Friday, May 04, 2007

Intelligence officer Nilam missing By Sunil Jayasiri

A top intelligence officer of the Sri Lanka Army, Captain S.H. Nilam, who was the defence attaché at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Jakarta, has gone missing since last month. Another top official at the Jakarta embassy has reportedly received death threats from the LTTE.

State intelligence informed the government that Captain Nilam, his wife and three children had gone missing since April 23, a highly placed government official said.

He said that the acting ambassador in Jakarta, a Tamil, had reportedly received death threats from the Tamil Tigers recently.

The latest development follows the recall of Major General Janaka Perera, who was Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Indonesia, and the appointment of the former Army Chief of Staff, Major General Nanda Mallawarachchi- who has not yet assumed duties-as the new ambassador.

Major General Perera was asked to return to the country during the last week of April, for unknown reasons -- although his term had been expected to end next September.

It is learnt that, with the support of the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency -Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN), Captain Nilam had tipped off the Sri Lanka Government regarding several Sri Lanka bound LTTE arms shipments, and thus curtailed the flow of LTTE weapons to the country during his tenure.

Captain Nilam was in charge of the ‘Millennium City’ safe house when it was raided during the UNP regime. He was sent to Thailand in order to avoid LTTE attempts on his life. Later he was made the Defence Attaché in Indonesia.

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