Exclusive: Well-placed sources in Sri Lanka have told Channel 4 News that the government there asked Liam Fox’s friend Adam Werritty to lobby the UK government for arms supplies.
Highly-placed souces in Sri Lanka have told Channel 4 News that Liam Fox and Adam Werrittyhave both visited Sri Lanka every year now for a decade. And every time Dr Fox has gone there, Mr Werritty’s been with him – even while on holiday.
It’s far from clear what, if anything, is in it for the man who would go on to become Britain’s Defence Secretary, and who has consistently supported the Sri Lankan regime.
A spokesman for Liam Fox told Channel 4 News on Tuesday: "Dr Fox's visits to Sri Lanka in opposition have been to promote post-conflict reconciliation and development. Any suggestion otherwise is without foundation and is insulting."
But, as Mr Werritty was grilled on Tuesday by Cabinet Office investigators about the 18 foreign trips they have recently taken together, some light has at last been shed on what Mr Werritty has apparently been doing on his travels.
High level sources
Three highly placed sources in Sri Lanka independently allege that Adam Werritty’s frequent visits to the island were to do with arms deals – and that he stayed there, it’s alleged, at Sri Lankan government expense.
The sources have claimed that Mr Werritty acted as an interlocutor for a senior figure in the regime of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This senior figure reportedly discussed with Mr Werritty whether he could lobby the British government over the supply of arms, security equipment and aviation parts.
We do not know when Mr Werritty was allegedly engaged in these discussions. A separate, high-level source has told Channel 4 News that Mr Werritty has been visiting the island since 2000.
Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war ended in a victory for the government in May 2009. Since the end of the war, in which a UN report says up to 40,000 civilians were killed in the final months, Mr Werritty was allegedly involved in helping launder the Sri Lankan government’s reputation on the international stage.
