Sacked minister arrested in Sri Lanka

Colombo, March 17 (UNI) Former Minister of Ports Development Sripathi Sooriarachchi, who crossed swords with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa after being sacked last month, was arrested here today.

Officials said the ousted minister was detained in connection with the alleged ''misuse'' of a state vehicle during his tenure.

Sripathi Sooriarachchi and former foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera, who were sacked by Mr Rajapaksa for the alleged breach of Sri Lanka Freedom Party's (SLFP) code of conduct, have made widespread allegations that the President's close relatives entered into a secret deal with the LTTE to win the November 2005 Presidential poll.

The Tamil Tiger rebels during the presidential election didnot allow minority Tamils to vote, mainly in the North and the East, and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe lost the poll to Mr Rajapaksa with a small margin.

It was only a couple of days ago that Mr Sooriarachchi and Mr Samaraweera were removed as the SLFP's district organisers of Gamapaha and Matara districts respectively.

UNI