The Federation of National Organisations (FNO) warned that the present government was betraying national security by dismantling military basis in the North-East, as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe did during the ceasefire.

The FNO, made up of many political organisations, businesses and civil society groups based in the south, last month warned against an "Eelam agenda" being pushed throught the 13th Amendment.

Speaking at a press conference, the general secretary of the Patriotic National Movement, Wasantha Bandara, said the government was already removing the Sampur Naval Base and had handed over the lands to its first owners. However, there have been no credible reports of any displaced people resettled in Sampur.

"According to our information, more than 400 sailors who were on duty at the Sampur Naval Base have already been transferred to the Boossa Navy Camp in Galle," he said adding that the same “appeasement” was made under the ceasefire agreement in 2002 and thousands of Sri Lankan servicemen died in Muttur in confrontation with the LTTE at a later stage.

Mr Bandara said that Resettlement Minister DM Swaminathan had announced that the government would identify lands to set up the naval base in another location instead of the present strategic point and that they had been informed that military camps in Kytes islands were also to be removed and the land redistributed to its owners.

He added that the government had already distributed 400 acres out of 1000 acres in the high security zone in Palaly in the Jaffna Peninsula.

"There were 33,000 acres of private lands acquired for High Security Zones set up in the Northern and Eastern Provinces during the war, but out of that 26,000 acres were distributed among its first owners by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government after ending the war," he said adding, that the government at the time did not release the rest of the land, as it was concerned about national security. He accused the current government of betraying national security for cheap political mileage.

He also said the government planned to convert the Palaali airport, which is currently a Sri Lankan air force base, to a civilian Airport at the behest of India, expressing his concern that Sri Lanka would lose another “key strategic point”.

Mr Bandara further said the government would go ahead with the establishment of a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which would lead to international interference in Sri Lanka.

The convener of the FNO Dr Gunadasa Amarasekera and an executive committee member of the Patriotic National Movement Kelum Jayasumana also addressed the media conference.