Alt tag: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga Colombo: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today (Nov 16) denied she planned to share Defence responsibilities with her arch-rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Director General of Kumaratunga's Press Office, Janadasa Peiris, said the President had no plans to delegate Defence responsibilities and rejected media reports as a misunderstanding of a statement issued on Friday (Nov 14).

The President had only suggested setting up of a committee to co-ordinate work between the Defence Ministry and Wickremesinghe's Peace Secretariat, Peiris said, adding that it did not amount to sharing Defence responsibilities.

"Even in a speech made today in Kandy, the President made no reference to any sharing of Defence responsibilities," Peiris said referring to her visit to the Central town of Kandy.

The Prime Minister gave up leading the peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels saying his truncated responsibility did not allow him to effectively handle the delicate negotiations.

The power struggle led to Norwegian peace brokers announcing that they were putting their efforts on hold pending clarity on who had real power in the Colombo Government.

There has been no breakthrough in talks to end the struggle between the two leaders from the majority Sinhalese community, but officials on both sides said informal contacts were underway.

PTI