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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday told Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake that the government should proceed to forward a comprehensive devolution package and resume peace talks now that there was a stable majority in parliament.The Indian Premier made his comments when the duo met in New Delhi on Monday. Wickremanayake is in India to attend the Congress Party Convention.Manmohan Singh had also drawn attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka and called for its speedy resolution.Following the meeting with the Indian Premier, Wickremanayake also met UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who is also in India to attend the Congress Party Convention.Wickremesinghe met the Indian Premier yesterday and said President Mahinda Rajapakse by his actions had sent a clear message he was not interested in UNP support in the resolution of the country’s problems.

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama left for India yesterday on an invitation by his counterpart Pranab Mukherjee. He will also visit Germany on February 1, to hold bi-lateral talks between the two countries. The Minister is expected to meet his German counterpart Frank Walter Steinmier to promote bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He is also expected to meet the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Bundestag, the members of the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Chairman and the committee members of South Asia Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag.

The Free Media Movement (FMM) is deeply disturbed to learn that basic communications facilities to the Jaffna Peninsula have been blocked since 28 January 2007. Internet facilities and approximately 8,000 landline telephones of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) are currently dysfunctional. SLT, jointly owned by the Sri Lankan government and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation (NTT) of Japan, is the sole Internet provider in Jaffna Peninsula with a population of approximately 600,000, according to official statistics. The FMM was told that there has been no official decision by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority to block communications in this manner in the Peninsula. However, a number of citizens and journalists in Jaffna, when contacted through mobile phones, confirmed that there has been no Internet access in Jaffna since 28 January. The SLT Jaffna office told FMM that for security reasons the SLT link to Jaffna had been disconnected from Anuradhapura, a north central city.

Two Tamil newspapers, "Sudaroli" and "Thinankkural", told FMM that they have been unable to send or receive news or photos via email to other newspapers in their media group since 28 January. Freelance and independent journalists based in Jaffna also cannot send any photos by email nor access the Internet. FMM notes that the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas through any medium, regardless of frontiers, is enshrined as a fundamental right in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We also note that given the context of uncertainty and fear, access to and the dissemination of accurate information through the media is of paramount importance in securing human rights and human security in the Peninsula. Accordingly, the FMM strongly urges the relevant authorities to take immediate steps to reconnect the Jaffna peninsula by unblocking access to the Internet and by facilitating unrestricted access to basic telephony in the region.

With widespread dissension in the SLFP following Sunday’s cabinet reshuffle, President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday approached a business tycoon to prevent senior ministers in his government forming a dissident group to protest the accommodation of UNP crossers-over in cabinet.Informed sources said President Rajapakse had Monday night at 10.30 p.m. telephoned the business tycoon and urged him to use his good offices with National Heritage Minister Anura Bandaranaike and prevent him from visiting the residence of Ports and Aviation Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s who has publicly opposed the decision to accommodate UNP crossers-over.The President, it is learnt, had told the business tycoon to tell Bandaranaike not to visit Samaraweera’s residence since the Ports Minister was conspiring against him and the government.

The President’s call to the business tycoon follows information that several senior SLFP members had gathered at Minister Samaraweera’s residence after the new cabinet was sworn in on Sunday to protest the allocation of ministries where the top posts were given to the UNP crossers-over.The Morning Leader learns that among those present at Samaraweera’s residence which numbered around 15 were Ministers Bandaranaike, Arumugam Thondaman, A.L.M. Athaullah and Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi.The President had also reportedly told the business tycoon to inform Bandaranaike not to worry and fall into a trap set by Samaraweera and that he will look after him.Bandaranaike, informed sources said, had told the business tycoon to tell the President he will visit any house he pleases and that Samaraweera was a cabinet colleague and that he would continue to visit him.

"At Samaraweera’s residence, Anura Bandaranaike said his birth sign was Leo and that while the lions sleep most of the time, when they wake up they stretch out, sniff the air and let out a great big roar and then go on the hunt," a top source present at Samaraweera’s residence said.Contacted by The Morning Leader, Bandaranaike confirmed he received a message from the President through the business tycoon but declined to give details.Meanwhile, despite the President’s request, Bandaranaike and several senior SLFP members met at Samaraweera’s residence again last night to discuss the current political situation.

Sri Lanka announced securing 4.5 billion dollars worth of overseas aid pledges, but foreign donors insisted that the nation risked losing the cash unless there was peace. Investment Promotions Minister Sarath Amunugama said Tuesday that foreign donors pledged help to build roads, ports, coal power plants and highways during the final day of the two-day aid review meeting in the southern town of Galle. "International donors expressed satisfaction at our economic track record and we have got commitments up to 4.5 billion dollars this year," he told reporters. He did not specify a timeline and did not give details on the precise amounts promised by individual donors and lending institutions.

The comments came after donors and international lenders warned Colombo that it could face a cut in assistance unless it made peace with the Tamil Tiger rebels and ended a conflict which has claimed over 60,000 lives since 1972. "Building on the successful response we received today, the government is now working up to raise 9.0 billion dollars in pledges for long-term development work in the next three years," Amunugama said. Sri Lanka had originally planned to convert 1.5 billion dollars in aid pledges received for this year's development work into firm commitments amid rising concern that the island was heading for more violence.

The European Union, a key backer of Norwegian-led peace efforts, showed its displeasure by sending low-level diplomats for the Sri Lanka Development Forum opened by President Mahinda Rajapakse, diplomats said. The EU has also been critical of the government's human rights record in the face of escalating fighting with Tamil rebels. Late last year Germany announced a halt in new aid to Sri Lanka and asked others to follow suit. But the government appeared determined to resist pressure from international donors and lenders to link aid to progress in the island's faltering peace efforts with rebels.

"We are now increasingly looking at securing bilateral aid from friendly countries like China and India, who are keen to help us in our development work," Amunugama added. The United States, breaking ranks with its European partners, sent ambassador Robert Blake, but he issued a warning to Sri Lanka against pursuing a military solution to the separatist conflict. "We remain unwavering in our conviction that there can be no military solution to this terrible conflict," Blake said, raising government eyebrows at the first ever aid meeting attended by the island's military top brass.Blake urged Sri Lanka to "seize the opportunity to forge a power-sharing deal that can form the basis for talks" with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Diplomats and lenders attending the closed-door conference feared that the government might not take their warnings seriously. "Some of the biggest lenders to Sri Lanka came out strong for a power-sharing deal," a delegate said, adding that they had the impression that the authorities were unmoved.

"The tone suggests that they (the government) imply that donors should support the war," said Harsha de Silva, an economist at LIRNEasia, a regional economic think-tank. However, Sri Lanka's chief peace negotiator Nimal Siripala de Silva dismissed donor concerns, saying the government could not resume talks unless the Tamil Tigers agreed to negotiate. Sri Lanka believes that donors should separate aid from the conflict and allow the administration to press ahead with its own economic agenda."We are not ready to accept any conditions linking aid with peace," Sri Lanka's Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal told AFP.

Another move to resume peace talksSLMM carries urgent message from Govt. to LTTE

A top SLMM delegation will travel to the North today carrying an urgent message of the government, probably giving the Tigers the final call to resume peace talks.This comes in the wake of donors who met in Galle over the past two days also calling for a political solution to the conflict.SLMM acting head Jon Oskar Solnes will travel to Kilinochchi today for the crucial meeting which had been postponed for the past two weeks owing to the government’s failure to provide a helicopter for the trip.While the helicopter was only promised by last afternoon, the monitors were even prepared to use land transport as an alternative today in view of the importance of meeting the LTTE to discuss several crucial issues resulting from the current environment in the North and East.SLMM spokesman Thorfinur Omarsson told the Daily Mirror a meeting would take place between the monitors and the LTTE today.

This would be the first high level meeting between the LTTE and the SLMM since November last year.The SLMM met government peace secretariat head and Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona two weeks ago and discussed the escalating violence as well as amendments expected in the role of the monitors to make the SLMM more effective.Today’s meeting comes at a crucial time with the military continuing to advance further into rebel territory in the east with Thoppigala the next target.In an interview with Indian website ‘Tehelk.com’ Mr. Thamilselvan claimed the rebel leadership had many “strategies” to defeat the military and was confident that no force however powerful could defeat the moral strength of their people.“These air force fighter planes are not something that came into being only yesterday. Throughout our struggle we have battled the government air force, navy and the land-based forces.

We have faced this air force during 2000 when we retook the Wanni mainland and the Elephant Pass military complex. In the end, we destroyed these fighter planes in their own airport. That is the history known to everyone. Our leadership has many strategies to defeat these mercenary forces. We will implement these strategies to defeat them in the future. We are confident that no force however powerful can defeat the moral strength of our people. We will win,” Mr. Thamilselvan said.The rebel political head further emphasised that their fight was to have a peaceful life devoid of military occupation and warned that a situation would arise where the fake confidence of the government will be shattered.

LTTE Chief Velupillai Pirapaharan is likely to make an important policy statement shortly, according to the LTTE leadership in the east.Seelalan, a top LTTE military leader in the east, last week said that Pirapaharan had been patient during the recent confrontations in the east but was expected to make an ‘important statement’ soon.The Tigers have been evicted from most areas under their control in the east and are now boxed into areas around Toppigala, west of Batticaloa and jungle areas between Trincomalee and Batticaloa Districts.The Tigers have remained sketchy about the battles in the east, only saying that they took a decision to withdraw from areas around Vaharai due to the government imposed blockade and civilian suffering.

STF personnel engaged in clearing operations in the Kanchikudichchiaru area yesterday overran a major Tiger medical center and a food store.Military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said the STF captured a Tiger hideout called ‘Puvi Master’ base and another store used by the LTTE for storing dry rations in the Gangamuvegoda area.He said the LTTE cadres who had been preparing their meals at the time of the raid, had fled the area leaving behind several vehicles, a large quantity of medicines and medical equipment and other items.He said the STF also found 52 gunny bags of rice, 12 camping tents, 25 plastic baskets, a stock of medicine and a large number of empty bags reportedly with the WFO emblem.During the past few weeks, STF troops captured 20 LTTE bases in the same area.

