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Sri Lanka Armed Forces withdrew back to base with heavy loss of man and material when their three-pronged attack was pulverised by the confronting cadre of the LTTE under the command of General Sornam on the ground. The SL army withdrew with 15 dead and 50 seriously wounded on its side. The loss on the LTTE side was, 3 dead and 2 injured.Of the dead on the government side, two were high-ranking officers.The SL army commenced its move from Trincomalee towards Mavilaru at 8.00am Monday. No sooner they entered the LTTE area, they faced stiff resistance and by mid-day, retreat was the only option for it.

SL Air Force helped the army move underprotective air-cover and offensive air-attack. Kfir, MIG and military helicopters and multi-barrelled launchers were profusely used by the SL Army. LTTE's artillery return was prompt and ferocious.The SL Army made its move from a canal off Kallaru, north of Mavilaru but was met by an LTTE contingentwhich paralysed the army move.

The second move was made from Kallaru towards Eachilampattu in the East and the third army contingent started from Thirumangalam lying West of Kallaru. Both moves were decisively defeated by the Tigers and the army retreated to its point of origin, although the Government insists the army has moved closer to the reservoir. The original position of the SL army camp is 5 miles away from the Mavilaru position.

The Headquarters of the SLMM has instructed its officials not to visit Mavilaru or any place in Tamil areas till the Government Forces stop aerial bombardment. SLMM officials said they were in the vicinity of aerial attack on Saturday in the LTTE area as they were holding a meeting with civilian leaders and the the LTTE including Elilan, after informing the Army of their whereabouts. The SL Army's disregard to the safety of the SLMM officals has compelled the Headquarters to take this safety decision, an official said.

Elilan, the LTTE's Regional Political Leader, Trincomalee has pointed out that the Mavilaru Reservoir sluice is within the LTTE controlled area as recognised by the Cease Fire Agreement and any move by the Sri Lankan Forces to reach it through the LTTE land would mean violation of the CFA and would naturally be resisted vehemently by the LTTE cadre.It would also be treated as a natural declaration of war, Elilan warned.

The Opposition party has appealed to the Government as well as the LTTE to respect the CFA and refrain from resumption of war. The UNP has pointed out that the artillaery attack by the LTTE or the aerial bombardment by the Government might damage the reservoir and this could spell disaster for the entire area. The Opposition has also pointed out to the foolishness of the government and the JVP in pointing out that the LTTE was violating the Geneva Convention of 1977 observed between States. By Quoting the Convention, the government was offering State Recognition to the LTTE, the UNP leadership has pointed out.

Heavy fighting broke out between Sri Lankan government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels early Monday as Sri Lankan troops fought to end a rebel blockade of reservoir water to government-held eastern Batticaloa district, military and government sources said.The fighting erupted after Sri Lankan troops launched an offensive to end a rebel blockade of water to some 30,000 acres of paddy land in the government-held eastern Batticaloa district, the sources said. The blockade is on the border that divides two eastern district -- Trincomalee and Batticaloa -- and cuts the water flow to about 30,000 acres of paddy land, the sources said.

Military sources said Sri Lankan troops met heavy rebel resistance, but there was not immediate word on casualties.The fighting marked the first time government troops and rebels have engaged in a full frontal battle since a cease-fire began four years ago.The rebels' water blockade began along the Mavil Aru irrigation cut on July 20. Six days later, the Sri Lanka Air Force began four days of bombing against rebel positions, using Israeli-made Kfir jets. One air raid hit the rebel's headquarters in Karadiyanaru, near the eastern town of Batticaloa.

Military sources said more than 40 rebel troops were killed and the district's military commander was wounded, but the rebels played down the incident and made no mention of it in their Web sites.Sri Lanka's northeast is divided into government-controlled and rebel-held areas. The sluice gate is in a rebel-held area.The rebels began fighting for an independent Tamil homeland in 1983, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination.Months of violence, including clashes between government forces and the rebels, have killed about 800 people, The Associated Press reported. The violence also has battered the fragile 2002 cease-fire, which was meant to end two decades of fighting that claimed the lives of about 65,000 people.

Sri Lanka Government Armed Forces have started artillery attack on Pallai and Elephant Pass in Tamil Areas under LTTE controlled areas with total disregard to the Cease Fire Agreement concluded under the facilitation of the International community through Norway.The Shelling commenced Monday afternoon.Earlier in the day, the Army installations at Nagarkovil in Vadamaradchi East conducted an hour-long artillary attack on the areas under LTTE control in Vadamaradchi.

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) began moving grond troops from two SLA bases towards Mavil Aaru sluice gate Monday morning, supported by Multi - Barrel Rocket Launcher, artillery fire and aerial bombardment from Kfir and MIG jets towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam controlled area in Mavil Aaru. The SLA troops were defeated by the Tigers, according to Ilanthirayan, the military spokesman of the Tigers. LTTE defence was being carried out under the supervision of LTTE's Trincomalee District Special Commander Col. Sornam, Mr. Ilanthirayan said. SLA troopers launched a troop movement from Thirumangalam SLA camp towards Ankodai in LTTE controlled area, but the move was defeated at Valkottu by the Tigers, amidst indiscrimate bombing by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jets and MIG bombers.

"They [the SLA] could not move far, even a kilometer from Thirumangalam camp," Ilanthirayan said confirming intensive clash between ground troops from the both sides.In the meantime, another move, made from Kallaru SLA camp eastwards in the direction of Eachilampattu, was also defeated, he said. "Heavy resistance was yielded by the defence forces of the Tigers under the supervision of Col. Sornam," Ilanthirayan said. Meanwhile, Colombo military sources said in Monday's fight two SLA soldiers were killed and six others were injured. The injured were first admitted to the Serunuwara government hospital and later transferred to the Polonnaruwa hospital.

Schools in the Serunuwara division were closed and shops were shut down as tension prevails in the area, police sources said.Keheliya Rambukwella, the Sri Lankan Minister and Defence Ministry spokesman in Colombo said that SLA troops were advancing towards Mavil Aaru. "The movement of troops is reportedly slow due to mines and attack of the LTTE," Mr. Rambukwella told media Monday.

Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs has rejected accusations by the government of Sri Lanka over the decision to withdraw Finnish cease fire monitors from the island. Sri Lanka has said that the move amounts to pandering to terrorists. Marita Maunola, administrative assistant at the Foreign Ministry’s political section, emphasised that withdrawing the monitors does not constitute a statement of opinion; she said that it is simply a question of following the policy line that Finland has taken, according to which all parties must accept the presence of the monitors and guarantee their safety.

Finland and Denmark announced on Friday that they would take their cease fire monitors out of Sri Lanka. The decision was based on the move by the European Union to add the Tamil Tigers’ LTTE organisation to the list of terrorist organisations. In response, the Tamil Tigers demanded that the EU monitors leave the country.The Sri Lankan government opposes the move, saying that it is based on a unilateral demand by the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lankan troops launched their first deliberate advance on Tamil Tiger rebels since a 2002 ceasefire on Sunday, moving to secure a rebel-held water supply as government jets bombed suspected groups of Tiger fighters.More than 800 people have been killed so far this year, with the closing of a water channel from an eastern rebel-held area to government-held farms prompting a surge in violence in recent days including air and artillery strikes.

On Sunday, ground forces were sent in to secure irrigation for the ethnic majority Sinhalese farms in the area, south of the northeastern port of Trincomalee. The government said troops then came under mortar fire from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) but no-one was hurt.

"The LTTE are trying to move reinforcements to the area," government minister and spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. "We are not bombing the roads or the bridges but areas where we believe their fighters are. This is purely a humanitarian operation."

The army said the advance was continuing but that soldiers were having to pick their way through minefields. The rest of the island appeared quiet.

In recent months, the mainstream Tigers and breakaway ex-rebels the Karuna group have raided each other's positions in the east, and a clash between the rebels and army earlier in July killed 12. But there has been little serious infantry action.

Both the government and the Tigers claim control over the site of the reservoir, which lies in an area where the border between the foes is ill-defined. However the ground reality is that the Tigers control the area, military sources said.

The Tigers, want a separate ethnic Tamil homeland and pulled out of peace talks in April, deny shutting the sluice gate themselves and say it was done by local Tamil civilians angry at the government. The Tigers said they had no details on any new clashes. Earlier, local Tiger political leader S. Elilan said the rebels had not yet observed any movement, but warned the army against entering their territory.

"If the military intend to advance into our area then they will see the consequences in a very strong manner," he told Reuters.

Diplomats fear that without new talks and with world attention focused on Lebanon, Sri Lanka could spiral back into a full-scale two decade-old civil war that has already killed more than 65,000 people on an island also hit by the 2004 tsunami.

Trincomalee district Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna parliamentarian Jayantha Wijesekara was heckled and chased away by the people staging a protest demanding the opening of Mawilaru sluice closed by the LTTE when he arrived at the scene of the protest.When the JVP parliamentarian arrived at the Kallar junction around 10.00 this morning, the crowd booed him saying that they saw him only today after the election. The crowd had jeered and booed him for about 15 minutes until he left the area.It is also reported that Wijesekara had arrived at the Kallar camp yesterday and spend the night there.

