Former Australian diplomat talks about slain ex-president of Sri Lanka in his memoir

Howard Debenham, former Australia's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka has described the ex-President of the island nation Ranasinghe Premadasa as a 'delusional tyrant' in his memoir entitled 'Waiting ‘round the Bend', according to reports. Debenham, who served in the country since 1992 in his book reportedly blamed Premadasa for supporting numerous massacres carried out by the Sri Lankan army against the Tamil people. As per reports, Debenham in his book wrote that his personal relationship with Premadasa became very good which in turn helped the bilateral relationship between Australia and Sri Lanka to prosper. 

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According to reports, Debenham wrote that his relationship with Premadasa grew to a point that whenever he wanted to see what was going on at the ground with the civil war, the president would facilitate an unescorted trip for him to go see it first hand. In his memoir, Debenham wrote that he had personally visited many villages after massacres carried out by the military against civilians. Debenham also mentioned one instance when he featured on the hit list of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after the then Australian foreign minister upon his instigation denounced the group in the House of Representative, the lower house of the Australian parliament. 

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Premadasa's assassination

As per reports, Debenham also wrote about how the judiciary in Sri Lanka was subverted during the reign of Premadasa and how opposition voices were silenced at his behest. Debenham in his book further accuses Premadasa of using his success and power to enrich himself and his cronies. Premadasa was assassinated in 1993 in Colombo after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb as the then-president received him at a rally. The explosion carried out by an LTTE operative also killed 17 others.  

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