COLOMBO, Dec 11: Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Tuesday agreed to shed her key defence portfolio and head off a potentially dangerous standoff with her arch rival, new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, officials said.

The prime minister held closed-door talks on Tuesday with Kumaratunga, who had earlier indicated that she wanted to hold on to the defence ministry even under a new administration.

“The matter has now been resolved and the new cabinet will be sworn in on Wednesday (today),” a source close to Wickremesinghe said.

Sources close to the president had earlier said that she had been advised by confidants to give up the crucial defence portfolio. However, constitutionally she remains head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

There was no immediate word from Kumaratunga or her office on the agreement over the defence ministry. —AFP