{"id":582,"date":"2011-10-10T01:44:12","date_gmt":"2011-10-10T01:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/?p=582"},"modified":"2014-11-10T12:56:41","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T07:26:41","slug":"wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Fonseka- did not know the flurry of phone calls<\/p><\/div>\n

A classified US diplomatic cable under the name of Patricia A. Butenis, the US ambassador to Colombo shows, the Presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka stood by the controversial \u201cwhite Flag\u201d story published by the Sunday Leader.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cable written on December 14, 2009 at 13.50pm by the ambassador Butenis and classified as \u201cConfidential\u201d recount the details of a lunch meeting she had with UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya and Sarath Fonseka on\u00a0December 14, 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Fonseka arrived, the former general discussed his interview in the Sunday Leader news paper on December 13, in which he had accused Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering at the end of the war the shooting of any LTTE leaders who might try to surrender under flags of truce.\u201d she wrote to Washington. The ambassador further wrote \u201cFonseka claimed he did not know until two days later about the flurry of phone calls between Gotabhaya, the Norwegian ambassador, and the LTTE leadership regarding surrender and said he had been told details by journalists. Nevertheless, he said he took full responsibility for the actions of the men in uniform.\u201d The Colombo Telegraph publishes the full cable below.<\/p>\n

The editor Sunday Leader Frederica Jansz was given an interview by Fonseka and it was published under the name title of \u201cGota Ordered Them to Be Shot\u201d \u2013 Genaral Sarath Fonseka\u201d on December 13, 2009. Read the story here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

After the story broke, the government began to portray Fonseka\u2019s allegation as an act of treachery.\u00a0 The story of the massacre was irrelevant. What mattered was that by speaking out Fonseka was betraying Gotabaya<\/a><\/span>, the army and the country.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Frederica Jansz – subjected to smear campaigns<\/p><\/div>\n

A government backed campaign to publicise particularly in Sinhala, a distorted version of the story, and present the General as a traitor.\u00a0 The objective behind the campaign was to convince the General that his accusations were eroding his popularity and to force him to back down in the interest of winning more votes. This campaign began immediately after the newspaper went on sale with radio shows denouncing the story as an act of treachery by early Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

It was only as the government\u2019s denunciation campaign intensified with TV, radio, and\u00a0internet sites declaring the former war hero a traitor\u00a0that Fonseka\u2019s advisors\u00a0 Mangala Samaraweera, Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Vijitha Herath in particular advised him to retract part of the story.<\/p>\n

At a meeting with the\u00a0Chairman of The Sunday Leader, Lal Wickrematunge on Monday, December 14, senior UNP leaders together with Samaraweera and the JVP insisted that\u00a0a retraction was necessary as the story had damaged Fonseka\u2019s reputation as a patriot.<\/p>\n

Read Frederica Jansz\u2019s <\/em><\/strong>strory here<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the full US embassy cable below;<\/p>\n

