notes that local media coverage of the Mihin venture no longer mentions any of the earlier controversy around the airline. In fact, coverage disappeared entirely for about two months, and only resumed this week with brief and uncritical coverage of the test flight described in para 3. Many Sri Lankans view the Mihin Lanka venture as a sign that the populist and socialist President Rajapaksa may be tempted to practice crony capitalism if he can avoid press, opposition, and regulatory scrutiny.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">Read the cable below for further details;<\/span><\/p>\n<pre>VZCZCXRO0826\r\nRR RUEHLMC\r\nDE RUEHLM #0394\/01 0681026\r\nZNR UUUUU ZZH\r\nR 091026Z MAR 07\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC 5614\r\nINFO RUCPDOC\/USDOC WASHDC\r\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0727\r\nRUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 9947\r\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 6916\r\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 4991\r\nRUEHGP\/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 5670\r\nRUEHBK\/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 3155\r\nRUEHKP\/AMCONSUL KARACHI 2157\r\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 7489\r\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA 1872\r\nRUEHC\/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC\r\nRUEATRS\/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC\r\nRUEHLMC\/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION<\/pre>\n<pre>UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000394 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nSENSITIVE \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\nSTATE FOR SCA\/INS AND EEB\/TRA\/OTP \r\nSTATE PASS USTR, DOL\/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER \r\nSINGAPORE FOR FAA \r\nE.O 12958: N\/A \r\nTAGS: ECON EIND ETRD EAIR EINV KCOR CE\r\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA: ALLEGATIONS OF IMPROPRIETY IN CONNECTION WITH \r\nNEW STATE-OWNED BUDGET AIRLINE \r\nREF: A) COLOMBO 263 B) COLOMBO 324 \r\n\r\n\u00b61. (SBU) SUMMARY AND COMMENT:  The Government of Sri Lanka plans to \r\nlaunch in March 2007 a state-run airline aimed at providing low-cost \r\ntravel for migrant workers and tourists to the Middle East and \r\nIndia.  The budget carrier, called Mihin Lanka, has elicited \r\ncriticism from politicians, the press, and the airline industry. \r\nThe recently sacked Minister of Ports and Aviation has charged the \r\nPresident with circumventing procedural and financial regulations in \r\nthe process of creating the airline.  Public criticism may have \r\ncaused the President to back away from allegedly planning to deal \r\nfree shares in the venture to himself and close family members and \r\npolitical allies.  Even so, the venture hardly appears to be in the \r\npublic interest:  First, the plan to use civil service pension funds \r\nto start the new venture is risky, as the South Asia region's budget \r\nairline market is competitive and the GSL has a poor track record in \r\nrunning airlines.  Second, if the venture succeeds in building \r\nmarket share, it will come at the expense of Sri Lankan Airlines, \r\nwhich is still 51 percent government-owned.  End summary and \r\ncomment. \r\nCONTROVERSIAL BUDGET AIRLINE TO BE STATE-OWNED, NAMED FOR PRESIDENT, \r\nRUN BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS \r\n\u00b62. (U) The Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) is planning to launch a \r\nstate-run airline aimed at providing low-cost travel for Sri Lankan \r\nmigrant workers and tourists to the Middle East and India.  The \r\nbudget carrier, apparently conceived and advanced by close advisors \r\nto Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is to be called Mihin \r\nLanka, after the President (short for Mihindu, which is the Pali \r\nname for Mahinda).  The non-transparent way in which the President's \r\ncoterie has advanced the airline has elicited extensive controversy. \r\n\r\n\u00b63. (U) GSL officials say Mihin Lanka will begin operations this \r\nmonth.  (Mihin Lanka offices at the airport and Colombo are now \r\nopen, but a targeted launch of February 4, Sri Lanka's Independence \r\nDay, came and went with no official explanation of the \r\npostponement.) On March 5, the airline secured a provisional license \r\nto fly after overcoming technical problems that temporarily delayed \r\nits maiden test flight.  Its initial flight from Colombo \r\nBandaranaike International Airport to India was a requirement for \r\nthe airline to get an \"air operating certificate\" from Sri Lanka's \r\nCivil Aviation Authority (CAA).  The certificate gives Mihin Lanka \r\nclearance to operate and handle all aspects of a commercial flight \r\nusing a leased Fokker-27 aircraft.  At this time, the airline does \r\nnot own any aircraft. \r\n\u00b64. (U) The GSL is billing Mihin Lanka as the country's only national \r\nairline.  (Note: This is odd, because the government still has a 51 \r\npercent majority Sri Lankan Airlines; Emirates Airlines owns 43 \r\npercent, and the remaining six percent is owned by Sri Lankan \r\nAirlines employees).  This no-frills carrier is designed to cater to \r\nlocal migrant workers traveling to the Middle East, and to tourists \r\nto and from the Indian sub-continent.  The government says Mihin \r\nLanka will also function as a cargo airline, transporting goods \r\nproduced by small and medium scale producers.  The venture plans to \r\ndirectly or indirectly create 500 jobs, including positions for Sri \r\nLankan Air Force personnel who want to move into civil aviation. \r\n\u00b65. (U) The airline is to be a fully government-owned company \r\nutilizing state funds.  The initial capital contribution is \r\nestimated at around 500 million Sri Lankan Rupees (approximately USD \r\n4.6 million), with an estimated total cost set at Rs. 1.5 billion \r\n(approx USD 13.8 million).  The government initially intended to tap \r\nthe state-run Foreign Employment Bureau and the Employees' Trust \r\nFund for start up capital in the venture.  