The security situation in Vavuniya is critical and unpredictable, and is likely to deteriorate in the coming days, peace monitors warned yesterday.Violence and confrontations between security forces and the Tigers had seen a marked increase in the town following the army regaining control of Vaharai two weeks ago. Monitors have warned that Vavuniya could be the next fissure point."We are deeply concerned about the situation in Vavuniya and we hope the violence subsides soon. The situation is only getting more critical everyday," SLMM Spokesperson Thorfinnur Omarsson told The Morning Leader.The military also warned that the situation in Vavuniya remained unstable especially last week as more than seven civilians were killed within a period of seven days. "The general situation in the area is very critical as small group attacks and mortar firing continue. All ethnic groups have suffered and continue to suffer," Military Spokesperson Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.He added that while the Tigers had initiated most of the violence, government forces had been compelled to retaliate.The SLMM situation reports have continuously warned that if violence was not stopped, the chances of a major confrontation between the Tigers and the government forces were great. The reports said that civilians continue to suffer and have repeatedly requested both parties to respect international humanitarian norms.

A set of Canadian Memorial Stamps and First Day Cover were issued at a memorial function in Toronto Saturday, honoring the contribution by late V. Navaratnam, a doyen of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), the Federal Party, and who called upon the Tamil youth to fight for the establishment of a separate self-governing Tamils State in 1969. Mr Navaratnam urged the youth to fight, when he left the Federal Party and founded Thamil Suyadchi Kalaham, the Organisation for Tamil Self-Governance, after witnessing failed negotiations for power-sharing with Sri Lankan leaders for almost three decades. Mr. Navaratnam's son, Jegan Mohan, recalling past conversations with his father, toldthe audiance a conversation, which took place between Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike and Navaratnam, 39 years ago in the Ceylon Parliament Cafeteria, after his father called for a Separate State for the Tamils.

Felix R. Dias Bandaranayake had approached Mr. Navaratnam and commented that the Tamils were always demanding for something, which they cannot obtain, and cited G. G. Ponnambalam's cry for fifty-fifty and Chelvanayakam's demand for Federal State. All of them were rejected by the Sinhalese."Now Navam, you are asking for a separate state. Do you really believe that you can attain it?," asked Mr. Bandaranaike. Navaratnam had responded: "Felix, I don't know whether you and I may be alive, but a day will come, when Sinhalese would come forward to offer the Tamils a Federal State, and the Tamil leadership will consider the offer too little too late."

Navaratnam had issued the first postage "Thamil arasu" (Tamil State) in 1961 as part of the disobedience campaign, with an aim to challenge the state of the Government of Ceylon, contravening a Post Office Ordinance and its monopoly to raise tax, similar to Gandhi's Salt March Campaign.Navaratnam was quoted as having had the idea of breaking the Post Office Law and running a parallel postal service as a part of a mass civil disobedience campaign, following the Trincomalee Resolution in 1956, long before the Satyagraha in 1961, and had drawn the sketch of the stamp, reflecting the concept of a Tamil State. He designed it to incorporate the symbolic features of the Tamil State's economy, agriculture, industry, shipping and trawling. It was finally released in 1961 after the B. C. Pact was nullified by the Sinhala leaders.

The image of the Thamil Arasu stamp is also printed on the First Day Cover. Mr Navaratnam's last advice to the Tamil diaspora, was to mobilize with a unified message to the International Community, and that the gross human rights violations of the Sri Lankan government, be documented and exposed. He also urged the Tamil Canadians to persuade the Canadian government to initiate a demand that Sri Lanka must be expelled from the Commonwealth of Nations for the human rights violations, an act Canada initiated in the Commonwealth against South Africa for its racist policies, Jegan Mohan said.The meeting was organized by Soma Satchithananthan and Praba Ponnambalam and was attended by family members, relatives, friends and Tamil Canadian diaspora members of Kayts constituency in Jaffna attended the event.

Academic work at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka resumed last Monday (29) after a lapse of nearly 90 days.Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC), Prof. Gamini Samaranayake told The Morning Leader that Prof. N. Pathmanathan was appointed as the Acting Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the university.Prof. Pathmanathan told The Morning Leader that 75% of the students had started to attend lectures at the university.He however said that the attendance of the students from outstation was low."The lecturers have also started their work and so far there have been no problems. The attendance of outstation students is however on the lower side. I believe that they would start to come as the days go by as all the issues such as security and transport have been sorted," he said.He said that the situation in the university had improved despite the non-release of the former VC, Prof. S. Ravindranath last month."We had some problems after the VC was abducted. That resulted in academic work being halted for one and a half months. However, the situation has improved and we are confident that we would continue our work without problems in the future," Prof. Pathmanathan added.

Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets pounded on LTTE training bases in Mullaithivu at 11:45 this morning, Tuesday the 30th of January. The Air Force sources confirmed that the targeted LTTE training camp was completely destroyed due to the air strike.This, however, cannot be independently verified.

Sri Lankan TELO MP Sivajilingam has urged the Indian Government to take steps to prevent starvation deaths in the island nation. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, he said the Indian Government must recognise the battle for freedom in the island nation. Pointing out that incidents of violence were on the rise in the country, he said the people were beginning to lose the hope of a peaceful solution to the decades-old ethnic strife. He said the ethnic Tamils, including children and women, were targeted during air-strikes and bomb blasts. Violence must end in the country, he said and added that peace talks would resume only if the Sri Lankan Government was willing to take part in it.The leader of the Tamil Nationalist Movement, Pazha Nedumaran, said more than five lakh Tamils in Eelam were facing starvation. He called upon the people to render support to the Tamils in Sri Lanka.The party workers raised Rs 1.09 lakh during a public meeting and handed over the money to Nedumaran.

Donors warn on Sri Lanka violence

International donors have urged Sri Lanka's government and Tamil Tiger rebels to halt worsening violence. At an aid meeting in the city of Galle, World Bank vice president Praful Patel said the bloodshed was "at the centre of any discussion" about the country. US ambassador Robert Blake told delegates there was no military solution to the conflict, which has claimed 65,000 lives since the 1970s. Most of about $4.5bn in foreign aid pledges is contingent on peace moves.

Mr Patel said there was no way "to politely skirt" the issue of renewed and deepening conflict in the island. "The past year has not been good at all for the families of the more than 3,500 Sri Lankans killed as a result of the increased hostilities," he said. "Nor has it been a good year for the additional over 200,000 persons displaced by the conflict. It has not been a good year for the whole population of the north and east. "We cannot spend two days discussing development plans if we do not place the conflict squarely in our sights as the largest obstacle." Mr Patel said the challenges in rebuilding Sri Lanka were "enormous". He said "some fairly good progress" had been made since 2001 but that had now been stopped in its tracks. "The government needs to enable us to do our job better by creating a more conducive environment," he said. Aid agencies have complained in recent months that the authorities have hindered them from reaching conflict areas. They have also criticised the rebels for using civilians as human shields. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse told delegates he believed that development of the north and east was important for sustainable peace. But he said it was "equally important to defeat futile terrorist attacks" mounted by the Tamil Tigers.

US Ambassador Robert Blake said the only way forward was through peace talks. "We remain unwavering in our conviction that there can be no military solution to this terrible conflict," he told the meeting. "We hope Sri Lanka will seize the opportunity to forge a power-sharing proposal that can form the basis for talks with the LTTE [Tamil Tigers] that could finally bring an end to conflict in Sri Lanka." The Tamil Tigers are listed by the US, the EU, India and others as a banned terrorist organisation. They have been fighting since the 1970s for a separate homeland in Sri Lanka's north and east for minority Tamils, who they say are discriminated against by majority Sinhalese. A 2002 cease-fire between the rebels and the government is still technically in place, although fighting has steadily worsened over the past year.

Former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and Windsor lawyer Allan Rock says the Sri Lankan government is trying to undermine his credibility with an apparent smear campaign as he prepares to present a report to the UN on child soldiers in the war-torn country.Rock travelled to Sri Lanka in November on behalf of the UN's special representative on child soldiers to meet with militia leaders, government officials and families of children who were abducted and forced to fight on the front lines.The former federal cabinet minister said his finding that the Sri Lankan government plays a part in the abductions has prompted false allegations he is consorting with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Also known as the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group has been declared a terrorist organization by the Canadian government.

A Sri Lankan newspaper recently published a picture of Rock at the December Liberal convention in Montreal, posing with two alleged Tamil Tigers supporters, along with an article bearing the headline "Rock-LTTE connection bared."The picture has also appeared in several Canadian newspapers."This is the most blatant example of going after the messenger rather than focusing on the message," Rock, now a member of the Sutts, Strosberg law firm in Windsor, told The Star."Ever since November, when I made my conclusions public, there has been a very concerted effort in Sri Lanka by the media and the government spokesman to attack me and my integrity."

Rock said he has no idea who the men in the picture are.Their identities have not been confirmed, but Sri Lanka's Sunday Standard claimed they are members of a Tamil cultural society at the University of Waterloo."In the course of the four days that I was (at the Liberal convention), there must have been 100 people who pulled me aside and asked me to take a picture with them," he said."It's not my practice to do a security check on people I agree to have my picture taken with."Rock said the picture is now being used "for propaganda purposes" in an effort to divert attention from his findings, among them a discovery that government forces were helping a breakaway faction called Karuna -- which fights the Tamil Tigers -- abduct children and train them to fight.

Last week, Human Rights Watch released a 100-page report that backs Rock's conclusions and accuses the Sri Lankan government of hypocrisy."It's very disappointing because I would have thought (the government's) attention would be focused on efforts to get to the bottom of the matter," Rock said."This is definitely a side show but I'm not going to stand by and watch people say these things without responding."Rock said Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, promised he would investigate the government's links to the abductions.Rock said the government has "always pointed fingers" at the Tamil Tigers, who have been fighting for an independent homeland since 1972."The Tamil Tigers have also been abducting children; I'll make that clear in my report," Rock said."But our subjects are being victimized by the Tamil Tigers and this other militia. And when the government is involved ... who do the families turn to?"Rock said he's not worried the controversy will cast a shadow over his report, scheduled for presentation Feb. 9, adding that his UN colleagues recognize he's being unfairly targeted.

