Army’s special forces chief to quit by Sunil Jayasiri

Top Army officer, Colonel Prasanna Silva, the Brigade Commander of the special force which carried out the recent successful operations in the east including the one in Vakarai, has been asked to retire prematurely for unknown reasons, Daily Mirror learns.

Informed sources revealed Colonel Silva had submitted his resignation recently to Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, who had reportedly accepted it. With the new development, Colonel Silva will retire in December this year.

Until the retirement, it is learnt, Colonel Silva has been given a logistic appointment at the Kosgama Army Camp,

Meanwhile, Army Commander Fonseka has appointed Jaffna’s 553 Brigade Commander Nirmal Dharmaratne as the Commander of the Army’s elite special forces with immediate effect. Colonel Silva’s achievements, it is learnt, were personally appreciated by the President at a meeting held soon after the successful operations in the East.

(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/05/07/front/2.asp)