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001139\r\n\r\nC O R R E C T E D COPY - ADDED PASSING INSTRUCTIONS\r\n\r\nSIPDIS\r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB\r\n\r\nRELEASABLE TO: UK, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, SWITZERLAND\r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 12\/13\/2019\r\nTAGS: PGOV<\/a> PREL<\/a> PREF<\/a> PHUM<\/a> PTER<\/a> EAID<\/a> MOPS<\/a> CE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA: ELECTIONS UPDATE NO. 1\r\n\r\nREF: COLOMBO 539\r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00001139  001.6 OF 002\r\n\r\nClassified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS.  REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>1. (SBU)  Introduction:  As an air of anticipation builds in\r\nSri Lanka in advance of  the upcoming Sri Lankan elections,\r\nincluding a presidential election scheduled for January 26\r\nand a parliamentary election anticipated for later in the\r\nspring, post will provide update reports as events dictate,\r\nwith emphasis on the quick relay of breaking news.  This is\r\nthe first such update.  Post will provide more in-depth\r\nanalysis in separate cables.\r\n\r\nFONSEKA, UNP DETAIL ELECTION\r\nISSUES FOR AMBASSADOR\r\n----------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>2. (C) At a December 14 lunch for Ambassador and DCM, to\r\nwhich General Fonseka also dropped in, host UNP deputy head\r\nKaru Jayasuriya said the UNP-JVP \"alliance\" was not a\r\ncoalition, though all were for a return to democracy.\r\nJayasuriya had a long list of complaints about media\r\nharassment by the government and Rajapaksa corruption and\r\n\"family rule.\"  As for the Tamils, the UNP leader said he\r\nbelieved they all wanted \"regime change\" because of the way\r\nthey had been treated by the Rajapaksas.  After Fonseka\r\narrived, the former general discussed his interview in the\r\nSunday Leader newspaper on December 13, in which he had\r\naccused Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering at\r\nthe end of the war the shooting of any LTTE leaders who might\r\ntry to surrender under flags of truce. (NOTE: These killings\r\nwere detailed in the State Department Report to Congress on\r\nIncidents at the End of the War, and in RefTel, though\r\ndetails of the orders issued were not known to the report\r\nauthors.  END NOTE.)  Fonseka claimed he did not know until\r\ntwo days later about the flurry of phone calls between\r\nGotabhaya, the Norwegian ambassador, and the LTTE leadership\r\nregarding surrender and said he had been told details by\r\njournalists.  Nevertheless, he said he took full\r\nresponsibility for the actions of the men in uniform.\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>3. (C) As for Fonseka's chances at the upcoming January 26\r\nelection, he and Jayasuriya believed they could win ) if the\r\nelection were free and fair.  They calculated that if voter\r\nturnout were over 80 percent, they would win.  This was why,\r\nthey claimed, the Rajapaksas were focused on keeping turnout\r\nlow.  Even in the southern districts, home to both President\r\nRajapaksa and Fonseka, the election was up for grabs because\r\nof local dissatisfaction with Rajapaksa corruption and\r\ncronyism.  Finally, on the question of the desired role of\r\nthe international community in the elections, Jayasuriya made\r\na strong pitch for IC involvement to help ensure a free and\r\nfair election and level playing field.\r\n\r\nUNF CHALLENGES PRESIDENT TO DEBATE\r\n----------------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>4. (C) On December 13, the joint Opposition held a press\r\nconference which included Gen. Fonseka, JVP leader Somawansa\r\nAmarasinghe and UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe.  Amarasinghe\r\nchallenged President Rajapaksa to agree to a public debate\r\nwith Gen. Fonseka, but there has not yet been any response\r\nfrom the Rajapaksa camp.  At lunch with the Ambassador,\r\nFonseka and Jayasuriya both said they did not expect\r\nRajapaksa to agree to a debate, joking that it would be hard\r\nfor him to speak without a teleprompter.\r\n\r\nPILLAYAN WAVERING -- AGAIN\r\n--------------------------\r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00001139  002.4 OF 002\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>5. (C) After a party meeting on December 11, the TMVP\r\nreleased a statement that appeared to back off earlier\r\nstatements by its leader, Pillayan, that the TMVP would\r\nsupport President Rajapaksa.  Observers have stated that\r\nPillayan's December 2 pledge of support to the President\r\nangered many in his TMVP ranks, and that they forced him to\r\nretreat from that position.\r\n\r\nTNA WISH LIST\r\n-------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>6. (C) TNA MP Suresh Premachandran told media on December 12\r\nthat his party colleagues had agreed on four main points to\r\ndemand of any candidate they pledge to support.  The four\r\ndemands reportedly included a full account of those reported\r\ndisappeared or arrested during the war; to resettle all\r\ndisplaced persons; to withdraw from High Security Zones and\r\nenable resettlement of these lands; and to work out a\r\npolitical settlement.  Premachandran said a delegation of TNA\r\nrepresentatives had met with Senior Presidential Advisor\r\nBasil Rajapaksa on December 7 to discuss these conditions,\r\nand that TNA leader R. Sampanthan had presented the list to\r\nUNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya.  