The government has decided to encourage interested foreign parties to visit Kilinochchi and talk to the LTTE directly bypassing the Foreign Ministry. The Foreign Ministry had earlier expressed concern at various arms of the government overlooking protocol and dealing directly with foreign dignitaries bypassing the Ministry. The government's decision to encourage interested foreign parties to meet with the LTTE in Kilinochchi is aimed at bringing the Tigers back to the table. The government is also encouraged by the silence maintained by the JVP and JHU over such visits, informed sources said.

The JVP and JHU took to the streets protesting visits by foreign dignitaries to Kilinochchi during the UNP rule between 2002-2004 and charged it eroded the country's sovereignty. Early July, former Sinn Fein Chief Negotiator and Irish Minister Martin McGuinness visited Kilinochchi and met with LTTE Political Wing Leader S. P. Tamilselvan and announced it was a 'huge mistake' for the EU leaders to demonise the LTTE and the political leaders of the LTTE. He said it was a mistake for the EU to ban the LTTE. The visit of McGuinness was organised by President's Coordinating Secretary Sajin Vass Gunawardena and the Foreign Ministry was not involved in it.

On Friday, a British diplomatic delegation led by Deputy High Commissioner, Lesley Craig visited Kilinochchi and met with Tamilselvan where the deteriorating security situation and LTTE's September 1 deadline for SLMM monitors from EU countries to withdraw were discussed among other matters. Associated with Craig at the talks were Second Secretary for Political Affairs John Culley, Political and Press Officer Nilakshan Swarnarajah and Programme Assistant D. Sirisena. LTTE is banned in Britain.

Contacted by The Sunday Leader, Foreign Ministry Secretary, H. M. S. Palihakkara said all queries should be referred to the Government Peace Secretariat and declined further comment. Peace Secretariat Head, Palitha Kohona however said the visit of the British diplomats to Kilinochchi was done with their knowledge. "Usually embassies do undertake visits and let us know as a courtesy. They make their own arrangements," he said.

Asked whether the government did not express any concern at the visit considering the LTTE being a banned organisation in Britain, Kohona said, "Should not that be a concern to the British High Commission rather than the Government?" He said the government has continued to maintain that interested foreign parties should talk to the LTTE. Kohona confirmed that "the Foreign Ministry was not involved in any of this."

"The normal procedure is for SCOPP to be advised. Certainly I knew about Lesley's visit and she told us the previous week she was planning to go and sent us a fax giving the times etc.," Kohona also said. However, Kohona said the SCOPP was not involved in the visit of McGuinness and that it was done by a different arm of the government.

SL Air Force bombed LTTE Thenaham base in East

Eight Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members, 2 offiicals and 6 cadres, were killed and four wounded when Sri Lanka Air Force bombed Liberation Tigers' Thenaham Conference Centre in Karadiyanaru, 24 kilometers northwest of Batticaloa. Thenaham was the LTTE's headquarters in Batticaloa District earlier. Later, it was made guest house and was being used as Conference Centre by the Tigers. Foreign diplomats and SLMM officials were received by the Tigers at Thenaham. SLAF bombers attacked the LTTE run Thenaham between 11:30 and 12:00 Saturday. Batticaloa Head of Tamileelam War Hero's Affairs, Thamilchelvan mama and Batticaloa Coordinator of Village Development Scheme Ariharan were among the dead, according to LTTE Batticaloa Political Head Daya Mohan. Kfir jets dropped 12 bombs in three rounds, destroying the Conference Centre.Kavi, Mathusuthan, Chensudar, Uravan, Sujeevan and Lokithan were LTTE cadres killed in the attack, according to Mr. Daya Mohan.The LTTE officials were having a preparatory meeting ahead of a public event scheduled to be held Saturday.

Meanwhile Army Chief of Staff General Nanda Mallawarachchi was in Trincomallee to direct ground troops to resolve the water crisis after the Tigers closed the Mawilaru sluice gates. The LTTE on July 20 forcibly closed the sluice gate of the Mawilaru Anicut that provides water to Seruwila, Muttur and Eachchilampattu areas in the Trincomalee District, thus preventing the flow of water that sustains over 15,000 families and irrigates approximately 30,000 acres of paddy land. The people in these villages are dependent on the water supplied by the Mawilaru Anicut for drinking and agriculture purposes.

JHU MPs Venerable Athuraliye Ratana thera and Akmeemana Dayaratana thera along with villagers in the affected Serunuwara marched down the Allai-Kantalai road towards Mawilaru yesterday morning. However they were not allowed to move beyond Kallaru junction by the Army. On hearing the incident General Mallawarachchi dispatched 22 Division Commander Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe to Kallaru to brief the protesting monks.

General Mallawarachchi had given a personal assurance through Major General Samarasinghe to the JHU monks that the military would attend to the matter and restore water supply within the next 24 hours. Meanwhile the LTTE had complained to the SLMM in Batticaloa about the Karadiyanaru incident. The government said that the air strikes were aimed at destroying a new air strip the LTTE was building in Mullaitivu. However military sources said that some of the air strikes were to support a contingent of ground troops who had moved into the Mawilaru area.

Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told The Nation that airstrikes will continue until the air strip is completely destroyed. It was observed that construction activity was taking place on an unauthorized airstrip at a location in the Mullaitivu district. Further investigation had revealed that the forest had been cleared and an unpaved airstrip constructed at this facility. Minister Rambukwella also said that troops had entered un-demarcated area in Vakarai and will continue to forge ahead until sluice gates are reopened despite attacks from Tigers.

The twenty-five day annual festival of the historic Nallur Kandasamy Temple in Jaffna began 30 July Sunday 10:30 a.m. with the Sacred Flag hoisting ceremony (Kodi Etram). The Sacred Flag for the ceremony was brought to the temple premises from Gurunathar temple located close to the Sattanathar temple Saturday morning in a procession of devotees.The festival will culminate in Theertham (Water cutting) on the penultimate day, followed by Poonkavanam on the last day of the month long festival.

Although the annual festival in the vastly renovated Temple turns Jaffna into a virtual spiritual town, this year the mood is likely to be subdued due to the unstable security climate in Jaffna. The daily festival events are to conclude before 5:00 p.m. everyday, temple administrators said.Temple adminstrators have appealed to the devotees to avoid engaging in acitivities around the temple premises that will draw the attention of security forces.

Although the traditional volunteer groups, St Johns Ambulance brigade, and scouts from nearby high schools will be present during the festivals to provide support to devotees and regulate devotee movements, temple adminstrators raised concerns on the co-operation the volunteer groups will receive from the Sri Lanka security forces, temple sources said.

Historians say that the history of the Nallur temple is closely intertwined with the history of Jaffna. Prof.Gunrarasa of Jaffna University in his book on the Temple says that the Temple was originally constructed in a place called Kurukal Valavu in A.D 948. The temple was destroyed in AD 1450 during the invasion of the Sinhalese King Shenpakaperumal (Sapumal Kumaraya).

The same king resurrected the temple and the environments in Muthiraichanthai in 1467. The temple was again destroyed at its foundation by Portugese commander Philip De Olivereira in 1621. The Dutch rebuilt a Christian Church at the same premises. In 1734 Krishnaiyar Suppier established a smaller shrine in Muthiraichanthi in rememberance of the destroyed Kandaswami temple.

Sri Lankan Air Force jets bombed Tamil Tiger positions in the island's restive east for a fourth day on Saturday in a battle over water supplies, the rebels said, as Nordic truce monitors faced crisis after member-nations quit. Military officials said an operation to clear access to a sluice gate, which they accuse the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of blocking to choke water supplies to Sinhalese farmers on government land, was underway but gave no details. A Reuters photographer in the eastern district of Trincomalee heard the bombers fly overhead and heard the explosions.

"The army started shelling us this morning, and then the bombers arrived," said S. Elilan, head of the Tigers' political wing in the district. "They bombed near the water tank, but people have already moved away from there, so there were no injuries." Elilan said rebel fighters chased away army ground troops as the sides battled with mortars on Friday, but the military denied ground troops had approached the area from a camp 3 miles (5 km) away. Hardline Buddhist monks in saffron robes who who hate the Tigers and are allied to President Mahinda Rajapakse are trying to reach the sluice gate themselves.

Many observers fear the fighting could spiral out of control, rupture a 2002 truce and restart a two-decade civil war that has already killed more than 65,000 people. Analysts and diplomats worry an exodus of truce monitors from Finland and Denmark after the rebels issued an ultimatum in the face of a European Union terror ban could create a dangerous vacuum and make the situation even more volatile. The Tigers demanded monitors from European Union states Sweden, Finland and Denmark quit the 5-nation Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) by September 1 after the EU listed them as terrorists alongside al Qaeda.

