Colombo: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga on January 14 alleged Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe did not inform her about ongoing peace negotiations with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and threatened to sack him if she felt he was acting against national interest.

In a rare live televised interview with a private television station, she said she could sack Wickremesinghe and his entire cabinet "with just one letter, even tomorrow".

Asked by the interviewer if she planned shortly to sack the Prime Minister, Kumaratunga said, "If I think he is doing harm to the country, I will not hesitate to do it."

She accused the Prime Minister of not keeping her informed about the ongoing peace bid with Tamil Tiger guerrillas and said, "He is acting as an executive Prime Minister.

"They don't keep me informed. They tell me only a sentence or two, but issue statements saying they had long discussions with me and they were very successful.

"Everything I say about the peace process is not given publicity by the media.

"Up to now, I as the Commander in Chief of the forces, the head of state or the head of government have not been informed by the Prime Minister. He (Prime Minister) has not told me what his solution is."

"The Constitution does not give him (Wickremesinghe) any special powers. He is like any another Minister. But he is able to go about as if he is an executive Prime Minister because I have with modesty and humility not tried to exercise all my powers. I am only being patient," the President said.

Kumaratunga said if she dismissed Wickremesinghe, she would not face any international backlash and claimed the international community was backing her.

Her remark was in sharp contrast to reports from Asian and Western diplomats, who have spoken of "gentle foreign pressure" on her not to rock the boat and scuttle the Norwegian-backed peace bid, which has received widespread support from the US, India, European nations and Japan.

Earlier this month, Wickremesinghe warned Kumaratunga not to scuttle the Norwegian- backed peace bid aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed.

However, Kumaratunga said in her interview today that she was also supportive of bringing peace to the island.

She accused the Wickremesinghe government, which came to power at the December 2001 elections by defeating her party, of trying to break up the country and give everything that the Tiger rebels wanted.

PTI