Fonseka's whereabouts remain unknown: Wife

A day after he was hauled away from his office by military personnel, the wife of former army chief Sarath Fonseka said her husband's whereabouts remained "unknown" and she feared for his safety.

Accusing the government of "abducting" her husband, his wife Anoma asked for help to trace his whereabouts, charging that the authorities had cut him off from even his family.

Her charges came as the government said he would face court martial for plotting to overthrow President Mahinda Rajapaksa while still serving in the Army.

"Fonseka would face a court martial even though he is not a serving officer," a brief official statement posted at the defence ministry website said.

The government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said that 59-year-old-former army chief will be tried in a military court on charges of conspiring against Rajapaksa and planning a coup while in service.

"He was plotting against the President when he was the head of the armed forces with the idea of overthrowing the government and had established contacts with opposition parties," Rambukwella claimed.

As the concern for the defeated Presidential candidate grew, a military official merely said, the former army chief had been moved to an undisclosed military establishment ahead of facing disciplinary action.