Wrong to request informants list for petty political gain

• Such probes must  be done in a responsible manner 

By Aneesha Manage  

Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday it was absolutely wrong to request for a list of intelligence service informants to fulfil petty political gains as it would jeopardize the country’s security.  

He told a public meeting held at Carlton House in Tangalle that investigations into sensitive issues such as intelligence services should be done in a responsible manner.  
“To find information, agents need to get into organisations. Any government does that, police do this, informants are being paid. When these organisations are being formed, intelligence services send groups to them. They are paid based on the information they give or on a monthly basis. Based on this, lists of agents are being requested to fulfil petty political gains, sling mud at them and to make allegations,” Mr. Rajapaksa said.  

He said the situation up to and after the Easter Sunday bomb attacks were disappointing and said revealing sensitive information about national security in public was unacceptable.  
“When names were revealed during the Millennium city incident, the LTTE killed the informants one by one. Personnel in our forces in that organisation were also killed. Only one person escaped after leaving the country. These are times we have to be extra careful. Today, we are being told that 99 per cent is fine in terms of the situation in the country. However, one per cent is left. We have our concerns about this one per cent,” Mr. Rajapaksa said. 

 To find information, agents need to get into organisations. Any government does that, police do this, informants are being paid