The Thursday's meeting between defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse and British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Dominick Chilcott was on the role of media in Sri Lanka,said British High Commission spokesman, John Cully.

"It was a friendly meeting which lasted for about forty five minutes”, he said.

He told BBC Sandesaya that the high commissioner was summoned to the ministry by the defence secretary,Gotabaya Rajapakse.

Visit to Daily Mirror

The meeting follows the British High Commissioner's visit to the 'Daily Mirror' office on Wednesday.

British High Commissioner, Dominick Chilcott met editor Champika Liyanaarachchi who had received threats from defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapakse.

Defence secretary, Rajapakse has denied the allegations.

Daily Mirror sister paper, "Lankadeepa" reported that the British High Commissioner Chilcott had expressed Britain's concerns about security of Sri Lankan journalists.

Government defence spokesman, minister Keheliya Rambukwella on Wednesday said European diplomats were interfering in country's internal affairs and warned such behaviour would not be tolerated.

Minister Rambukwella told to the media that Sri Lanka in an earlier occasion deported a former British High Commissioner, David Gladstone.

RSF condemns threat

Reporters Without Borders today strongly condemned threats made by Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, younger brother of the president, against the editor of the Daily Mirror, Champika Liyanaarachchi.

The minister also threatened to "exterminate" a journalist on the newspaper, for writing articles about the plight of civilian victims of the war, it said in a statement.

It has called on the secretry to apologise to Champika Liyanaarachchi and Uditha Jayasinghe.

The worldwide press freedom organisation said it had written to Pope Benedict XVI, urging him to intervene with President Mahinda Rajapakse at their meeting in Italy, in support of press freedom in the country and in particular about the latest threats.

President Rajapakse contacted Liyanaarachchi hours later to assure her that he was going to order an investigation., it said.

The following day, the British High Commissioner in Colombo, Dominick Chilcott, went to the Daily Mirror offices to express his solidarity, the statement said.

This gesture angered the defence secretary who summoned the diplomat to a meeting in his office in Colombo.

"Making such vicious threats against two journalists, one of whom is the first female editor of a daily newspaper in the history of the Sri Lankan press, is unworthy of a secretary and a danger to the entire profession," Reporters Without Borders said.

Harassing independent journalists also damages the credibility of the head of state," it added.