Govt. 'killing' Jaffna press freedom

A group of international media watchdogs have urged Sri Lanka's major donors to pressure the government to remove obstacles on freedom of expression.In an open letter addressed to the ambassadors of Sri Lanka's major donors, an umbrella group of international media watchdogs has expressed serious concern over the acute shortage of printing material and ink in Jaffna peninsular.The International Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mission to Sri Lanka is a groups of 12 organisations including UNESCO and IFJ.

"According to our reports, all three newspapers in the city now print only four pages and print runs have also been drastically reduced," the statement said.Paris based Reporters Without borders (RSF) said the shortage is a strong barrier to the freedom of information of the people in the North.Jaffna's most popular newspaper, Uthayan, was forced to drastically reduced the number of copies as a result, RSF added."If the security forces do not include printing paper and ink to the list of supplies that can be taken to Jaffna, they are effectively killing the Tamil media in the north," RSF spokesman Vincent Brossel told BBC Sandeshaya.

A Colombo based media watchdog has also expressed concern over the press freedom in the peninsular.In a media release issued last week, Free Media Movement (FMM) reminded that killers of the BBC journalist Mylvagaman Nimalarajan are still at large after six years.Jaffna based Namatha Ealanadu newspapaer was forced to close down after its managing director was gunned down last year, according to FMM.It said the journalists in the peninsular are prevented from carrying out normal duties and communication facilities with the peninsular have been cut off since violence escalated in August last year."The culture of impunity and the fear psychosis combine to create a deeply disturbing context on the ground for journalists," FMM statement said.The International Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mission to Sri Lanka have reminded the authorities that there are no radio or TV stations in Jaffna."We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to enable the delivery of newsprint to Jaffna so that the city's publications are able to carry out their vital activity of informing the public," the statement added.

The boycott organized by the Vadamaradchy Tamil Students union spread to schools across Jaffna peninsula beginning Monday as two students abducted in Vadamaradchy area earlier, remained captive. Most students in Jaffna district responded to the call by the Students Union to boycott school activities until the abducted students are released. The students union in their communiqué had called upon all school students in the peninsula to boycott classes, demanding the release of the abducted students as well as for the SLA troops to stop exerting military violence on the students.Most schools in the peninsula did not function Monday as there were no students present while classes were held in some schools with only a few students attending.The student leaders however vowed that in the next few a days, there will be a full scale boycott of classes in all schools in the peninsula.SLA soldiers and collaborating paramilitaries in the Peninsula have abducted a number of undergraduates and high school students in the last several months. The recent escalation in number of abductions of civilians in Jaffna has once again created fear among the residents.

India is to finalise a USD 100 million credit line to help Sri Lanka develop a southern railway link, an Indian official said here today. Colombo is in the process of negotiating the terms of the credit line, which forms part of India's development assistance to Sri Lanka, Additional Secretary, External Affairs Ministry, Dinesh Kumar Jain said."Over the past four years, we have given around USD281 million worth of credit which have been used to import wheat, petroleum products and buses," Jain told a meeting of Sri Lanka's international aid donors. "We are ready to help Sri Lanka develop ICT (Information Communication Technology), power and explore off-shore oil," he said. Sri Lanka recently gave India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) permission to explore for oil off Sri Lanka's north western Mannar basin. "Eight exploration blocks have been identified, of which one was given to the Indian government on nomination basis and the other to China," Lanka's Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said on the sidelines of the aid parleys.The block in the Gulf of Mannar lies between the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka's west coast. It is also the closest block to India. "The balance will be given through bidding process in three months time," Fowzie said. Bilateral trade picked up after both sides entered a free trade pact in 1998.

The United States says a military solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict is not possible and has called on the government and Tamil Tigers to hold talks. US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, told a meeting of international aid donors the US hopes Sri Lanka will seize the opportunity to forge a power-sharing proposal.President Mahinda Rajapakse also attended the opening of the two-day meeting to review foreign aid to the island.Last week he vowed to crush "terrorism" in the wake of military gains in the island's restive east. President Rajapakse had said the military has the strength to cope with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has been leading a decades-old campaign for independence.Meanwhile, international donors have used the meeting to warn Sri Lanka against escalating its bitter ethnic conflict.World Bank's vice president for South Asia, Praful Patel, told the meeting Sri Lanka must commit to peace and restore investor confidence.

Sri Lanka's peace process, strained by unabated fighting, is understood to have come up for discussion when the island nation's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, NDTV reported.The two leaders are believed to have discussed the efforts being made by the Sri Lankan government to usher in peace in the troubled country, which has been witnessing renewed fighting between the military and LTTE rebels for the past several months.India's humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka and its implementation is also understood to have come up during the meeting where Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar Menon and National Security Adviser, M K Narayanan were also present.Over the past four years, India has given around $281 million worth of credit which has been used to import wheat, petroleum products and buses. A fresh $100 million credit line, to help Sri Lanka develop a southern railway link, is also being worked out.The Mahinda Rajapaksa government has started an exercise aimed at the devolution of power to address the grievances of ethnic minorities. India has offered its help in this process and has suggested a solution based on its own federal structure.An all-party Tamil delegation recently visited India to study the federal structure of this country. It even examined the functioning of the Panchayati Raj system in the country.Leader of the Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe, will meet Singh today.

Currency	Buying (Rs.)		Selling (Rs.)
US Dollar	108.03		109.35
Sterling Pound	211.08		214.67
Euro	138.89		141.61
Swiss Franc	85.68		87.60
Canadian Dollar	91.02		93.09
Australian Dollar	82.98		85.04
Singapore Dollar	69.90		71.43
Japanese Yen	0.8826		0.9030
Country		Currency		Indicative Rate(RS.)

Bahrain	Dinar	287.34
Kuwait	Dinar	374.61
Oman	Rial	281.40
Qatar	Riyal	29.76
Saudi Arabian	Riyal	28.88
UAE	Dirham	29.50

Sri Lanka is teeming with ministers. With 104 ministers, Sri Lanka today has the largest council of ministers in the South Asian region.It may be the only country where 92% of the MPs in the ruling coalition (104 out of 113) are ministers! Practically every government MP in Sri Lanka is a minister of one kind or another.46% of the total membership of the House (104 out of 225) are ministers.India, with a population of 1.1 billion, has only 73 ministers. Pakistan with a population of 168 million, has just 16. But Sri Lanka with a mere 20 million has 104 ministers.With the expansion of the Council of Ministers on Sunday, including the induction of 24 from the opposition United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the number of ministers had jumped from 70 to 104.

There are now 52 cabinet ministers, 33 non-cabinet ministers and 19 deputy ministers.The president of Sri Lanka is not a member of parliament, but he can take ministerial portfolios. Mahinda Rajapaksa, for example, is minister of finance. If he is included, the number of cabinet ministers will be 53 and the total number of ministers will be 105.Previously, there were 26 cabinet ministers (excluding the president who was minister of finance), 26 non-cabinet ministers and 18 deputy ministers.

Election promise flouted

The quantum jump had taken place despite an electoral promise that the council of ministers would not exceed 35.The Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Permuna (JVP) had extracted this promise. But the JVP has now fallen out with the government, and is in the political doghouse.

With the expansion of the council of ministers, including the creation of new ministries to accommodate new entrants, the burden on the exchequer will increase, as each ministry will have to have its own accommodation, staff, equipment and vehicles and a separate budget.As it is, Sri Lanka has one of the largest public services in the region. No pruning is possible even if the government wants it, because of heavy trade unionisation.

Typically, appointments to government jobs are made on political and personal considerations. Many ministers appoint their own wives, daughters or sons as their private or coordinating secretaries.All these posts are salaried and carry extra benefits including a pension, if the incumbent serves for five years.

Minister Anura Bandaranaike who was sworn in a "created ministry", called the National Heritage which was a part of the cultural ministry, is about to resign from his new post, sources say.A few ministers had visited the residence of Minister Mangala Samaraweera, after posing for the photograph of the cabinet with the president, and this group had included Anura Bandaranaike. Anura had wanted to tender his resignation today itself and the ministers who were gathered there had stopped him asking Anura to have patience.Anura had even refused to pose for the photograph and had been standing in the corridor of the presidential secretariat before Rajitha Senaratne and Mervyn Silva pleaded him to pose for it. The rest of the ministers and the president had been seated for the photograph for over 10 minutes due to Anura's delay and the president had walked off as he had not arrived. The president returned after Anura arrived at the scene.According to information available to 'LeN' the "Mini Cabinet" which gathered to Samaraweera’s house had consisted Ministers Athauda, Thondaman, Anura and Sripathy. Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga had also called Samaraweera during this meeting and asked about the situation.

The first Cabinet reshuffle of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government ran into various reactions from political parties, with the government’s former ally, the JVP terming it as a “laughing matter to the world and a burden to the country and its people”, while the JHU expressed a more neutral opinion towards the jumbo cabinet.The JHU, however, blamed the JVP for paving the way for the Government to move towards appointing a jumbo Cabinet, to achieve political stability.JVP politburo member Vijitha Herath told the Daily Mirror that yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle was a serious violation of the ‘Mahinda Chinthanaya’ programme and against the people’s mandate.“This PA-UNP alliance is to re-launch their traditional selling and dividing business. Rajitha Senaratne, Milinda Moragoda and G.L. Peiris are well known for their attempts to divide this country and sell its properties. We will, however, observe what the Government is going to do in future, though it is very obvious to us,” he added.

While noting that the present Cabinet would only add more burdens on the ordinary man, Mr. Herath added that the JVP has automatically become the main Opposition of the country.“We are the ones who are actually performing the duties of a true and powerful Opposition, even at present with the UNP in tatters.”Meanwhile, JHU Media Secretary Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said that if this jumbo Cabinet was to develop the country and work for the betterment of the public, their Party would not object to it.“But we do not count on it completely. We think this as a political decision taken to stabilise the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration. Yet, we hope these ministers would work to develop the country and not to increase their beneficiaries,” he said.

