Russia to lend post-war Sri Lanka US$300 mil. for arms

Sri Lanka defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May in a final offensive that prompted allegations of human rights abuses from the international community.

Russia, one of the main arms suppliers during the war apart from China and India, backed the Sri Lankan government on several occasions at the Geneva human rights council to head off a debate over the conduct of the war in Sri Lanka.

“We don't manufacture arms,” an official at the presidential office told Reuters when asked about the Russian deal. “Sri Lanka might need arms for its armed forces. It is a legitimate need for its forces.”

Russian state-run news agency RIA has said the US$300-million loan deal to buy military and dual-purpose equipment would be signed during Rajapaksa's visit.

Russia is one of the largest buyers of Sri Lankan tea, RIA said

Sri Lanka's 2009 defense spending was estimated at up to 200 billion rupees (US$1.74 billion), 17 percent of the country's total estimated expenditure.

The Russia deal comes after the former army commander General Sarath Fonseka in July said the island nation had cancelled a US$200 million purchase of arms from Pakistan and China after the end of its war with the Tamil Tigers.

Fonseka stood victorious with Rajapaksa in the war, but the two fell out and have become bitter political enemies since the general entered the presidential race in November, in which the government blamed Fonseka for a corrupt arms deal.

Fonseka has denied the charge.

President Rajapksa's three-day Moscow visit is his first overseas trip since winning re-election at the Jan. 26 presidential poll defeating Fonseka by a margin of more than 1.8 million votes.

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