Colombo - The Sri Lankan officer who led the army in the victory against the Tamil rebels before resigning said in a letter leaked to the media on Friday that he quit because the president and the government had lost trust in him. General Sarath Fonseka commanded over 200,000 soldiers in the fight against the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the final stage of the 26-year civil war.
After the army's victory in May he was promoted from army commander to chief of defence staff, but was unhappy with the lack of power that came with the job.
In his leaked resignation letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa the general complained that he was unhappy with the new post.
"Your Excellency's and the government's unwillingness to grant me with command responsibilities which leads to believe in a strong mistrust in me, which is most depressing after all that was performed to achieve war victory," he said.
"I am compelled to believe that Your Excellency and the government has lost your trust and faith bestowed upon me for reasons best known to Your Excellency."
Fonseka, who tendered his resignation on Thursday, also expressed concern about the plight of the displaced people now living in camps in the northern part of the country.
"Today many of them are continuing to live in appalling conditions due to the lack of proper planning on the part of the government," he said.
He said government has yet to win the peace in spite of the fact that the army under his leadership won the war.
"There is no clear policy to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people, which will surely ruin the victory attained, paving the way for yet another uprising in the future," he said.
Fonseka is widely tipped to run against Rajapaksa at the next presidential election which is likely to be called in January.
