Srilal Weerasooriya

Weerasooriya was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. He is Arnolis Weerasooriya's great-grand nephew and a member of the Weerasooriya family of Dodanduwa and Hikkaduwa.[2][3]

He joined the Ceylon Army on 9 May 1963 as a Cadet officer. He was then sent to the Pakistan Military Academy from 1963 to 1965, he was part of first batch from Sri Lanka that attended. There Weerasooriya became close friends with Pervez Musharraf, a lifelong friendship which proved to be useful, as Pakistan gave unwavering help to Sri Lanka.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

On his return to Ceylon in 1965, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery, with effect from 11th September 1965.

Over the years, General Weerasooriya climbed the ranks. He attained the rank of lieutenant in 1967, captain in 1970, and major in 1978. Additionally, he qualified as an Instructor Gunnery (IG).

On 18 December 1986, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, subsequently assuming the role of commanding officer of the 4th Field Artillery Regiment from March 1985 to March 1987. His dedication and competence led to his promotion to colonel on 1 October 1988 and brigadier on 1 March 1992.[10]

From November 1991 to December 1993, General Weerasooriya served as the Brigade Commander of the Artillery Brigade

In 1994 he attended the National Defence College, India,[11] and later he was subsequently promoted to the rank of major general on 1st December 1994, serving as Commander, Task Force 1 from December 1994 to September 1995.[12] He served as Colonel Commandant, Sri Lankan Artillery from 1997 to 1998.

He was involved and served in many commands and operations in the Sri Lanka Army, such as Operation Leap Forward.[13]

He was Director of Operations from 1992 to 1994, and Chief of Staff of the Army in 1998.

He was appointed on 17 December 1998 as the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army with the rank of lieutenant general and held the position until his retirement on 24 August 2000 following the Second Battle of Elephant Pass.

He was promoted to the rank of general on retirement and was succeeded by L. P. Balagalle.[14][15][16][17]

He has received some of the highest awards in the Sri Lankan armed forces, which includes the Rana Wickrama Padakkama, Uttama Seva Padakkama and the Rana Sura Padakkama. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan (Star of Pakistan) by the Government of Pakistan.[15][16][17]

In 2000 he was appointed as Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan and served in this capacity for six years. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan the highest of civil decoration given by the Government of Pakistan in 2011.[18] Since his return to Sri Lanka he has served as an independent non-executive director of Ceylinco Life PLC since 2010.

Weerasooriya also served as the President of the Association of Military Christian Fellowships (AMCF), from 2012 to 2021.[19][20][21][22][23]

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