The Finns and Danes said they had been left with no choice but to remove 22 monitors between them in the absence of security guarantees. Sweden has not yet decided. Their exit will badly hamper the mission at a time when it is monitoring the bloodiest period since the ceasefire. More than 800 people, most of them civilians, have been killed so far this year. "With these countries out, it reduces the mission by more than a third and is a serious task to solve," said SLMM spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson. "We will wait to get a final decision from Sweden. Then it is in the hands of Norway and Iceland." "It's a question of how we can have the manpower to keep the operation functioning," he added. "One option is to get additional countries involved."

Sri Lanka's strained peace process is deadlocked. The Tigers have pulled out of peace talks indefinitely, Rajapakse has rejected their demand for a separate Tamil homeland outright, and analysts and diplomats widely fear it could take years to seal a final peace deal.

The Kalmunai Municipal Council (KMC) Friday at its monthly meeting unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the indiscriminate attack by the State of Israel on Lebanon and Palestine. Mr.K.M.A Razak, councillor of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) proposed the motion and seconded by Mr.Henry Mahendran, Deputy Leader of TELO & leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) members in the council, sources said. Mr. A.R.Ajmeer, Mayor presided the KMC monthly meeting for the first time. He did not attend the inaugural meeting of the KMC when it was convened last month.

Mayor Mr.Ajmeer said his council would take all steps to promote healthy relationship between two communities Muslims and Tamils and also would implement development works without any difference to any community.He added that he also lost his mother in the 2004 tsunami and he would see that rehabilitation of tsunami affected families would be carried out effectively and efficiently without giving any room for indiscrimination and irregularities, sources said.

S Lanka criticises monitors' exit

The Sri Lankan government has criticised the decision by Denmark and Finland to withdraw their ceasefire monitors from the state. A spokesman reportedly said they would resist any moves to reconstitute the mission (SLMM) without being consulted. The states' decision followed a demand by the Tamil Tigers that EU states quit the mission, after the EU listed the rebels as a terrorist group. The truce has been severely undermined in the recent upsurge of violence. More than 700 people have been killed since the beginning of the year, with many civilians among the casualties.

The rebels demanded the pull-out because they said individuals from EU member states could no longer be neutral in observing the four-year-old ceasefire. The Tigers said the monitors should leave by 1 September - which Finland and Denmark have agreed to do. Sweden - the only other EU state in the monitoring mission - said its teams would stay on for now. Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Colombo had yet to be formally informed of the Danish and Finnish decision, but was "against any unilateral move". "There is a ceasefire agreement and according to that any decision to change the SLMM must be done through consultations with all," he said, quoted by the Agence France Presse news agency. The three EU states provide 40 of the 57 monitors on the team. Norway and Iceland have said they cannot fill the gaps alone.

A three-wheeled autorickshaw with one person aboard exploded in a possible suicide attack on a Tamil Tiger rebel checkpoint in eastern Sri Lanka on Friday, ceasefire monitors said.The Nordic-staffed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said the vehicle had blown up on the rebel front-line. A military source said they believed it might be a suicide attack.“The driver was in the three-wheeler when it blew up,” said the monitoring mission’s spokesman Robert Nielsson, adding that he had no details of other casualties. “We are on the scene now.”The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) confirmed an explosion but had no details.More than 800 people have died so far this year in violence between the Tigers, the army and breakaway ex-rebels the Karuna group who the LTTE say are now army-backed.

The absence of a Kalutara district parliamentarian and politbureau member of the People's Liberation Front (JVP) grabbed media attention at the press conference held at the party office to announce that the JVP had come forward to form a broad front to confront the present situation. JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, General Secretary Tilvin Silva, Information Secretary Wimal Weerawansa and members of the politbureau Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Lal Kantha were present at the meeting.

Leading JVPer Nandana Gunatilake, who did not attend, was the party's presidential candidate for the 2000 presidential election. Possible defection of the senior JVPer was discussed in political circles after he met President Rajapaksa without the party's approval. Meanwhile, the government rejected the JVP's claim at the media meeting that the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ is gradually becoming inadequate. The JVP also blasted the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission at the press briefing and said it should be expelled from the country.

Britain said yesterday a dialogue was necessary if progress was to be made towards a sustainable peace settlement in Sri Lanka and urged both parties to fulfill their commitments made at Geneva. The comment was made by Deputy High Commissioner Lesley Craig when she met LTTE Political Wing Leader S.P.Thamilselvan in Kilinochchi.British High Commission spokesperson said: “We stressed the importance of bringing an end to the killings, intimidation, acts of violence and abductions. The commitments made at Geneva should be fulfilled by both parties and the cease-fire adhered to”.

“We stressed the need to dialogue. It was imperative that the parties engaged in talks at all levels in order to solve problems, overcome misunderstandings and build trust and confidence. A dialogue was necessary if progress was to be made towards a sustainable peace settlement which addressed the aspirations of all communities in Sri Lanka.”The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the current situation, its impact on civilians and the role of the international community, they said. The spokesman also said they had raised concerns about the continuing high levels of violence including the issue of child soldiers. “We reaffirmed our support for the vital work of the Norwegian facilitators and the important role of the SLMM,” the spokesperson said.

United National Party (UNP) Anuradhapura District Member of Parliament W.B. Ekanayaka joined the Sri Lanka government yesterday as the Deputy Minister of Highways. Mr. Ekanayaka is the fifth UNP MP to join the government with portfolios in support of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Ekanayaka took oaths as the Deputy Minister and officially accepted his duties yesterday. His crossover was a long-expected one, delayed by pressure from the UNP leadership to prevent the government from “fishing” for its parliamentarians.

Western Province People's Front (WPPF) leader, Mano Ganeshan, said Friday that his party is quitting the All Party Representatives group, political sources in Colombo said. "We joined the APC on the basis of exploring ways for the communities in Sri Lanka to live together. We now realize that the APC is an elaborate drama to fool the International Community," Mr Ganesan said."We cannot be participants in an effort that denigrates the rights of the Tamil people to share in sovereignty and political power of Sri Lanka," Mr Ganesan added.

All Party Conference (APC) was initiated by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse to explore constitutional reforms, but many political observers and LTTE have questioned the bona fides of the Sri Lanka's President in mooting the process.Observers point out that strident anti-federalists of the calibre of H.L.de Silva and Mr Gomin Dayasiri, forming the core of the expert panel formed to advise the APC, the APC has little chance of making any progress towards peace.

The Government of Japan (GOJ) commenced survey work on the basic design of the Mannar Bridge and causeway, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Thursday, a spokesman for JICA said.The basic design ready to be completed in December 2006, for the approval of GOJ and construction is expected to commence in September 2007.The Mannar Bridge is 140 metres long together with a causeway, 3.5km in length. It is the only access to the Mannar Island, by road from the mainland. The Centre span of the bridge was blasted in July 1990, and was replaced with a bailey bridge, as a temporary measure to ensure the supply of essential goods to 41,700 people living in the Mannar Island.

Improvements to the bridge and access road between Mannar and the mainland will increase the efficiency of the marketing of fish resulting in an increase of income of fishing communities.The bridge will be constructed on grant aid from the GOJ and is part of the reconstruction programme of seven bridges identified by bridge development master plan of JICA. The construction of the Manampitiya Bridge is currently in progress, also under grant aid from Japan, the spokesman added.

Three homeguards, riding in a motorbike, were killed in a Claymore ambush on Vavuniya Kebitigollawe Road around 6:45 p.m. Friday, Police said. The homeguards were returning home after duty in a single motorbike when they were hit by the explosion.They were identified as G.Sunil Gunawardena, Saman Kumara Dissanayake and Bandage Thillakartna.Home Guards are drawn mostly from Sinhala villages close to the Tamil border in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.Home Guards, officialy known as Home Guards Service, was formed in 1984 as a supplementary force to assist Sri Lanka Army, Navy, Air Force and police.They are trained, armed and deployed under the direct supervision of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).

Can India trust the Sri Lankan President?

On November 18 last year, then Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse got a rather pleasant 60th birthday gift: News that he had been elected as the President of the island nation. Just two years before that, he was not even counted among the important candidates in the race for the top post.Sri Lanka Freedom Party supremo and then president Chandrika Kumaratunga never helped Rajapakse's career. But he bagged the coveted post with a combination of circumstances, his hawkish stance against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and solid backing from the Buddhist monks' party Jathika Hela Urumaya and the Marxist-nationalist party Janatha Vimukti Peramuna.

