The leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has claimed that western countries, particularly the US, supported and armed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), The Island reported.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, whose JVP is a key ally of the new governing coalition led by President Maithripala Sirisena, said the armed conflict would not have lasted for 30 years, without western support for the LTTE.

Former external affairs minister, GL Peiris, has complained of “harassment” from the Criminal Investigations Department, who questioned him on the alleged coup former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his allies are suspected to have planned.

“In the overall context of the current strident emphasis on good governance, I expressed deep regret that I was subjected to this harassment without any semblance of justification,” Mr Peiris said in a statement.

The former minister said Mr Rajapaksa instructed his secretary to facilitate the handover to the new president and “not one word” was uttered about a coup.

The brother of Sri Lanka's new president, Kumarasinghe Sirisena, has been appointed as the new chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom, reported Ceylon Today.

Mr Sirisena, has served in state institutions previously, including being the CEO of the State Timber Corporation from 2006 till last month, when he was sacked from his post after his brother and the newly elected president, Maithripala Sirisena, defected from the ruling Rajapaksa regime and launched his own presidential campaign.

Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa denied allegations there was an attempted coup by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, as it became clear he would lose on the night of the election.

Mr Rajapaksa admitted the attorney general, alongside the head of police and military commanders, were present at the president’s residence at Temple Trees on election night, but claimed they discussed whether measures needed to be imposed to ensure a calm post-election environment.

“Yes, the attorney general was called to Temple Trees but that was to discuss the matter of maintaining law and order such as whether it was necessary to impose a curfew, etc. because the opposition had publicly stated that it will surround Temple Trees. That was a situation that needed to be addressed,” he said in an interview with Daily Mirror.

Fishermen from India and Sri Lanka have been released and handed over to their respective coastguards at their countries’ maritime border.

The release of the men, fifteen Indians and ten from Sri Lanka, is the first since the new government has come into power and comes soon after External Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s visit.