Sri Lanka denies US request for aircraft landing at Mattala airport

Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has disclosed that his government rejected a request from the United States to land two US combat aircraft at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in southern Sri Lanka. The request was made on February 26, just two days before the US and Israel launched their military operation against Iran.

According to President Dissanayake, the US had requested permission for the aircraft to arrive at the airport from March 4 to 8. The planes were reportedly armed with eight antiship missiles and were intended to be transported from a base in Djibouti.

The president stated that Sri Lanka’s government declined the request to maintain its neutrality in the conflict. He also mentioned that his country had received another request on February 26, this time from Iran, seeking permission for three naval vessels to make a goodwill visit to Sri Lanka.

President Dissanayake explained that both requests were denied due to concerns about taking sides in the escalating conflict. He noted that accepting one request would have required acceptance of the other as well.

In recent days, Sri Lanka’s navy has been involved in incidents with Iranian vessels. On March 4, the country rescued 32 Iranian crew members from a ship that was torpedoed by a US submarine off its coast, resulting in at least 84 fatalities. Later, Sri Lanka evacuated over 200 crew members from another Iranian vessel, IRIS Bushehr, after it requested assistance from Colombo.

The situation has sparked global concern due to the impact of the conflict on energy prices and regional stability.

Source: Al Jazeera