In just one year, Rajapakse is at the centre stage of the 23-year-old ongoing struggle against the LTTE for supremacy in North and East Sri Lanka.The world's eyes are on President Rajapakse, because his nation again wants neighbouring India to help cage the Tigers, once and for all.In the presidential elections, the support of voters in south Sri Lanka was crucial to Rajapakse defeating United National Party candidate Ranil Wickramasinghe, a former prime minister.Plugging into the hawkish mood of his core voters, Rajapakse took the help of some nationalist Sinhala Buddhist monks, who are ever ready to vehemently oppose the LTTE and its leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

Rajapakse did token campaigning in Tamil areas like Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka, but his focus was on popular Sinhala sentiment.Southern Sri Lanka is a stronghold of Sinhala chauvinists who have become impatient with the LTTE's terror politics. These Sinhala chauvinists want a full-blown war. And they are asking India to lend its military might -- mainly sophisticated radars and fighter jets -- to crush the LTTE."You can't expect us to fight a first-rate war with a third world army," a Rajapakse confidante admitted to rediff.com

In the last six months, 3,500 Tamil refugees have arrived on Indian shores from Sri Lanka. New Delhi is debating whether Rajapakse, the politician, can be trusted; and to what extent.President Rajapakse has not even completed a year in office. So, it is too early to arrive at a final judgment. But some pointers have emerged, which make it clear that New Delhi's task of dealing with Sri Lanka's ethnic problem, which is of great strategic concern to India, will continue to be fraught with hurdles.

Rajapakse's rise signifies the 'capture' of power within the Sri Lanka Freedom Party by the lower strata of Sinhalese society.He is neither a member of the Kandy-based powerful elite nor from the Bandaranaike clan who have had a grip over Sri Lankan politics and business for nearly half a century.Rajapakse -- who was born in south Sri Lanka's Hambantota district, whose voters are engaged by nationalist leaders of all hues -- is a Left-of-Centre political leader.His father D A Rajapakse was a friend of then Sri Lankan prime minister S W R D Bandaranaike and a cofounder of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

D A Rajapakse was elected to parliament from Beliatta in Hambantota between 1947 and 1965. Mahinda Rajapakse has been winning from the same area since the 1970s.Then president Chandrika Kumaratunga made him a minister in 1994 and 2001, but he did not get any high-profile job. Between 2001 and 2004, he was the leader of the Opposition. In April 2004, after the United People's Freedom Alliance won a parliamentary election, Kumaratunga appointed Rajapakse as prime minister.Rajapakse's political strength is his mass base; he is a street-savvy politician who can connect with voters.

He is aware that his strength lies in his distance from the ruling elite. His campaign slogan was 'Apey Mahinda' (Our Own Mahinda).His grassroot politics helped when his day of reckoning came in 2004. He outran Lakshman Kadirgamar in the race to the prime minister's post.Unlike then President Ranasinghe Premadasa's temporary success in the United National Party, Rajapakse is more ambitious to leave his mark on Sri Lankan politics.

Rajapakse's profile has some interesting facets. The Vishwa Bharati university in Santiniketan, West Bengal, has honoured him as Professor Emeritus for his active participation in human rights issues.He was a regular visitor to the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, a human rights non-governmental organisation in Dehradun, Uttaranchal.For a while now, Rajapakse leads the Sri Lankan Committee for Solidarity with Palestine. He had close ties with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. When Rajapakse met an Indian media team at his home on July 20, he expressed pain over Israel's bombings of Lebanon and complained that the West was silent over the killing of innocents.

Indirectly, he pointed out that if he had emulated Israel's offensive on the Hezbollah bases and gone to war with the LTTE to weed them out of northern and eastern Sri Lanka, India and European countries would have protested strongly and intervened.It is obvious that he will have to deal with India before he 'finalises' his plan and approach to deal with the LTTE.

Because he has won election after election from the strongholds of Sinhalese chauvinism, he has to take those people along in his course of action vis-a-vis the LTTE.In this grave time of undeclared war in his country, he has already risked his credibility and neutrality by appointing H L de Silva, a hardliner lawyer, to chair the 15-member multi-ethnic experts' panel.

H L de Silva is also appearing for the Marxist-nationalist party JVP to plead the case in the Sri Lankan supreme court against the temporary de-merger of the North and East as a single administrative unit. The merger of the North and the East is one of the basic demands of the Sri Lankan Tamils and was accepted in the 1987 India-Sri Lanka accord signed by then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Sri Lankan President J R Jayawardene.

At same time, the lure of power compels President Rajapakse to become flexible, reasonable and serve the larger interest of Sri Lanka. The factors working against that is his dependency on the JVP and the Buddhist monks' party JHU. That is the challenge before him.

Indian diplomats are aware that right now, Rajapakse is not in a position to take bold steps in seeking a solution to the LTTE problem. Both supporting parties are capable of derailing any process.Some leaders belonging to the elite within Rakapakse's party would like him to see him fail.Many observers in Colombo believe the president is toying with the idea of dissolving the assembly -- where he is dependent on these hawkish parties -- and trying to cash in on his goodwill to get a majority.Aware of his limitations, Rajapakse has impatiently reached out to Prabkhakaran with all sorts of mediators, including two Sri Lankan Tamil editors.Rajapakse's prime demand to India is to bring Prabhakaran out of his hideouts. The day Prabhakaran sits across his table, the LTTE supremo's mystique and his clout will vanish, the president reckons.

Rajapakse's initial approach has not left Sri Lanka's well-wishers happy. Since he took over as president, about 750 civilians, LTTE men and security personnel have been killed.His critics describe him as an irreversible hawk and blame him for the deadlock in the Norway-facilitated peace process. During his election campaign he openly advocated that the Norwegians should quit the peace talks, the critics complain.In person, the president doesn't look a hardliner. He gives the impression of a man with reasonable flexibility. His positive vibes with India may be born out of necessity, but even Prabhakaran had to concede that the president is a practical man.

Importantly, Sri Lankan Tamils have noticed that Rajapakse is not talking about a federal set-up. Most observers agree that such a set-up -- which India strongly advocates -- would be the ideal solution for the island nation.Before the election, Rajapakse was talking about a 'unitary' constitution to unite divided Sri Lankans.As an Indian diplomat pointed out, India is the only country seeking for a federal solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic problem. All other regional players and well-wishers are not concerned about the long-term outcome. Most European countries are trying for peace in the short term.

He advocates a solution in Sri Lankan colours, which would be acceptable to all communities -- the Sinhalese, the Tamils and the Muslims. Now, he has appointed an All Party Committee which will decide what could be offered to Prabhakaran so that he ends the bloody conflict with his own nation.Many experts believe that it is a time-consuming process and there is only a very remote chance of Rajapakse succeeding in arriving at a consensus.But that does not mean he will not try. He is young (by heads of State standards), active and would like to spring some surprise on Prabhakaran.When the Indian media team met President Rajapakse in Colombo, he tried hard to convince the Indians that he is a man conscious of history who can deliver enduring peace -- if India remains on his side.

Finland to pull observers from Sri Lanka ahead of Tigers' deadline

Finland is to recall its observers from Sri Lanka on security grounds before the September 1 deadline set by Tamil Tiger rebels for all European Union ceasefire monitors to leave, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Friday."Based on the fact that the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) are not going to guarantee the monitors' safety after September 1, we will recall our observers by then," ministry spokeswoman Marita Maunola told AFP.

The Tamil Tigers demanded that observers from the three EU countries monitoring their ceasefire with the army -- Denmark, Finland and Sweden -- leave the country after the 25-nation bloc added the LTTE to its list of "terrorist" organisations in May. The remaining members of the observer mission come from non-EU states Iceland and Norway.

Two policemen were shot dead by unidentified men at Poompuhar in Palaiyootu, a suburb, about 3 k.m. off Trincomalee town, around 12.15 p.m, Friday. They were identified as Sergeant Sarath and constable Jesurajah, police sources said.Both were rushed to Trincomalee general hospital immediately after the attack but later succumbed to injuries on admission, medical sources said.The security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area. Tension prevailed in the area. Shops were closed and roads and lanes in the area have been deserted, sources said.

Tiger rebels killed in air strike

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels say six fighters have been killed in air strikes in the country's north-east. The pro-rebel TamilNet website quoted a Tiger leader saying five rebels and three civilians were also wounded. The military said the bombing was aimed at stopping the Tigers building an airstrip in Mullaitivu district. The government and the Tamil Tigers are formally committed to a 2002 ceasefire, but fighting has killed hundreds of people this year. Rebel leader S Elilan told TamilNet the six rebels were killed when the air force bombed a rebel camp close to a water facility.

Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told the BBC the air raid was a precise and targeted attack. "We have photographs of construction of an airstrip," he said. "This is an infringement of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and can cause a threat to the region." It is not clear how much damage was done to the site. On Wednesday, the air force bombed an area of Trincomalee district in a dispute about water supplies. The government said raids were aimed at ending a rebel blockade of water supplies, but the Tigers said Tamil civilians had blocked the water supplies in a dispute with the government over irrigation.

In other developments, army commander Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka has returned to Sri Lanka after receiving treatment in Singapore for injuries suffered in April's Tamil Tiger suicide attack on army headquarters in Colombo that left eight people dead. Lt Gen Fonseka "has resumed his duties as commander of the army", the government website reported.

Former Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte had filed a divorce case before the Colombo District Court alleging malicious desertion.In the application for divorce against Ms. Ramani Imbuldeniya, Mr. Ratwatte of Rajagirya Gardens, Nawala complained that Ms. Imbulgdeniya had gone on a foreign tour in May 2005 without informing him. In his application Mr. Ratwatte claimed that after her arrival in Sri Lanka, friends and relatives had tried to reunite them but failed.They were married on May 30, 1996 when Mr. Ratwatte was 56 years old and Ms. Imbuldeniya was 51.

Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers Thursday morning dropped bombs from high altitude near a civilian settlement, Keppapulavu, 7.3 km west of Mullaithivu, around 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning. A Sri Lankan reconnaisance plane was also observed, civilian sources said. In the meantime, Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) boats were observed around 1 km from the shore in Mullaithivu.

A Sinhala lieutenant of the army and a Tamil woman doctor who were taken into police custody while occupying a room in a rest home in Anuradhapura town were remanded till July 31 by the Anuradhapura Magistrate Wasantha Jinadasa.Police informed Court by a “B” report that they were checking whether the arrestees were connected to terrorist activities and requested that they be remanded.A special police team had arrested them yesterday early morning and produced in court.The lieutenant is attached to an army camp in Jaffna and the doctor is a resident in Chetticulam, Vavuniya.

Lawyers appearing for the two submitted that they were lovers and as such they had stayed in the hotel. He requested they be released on bail.The Magistrate refused to grant bail because of the security situation in the country and remanded them.The Magistrate ordered the Colombo Crime Division to submit a full report on the doctor and ordered the military police for a report on the lieutenant. Anuradhapura SP, McCorthy Perera is directing further investigatons.

Former president of a Fisheries Society in Pt.Pedro was shot dead at his home in Supparmadam by unidentified men riding a motorbike, around 7.30 a.m., Thursday. The incident occured about 100 metres from Sri Lanka Army's 52-4 Brigade Camp.Kandaiah Sithravadivel,59, was an active contributor to development of Fisheries Societies in Pt.Pedro, sources said.Last week, the president of the Fisheries Society was abducted men in white van.

A report by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has said that there is an imperative need to review emergency regulations without delay to minimize human rights violations at the hands of the police and security forces especially during conflict situations.The report dated March 31, 2006 has been forwarded to President Mahinda Rajapakse and is signed by former judge T. Suntheralingam.Suntheralingam was appointed Special Rapporteur on Conflict Related Human Rights Violations by the Human Rights Commission in Sri Lanka.

In his observations on conflict related human rights violations, Suntheralingam has said the spate of politically motivated killings and incidents of human rights violations continued even after the Presidential Election in November 2005."Perhaps some of the appointments made to the defence structure soon after the new President assumed office could possibly have prompted these incidents.

The appointment of General Sarath Fonseka as the Army Commander and Ratnasiri Wickremanayake as the Prime Minister, both of whom are known for their chauvinistic views and the appointment of H.M.G.B Kotakadeniya a former Deputy Inspector General of Police, who was later the Secretary of the JHU, as the adviser on police matters at the Defence Ministry, sent signals that the state was getting ready to confront the militants and move away from seeking a peaceful settlement on the conflict," the report said.

The report added that while majority of the killings in the east were reportedly committed by the LTTE, the Karuna group could also be held responsible for many of them.Some of the killings were also attributed to a third group like the EPDP etc. while there were allegations against the military too for such incidents, the report adds.Suntheralingam in his observations further said that although the IGP and the Army Commander had issued statements to the contrary, the fact that at the meeting in Geneva in February 2006, the government delegation had agreed to disarm the paramilitary groups operating in the country was ample proof of their existence.

"Even the SLMM had confirmed this fact. In view of this factor it is hard to fix responsibility for some of the killings to one group or the other," the report said.The report added that following the killing of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on August 15, 2005, the then government thought it necessary to activate the emergency regulations on the pretext that there had arisen a need to strengthen the hands of the police and the security forces to contain the escalation of violence in the country.

However, subsequent events proved that it did not help in stemming the increase of violence, instead it led to an increase in the incidence of human rights violations in the country in general and in the north and east, in particular, the report said.

Extolling the Sri Lankan government for its efforts to control the present crisis in the island, India's super cop and counter-terror expert, KPS Gill, says that the LTTE will soon give up its fight."With international pressure mounting and the European Union banning the group, the Tigers will soon have to bow down," Gill, who is credited with flushing out terrorism from Punjab, told HindustanTimes.Com."You cannot support terror in any part of the world and that has been realised globally," he said.A surge in violence since the end of 2005 has inflamed the situation in Sri Lanka.

Ever since the abortive suicide bomber attack on Army Chief Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka, killings by both sides have increased threatening to take beautiful Serendib back to war again. Gill suggests strong action against terror."Terror has to be dealt with firmly. The war against terror has to be sustained and fought every minute of the day."After the withdrawal of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in March 1990, Gill was invited to Sri Lanka to advise the government on VVIP security.During his visit in 2000, the counter-terror expert met the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who was very impressed with the top cop's anti-militancy work in Punjab.

On the constant allegation that the Sri Lankan security forces were committing excesses on civilians and killing them wantonly, Gill said: "It is one of the techniques of terror to spread such stories about the security forces. This is done to affect the opinion of the general masses and the LTTE did this very successfully."In an earlier interview to HindustanTimes.com, Gill had stressed that the IPKF experience was not a sour one.Had the peacekeepers stayed on for six more months, the situation would have returned to normal in Sri Lanka, he said.

SLAF conduct air raids in east

The Sri Lankan Air Force carried out air raids on Tamil Tiger rebel held area in the east. The government say the attacks are to facilitate the opening of an anicut to supply water to 15000 families. Earlier the Tamil Tigers were accused of closing the water supply to the area irrigated through Maavil Aru canal.Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) spokesman Paul Bjerke told the BBC that the bombing happened in South of Muttur in the Trincomalee district.Planning and Implementation Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the attacks were "intended to help irrigation engineers gain access to the Maavil Aru canal".

Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe quoting the Sri Lanka Air Force said that the attacks were against suspected Tamil Tiger positions "in and around Verugal area".Officials accuse the Tigers of blocking sluice gates of the canal located in the rebel held area and preventing the irrigation of thousands of acres of farmland.

Villagers and farmers led by the Chief Buddhist prelate of the east Seruwila Saranakiththi thero held a protest on Tuesday demanding the government to get the sluice gates open.The SLMM spokesman said that the LTTE has handed over a letter addressed to the government stating conditions to open the sluice gates."I don't want to go into details of the demands," said spokesman Bjerke adding that it is "up to the government to discuss the suggessions".According to the the government peace secretariat the Maavil Aru sluice gates provide water to 35,000 acres of paddy fields.

the government say the Tamil Tigers are preventing free flow of water to over 15000 families.In a statement issued by the government it says, "It is recognised that denial of water to civilians and hostile acts against infrastructure indispensable to the survival of civilian population constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity."

Norway's special envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer is due here this week in a bid to resolve the crisis affecting the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) following the LTTE's demand for the ouster of its European Union members, the Government announced yesterday. Defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said efforts are being made at various levels to reach an agreement on the truce monitors' issue, since the LTTE wanted the EU members pulled out from the Mission following the ban imposed on the outfit by the 25-nation EU in June.

Addressing the weekly security news briefing, the Minister said discussions were held between Peace Secretariat officials and ambassadors of the four Nordic countries Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland in Colombo yesterday. "But all our efforts have ended on a negative note so far," Rambukwella who is also the Minister for Plan Implementation said. "Last week special Swedish envoy Andres Oljelund met the LTTE leadership in Killinochchi but we were told that the talks were not a success," he said, adding that the LTTE was still demanding removal of EU monitors before the next month is out.

He said in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) the parties reached in 2002 February, it was decided to employ nationals from five Nordic countries including Iceland as monitors. "Both the MoU and the CFA provide space for modification and revisions," he said, insisting that any modifications and revisions should be arrived after multilateral negotiations. "Any unilateral decision would make the agreement null and void," the Minister explained.

"We are sticking to our earlier stance and we have no reason to send EU monitors away," he said, but added that the Government was ready to negotiate. Following the EU ban, the LTTE called for the removal of 37 monitors from three EU countries. If the EU members are forced to leave as demanded by the LTTE before the end of this month it would leave the 60 strong monitoring body with less than 25 members from Norway and Iceland, the two non-EU Nordic countries in the mission.

Japanese special envoy Yasushi Akashi will come to Sri Lanka next month, only if LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran agrees to meet him, a Japanese Embassy spokesman said.He said that if the LTTE leader refused to meet Mr. Akashi, the Japanese government would go ahead with its decision to ban LTTE fund raising activities and freeze LTTE assets in Japan.The spokesman said the embassy would contact Mr. Prabhakaran shortly to arrange a meeting with Mr. Akashi.

He said that Mr. Akashi was also scheduled to meet President Rajapaksa and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe among others.“But all depends on the LTTE’s reaction, as Mr. Akashi has already had discussions with the LTTE’s political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan and other Tiger leaders”, he said.Early this week Japanese diplomats said Mr. Akashi would visit Sri Lanka for another effort at persuading the LTTE to resume peace talks with the government.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission monitors should definitely be expelled from Sri lanka but the government has no backbone for that, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said in a press briefing in Colombo yesterday.When asked by a journalist whether the JVP had taken up the issue with the President, he replied that thus far they had not discussed the issue with the President but added that they hope to do so in future.

