The war of words between former Army Commander Filed Marshal Sarath Fonseka and the current Army chief, Lt. General Mahesh Senanayake continued with Fonseka hitting out at Senanayake saying the latter was only attending to files during the final phase of war against the LTTE. 

Speaking to media yesterday, Fonseka said the current Army Commander was of the view that he had greater knowledge than his predecessors over military matters.

While Fonseka was the Commander of the Army, Senanayake, a Brigadier then, was the Director Planning. He was overlooking military supplies and other impportant services from the Army Headquarters in Colombo, assisting Fonseka in the final military assault on the LTTE. 

"I knew how things happened during the last stages of war. So, it is not too hard for me to understand that things are not going well in the Army," he added. 

Fonseka said 33 Army establishments have been removed in a haphazard manner, without an objective analysis. 

The former Army Chief also went on to question Senanayake's conduct as the Army Commander saying, "He should learn to comb his hair first." 

"A responsible Army commander shouldn't shave his head, like Idi Amin," Fonseka snapped.

When asked if his criticism of Senanayake arose due to personal resentment, Fonseka said such questions were immaterial. 

"What matters is whether what I say is true. If it's true, it doesn't matter if I harbour personal resentment or not," he replied. 

Fonseka's angry response came a day after the Army issued a statement questioning the moral and ethical rights of its former commanders discussing war-related matters in public. 

""In recent times, some retired Army Officers have alleged that they are not contended with the ‘battle alertness of the Army’ at present. It is not only ethically right for someone to review the status quo of the Army and its battlefield preparedness from outside after having gone on retirement years ago, but it also does question someone’s moral right to hurl such allegations," the statement issued by Senanayake said.