Testifying before PCoI Former PM did not care intelligence information - CNI

By Yoshitha Perera   

Convincing the importance of intelligence information to former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was totally absurd, said former Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Kapila Hendawitharana while testifying before the PCoI probing Easter Sunday attacks yesterday.   

Hendawitharana informed the Commission when Ranil Wickremesinghe was serving as the Prime Minister between 2001 and 2004, he did not care about intelligence information provided by military intelligence.   

Hendawitharana said that although the army was restricted in many ways during his time as Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), army intelligence continued to work hard to prepare for the eventual clash with the LTTE.   

“However, Mr. Wickremesinghe did not pay heed to our intelligence information,” he said.   

A Commission member asked Hendawitharana whether he tried to convince Mr. Wickremesinghe about the need to take intelligence information seriously, he said. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. This was what I know of them. That was why I tendered my resignation soon after the January 2015 election result. I knew the type of people who would come in. I knew well that I couldn’t work with them, that was why I left,” he added.     

• This slackness was witnessed in 2001-2004 as well