He, however, charged that if the JVP remained in the Government, according to the mandate they received in 2004, President Rajapaksa would not seek the support of the UNP to survive.“Even the countries which have the highest population in the world, do not have such big Cabinets. The JVP should take the lions share of the responsibility for what is happening at present, as this occurred due to their wrong political decisions.”While noting that the JVP could hold four ministerial portfolios even during Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government, which clearly stood for a Federal solution, Mr. Warnasighe said that they do not see a valid reason for the JVP not joining the Rajapaksa government, which still stands for a unitary State.“They withdrew from the then government because of the P-TOMS proposals. But President Rajpaksa still stands for a unitary State and acting against terrorism. Thus, we do not see why the JVP did not join the Government. Their ill timed and inaccurate political decision only led the defeated UNPers to join the Government,” he said.

The Wijesekera drama

Many people were surprised when Mahinda Wijesekera MP of the Matara District turned up at the swearing in yesterday. Until late Saturday night, it was not certain whther Mahinda Wijseekera would join the government because Mangala Samaraweera had brought pressure on the President not to accommodate Wijesekera. And it was widely speculated that in order to placate Mangala Samaraweera, that Mahinda Wijesekera would not be taken in. On Saturday evening at seven pm, Wijesekera was not among the UNP lawmakers who called on the President. That night Wijesekera had gone to sleep, having resolved that he would not be joining the Government just yet even though he had got a clear mandate from his constituency in Matara to cross sides. But around 12.45 in the night, Basil Rajapaksa phoned Wijesekera and told him that it would not look right for him to come at a later date and for him to come on the following morning and swear in as the Minister for Special Projects. At this point Wijesekera said that a ministry pertaining to ocean resources would be more to his liking. They had discussed this for a while, Basil Rajapaksa had said that he would call again in the morning. At 8.30 on Sunday morning, Basil Rajapaksa had phoned Wijesekera and told him that it was difficult to make changes at this stage and requested him to take oaths as the Special Projects Minister at 9.30 am. The reformist group expressed their joy at having Wijesekera amongst them as the outspoken minister was a popular figure within the group.

Buddhist monk as Environment Minister

The government has offered the Environment Ministery to the JHU. However, the JHU said it had not yet made a decision as ti whether to accept the offer or not."This is not the first time we have been offered a ministry. But, in the past we have turned down such offers. We will make a final decision in that regard on Tuesday when our central committee meets," JHU Spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe told The Island yesterday.However, political sources said the JHU was very likely to accept the government offer and Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera would be sworn in as the Minister of Environment shortly.

Following the attempt to attack the Colombo Harbour, by suspected LTTE cadres, the police arrested over 30 Tamil civilians on suspicion in a search operation carried out in several areas in Colombo, during the weekend.In Moratuwa police arrested 18 persons living in the Soyzapura apartment blocks, on Saturday night, 11 females and seven men were among those arrested. Pettah police raided a lodge in Wolfendhal and arrested 11 Tamil nationals, on suspicion, on Saturday. The suspects are being detained while further investigations are conducted.Meanwhile in Kotahena too several premises were raided and some suspects were taken into custody. The suspects had failed to prove their identity and had told the police that they were from the North East areas of the country.The suspects are to be produced in the respective Magistrate courts, where they were arrested.The security in Colombo City too has been intensified

Army Commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka paid a special visit to the area yesterday as the LTTE violence gathered momentum in Vavuniya. Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni (SFHQ-W) Major General W.U.B. Edirisinghe briefed the Army Commander about the security situation in the area at SFHQ - W. The Army Commander after reviewing the situation, gave instructions to ground Commanders on future security plans. General Officers Commanding of 21 and 56 Divisions, area Commanders of Manner and Welioya, Commander's of respective Brigades and Units were present at briefing. LTTE activities killed Security Forces and Police personnel and civilians during last few days in Vavuniya. Many others were injured in those incidents.

The demise of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader former Minister M. H. M. Ashraff was an irreparable loss to the nation and had he been alive would have played a major role in the resolution of the present conflict leading to sustainable and everlasting peace in the country, Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris said recently. Prof. G. L. Peiris made these observations delivering the commemorative lecture of late Minister M. H. M. Ashraff held under the patronage of the South Eastern University Vice Chancellor Jesima Ismail at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on the theme "The Challenges, Conflicts and Policies of the New Year" organised by the South Eastern University. Continuing Prof. Peiris said "Minister M. H. M. Ashraff was the only politician who worked for a sustainable solution for two decades old ethnic conflict within a united Sri Lanka.

He said they put forward several constitutional reformation to Parliament with late Minister M. H. M. Ashraff. He was a patriot, friend and a man of might. Until his demise he worked for the well-being of the poor people irrespective of their race, caste and ethnic differences and the unity of the country. The late Ashraff was the founder of the South Eastern University. No leader has yet emerged from the Muslim community equal to late M. H. M. Ashraff after his demise." Prof. G. L. Pieris pointed out that he saw late Ashraff not only as a politician but also a political friend. They have discussed about constitutional reforms participating in various events. His methods of approaching others was attractive. The country and the people in his area got utmost benefits from him.

"He was a kind hearted person and he lived with us only 52 years. He founded the SLMC in 1981. The SLMC contested in the North-East provincial council elections in 1984. Three members came to parliament from SLMC in the general election of 1989. He was also a former Ports, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Minister in the PA Government," he said. Housing and Common Amenities Minister Ferial Ashraff, SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem, South Eastern University Vice Chancellor Jesima Ismail and several others also spoke.

Sri Lanka's key international donors will meet in the southern city of Galle, amid rising concerns that the cash may not be well spent. Escalating violence, allegations of widespread corruption in the disbursement of international aid and its overall economic management could hurt the island's prospects of attracting more support, diplomats said."A bigger government (cabinet of ministers) and the military taking a hardline stand could overshadow the development agenda," said a western diplomat attending the two-day review by 50 donor nations and lenders.Sri Lanka plans to convert 1.5 billion dollars in aid pledges received for this year's development work into firm commitments during the talks in this southern coastal town that was hit by the December 2004 tsunami.

"It is not a pledging conference. We have already lined up donor commitments for a pipeline of infrastructure projects. We hope to convert some of these commitments into firm pledges," treasury chief Punchi Banda Jayasundera said.Despite an expected 7.0 percent growth in 2006, Sri Lanka's 25-billion-dollar economy has come under strain from high military expenditure and the state's lavish spending, which is fuelling inflation.The World Bank this week reminded Sri Lanka to get hold of its finances and control galloping inflation, which hit 19.3 percent in December."Sri Lanka is once again at a crossroads ... the macro-economic framework has deteriorated in the past year on account of continued fiscal pressures -- part of which are linked to the escalation of the conflict," the bank said.

Analysts noted an absence of political will and divergent views among political parties that form the coalition government were holding back vital reforms in the public sector, state utilities and pensions.President Mahinda Rajapakse is set to expand his cabinet with opposition defectors Sunday to strengthen his own hand in parliament without the aid of the Marxist JVP, which previously supported his party.The government is currently locked in armed combat with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), who have been fighting for an independent state since 1972 for minority Tamils.Government troops recently captured the rebels' main stronghold of Vakari in the island's east, days after Sri Lanka's army chief Sarath Fonseka said he planned to clear the island's multi-ethnic eastern region of Tiger guerrillas.

Defence Secretary Gotabhya Rajapakse is due to address donors on the ongoing military operations, as the nation has set aside 1.29 billion dollars for defence expenses in 2007 -- equal to this year's education budget."The status of the conflict with the LTTE remains a key concern," said Agost Benard, credit analyst at the international rating agency Standard and Poor's.Sri Lanka carries a "junk bond" rating of B-plus from Standard and Poor's, with a negative outlook."The ratings on Sri Lanka reflect the high level of government indebtedness and weak revenue mobilisation, together with security concerns posed by the unresolved conflict with Tamil separatists," said Benard."Our assessment is that there have been no improvements in any of these factors," he added.Paul Rawkins, senior director with international ratings agency Fitch's sovereign team, said Sri Lanka was continuing to perform well despite the seemingly unending bloodshed in the island's northeast and bomb attacks in Colombo. His concerns are focused on the government's spending habits that encourage runaway inflation. "We'll be watching the outcome of the donor's meeting with interest," Rawkins said.

Cabinet reshuffle to 'consolidate power'

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet reshuffle was not aimed at solving the national question, says the TELO Muthalvar and Tamil National Alliance (TNA).TNA parliamentarian MK Sivajilingam told BBC Sandeshaya that the President has offered portfolios to UNP rebels to consolidate his power.The UNP dissidents were also not genuine in helping the government to resolve the national question, according to the parliamentarian.TNA says rebel MPs should have supported the opposition leader, Ranil Wickramasinghe, to implement the SLFP-UNP MoU "We believe they joined the government for their personal gain," TELO MP Sivajilingam told bbcsinhala.com.If the rebels genuinely wanted to strengthen the peace process, he said, they should have supported UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe to implement the MoU signed with the SLFP. Eighteen UNP rebels and six Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) parliamentarians joined the government on Sunday cementing President Rajapaksa's parliamentary majority.The rebel ministers however inisist that their aim is to strengthen Rajapaksa administration in order to find a lasting peace for the island nation.

Construction and Engineering Services Minister Rajitha Senarathne expressed hope that their support will help Rajapaksa administration stop relying upon on Sinhala nationalists.Peoples Liberation Front (JVP) and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) supported Rajapaksa presidency in November 2005 presidential elections.Speaking exclusively with BBC Sandeshaya after the swearing in, Senarathne said the government from now on "can indepedently take decisions"."The government has no other option other than the war before we joined. But now the peace loving forces have joined together," he said.

Sri Lanka is in the grip of an undeclared war. The 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is on the verge of collapsing. Hundreds have died in intermittent fighting between the two sides since the beginning of this year. Both sides have accused each other of violating the CFA. If the LTTE was accused of carrying out an attempt on the life of Sri Lanka Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the GoSL and pro-government paramilitary groups face charges of having had a hand in the killings of pro-LTTE parliamentarians Joseph Pararajasingam and Nadarajah Raviraj. In his recent heroes’ day address, LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran said there was “no other option but an independent state for the people of Tamil Eelam.” What is LTTE up to, Tehelka asked LTTE political head SP Thamilchelvan. Excerpts:.