In a meeting with PolOff\r\non December 11, TNA MP Pathmini Sithamparanathan implied that\r\nthere were still divisions within the TNA about what issues\r\nthey would push in any negotiations, and doubts about how\r\nmuch they could expect to demand for their support.\r\n\r\nRAJAPAKSA ORDERS POSTERS DOWN\r\n-----------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>7. (C) The President announced on December 14 that he had\r\nordered the police to take down any campaign-related posters,\r\nincluding his own, as they all violated elections law.\r\nColombo has been blanketed with pictures of the president and\r\nhis brothers, including at least one enormous full profile\r\npicture of Rajapaksa that measures some 60 feet tall.\r\nFonseka posters just began appearing around town over the\r\nweekend of December 12-13, including one large\r\nbillboard-sized poster on the road from the center of town to\r\nthe parliament building.  On a recent trip to Galle, EconOff\r\nsighted well over 1,300 Rajapaksa posters along the 100 km\r\nroute.  Not more than 20 Fonseka posters were seen on the\r\nsame drive, and some of these had been either damaged or\r\npartially covered by Rajapaksa posters.  The Southern\r\nProvince is known as Rajapaksa's home turf.  At Jayasuriya's\r\nlunch, he told the Ambassador that the Rajapaksa campaign had\r\nover 40,000 cut-outs of the President created, nearly half of\r\nwhich had been placed in greater Colombo.\r\nBUTENIS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,53,31,57,1,26,27,2223],"tags":[1143,1139,1238,1161,1220,1134,6984,1233,1167,1239,1185,6992,1240,1197,1241,1150,1172,6983,1242],"class_list":["post-582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disappearance","category-global-politics","category-judiciary","category-law-and-order","category-news","category-war-crimes","category-wikileaks","category-wikileaks-latest-popular","tag-authoritarianism","tag-democracy","tag-extra-judicial-killings","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-gotabhaya-rajapaksa","tag-human-rights","tag-judiciary","tag-killings","tag-ltte","tag-nadeson","tag-patricia-a-butenis","tag-press-freedom","tag-pulidevan","tag-sarath-fonseka","tag-sunday-leader","tag-tamils","tag-us-embassy-cables","tag-war-crimes","tag-white-flags-case"],"yoast_head":"\nWikiLeaks: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US  - 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-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US  - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-10T01:44:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-10T07:26:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"366\" \/>\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=\"7 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-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/\",\"name\":\"WikiLeaks: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-10T01:44:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-10T07:26:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/de9e3c959e41894c80608bdddd0387b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg\",\"width\":\"487\",\"height\":\"366\",\"caption\":\"Fonseka- did not know the flurry of phone calls\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"WikiLeaks: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US\"}]},{\"@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\/de9e3c959e41894c80608bdddd0387b7\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f1e558c9e5cbf36781344637e8cd79f7a43c5eef749495c25079d8d64753ff3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f1e558c9e5cbf36781344637e8cd79f7a43c5eef749495c25079d8d64753ff3?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: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US  - 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-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"WikiLeaks: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US  - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2011-10-10T01:44:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-10T07:26:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":487,"height":366,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Colombo Telegraph","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Colombo Telegraph","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/","name":"WikiLeaks: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg","datePublished":"2011-10-10T01:44:12+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-10T07:26:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/de9e3c959e41894c80608bdddd0387b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg","width":"487","height":"366","caption":"Fonseka- did not know the flurry of phone calls"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-fonseka-did-discuss-the-white-flags-story-with-us-ambassador\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WikiLeaks: Fonseka Did Discuss The \u201cWhite Flags Story\u201d With US"}]},{"@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\/de9e3c959e41894c80608bdddd0387b7","name":"Colombo Telegraph","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f1e558c9e5cbf36781344637e8cd79f7a43c5eef749495c25079d8d64753ff3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f1e558c9e5cbf36781344637e8cd79f7a43c5eef749495c25079d8d64753ff3?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\/2011\/10\/sarath-fonseka-colombo-telgraph1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582","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\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75523,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582\/revisions\/75523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}