Chief of Defence Staff General Jagath Jayasuriya said that intelligence agencies in the country had been alerted to the possibility of certain elements attempting to disrupt national security in the run up to the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which would take place in November.

“Any event that takes place in this country in the run up to CHOGM can have a good or bad effect on the way people perceive what is happening here. As a result we have to be vigilant because everything revolves around the image of the country,” he said.

General Jayasuriya noted that law and order has to be maintained in order that the country could move forward. He said that the armed forces should be held in high esteem so they can perform their respective duties to the maximum. “How they perform is of the utmost importance during the next few months. Apart from that our intelligence agencies are also keeping a close eye on activities by pro- LTTE factions as we are near the date of hosting the CHOGM,” he added.

“We have being hearing that certain groups have been telling leaders not to attend the CHOGM in Sri Lanka,” he said.(Supun Dias)