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The Jungle Telegraph by alia

Appetite for new vehicles
An armed forces commander was being driven in his official car for an official function. He could not get there on time for the vehicle, an old one, broke down.
It took time for him to obtain transport, arrive at the venue and apologize to the organizers of the event.

The reasons for this commander to travel in an old vehicle has only now come to light.
That is after President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga took over the Ministry of Defence. Officials were carrying out a quick check on vehicles assigned to armed forces commanders which were not being used by them.

It turned out that a brand new Mercedes Benz imported for official use by the Commander in question had been taken over by a Cabinet Minister. He had sought another vehicle for the use of his son but had been turned down by yet another service commander.

But he succeeded in obtaining a new Land Rover Jeep for use by a Ministerial colleague. That met with an accident and was repaired at great cost. When it was roadworthy the Minister made another appeal to get the four-wheel drive Land Rover back. But it was refused.

Good thinking
The much publicized Tiger guerrilla news conference in Kilinochchi on November 1 to announce their proposals was very cleverly planned. Copies of the full text of the proposals were not handed down to some 75 foreign and local media representatives present.

Not until some five or ten minutes after the news conference had begun.
No one therefore knew what the LTTE demands were. Hence there were no embarrassing questions for Political Wing leader, S.P. Tamilselvan.

One thing leads to another
Last week's report about our spy bosses, a love tryst and family members going on training stints, have had its sequel. Sleuths were detailed to find out who has been leaking the information. While the probe was under way, more bad news arrived.

A minor employee in the organization fell from a building and injured himself. He had to be hospitalized. The poor guy was helping in the boss' home where a new third floor is coming up.

In the meanwhile, the man who went shopping in a supermarket with the lady colleague, welcomed this week's ministerial changes. He says he is in for a bigger position soon.

Common cause
The Police Inspectors Association has joined lawyers on a common platform.
They issued a statement this week condemning moves to impeach Chief Justice Sarath Silva.

Only a manicure
It happened in the sanctum sanctorum of the local intelligence community - in the boss' own office. The Korean visitor, also an intelligence type, called on the boss by prior appointment. As he chatted with the boss, he heard uneasy noises under the large table.

When the visitor was leaving, he met another friend in the organization. He knew him well enough to ask "Did your boss get someone to hide under the table and record my conversation?" The friend said he was unaware.

The friend later found out what happened but could not tell it to the Korean visitor. He had left the country. This was not a case of secretly recording the visitor's conversation. It was a very harmless thing that went on under the table - a minor employee was clipping the boss' toenails. The visitor came in unexpectedly. So the man had to stay put. The under the table deal was misunderstood.

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