Colombo: Sri Lanka today (Nov 3) plunged into a political crisis with President Chandrika Kumaratunga sacking three Senior Ministers, Defence, Interior and Information, in a major showdown with her arch rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is in Washington for talks with US President George Bush.

Kumaratunga, who has wide executive powers and has been at loggerheads with the Prime Minister over the peace process, besides dismissing Defence Minister Tilak Marapana, Interior Minister John Amaratunga and Information Minister Imthiaz Bakeer Markar, also removed the bureaucrats responsible for the day-to-day running of the three ministries.

The President's action, which came four days after the Tamil Tiger rebels submitted a power-sharing proposal to resolve the country's ethnic conflict, is seen as a blow to Wickremesinghe's efforts to bring the peace process back on the track.

Kumaratunga's Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP), which is in Opposition, said in a statement that it was concerned about the Tigers' proposal for a self-governing authority in the northeast of the country.

A spokesman for the cohabitation government, Gayrika Perusinghe, said the President removed the three ministers from their top portfolios together with their bureaucrats responsible for the day-to-day running of the ministries.

There was no immediate statement from Kumaratunga or her office on the reasons for the sudden dismissal.

PTI