No bribes -- Lanka officials deny bullet-proof vests to troops

No bribes -- Lanka officials deny bullet-proof vests to troops
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

London, May 2: A British defence company has accused the Sri Lankan Government of deliberately endangering the lives of its soldiers by leaving thousands of bullet-proof vests gathering dust in warehouses, media reports said here today.

Lightweight Body Armour, the main supplier of body armour to NATO, the UN and the German army, is taking the Sri Lankan government to court, alleging that the equipment has not been paid for because of the company's refusal to pay "bribes" to senior government officials, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Locked in one of the toughest battles of the 17-year civil war, many of the 28,000 soldiers have been left fighting "barefoot and without flak jackets, and have so little ammunition that it is issued on a quota system," they said.

Andy Macgill, chairman of Lightweight Body Armour, said "it's a ridiculous situation -- people are dying needlessly because they don't have any protective equipment because the army commander won't hand it out."

According to the report, the company signed a 750,000 pound contract in 1998 to supply 6,000 anti-rifle body armour plates to be issued to the frontline troops.

Half the money was paid and the equipment despatched to Colombo. But it has never been issued and the rest of the money was not paid.

Sri Lankan army claims the vests do not meet specifications because they do not stop Finnish Lapua sniper bullets. But according to Macgill "the rebels are equipped with Russian or Chinese AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles which are easily stopped by our armour plates. The question is how many Sri Lankan soldiers would have survived death or serious injury had this equipment been issued as it was supposed to be last year?"

He claims the vests have not been issued because of his refusal to pay 200,000 pound in "bribes" demanded by the defence ministry. "It's corruption, corruption and corruption," he said.

Company officials, according to the newspaper report, blame Anuruddha Ratwatte, the President's uncle and deputy Defence Minister, who is in charge of day-to-day running of the war and who has been accused by Sri Lankan newspapers of mismanaging and misappropriating much of the 50 million pound defence budget.

Ratwatte's nephew represents a rival equipment supplier, the report said.

The report said the fate of the Sri Lankan troops cutoff on the Jaffna peninsula is looking increasingly precarious with a new rebel offensive now under way.

All land routes to the mainland are already under the control of the Tigers, who want to carve out Eelam, a homeland for minority Tamils.

For the past three days, guerrilla artillery has targeted the Palaly air base and Kankesanturai sea port which are the troops' only functional supply lines.