The JVP politburo has decided to form a broad alliance to defeat foreign conspiracies to divide the country, to strengthen the economy of the country and to combat terrorism Amarasinghe said while adding that talks will be held with all parties for this purpose and had already conducted talks with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He pledged to brief the media on these talks in the future. When asked whether there is a need for a United Nations peace keeping force, the JVP leader ruled out the possibility and stressed that he believed 100% that our security forces and the police can defeat terrorism.

Two roadside bombs went off in northern Sri Lanka on Thursday, killing a newspaper vendor and wounding a soldier and a civilian, the military said. Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe blamed the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the consecutive blasts in Jaffna Peninsula, a predominantly Tamil area. Samarasinghe said the target of the bombs was a Sri Lankan military patrol, but the first one killed the newspaper vendor. The second one wounded one soldier and one civilian, he said.

Separately, another civilian was killed in Point Pedro, which serves as a small harbor in Jaffna Peninsula, said an official at the Defence Ministry's Media Unit in Colombo. The victim was shot in the head, said the official, who cannot be named because of military regulations. The attacks were the latest in a surge of violence involving government troops and the rebels, threatening to destroy a 2002 cease-fire and return the island to full-scale civil war.

An armed gang freed two prisoners, both Sri Lankan Tamils, from police escort, while they were being taken back in a bus to Tiruchi Central Prison from here on Wednesday. The group sped away in a van that was following the bus. An escort policemen foiled the attempt made by two more prisoners to escape. Following the daring incident, the police sounded an alert and launched a hunt to track down the prisoners as well as their rescuers. Six special police teams have been formed. Vehicle checks and checking of lodges have been intensified.

According to police sources, Selvakumar, Imtiaz Ahmed, Sozhan and Settu, all involved in narcotic smuggling cases in various places, were produced before the Essential Commodities Court at Pudukottai. Two policemen were escorting them. Just as the vehicle left the bus stand, five to six persons boarded the vehicle. When it was approaching Mathur, six armed persons approached the driver and forced him to stop the vehicle. They also inflicted injuries on him. They then sprayed chilli powder on the escort policemen and took away Selva Kumar and Imtiaz Ahmed. Inspector-General of Police, Central Zone, M.S. Jaffar Sait, and senior police officers rushed to the spot and conducted enquiries. The Keeranur police have registered a case.

A lorry belonging to Madhu Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society (MPCS) was attacked by a Claymore mine placed inside the LTTE held Panichchankulam in the Mannar district Wednesday morning around 11.30 a.m. The driver and cleaner of the lorry were injured. The Claymore mine was allegedly placed by the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), civil sources said.The lorry was transporting huller and other related materials for the rice mill currently under construction at Sinnavalayankaddu with the financial support of the UNDP at that time of incident from Aandankulam.

Sinnavalayankaddu and Aandankulam are located in the LTTE held region.Panichchankulam is located about 25 km off north of Madhu.The driver of the lorry Sahayanathan Lambert, 44, father of four, sustained injuries and dispatched to Killinochchi hospital.Cleaner of the lorry, Annasamy Sebastiampillai, 48, sustained minor injuries.

The Government is working with the Australian authorities to get the LTTE banned in the country, owing to its failure to return to the negotiating table. The LTTE was, at one time, listed as a terrorist group in Australia but was later removed from the list, in support of the peace process which commenced in 2002.Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said that Australian government representatives had got in touch with him to gather further information on the violent acts committed by the rebels in recent times.The Daily Mirror learns that the Australian Government is at present working on a blueprint to blacklist the LTTE which was recently banned in the EU and Canada.It is also learnt Japan has also hinted at freezing LTTE assets, to pressurize the rebels to give up violence and return to negotiations.

A man described by Toronto Police as a gang leader and a "trained assassin" has been secretly deported to his native Sri Lanka after an eight-year court battle to stay in Canada. In 1998, Niranjan Claude Fabian, 38, was deemed a danger to the public because he was a member of the Tamil Tigers terrorist group. Officials had been trying since then to deport Fabian, a member of the VVT, a Tamil gang active in the Toronto area. "Those who undermine the safety of our communities are not welcome in Canada," Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said yesterday.

Patrizia Giolti, of the Canada Border Services Agency, confirmed that Fabian had been deported by her officers, but would not say what country he had been sent to, citing concern for his security. However, Canadian police officials and reports in Tamil newspapers confirmed the gang leader was escorted onto a commercial flight to Sri Lanka last Friday. Before leaving last week, Fabian is reported to have said his "blood will be on the Canadian public's hands" if he is captured or killed in Sri Lanka. He was jailed for 16 months in 1998 for fraud, counselling to commit murder and possessing a forged passport.

Toronto Police have confirmed Fabian was the third-in-command of the VVT. He spearheaded a series of clashes with the rival AK Kannan gang which resulted in the deaths of at least 12 people in the Toronto area in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The two gangs have been feuding for years over turf and the lucrative illicit drug market. Fabian was described by police as a "trained assassin" for the Tamil Tigers. That allegation was never tested in court.

Tamils gather at Hyde Park, London, to mark 23rd anniversary of Black July 1983 Genocide The crowd was addressed by several speakers, including Selvam Adaikalanathan,TELO Leader & TNA MP and Karen Parker, an internationally respected Human Rights lawyer.Mr. Parker criticised the extensive human rights abuses which have taken place throughout this year. Pointing out Sri Lanka was an island in conflict she said rights abuses in times of conflict are also war crimes.

Mr. Adaikalanathan praised the Tamil diaspora for their unstinting support for the people of the Northeast during the times of conflict.However he said that the Diaspora must help build up the emerging state in the Northeast, just as it had stood shoulder to shoulder with the Tamil liberation struggle.The Sri Lankan state was seeking ways to crush the Tamil people and the malevolent intent behind the July 1983 riots continued today amid disappearances, killings, bombings and so on.

Pointing out how Sinhala jailors and inmates in Welikade jail massacred Tamil prisoners including TELO leader Kittumani and Thangathurai, Mr, Adaikalanathan, who presently leads the TELO party, said the defiance with which the Tamil people resisted Sinhala aggression then was the same today.“You, the expatriates, helped stave off annihilation during the conflict. You helped us survive the economic embargo the Sinhala state imposed on the Tamils.”He criticised the EU and other bans of the Liberation Tigers as onesided and hypocritical.

“Look at the reasons the international community gives for banning the LTTE. I ask you, does not what the LTTE is accused of pale into insignificance compared to the actions of the Sri Lankan state? Yet the condemn the LTTE and praise the state.”“Look at what is happening in Middle East today. Look at the enormous civilian suffering and destruction being visited by Israel’s military. But the international community refuses to condemn that. Is this fair?”

“We, the Tamils, have a just cause. We have every right to rule ourselves in our homeland. On what basis can they deny us this right? On what basis can the international community condemn our struggle as terrorism?”“If we are to overcome our obstacles, we must be strong. We must stand united under one flag. We must do so until there is a place in the world every Tamil can look to as home, until Tamil Eelam is realised.”

The crowd was addressed by Mr. A. C. Shanthan of the British Tamil Association.“We are gathered here to remember the thousands of people brutally killed in the July 1983 pogrom,” he said.“We remember how Kuttumani and others had the eyes gouged out for wanting to see Tamil Eelam before they died. We remember how thousands of people were horrifically destroyed.”

“That event was a turning point. We came to realise that the Sinhala state was determined to wipe us out as a people. Not only us, but the international community became aware of the nature of the state.”It was also a turning point because many thousands joined the liberation struggle. And India came forward to help arm and train them and to support the Tamil struggle.”

“There are two major achievements after 23 years of struggle. First, we have seen the liberation of 70% of our homeland. Secondly, a Tamil state is emerging in our homeland.”“Still our struggle is not over. The new government of Mahinda Rajapske has been in power for six months. In that time, over five hundred Tamil civilians have been murdered. Things are getting worse every day. Horrific atrocities are taking place. Four thousand people have fled to India.”

“It is after Mahinda came to power that Army-backed paramilitaries expanded and escalated their atrocities against the Tamil people.”“The international community does not seem to appreciate the plight of our people. Instead of helping to end the suffering and in pressuring the Sri Lanka government, it is denouncing the Tamil struggle as terrorism. The EU and Canada have recently banned the Liberation Tigers.”

“But in Canada, in Europe, everywhere our people are united in demanding an end to these bans,” he said to growing applause.“We are gathered here today to send a message to the international community: you cannot split the Tigers and the Tamil people. They are united in their cause of liberation,” he said to enthusiastic clapping.

How many lives were sacrificed before government entered a federal solution?-UNP

If the government does not need the support of the United National Party to find a solution to the national problem, the UNP should not be involved in the issue, party Assistant General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said. If the government can achieve a solution without the UNP, the party will extend its unconditional support to the government without sabotaging it, he noted.He was reacting to claims made by the JVP and the Jathika Hela Urumaya playing down the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's recent visit to India and talks with the Indian authorities as an LTTE propaganda exercise.