Has the LTTE called off the ceasefire with the Sri Lanka government? In his heroes’ day address, Prabhakaran has said “the uncompromising stance of Sinhala chauvinism has left us with no other option but an independent state for the people of Tamil Eelam.” He had also spoken about “recommencing” the “journey on the path of freedom.” Our leader has explained our policy position lucidly. He did not mention anything about leaving the CFA. He had elaborated on how the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has made the CFA defunct by blatantly breaking its clauses through the occupation of Sampur and Vaharai that were declared as our areas in the CFA. GoSL military also attempted to move into our area from Muhamalai. It has bombed and shelled our civilian settlements. Contravening CFA clauses, it has destroyed normalcy in civilian life. It closed main highways and enforced economic blockade on our people. ‘I believe the Sri Lankan President’s India visit was to obtain military assistance and it failed'

This has forced a war environment on our people, who are facing untold miseries as a result of these actions by the military. Our national leader has pointed out that it is indeed the GoSL that has made the CFA defunct by its ethnic genocide programme. GoSL, through the disruption of all opportunities that we provided over the last five years, has demonstrated that an independent state is the only option available to the Tamils. The inflexibility of the GoSL and its ethnic genocide is not going to accommodate a solution to the Tamils. I believe this is what has made the Tamils re-embark on their path towards their goal.

How would you assess President Rajapakse’s Indian visit?
It is the tradition of the GoSL to let loose an ethnic genocide on our people whenever our struggle gains strength politically or militarily. It is also its tradition to stage dramas to trap other countries in an illusion to hide its genocide programme and also to drive a wedge between us and countries like India. Rajapakse’s latest Indian visit is part of this drama staged by the GoSL to handle the pressures from international community, in particular from the Tamils of Tamil Nadu. Rajapakse is adopting the same racist approach of all other Sinhala leaders. Among the Sinhala leadership, he is in fact showing himself as one with extreme racial hatred against the Tamil community. He has embarked on a drive to intensify his ethnic genocide. The purpose of his Indian visit was to obtain military assistance. I believe his visit was a failure because of the opposition to his visit from Tamil Nadu leaders and the firm stand taken by the Indian Central government.

Articulate democratic leaders perceived to be voicing LTTE viewpoint like Joseph Pararajasingam and Nadarajah Raviraj have been murdered by unknown assailants. What information does the LTTE have on these killings?
Sri Lankan military has already killed more than 1,200 innocent civilians during the rule of President Rajapakse. Among those killed are our political representatives, community leaders and journalists. We have evidence to prove that Joseph Pararajasingam was killed by the Karuna paramilitary group. Raviraj, a young and energetic member of parliament, who voiced the rights of the Tamil people at many platforms, was shot within the high security area in Colombo. He was killed by the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) paramilitary group. We have evidence that this murder was carried out with the full cooperation of the military.

The Sri Lankan military appears to be showing scant respect to international opinion and has been continuing with its military offensives. The latest killings of about 50 civilians in Vakarai have evoked condemnations from Amnesty International, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Rajapakse government appears to be moving toward a military solution. Had the Sinhala leaders respected international opinion the ethnic conflict would not have worsened to this degree. Whenever international community raised its concerns, GoSL acted deceptively to misguide them. It did not try to address the basic causes of the Tamil struggle and make an attempt to find a solution for it. Rajapakse government is following the same path. It would rather wipe out the Tamil people from this island and convert it into a Sinhala Buddhist country according to the Buddhist ideology in this island. The international community must go beyond simply expressing its condemnation and take a strong stand against the GoSL. Only when it takes concrete actions such as declaring the GoSL a terrorist state, and halting all its assistance to it, the GoSL can be brought in line. Through past and present lessons we have learnt that mere condemnations and concerns from the international community are not going to be of any use.

There is a view that Sri Lanka enjoys the military advantage now and the LTTE has been put on the defensive – repeatedly issuing threats to back out of the CFA, but refusing to do so. Is it correct to say the LTTE has been weakened militarily and it is not the same force as it was, say in 2000?
As far as our movement is concerned we are very strong. As our national leader noted in the heroes’ day speech, when we came forward to undertake the peace efforts in 2001, we did so from a position of strength. We had recaptured the Vanni mainland; and captured the Elephant Pass military complex. It is from this position of strength we have undertaken the peace efforts for the last six years. During these six years we have defeated many plots against our struggle by the GoSL. They may think that their military is strong because it did not face any losses for five years. For us, our greatest strength is our people. Our struggle is a self-defence struggle. We are struggling to have a peaceful life devoid of military occupation. Our entire people are behind us; this is our moral strength. No other powerful force can defeat it. The environment has risen where the fake confidence of the GoSL will be shattered. We have the competence and the strength to defeat the military oppression. I firmly believe that we will achieve our goal very soon.

Sri Lanka’s defence expenditure continues to spiral and it is expected to cross one billion dollars this year. It has become one of the most militarised nations in the region with the highest army personnel: civilian ratio. (According to a report, it is 8:1,000, as against 1.3:1,000 in India and 4:1,000 in Pakistan.) Sri Lanka is also getting military assistance from Pakistan. How do you view the situation?
This is clearly pushing Sri Lanka into an economically weak situation. Blowing the size of the military establishment out of proportion to its capacity, hoping to destroy the Tamils, is in fact pushing Sri Lanka into abyss. Sri Lanka is buying large quantities of weapons from Pakistan. It is creating a situation that threatens the stability of this region. I do not believe that other countries in this region, including India, are going to allow this conduct of the GoSL.

How does LTTE view Pakistan? Jaffna district TELO MP MK Sivajilingam told Tehelka in a recent interview that the ISI had penetrated Amparai, Batticaloa, and Trincomalee districts in the Eastern Province. Reports even suggested that Pakistan might help Sri Lanka target Prabhakaran using bunker buster bombs.
We have recently confirmed that GoSL is receiving large quantities of military equipment and assistance from Pakistan. This is dangerous and must be stopped. However, I do not believe such efforts by the GoSL will provide victories to the GoSL. I believe there will be a backlash on countries like Pakistan that assist the GoSL knowing well that GoSL is involved in an ethnic genocide of the Tamils.

How would the LTTE deal with the Sri Lankan Air Force with its fleet of Kfir and MIG-23 fighter planes in the event of a full-scale war? Isn’t the air force a big threat to the LTTE?
These air force fighter planes are not something that came into being only yesterday. Throughout our struggle we have battled the GoSL air force, navy and the land-based forces. We have faced this air force during 2000 when we retook the Vanni mainland and the Elephant Pass military complex. In the end, we destroyed these fighter planes in their own airport. That is the history known to everyone. Our leadership has many strategies to defeat these mercenary forces. We will implement these strategies to defeat them in the future. We are confident that no force however powerful can defeat the moral strength of our people. We will win.

According to reports, people of Jaffna are facing shortage of food, medicine, fuel and other essentials due to the closure of A9 highway – the road that links Jaffna to the rest of the island. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs and the LTTE have been demanding the reopening of the road, but to no avail. What will be the consequences of this stalemate?
GoSL violated some of the important clauses in the CFA in an attempt to make it invalid. They have closed main highways used by our people, particularly the A9 highway to Jaffna, and subjected 600,000 people (in Jaffna) to misery. It has made the position of the CFA very precarious. Neither the people nor the LTTE will continue to tolerate such actions against the people by the GoSL. The people and the LTTE will together defeat this action and set up our land route. This is the only option open to us.

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka recently ruled that the merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces was unconstitutional, illegal, and invalid. Is it an indication that any settlement to the ethnic conflict can only be within the framework of the Sri Lankan constitution? It also brings us to the basic question; does the LTTE respect the Sri Lankan constitution?
The Sri Lankan constitution was not drafted with the cooperation and consent of the Tamil people. On the contrary this constitution was drafted with the intention of marginalising and destroying the Tamil people. Therefore, this constitution will never give justice to the Tamil people. Tamil people have been struggling against these Sri Lankan constitutions for the last 50 years. It is exactly this constitution that has blocked even minor progresses made in the peace process. Even minor structures created for carrying out humanitarian work (post-tsunami) for our people were blocked by the Sri Lankan courts citing this constitution. There are no surprises here. Sri Lankan constitution is not going to accept any agreement or resolutions that will benefit the Tamil people. This justice department reflects the ethnically biased government and therefore it will always make decisions against the Tamils. We cannot see any possibility for us to live together with Sri Lanka. Our leader has lucidly expressed this by saying that this has urged us to walk on the path towards our goal.

How have the Co-chairs (Japan, Norway, US and the European Union) reacted to the recent Lankan military offensives?
They have expressed their concerns only through condemnations. This will never bring the ethnically-biased Sinhala Buddhist leaders in line. The GoSL has simply ignored these reports and is continuing with its war against the Tamil people. Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, the international community must take decisive concrete actions.

Who are your allies in the international arena today – countries that you think are sympathetic to your cause?
Presently the entire Tamil people on this globe are standing behind us in our struggle. It is their support, participation and co-operation that are our biggest strength. I do, therefore, believe that countries that respect justice will in the future stand with us. I believe that the possibilities for this eventuality have increased.

In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi made an appeal recently to the Central government to think of an appropriate solution to end the war. It marks a shift from his earlier stand. How do you view this development?
The entire Tamil population living in Tamil Nadu is opposed to the ethnic genocide currently let loose by the GoSL. They have risen up with demands, that the ethnic genocide must be stopped, that their brethren in Tamil Eelam must be protected, and that they must live with freedom in their homeland. Since the chief minister represents the Tamils from the Tamil Nadu, and his party is supporting the Central government, his view represents the view of the entire Tamil Nadu Tamils. I believe the Central government too, which by now would have understood the character of GoSL, will take a firm decision regarding the GoSL.

What is your appeal to India and the world at large?
India is the regional power. Specifically it is a country where millions of our brethren live. Indian government must therefore understand the just aspirations of the Tamil people and give us moral support. India must stop giving all financial assistance to the GoSL and act to bring the GoSL in line. In addition, it must urge the international community to do the same. I also appeal to the international community to act with an understanding of the just aspirations of the Tamil people.

