COLOMBO, Aug 18, Reuter: Sri Lanka on Thursday mourned the death of Pakistan President Mohammad ZiaulHaq, with President Junius Jayewardene saying Zia had stood by Sri Lanka in one of its darkest hours.
“I am shocked and grieved to hear of the tragic death (which) has taken away a sincere friend,” Jayewardene said in a statement.
“He stood by us in one of the most difficult periods in our history,” he said, an apparent reference to Pakistani military assistance to Sri Lanka’s security forces when they were faced with the start of a Tamil separatist rebellion.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 26, 1988