Attanayake questioned as to why the government seeks the support of the UNP, when government allies disparage talks Wickremesinghe had with Indian leaders. The President has told he BBC that a solution to the North and East problem would be a federal solution and Attanayake questioned how many lives were sacrificed by the government before the government adopted this stand.

A young man was shot dead and another was injured in two seperate incidents, Wednesday morning in Vavuniya, police in the northern town said.Ramasamy Jeyakody,40, an employee at the Vavuniya Urban Council was shot dead at Vepankulam by unidentified men around 8 a.m., at Vepankulam, the police said. Vepankulam is 3 k.m., northwest of Vavuniya.Separately, a youth was shot and seriously injured at Katkuli, a suburb of Vavuniya town, around 10.45 a.m., the police said.He was admitted at the Vabuniya hospital.

The UNP’s controversial frontliner Milinda Moragoda yesterday resigned from the party’s Political Affairs Committee saying the committee was a forum by which the public was made aware of divisions and discontentment within the party.In his resignation letter, to UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Mr. Moragoda said the party’s new policy making body was created on the insistence of a few on an ad hoc basis to provide an alternative forum for discussing and resolving various problematic issues.

“Unfortunately, the composition of the Committee and the attempts by some of its members to broaden its functions, has led the committee to become dysfunctional, and detrimental to the party’s interests. The Committee has become the means by which the public is made aware of divisions and discontentment within the party, exacerbating problems, and leading many including myself, to question its usefulness. I had hoped that, in time, a more constructive atmosphere would evolve and enable me to make a modest contribution to its work,” Mr. Moragoda said.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres visited Sri Lanka's war-torn northeast on Wednesday to assess the plight of thousands of internally displaced and meet the Tamil Tiger rebels.Guterres' visit comes against a backdrop of escalating violence between the military and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which many fear could rupture a 2002 ceasefire and open a new chapter of a two-decade civil war that has killed over 65,000 people.It also comes days ahead of a new visit by Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer amid fresh diplomatic efforts to break a deadlock in talks between the foes, the government said.

"The purpose of (Guterres') visit is to meet displaced people in the north and east of the country and hear first-hand their concerns and needs," UN refugee agency UNHCR said in a statement."He is to meet local officials as well as members of the LTTE to discuss humanitarian issues related to displaced people."UNHCR estimates there are around 315,000 long-term internally displaced in Sri Lanka due to the protracted conflict, 67,000 of whom live in camps and around 247,000 of whom live with relatives and friends.

There are another 125,000 Sri Lankan refugees abroad, 68,000 of them in neighbouring India.Unarmed Nordic truce monitors say a rash of clashes and attacks have killed more than 800 people so far this year -- most of them civilians. Tens of thousands more have been displaced due to renewed fighting in recent months, several thousand of whom have paid smugglers to ferry them to India.

Sporadic violence continued on Wednesday, when a police constable was shot and injured at a checkpoint in the northwestern district of Mannar. That attack in turn came after two policemen were injured in a grenade attack in the north on Tuesday.The attacks were a fresh reminder of the anti-Tamil riots in July 1983, triggered after the Tigers killed 13 soldiers that marked the start of civil war.

The scars of that war are deep. Many civilians in the northern army-held Jaffna peninsula are too scared to venture out after dark because of nightly shootings and attacks.Ordinary Tamils resent what they see as an army occupation of Jaffna -- their cultural heartland -- where vast tracts of prime farmland are cordoned off as military high security zones and still peppered with landmines.

Some openly back the Tigers, who have been listed as a terrorist group by the United States, Britain, India, Canada and the European Union."I lost my father in 1988 due to shelling. I was just two years old," said 18-year-old student Kuganathan Navaratnam, standing outside a Jaffna bank."I am studying well. I would love to join the LTTE, but I can't leave my mother and sister," he added. "There will only be a war if it is started by the government."

Analysts fear it could take years to cement a lasting peace.The Tigers demand a separate homeland in the north and east, where they already run a de facto state, which President Mahinda Rajapakse has flatly rejected.

Army Commander Sarath Fonseka resumed duties yesterday after his return from Singapore where he underwent medical treatment, the military said.Military Spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said the Army Chief arrived in Colombo yesterday evening. “Soon after his return, he resumed duties in his post as the Commander of the Army”, Brigadier Samarasinghe said adding that his health condition was satisfactory.Lt. Gen. Fonseka was flown to Singapore a few weeks ago for further medical treatment following the failed LTTE suicide blast inside the Army Headquarters on April 25.

Two days of trade union action by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) were called off this evening after the Sri Lankan government assured the strikers that their demand would be addressed within two weeks. Sources said the decision came after a discussion between trade union officials and presidential advisor on trade unions Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra this evening. The government assured union officials that their demand to remove the newly appointed chairman of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Storage Terminals Ltd, Asantha de Mel, would be addressed. Due to the two days of trade union action, thousands of vehicle owners were stranded without fuel and public transport came to a standstill

The renegade Karuna faction has banned the circulation of “The Thinakkural” and 'The Sudaroli' Tamil newspapers in Batticaloa. As a result the publishers have suspended their circulation in Batticaloa from Yesterday. However Karuna faction sources said that they have not imposed such a ban.

Jaffna Magistrate, E. T. Vignarajah on Monday, ordered psychiatric tests for the three army personnel accused of threatening Additional Magistrate Srinithi Nanthisekaran with death, after police officers told courts they had doubts about the mental stability of the soldiers, TamilNet reported.The magistrate also directed the Jaffna Army Commander to take steps to identify any other soldiers who may be suffering from any mental instability and take remedial action, TamilNet said.Military Police officers told courts that disciplinary action was taken against the three accused solders by suspending their promotions.

The Jaffna Commander A Chandrasiri sent to courts a report in Sinhala stating that as instructed by the Magistrate on July 4 the three accused Army soldiers have been transferred to other positions where they would not come into contact with the public, TamilNet said. The Jaffna District Magistrate pointed out to the Major General that the language of courts in North and East was Tamil and warned that if any report was submitted to the courts in Sinhala in future, he would reject the report, TamiNet said.

The Jahika Hela Urumaya (JHU) is demanding that the Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Nirupama Rao issue a statement on what really happened to the branch of the Buddhagaya Bo tree. "The media has carried conflicting stories. We don’t know what has happened," General Secretary of the JHU Ven. Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Thera said.A branch of the Sri Maha Bodhi tree at Buddhagaya (Bodhgaya) India, under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, was found cut on Thursday (20). Botanists said the branch had been cut some two days ago. However, thereafter, some media reports said that the cut was not a new one. "We want a statement from the Indian High Commissioner on what really happened to the branch of the Bo tree," Sobitha Thera said.

Japanese special envoy Yasushi Akashi, who is set to visit Sri Lanka next month, has urged India to play a more influential role in Sri Lanka's peace process. Akashi told a media agency, “I attached great importance for the role India does play and can play in the future in Sri Lanka. “Because of their experience of the 1980s, Indians are obviously very careful,” Akashi said. “But [India's] stake [in] Sri Lankan stability is unmistakable.... India has a lot of knowledge and experience about Sri Lanka, and Sri Lankan leaders are well aware of that. So we are anxious that India plays a more influential role in Sri Lanka.”

Tamils recall Black July-TORONTO SUN
Hundreds died in Sri Lankan massacres in 1983

The memory of hundreds of Sri Lankan Tamils killed during the Black July of 1983 was kept alive last night as survivors gathered at Dundas Square. "Everyone here was a victim or related to victims of Black July," Yogeswaran Kumar said of the time when the Sri Lankan government launched a vicious nationwide anti-Tamil campaign that left hundreds dead and thousands homeless. Kumar was an accounting student in the capital city of Colombo when the terror was unleashed. His roommate was killed in the house where they lived and he survived because government soldiers were told he was Muslim. "One word saved my life," said Kumar, who is still incredulous at what turned out to be his good fortune.

Thankarajah Ponniah's family survived to move to Canada where they were began a new life because the Sri Lankan government had burned everything they owned. Ponniah, now 77, said he went back to his Sri Lankan home in 1992 -- a year after moving to Canada -- to join his daughter, but their home had been bulldozed and everything was gone. "A soldier told me to go back to Canada," Ponniah remembered. "And I did, because I didn't have a reason to stay there." Now he tells his grandchildren about where their family came from and the days of terror and chaos they survived to start a new life for them. Ponniah's family is among 300,000 Canadians of Sri Lankan heritage now living in this country. "I am always the first to raise the flag on Canada Day," Ponniah said proudly. "Canada is a beautiful place for accommodating us."

New Delhi should change Lanka policy: Nedumaran

Tamizhar Desiya Iyyakkam (TDI) leader Pazha Nedumaran on Tuesday demanded that the Centre should change its approach and policy towards Sri Lanka and the Tamils of the island nation.Addressing a press conference here, he said the Manmohan Singh government, which was following the principles of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and already proved a failure, would not do any good to India or the Sri Lankan Tamils.Stating that Sri Lanka could never be loyal to India, Nedumaran pointed out that the cancellation of oil tanker lease given to India and taking over it by the Sri Lankan government last week was an act against the Indian government.

