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DPL setback for Anura on flight No. 6
 A request by Industries, Tourism and Investment Minister Anura Bandaranaike for the release of a Sri Lankan diplomat to assist him at a committee meeting he is due to address at the European Parliament in Brussels next week has been turned down by the Foreign Ministry.

Mr. Bandaranaike is due to leave for Brussels today, his sixth visit overseas since becoming a cabinet minister six months ago. According to tentative travel plans, the Minister is due to return to the country ten days later after spending some time in Britain.

He is scheduled to address Euro MPs on Tuesday on the subject 'A GSP scheme to Meet the Development Challenges of the 21st Century', which will refer to the difficulties Sri Lanka will face once the Multi-Fibre Agreement ends, a Ministry release states.

Mr. Bandaranaike wrote to the Foreign Ministry earlier this week requesting the release of a Sri Lankan diplomat to assist him while in Brussels. The Foreign Ministry has formally told Mr. Bandaranaike that Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Brussels, Romesh Jayasinghe was capable of assisting him, and that, in the circumstances, there was no requirement to despatch another diplomat for the purpose.

A presidential directive a fortnight ago has instructed cabinet ministers to channel their requests through the Foreign Ministry for official business overseas. Previously, however, a presidential code of ethics issued shortly after the April general elections limited foreign travel of a cabinet minister to four trips a year.
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