President Mahinda Rajapaksa has requested for a special report to ascertain as to how a derogatory article was published on the website of Defence Ministry about a letters written by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to the Indian Prime Minister. President Rajapaksa speaking to heads of media at Temple Trees today made the observation in return to a query made by a journalist, on this regard. “As a Government, we express our regret over the incident,” President Rajapaksa added. Responding to the question, Head of National Intelligence Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kapila Hendawitharana also explained that the article had been published “without proper authorization” and that, upon notification, it was immediately removed from the site. On 1 August Defence Ministry tendered unqualified apology to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, with respect to the article as well.