The United National Party (UNP) informed President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday that the party’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with his government would end with his accommodation of dissident UNP MPs. The warning was conveyed by UNP Chairman Rukman Senanayake during a meeting with President Rajapaksa yesterday.“I told him the MoU is finished if the crossover happens,” Mr. Senanayake told The Sunday Times. The meeting came ahead of today’s cabinet reshuffle in which at least 17 UNP MPs are to be sworn in as cabinet ministers, deputy or project ministers. With this move UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayaka said those MPs joining the government would be sacked from the party after disciplinary inquiries were conducted.

The 17 UNP dissidents set to cross over are: M.H. Mohamed, G.L. Peiris, Milinda Moragoda, Gamini Lokuge and Bandula Gunawardena (Colombo); Karu Jayasuriya and Edward Gunasekera (Gampaha); Rajitha Senaratne (Kalutara); Hemakumara Nanayakkara (Galle); Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena (Matara); P. Dayaratne (Digamadulla); Mano Wijeratne (Kegalle); Dharmadasa Banda (Moneragala); Navin Dissanayake(Nuwara Eliya); Neomal Perera (Puttlam); C.A. Suriyaarchchi (Polonnaruwa) and M. M.M. Mustapha (National List).The dissident group met President Rajapaksa at Temple Trees last night and discussed the political situation over dinner. Meanwhile, the six Sri Lanka Muslim Congress MPs too reached agreement with the government to join it. They are to be given one Cabinet portfolio and a non-cabinet portfolio.

The UNP chairman’s message to the President was similar to the one Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe conveyed to the President when they met on January 17 but the warnings do not seem to have deterred the MPs from crossing over or the President from accepting them.Asked about reports that the UNP leadership had spoken to the President about the formation of a national government, Mr. Senanayake dismissed such reports, saying all talks with the President centred on the MoU and the committees to be appointed in terms of that agreement.The UNP chairman also denied reports that he had met the President on Friday in a bid to persuade him not to accept the crossovers.

Meanwhile UNP General Secretary Attanayaka said disciplinary action would be taken against the dissidents on the basis they violated the party constitution by accepting cabinet portfolios without the approval of the party’s working committee.He said the UNP would go ahead with proposed party reforms despite the crossover by the dissidents. Sources among the dissidents said they would function as a separate group in parliament. A letter regarding their position would be sent to Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara.Meanwhile as part of the UNP reforms S.B. Dissanayake is to be named as the National Organiser of the party on February 5, Mr. Attanayake said.He said this move was approved by the working committee before party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe left for Nepal and India.

UNP wants to place constitutional proposals before LTTE

In an official document tabled before the All Party Representatives Committee last week, the UNP has suggested that no final constitution be drafted by the government until the proposals are placed before and discussed with the LTTE.The document, which contains the UNP proposals for a solution to the ethnic conflict, was tabled before the APRC on Monday by the party’s senior parliamentarian K N Choksy. Among other suggestions, the UNP has called for the commencement of bilateral talks between the UNP and the SLFP with a view to settling the ethnic conflict. The UNP wants these meetings to take place notwithstanding the party’s continued participation in APRC discussions.

The UNP has also proposed that the APRC, before drafting a constitution, must identify the main issues involved in the settlement of the ethnic conflict. The UNP is expected to submit at the next APRC meeting (on 12 February) what they feel are the main issues. The party has recommended, too, that peace talks be reopened and that a Muslim delegation be permitted to participate when discussions are being held on the north-east merger issue. According to their proposals, the UNP has supported an eight to ten year merger of the northern and eastern provinces. The merger will be subject to a referendum in those two provinces at the end of the eight to ten year period. The unit of devolution will continue to be the provincial council but there will be a substantial devolution of power. The UNP has also supported the establishment of a constitutional court to support steps to safeguard the interests of other communities remaining in the north and east, apart from Tamils.(NW)

The number of UNP parliamentarians to cross over to the Government earlier predicted to be 18 has now increased to 25 and they were joining the Government as a group, former UNP Deputy Minister Bandula Gunawardena told 'Sunday Island' yesterday (27).When asked whether the group accepts Mahinda Chintana policy he did not wish to make any comment but said the group leader Karu Jayasuriya would explain at a press conference after the group joins the government today. We are joining the government as a group and will shoulder part of the responsibility of the government but we will continue to be members of the UNP and are not resigning from the party, he said. When asked about his severe criticism of the fiscal policies and financial control of the Rajapakse Government in and out of parliament including his prediction during the budget debate that the government was heading towards financial disaster, he declined to comment, but said he would explain everything at a press conference to be held after joining the government."I cannot make a personal comment about it but we will tell the country why we decided to join the Government," he said.When a senior UNP parliamentarian and a former minister was asked whether the UNP leader could continue to be Opposition Leader once such large group of parliamentarians crossed over to the government, he said on the condition of anonymity that the question would not arise since the rebel group would continue to be members of the UNP.

The attack on the Colombo Port yesterday by the LTTE would have a direct impact on the economy, analysts feared. Economic analysts say the attack would affect transhipments’ if insurance premiums were increased due to the high war risk factor. Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva told The Sunday Leader the attack would result in an increase in transaction costs as insurance premiums would be increased and would directly have an impact on the transhipments’. According to de Silva, it would also have an impact on Sri Lanka’s target of being a hub port in the region. A marine insurance expert told The Sunday Leader that the country might not face any immediate impact in the aftermath of yesterday’s attack where there would be an increase in the insurance surcharge on ships and cargo.

However, he noted that a repetition of such an act would have an impact as the ship owners would have to pay a higher surcharge and the cargo importers too would be forced to pay a higher insurance surcharge. “When there is an increase in the surcharge, the burden will have to be passed on and it will finally go to the consumers,” he said. He explained that while the present insurance rate stands at .05% it could vary depending on the risk exposure. However, Ports and Aviation Minister Mangala Samaraweera who visited the site and commended the Sri Lanka Navy and Ports Authority for their action in dispelling any threat and resuming normal operations has said, “This proves again that the Port of Colombo is one of the safest ports in the world.”

Deputy Ports and Aviation Minister Duminda Dissanayake told The Sunday Leader that the government did not expect the attack to have any affect on transhipments’ as the confrontation took place outside the harbour. “Unlike the previous time when such an attack took place, this time it was out harbour and the vessels in the harbour were not affected,” he said. Dissanayake said the containers that were damaged during the confrontation were in a vessel, which was out harbour. The attack damaged three containers in a foreign merchant vessel. Dissanayake also said that there has still been no discussion whether the cargo owners would be paid any compensation for the damaged containers. “The attack proved the high level of security in the port and we are confident that it would not have any impact on the transhipments’ and the economy on the whole,” he said. Terminal operations in the harbour had resumed within an hour of the incident, and normal vessel movements commenced at 9:00 a.m. The Tigers earlier entered the Colombo Port in April 1996, when it damaged foreign ships with RPGs, but security men blew the LTTE craft before they could cause major damage. Since then, authorities have tightened security and banned fishing near ports.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has refused to part with any of his multiple cabinet portfolios to please UNP dissident group members, saying such a move was unwarranted.In a strongly-worded letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier this week, Minister Samaraweera who also holds the Ports and Civil Aviation portfolios, pointed out that he sacrificed all his cabinet portfolios when the PA administration of President Chandrika Kumaratunga formed a probationary government with the JVP in 2001. However, he said he did not see the necessity for sacrificing his portfolios at a time when the government was in a position of strength.He also pointed out that some of the UNP members who were being taken to the government were responsible for making allegations against Mr. Rajapaksa in the run-up to the Presidential elections. “I am not willing to sacrifice portfolios for a group of persons who are politically stranded,” Mr. Samaraweera said in his letter, admitting, however, the President had the powers and right to make cabinet changes.Mr. Samaraweera also said the MoU signed with the UNP added strength to the government and the decision to accept some of the dissent UNP members was a serious threat to the MoU. He said that disregarding the MoU would benefit only opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Drama on the country’s political front heightened yesterday with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress also opting to join the government. All six SLMC parliamentarians, including leader Rauff Hakeem, have decided to join President Mahinda Rajapakse’s administration but have significantly chosen not to request cabinet portfolios.These decisions have been taken at the SLMC central committee yesterday and were conveyed in writing to SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena. Although it is not immediately clear how many UNPers are expected to join the government today, the SLMC decision will be a significant boost to Rajapakse. "We are waiting for a reply," parliamentarian M T Hassan Ali told the Sunday Island yesterday. "We will meet again today as we are expecting an immediate reply from the SLFP."

The Sunday Island asked JVP parliamentary group leader, Wimal Weerawansa, for a comment on the UNP rebel group and the SLMC joining the government. He said President Mahinda Rajapakse had said after signing the UNP-JVP memorandum of understanding that he would not forget the JVP or other political parties that had helped him win the 2005 presidential election. "But actions speak louder than words," Weerawansa pointed out. He warned that the government and other supporting parties may now seek to implement a federal solution to the ethnic problem and adopt the devolution of power proposals made by Minister Tissa Vitarana to the All Party Conference."We will be watching what the government will do in future with the new allies and if the pledges given to the public in the 2005 election campaign are violated then we will decide about our future political stance," Weerawansa said.

Sri Lanka Anti Tamil monk party invites Opposition Leader to support its polices

Sri Lanka Anti Tamil monk party Jathika Hela Urumaya yesterday invited main opposition UNP to support its party policy to safeguard the country from foreign and local evils.“What is essential at the moment is peace in the country, so we are inviting UNP Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe to support our policies to liberate the country,” Ven. Athuraliye Ratana Thero said addressing a meeting in Kandy. The meeting was held to commemorate the 9th year of the LTTE attack on the sacred Temple of Tooth, Sri Dalada Maligawa.“We should not allow foreign powers to make Sri Lanka’s leadership to dance according to their tune. It is important to build a strong force irrespective of political and other differences to prevent foreign powers attempting to influence the leadership of Sri Lanka to act according to their agenda,” the Ven. Thero added.