After a strong public \r\nbacklash supported by negative media reporting against using public \r\nfunds, the government may be seeking financial backing elsewhere, \r\nbut has not publicly identified possible alternate sources. \r\n\u00b66. (SBU) Critics argue that the carrier's lack of transparency stems \r\nfrom its leadership - a handful of politicians and advisors close to \r\nthe President.  According to a Civil Aviation Authority gazette, the \r\nBoard of Directors of Mihin Lanka will be composed of Defense \r\nSecretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa (the President's brother), Finance \r\nSecretary P.B. Jayasundera, Air Marshall Roshan Goonetilake, and \r\nPresidential Coordinating Secretary Sajin de Vass Gunawardena. \r\nGunawardena, who has been appointed \"Accountable Manager in charge\" \r\nof the airline, has been linked to a number of past allegations of \r\nfinancial impropriety involving government procurement. \r\nAVIATION MINISTER'S OPPOSITION COSTS HIM HIS JOB \r\n\u00b67. (U) On February 9, President Rajapaksa sacked Minister of Ports \r\nand Aviation Mangala Samaraweera, who had opposed the Mihin Lanka \r\narrangement (ref A).  Rajapaksa did not appoint a replacement for \r\nSamaraweera, instead keeping the Ports and Aviation portfolio for \r\nhimself.  On February 17, Samaraweera, who had also served as \r\nRajapaksa's Minister of Foreign Affairs until he was removed in the \r\nJanuary 28 cabinet reshuffle, sent a letter to the President listing \r\na series of grievances (ref B).  In this, Samaraweera stated his \r\nstrong disapproval of the Mihin Lanka project due to the planned use \r\nof public funds and the rushed approval process that circumvented \r\nnormal administrative and financial regulations. \r\nLAUNDRY LIST OF IRREGULARITIES SUGGESTS IMPROPRIETY \r\n\u00b68. (SBU) Since its conception, Mihin Lanka has appeared to evade a \r\nnumber of Sri Lanka's standard business start-up regulations, many \r\nof which former minister Samaraweera outlined in his public letter: \r\n\r\n-The President's October 2006 budget proposal for FY 2007 did not \r\nmention Mihin Lanka despite plans to use public money to capitalize \r\nit. \r\n-Presidential advisors submitted a memorandum to the Cabinet for \r\nendorsement of the airline only hours before the cabinet meeting at \r\nwhich they sought approval of the venture. \r\n-No capital appraisal report was conducted on the venture. \r\n-The Board of Investment (BOI) allegedly approved the airline \r\nproposal in less than 24 hours. \r\n-The Civil Aviation Authority had already short-listed three budget \r\nairline operations prior to Mihin Lanka, but put further processing \r\nof their license applications on hold until after Mihin Lanka \r\nlaunches. \r\nDUBIOUS BUSINESS MODEL: STEAL THE OTHER GSL AIRLINE'S CUSTOMERS \r\n\u00b69. (SBU) Aviation industry insiders told Econoff that if Mihin Lanka \r\nsucceeds, it would only be by cannibalizing passengers from Sri \r\nLankan Airlines' most profitable routes - those to India and the \r\nMiddle East.  They add that the government's plan to launch the \r\nairline by wet-leasing a single plane makes little economic sense, \r\nas the high cost of a crew- and maintenance-included wet lease is \r\nunlikely to be covered by ticket sales in the low-cost travel \r\nsector.  Finally, the local aviation market is skeptical of Mihin \r\nLanka's prospects simply because the GSL had such a poor track \r\nrecord for many years running Sri Lankan Airlines, before bringing \r\nin Emirates Airlines as an operating partner. \r\n\u00b610. (SBU) Comment:  Civil Aviation Authority officials and \r\nrepresentatives of Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. appear less \r\nthan enthusiastic about the Mihin Lanka venture.  In fielding Post's \r\nqueries, they seemed cautious and uncomfortable, repeatedly stating \r\nthat they were not aware of many key operational details.  Post also \r\nnotes that local media coverage of the Mihin venture no longer \r\nmentions any of the earlier controversy around the airline.  In \r\nfact, coverage disappeared entirely for about two months, and only \r\nresumed this week with brief and uncritical coverage of the test \r\nflight described in para 3. Many Sri Lankans view the Mihin Lanka \r\nventure as a sign that the populist and socialist President \r\nRajapaksa may be tempted to practice crony capitalism if he can \r\navoid press, opposition, and regulatory scrutiny. \r\nBLAKE<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":116259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6969,2375,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories","category-wikileaks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-20T08:25:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-05T08:04:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"269\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/\",\"name\":\"WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-20T08:25:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-05T08:04:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg\",\"width\":269,\"height\":420,\"caption\":\"Mahinda and Vass\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2014-10-20T08:25:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-05T08:04:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":269,"height":420,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/","name":"WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-20T08:25:55+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-05T08:04:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg","width":269,"height":420,"caption":"Mahinda and Vass"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-family-run-airline-manager-vass-links-to-financial-impropriety\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WikiLeaks: Family-Run Airline Manager Vass Links To Financial Impropriety"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Mahinda-and-sajin-.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131962"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131973,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131962\/revisions\/131973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}