Eight Sri Lankan Special Task Force commandos were killed and 12 wounded at Thangavelauthapuram in Thirukkovil division of Amparai district where a STF vehicle was ambushed, Saturday around 9:30 a.m. with Claymore attack and gunfire. The attack, believed to be carried out by an elite guerilla unit of the Tigers, had targeted the STF logistics supply to STF personnel located in areas vacated by the Tigers, according to initial reports from Thirukkovil. STF personnel fired mortar shells and opened fire following the attack that has taken place 41 km south of Kalmunai town.

Sri Lanka's military repulsed a Tamil rebel suicide attack on the capital's port on Saturday when it destroyed three suspicious boats offshore, the Defense Ministry said. The boats did not stop when ordered to do so, forcing the navy to fire at them, said Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse, a senior official at the ministry's media unit. ``The navy managed to destroy one of the boats and later the air force came in to help and completed the mission,'' Rajapakse said. The three suspected rebel boats had entered a ``high security zone'' near Colombo where unauthorized vessels are not allowed, Rajapakse said. They were noticed by a guard at a lighthouse who alerted a naval patrol. ``Navy troops fired at the first boat, suspected to be a suicide craft, with one of them experiencing a large explosion,'' said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, who blamed the rebels' sea wing for the incursion.

The shock wave of the explosion forced open the doors of three containers onboard a ship which was about to enter the port, said Rear Admiral Ananda Peiris, in charge of naval security in the area. There was no damage to the Peloponesian Pride, which was flying a Panama flag, or its crew, Peiris said. The first boat was destroyed about 10 kilometers (6 miles) off the coast, another 18 kilometers (11 miles) away, and the third 23 kilometers (14 miles) at sea, Rajapakse said, adding that no naval vessels suffered damage. Casualty figures for the sunken ships were not immediately known, he said. Colombo's port is an important lifeline for the island country and is heavily guarded by the navy.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have carried out previous suicide boat attacks against navy vessels and bases. In October last year, Tamil Tigers posing as fishermen blew up two boats in a suicide attack on a naval base in Galle, 110 kilometers (70 miles) from Colombo on the southern coast, killing at least one sailor and 15 rebels. The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to establish an independent homeland in the north and east for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils, following decades of discrimination by the Sinhalese-dominated government.

What started off as military push to clear Tamil Tiger artillery guns from a strategic harbour in northeast Sri Lanka has culminated in a mission to defeat the rebels completely -- with no clear winner in sight. Emboldened by the capture of a key Tamil Tiger stronghold, Sri Lanka has vowed to go on the offensive to seek to destroy the rebels' entire military machine in the apparent belief it can finally win a two-decade civil war. But observers say President Mahinda Rajapakse's government and military are understimating the Tigers, and could simply plunge themselves deeper into a war that has killed more than 67,000 people since 1983 -- and 4,000 in the past year alone. "They're on a roll. They think they can win," said one foreign diplomat on condition of anonymity. "I think they are going to try something ... I think the fighting's going to continue because neither side has a motivation to stop."

"On the side of the goverment, the hawks are in the driving seat and they're going to go forward because they think they're winning ... and they think they can go all the way," the diplomat added. "(The Tigers) need to do something to achieve parity." As troops hunt down routed Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka's eastern jungles and consolidate their grip on an eastern coastal swathe of what used to be rebel-held territory, the security forces have the upper hand for now. But the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) withrdrew from the area to fight another day, and analysts say their military appartus is still intact. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the President's brother, says the military will seek and destroy all rebel military assets -- including in the northern de facto state they control under the terms of a tattered 2002 ceasefire. The Tigers, who resumed their fight for an independent state in the north and east after the majority-Sinhalese government ruled out their demands for a separate homeland for minority Tamils, warn they retain their military capability and can resort to guerrilla jungle warfare.

"This is a very clear enunciation that the government will wage all-out war against the Tamil Tiger rebels until they are defeated," said Iqbal Athas, an analyst with Jane's Defence Weekly in Colombo. "It will mean there is going to be bloody war in the weeks and months to come," he added. "This very clearly shows that there won't be a peace process until such time as the LTTE agrees (to talks) or the LTTE is militarily defeated." Athas said the fact the rebels' powerful naval arm was still intact, and their fighters still retained their capability because they withdrew rather than facing a full frontal assault, meant the Tigers are still a formidable opponent. "With the capture of Vakarai in the east, the government has certainly has got the upper hand, but that is not to say that the Tigers' military capability has in any way been dented," he said. "Completely eliminating the Tigers from the east is going to be a gigantic task for the army," he added. "We can't rule out the fact they (the Tigers) may try to open up new fronts."

The foes have turned a deaf ear to repeated calls from an increasingly worried international community to halt the fighting and stop mushrooming rights abuses like murders and abductions. And many observers and ordinary Sri Lankans are worried fighting will escalate at a time when hundreds of thousands of civilians remain displaced in camps and rudimentary shelters because of war past and present. "We are concerned that with the Tigers being driven out of the east, that this could lead to fighting spreading," said Thorfinnur Omarsson, spokesman for Nordic ceasefire monitors the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. "Both sides are talking tough, and that is definitely not in the spirit of the ceasefire agreement."

An attempt by Minister Mangala Samaraweera last afternoon to checkmate President Rajapaksa, by briefing the media on the political developments on the pretext of a surprise inspection tour at the Galle Face Green, failed when orders came from Temple Trees for him to abandon it.On hearing that Minister Samaraweera’s team had sent messages to media personnel to gather at the Galle Face green at 4.30 pm yesterday to cover an ad hoc inspection tour by the Minister, President’s advisers had told Minister Samaraweera they would not be able to provide security to the event.This has been followed by several messages to Minister Samaraweera by Temple Trees to abandon the plan which finally saw him deciding against visiting the Galle Face Green while dozens of media people were anxiously waiting for him there.

Seismic surveys have strongly indicated the presence of around five billion barrels of black gold in the Mannar basin, Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Minister A. H. M. Fowzie said yesterday.He said the government was in the process of calling for international tenders to explore oil in the Mannar basin within the next few months. Speaking at a seminar on ‘Quest for Oil in Sri Lanka’, organised by the Master Mariners, Minister Fowzie said the Sri Lankan part of the Mannar basin had been divided into eight exploration blocks, each about 3,500 to 4,000 square kilometers, for exploration by successful bidders. "The government has decided to give a block each to India and China by nomination," the Minister said.Accordingly, tenders will be called for the remaining six blocks.

The Minister said that bidders will have to sign a US$ 10 million signature bond and place US$ 100 million deposit with the government. This would be deducted from the production, once oil is found."As oil is the only natural resource found in our country, we have to take very careful measures in order to get the best out of it," Fowzie said.He said that preliminary seismic data surveys have indicated the presence of oil, not only in the Mannar basin, but in other parts of the Sri Lankan waters as well."We are working with the Egyptian government to explore oil in the southern coast and there is enough oil in the eastern coast too," the Minister said.

Sri Lanka imports about US$ 2 billion worth crude oil annually for domestic consumption to meet the increasing demand for energy.The Minister said that 50,000 barrels per day production from the Mannar Basin would meet half the national demand.He said that many global as well as regional oil and gas firms are showing a high interest in the Mannar basin and six Indian firms were waiting to bid.Fowzie also confessed that the growing interest in oil has come under heavy political pressure as many interested parties are attempting to interfere with his work."Many people are trying to get involved in this — people with some knowledge of exploration as well as those who know absolutely nothing about oil," Fowzie said. "The people who don’t know oil, interfere with the subject matter because they are in the political limelight," he added.

After a series of political moves to checkmate each other, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera met at Temple Trees yesterday to iron out differences, highly placed government sources said.During the meeting, the President assured Minister Samaraweera he would make sure the Minister would not get a raw deal at the reshuffle while the Foreign Affairs Minister had requested the President to put an immediate end to the harassment meted out to his friends and business partners by President’s confidantes.President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga also attended this meeting which began at 10 am and went on till 1 pm.Meanwhile, as the Presidential advisors were making last minute attempts to rope in more UNP dissidents into the Government, President Rajapaksa decided to block UNP’s Mahinda Wijesekara from joining the Government, highly placed government sources said.

This was conveyed to Mr. Samaraweera by presidential advisors Basil Rajapaksa, Dallas Allahapperuma and Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga when they met Mr. Samaraweera at his Stanmore Crescent residence on Thursday night.This meeting took place hours after Mr. Wijesekara held a mini-poll at his Matara residence for some 500 party activists of whom 310 endorsed his decision to join the Government. The President had reportedly told his aides and advisors that accommodating Mr. Wijesekara would only spawn more bitterness from Mr. Samaraweera who was already disgruntled over the request to handover one of his ministries.Unaware of these developments at Temple Trees, Mr. Wijesekara had been desperately trying to seek an appointment with the President.

A delegation of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians met the Indian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Alok Prasad and his deputy Manickam in Colombo at 10:00 am Thursday morning at the official residence of the envoy and appealed to him for help in resettling the recently displaced Tamil civilians in East, TNA sources in Colombo said,The delegation participating in the 45 minutes long meeting was headed by R.Sampanthan, leader of the parliamentary group of TNA and member of parliament for Trincomalle District. The other members of the delegation included Jaffna district MPs Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran and Tricomalle district parliamentarian M.P.Thurairatnasingham.The TNA delegation told Mr Prasad that immediate action is necessary to resettle the more than 70,000 Tamils displaced in certain parts of the eastern province during the recent military activity and India’s assistance is required to get this implemented.

TNA delegation further told the Indian High Commissioner reliable sources indicate that the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is taking steps to settle Sinhalese civilians in the areas such as Sampoor, Vaharai, Verugal, Kathiraveli and Mutur East deserted by Tamils. Hence, resettling the displaced civilians in their original areas of residence has become critical to the Tamil people in the East.TNA delegation added: "GOSL is taking steps to drastically reduce the percentage of Tamils in the Eastern province by colonizing these vacated areas with Sinhala civilians. Simultaneously plans are afoot to settle the Tamils displaced from these areas and certain other parts of East in some other areas of the province. This is a dangerous move .The Tamils should be resettled in the same areas where they lived previous to the displacement and in this context we seek India’s assistance. India should exert pressure upon the GOSL to prevent the displaced Tamils being settled in places other than their original areas of residence. More than 70,000 civilians were displaced during the recent hostilities and this number may increase in the near future and India should pay attention regarding this situation.

"The belongings including furniture from the houses vacated by the fleeing Tamil civilians have been stolen. The windows, doors and roofing tiles have been removed from the abandoned residences and transported in Lorries and trucks. Such activities by SLA troops clearly indicate that the government has an agenda for recolonizing the captured areas. The civilians of these areas have become very concerned by such activities."Moreover, a great humanitarian crisis has developed in the welfare centers where the displaced civilians are accommodated. There are inadequate sanitation facilities. The students are unable to continue their studies. Already more than twenty schools have been closed down in Sampoor and Mutur East. Many youths from these welfare centers are being arrested by SLA and some of these youths have eventually disappeared without any trace."The war must stop. These areas have been captured while the ceasefire agreement (CFA) is still in place. The recent developments have seriously hampered the efforts to restart the talks. As such the government of India should exert pressure to create a healthy situation. In order to facilitate this, an immediate solution must be found for the humanitarian problems faced by the Tamils in North and East," Mr Sampanthan said.The High Commissioner responding to the delegation said that India was closely watching the unfolding crisis and added that India has been exerting pressure on the GOSL and is also concerned about the resettlement of the civilians.

Sri Lanka Army will hold interviews from 29th January to 4th February country wide to recruit 2000 soldiers. These soldiers are to be deployed for the protection of the newly captured territories in the Eastern province after training. The youth who posses the necessary qualifications will be recruited for the training just after the interview.

With the imminent crossover of at least 14 of its MPs to Government ranks probably tomorrow, the UNP has decided to appoint new organisers for electorates represented by the dissident MPs, a party source said. This decision was taken by the party, prior to Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to Nepal, he said. He said the party would take disciplinary action against those who join the government and accept ministerial portfolios. He said such moves were against the party Constitution.

The Ceasefire Monitors yesterday said it would soon release a ‘special report’ on the volatile situation in the eastern province which witnessed fierce fighting during the last few months.They also warned that a critical situation was in the making in Vavuniya as well.“Currently we are preparing a special report on the volatile situation in the east, where fighting between the army and the LTTE continued for several months,” SLMM spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson said.He said thousands of people have been displaced due to the hostilities in the area during the last few months. “Our monitors are already in the area assessing the current situation,” he said.Meanwhile, the spokesman also warned that a critical situation is developing in the Vavuniya area since the last few weeks.Fighting broke out in the Vakarai region, a few months ago, as the government forces launched what it called a ‘Defensive operation’ to capture the region. Soon after resumption of the fighting, some thousands of people crossed into cleared areas in Batticaloa and Welikanda.Clashes are reported from Vavuniya between the government forces and Tiger terrorists almost daily. A large number of people including civilians were killed in these clashes.

The only Tamil member of the Urban Council of Kinniya, Thangarajah Ithayarajah, a Tamil National Alliance Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) member, was shot and killed Friday around 10:30 a.m. while he was on his way to Kinniya from his village, Alankerni. A friend of Mr. Ithayarajah was wounded. The assassins who shot and fled the area, came in a motorbike. The assasination comes three months after the assassination of the only Tamil TNA member of the Sinhala dominated Seruvila Pradeshaia Saba in the district. Meanwhile, 10 Tamil members who had won the Trincomalee Urban Council have received death threats, Thurairatnasingham MP said. Mr. Ithayarajah, a father of two, was shot and killed by gunmen at Idiman, bordering the Tamil and Muslim area, when he parked his motorbike near a shop with his friend. The gunmen had followed the two to the shop located at Idiman.

Tricomalee District Tamil parliamentarian, K. Thurairatnasingham, charged that the assassinations and death threats were part of a planned terror-campaign with a political agenda by the forces that seek to suppress the democratic representation of Tamils in Trincomalee district. Kopalasundaram Pathmakalapan, 26, a pass out from the Eastern University, who was the only Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member of the nine member Seruvila Pradesiya Sabha was assassinated on October 30. In the elections held at the end of March 2006, The TNA alliance party ITAK had won one seat each in Kinniya UC, Seruvila PS, Morawewa PS, Kantalai PS, and two in Thamplakamam PS, three in Kuchchaveli PS and four in Muttur PS in addition to capturing power in the Trincomalee UC with 10 seats, Trincomalee Town and Gravets PS with 6 seasts and Verugal PS, uncontested, with 7 seats.

Five killed in North East

A police officer, soldier and a civilian were killed in the northern Sri Lankan town of Vavuniya on Friday.They were killed as Tamil Tigers attacked security forces at Kattaiadampan in Vavuniya-Mannar road, police said.A bus carrying passengers was also caught as LTTE launched an attack on the security forces using guns and heavy weapons, according to Murungan police.

Passenger Botunga Arachchilage Don Indika Ranasinghe was killed and three other passengers have sustained injuries.Sub Inspector Senarathne and Sri Lanka Army soldier DM Ajith Sepala were killed by the attack: three other policemen have sustained injuries.The security forces have retaliated but there were no reports of LTTE casualties.

Thangaraja Thevaraja is sitting in his east London home wondering when he will next hear from his wife and three children in Sri Lanka. A former policeman in Batticaloa district, he was forced to leave his job by the Tamil Tiger rebels, who ordered all Tamils, the country's ethnic minority, to quit the police and armed forces. The 44-year-old fled to the UK in 2001 after being arrested by police on suspicion of supporting the rebels. They are fighting for a separate homeland for the country's 3.1m-strong Tamil population following decades of alleged discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. But instead of things improving he had to watch from thousands of miles away as his home village Kallar, in Batticaloa, was wiped out by the tsunami in 2004, forcing his family to live in a temporary shelter ever since.

He has since learned that his nephew was abducted, and days later found dead, and that his 14-year-old son is now too scared to go to school. Human rights groups have frequently criticised both rebels and government troops of carrying out abductions. Mr Thevaraja cried as he recalled his infrequent, hurried conversations with his family. "My son was so shocked by my nephew's death that he refuses to step out of the house. My wife is also scared that he may be abducted," he said in Tamil, speaking through a translator. "I feel guilty and sad about leaving them there but I don't know what to do. I might be arrested if I go back." Six years on he is still waiting for asylum to be granted before he tries to get the rest of his family over.

His is one of about 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living in London alone - with 5,000 settled in Newham, east London. Many have similar stories to tell, but do not want to be named, fearing for their families' safety in Sri Lanka. An estimated 65,000 people have died in Sri Lanka's civil war and the 2002 ceasefire between the government and the Tigers now seems to exist only on paper. More than 3,600 were killed last year and tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced during the recent violence. Paul Sathianesan, a councillor in Newham since 1998, said he came to the UK as an asylum seeker in 1985 from the Jaffna peninsula to escape the violence. He visited Jaffna in 2003 planning to help the local community, but was shattered to see the devastation caused by the conflict. "My father's house was in ruins, the roof and windows were falling off and I couldn't find any of my friends. "There was an air of emptiness and people looked grey, thin and scared."

The expatriate community over the years has tried to invest in their former villages and cities but this has become very difficult. Mr Vellupillai Bose, who owns an estate agency in East Ham, said he and 10 friends purchased land in the capital Colombo to build residential buildings but they had to abandon the project after the violence worsened soon after presidential elections in November 2005. "All clauses were finalised but things got worse after the elections. Now we have decided to sell the land. We can't do business in this situation." He has taken his family to Colombo for vacations but he has not been able to visit Jaffna, his hometown, since 1998. He fears the younger generation who were born and bred here will not be as attached to their homeland. Arjuna Subramaniam, 21, acknowledges this. His parents follow news and politics closely as many of their relatives are still there, but he feels alienated. "I love the country and I loved the time I spent there on vacations. "I am aware of all the problems there but I can't relate to it. I have a different life here." The community, which has been dealing with the news of mounting violence in Sri Lanka, have been confronted with a new challenge closer home.

Since 2000 at least 10 people have been killed in gang-related incidents spurring the Metropolitan Police to set up a special task force, Enver, to tackle Tamil gangs and crime. Mr Sathianesan recently held a public consultation - where police, youth and other local agencies were invited - to talk about an issue which was "damaging race relations and the image of the community". He hopes they will overcome the hurdle. "The next generation shouldn't be given hatred as heritage, we want to see them enjoy love, peace and safety."

The much-anticipated cross over drama is expected to reach a climax on Sunday when a sizeable number of UNP MPs are to join the government despite a last ditch attempt by party seniors to work out a compromise with the dissidents.Informed sources said yesterday more than 15 UNP MPs including its former Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya are set to join the the Government.Mr. Jayasuriya is expected to get a specially created Cabinet portfolio related to economic development. The dissidents are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding which provides for the appointment of two committees on economic development and good governance. According to these sources, the committee on good governance will be a high-powered one including members from both parties and mandated to investigate cases of corruption and frauds at state institutions.

Meanwhile, senior MP Gamini Jayawickrama Perera yesterday contacted Mr. Jayasuriya, who discussed the possibility of a compromise involving the UNP as a whole cooperating with the government on national issues, instead of a UNP dissident group crossing over. Mr. Perera said he tried to convince Mr. Jayasuriya of the need for such a mechanism preventing a split in the party at this stage. Mr. Jayasuriya had replied that they stood for a national government in keeping with the MoU signed between the two parties in October, last year.“We have no objection to the party negotiating such a mechanism with the President now. That is what we advocated earlier,” he told Mr. Perera.Earlier, UNP Galle district MP Vajira Abeywardane had also approached certain members including Mahinda Wijesekara on Wednesday to discuss the crossover crisis.However, party stalwart S.B. Dissanayake insisted that he would not quit the party, but instead concentrate on strengthening it.

Meanwhile, other UNP sources said the Government had agreed to offer the UNPers crossing over, ten Cabinet portfolios similar in status to positions they held during the previous UNP regime.They said UNP Matara district Parliamentarian Mahinda W