He said the Union Government, which supported the initiatives taken by Norway to bring peace in the island nation should stop supply of arms to Sri Lanka.Since Sri Lanka was not surrounded by an enemy country, it was very clear that the arms would be used for killing innocent Tamils in the island nation, he said, adding that India should understand this and stop supply of arms to Sri Lanka.While the Union Government allowed elected Sinhalese representatives to come to India and explained the situation to the ministers, similar gestures should also be shown to the Tamil representatives also.Then only India would be able to know the real picture prevailing in Sri Lanka, he added.He said the relief being provided by the Centre to the refugees from Sri Lanka was insufficient.

It was on 25th and 27th July 1983, total of [(35) + (18 ) = 53 Tamil political prisoners were killed with impunity and the Sri Lanka government led by President J.R.Jayewardene remained as a passive observers of the whole sordid affair."Selvarajah Yogachandran, popularly known as Kuttimuni(TELO Secretary General ), a nominated member of the Sri Lankan Parliament...,one of the 52 prisoners killed in the maximum security Welikade prison in Colombo (on July 25) was forced to kneel in his cell, where he was under solitary confinement, by his assailants and ordered to pray to them. When he refused, he was taunted by his tormentors about his last wish, when he was sentenced to death. He had willed that his eyes be donated to some one so that at least that person would see an independent Tamil Eelam. The assailants then gouged his eyes...He was then stabbed to death and his testicles were wrenched from his body. This was confirmed by one of the doctors who had conducted the postmortem of the first group of 35 prisoners." Then President J.R.Jayewardene expressed no sorrow or grief for what had happened either at the Welikade high security prison or in the country. Unfortunately he never had any words of sympathy for those killed at the hands of the marauding assassins, but he by his words and deeds indicated that the anti-Tamils violence of the “Black July” was the fitting retribution to the death of the 13 Sinhala soldiers on 23 July 1983.

In the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983 thousands of Tamils were killed by mobs which waylaid them. Vehicles suspected of carrying Tamils were set ablaze with the occupants inside, Tamil pedestrians were killed on sight, and entire Tamil neighbourhoods were torched. Within days Colombo came to resemble a war zone, as Tamil-owned factories shops and homes were burnt to the ground, and the skyline marked by pillars of smoke. The violence soon spread to other cities.

There was of course, no attempt on the part of the authorities to stem the violence and it soon became impossible to persist with the canard that the violence was a spontaneous backlash to the killing of thirteen soldiers by Tamil guerrillas in the north. It was soon apparent that the anti-Tamil violence was a blatant attempt by the authorities to indicate to the Tamil guerrillas the vulnerability of Tamils in the south. The speeches made by parliamentarians belonging to the ruling UNP just prior to and soon after the attack, the findings by several independent agencies, and eyewitness accounts, leave little in doubt. The violence was nothing less than a state-orchestrated pogrom.

Just two weeks before the attacks on Tamil people and property, President J R Jayawardne was quoted by the (London) Daily Telegraph of 11 July 1983 as saying

“I am not worried about the opinion of the Tamil people.. now we cannot think of them, not about their lives or their opinion ... Really if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy”.

Nothing was heard from the President for 5 days into the pogrom, and when he appeared on television it was to say that the attacks were “not a product of urban mobs but a mass movement of the generality of the Sinhalese people and that “the time had come to accede to the clamour and the national respect of the Sinhalese people”.

The London Times of 5th August reported how “…Army personnel actively encouraged arson and the looting of Tamil business establishments and homes in Colombo” and how “absolutely no action was taken to apprehend or prevent the criminal elements involved in these activities. In many instances army personnel participated in the looting of shops.”

On 28th July, Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister telephoned the Sri Lankan President to express her concern about the fate of the Tamils and convey her decision to send her External Minister, Narasimha Rao on a fact finding mission. It was a veiled threat designed to show that India would not remain unconcerned in view of its own substantial Tamil population, which was becoming increasingly restive by the events in Sri Lanka. In the light of the Indian role in Pakistan’s civil war in 1969, resulting in the birth of Bangladesh, the Sri Lankan government could ill-afford to ignore this message from its powerful neighbour

The Government touted various conspiracy theories in a hurried and clumsy attempt to shift the blame, and distance itself from the perpetrators of the violence. Government spokesmen thereafter spoke of an anti-Government plot, a communist conspiracy, and foreign involvement, to explain the unchecked anti-Tamil violence of the previous weeks. Ananda Tissa de Alwis, a prominent member of the government saw in the violence, the hand of the KGB, while the President spoke of the possibility of the events being engineered by sections of the armed forces, and of a Naxalite plot, at the same time. The virulently anti-Tamil and anti-Indian Cyril Matthew saw only “the dirty hand of India”.

''A tourist told yesterday how she watched in horror as a Sinhala mob deliberately burned alive a bus load of Tamils... Mrs.Eli Skarstein, back home in Stavanger, Norway, told how she and her 15 year old daughter, Kristin, witnessed one massacre. 'A mini bus full of Tamils were forced to stop in front of us in Colombo' she said. A Sinhalese mob poured petrol over the bus and set it on fire. They blocked the car door and prevented the Tamils from leaving the vehicle. 'Hundreds of spectators watched as about 20 Tamils were burned to death'. Mrs. Skarstein added: 'We can't believe the official casualty figures. Hundreds may be thousands must have been killed already." (London Daily Express, 29th August 1983)

"Motorists were dragged from their cars to be stoned and beaten with sticks during racial violence in Colombo, the Sri Lanka capital yesterday (24 July). Others were cut down with knifes and axes. Mobs of Sinhala youth rampaged through the streets, ransacking homes, shops and offices, looting them and setting them ablaze, as they sought out members of the Tamil ethnic minority... A Sri Lankan friend told me by telephone last night how he had watched horrified earlier in the day as a mob attacked a Tamil cyclist riding near Colombo's eye hospital, a few hundred yards from the home of Junius Jayawardene, the nations 76 year old President. The cyclist was hauled from his bike, drenched with petrol and set alight. As he ran screaming down the street, the mob set on him again and hacked him down with jungle knifes.." (London Daily Telegraph, 26 July 1983)

''Pillars of smoke and flame rose over the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo yesterday as mobs attacked the minority Tamil community and looted their homes and stores...Some of the worst rioting erupted in the morning only 200 yards away from President Jayawardene's house... All over the city by mid-morning lorries jammed with young men shouting anti Tamil slogans, were moving into Tamil areas and into shopping centres picking out Tamil shops... Petrol was siphoned from cars into buckets and plastic bowls to speed the work of arson.. By noon Colombo resembled a city after a bombing raid. Smoke obscured the sun, main roads were blocked by burnt out vehicles.. The rioting surged into the heart of the city. In area after area Sinhalese rioters systematically picked out Tamil homes and shops, whether occupied or empty, and looted and destroyed them...'' (Guardian, 26 July 1983)

''Eye witnesses and victims reported that on the streets cars were stopped by gangs and the people inside were asked whether they were Sinhalese or Tamil. Some Sinhalese words are extremely difficult for people who do not speak the language fluently to pronounce, people were tested by being made to pronounce these words. The mobs were also demanding to see identity cards to establish whether or not people were Tamils... People identified as Tamils as a result of the questioning were told to get out of their cars and their cars were set alight... In cases where any resistance was offered, killings were likely to take place... It was reported by many people that in some instances students from Buddhist schools followed on behind the first rioters and that some Buddhist monks were seen amongst the gangs'' (Patricia Hyndman, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of New South Wales and Secretary, Lawasia Human Rights Standing Committee Report -Democracy in Peril, June 1985)Tamil owned businesses account for between 50 and 60 percent of the commercial life of the capital and they have been destroyed - scientifically extracted from among their neighbours and burned." (The London Times, 2 August 1983)

“Ms. Gandhi has in a cryptic way conveyed the message to Wickremesinghe, that India regrets having taken a backseat in the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict over the past 15 years, leaving room for other interested parties. It is now clear that New Delhi would play a more pro-active role and not leave too much room for other players.”

Exactly 25 years to this date on July 23, 1981, the UNP, with its five- sixth majority in Parliament, mooted and debated a no-confidence motion against the Leader of Opposition Apapillai Amirthalingham. The TULF walked out in protest after Amirthalingam was heckled and not allowed to make a personal submission.SLFP deputy leader Maitripala Senanayake urged the Speaker to rule the motion out of order as such a move did not fall within the powers of Parliament. The rest of the opposition- the SLFP and the lone CP member Sarath Muttetuwegama- walked out of Parliament amidst a huge uproar exactly a quarter century ago.

It was TULF leader Amirthalingham who had initially mooted a no-confidence motion against the UNP government after the state-sponsored violence and mayhem in Jaffna in the run up to the District Development Council elections the previous month. Mind you, that was the very year Sri Lanka was celebrating 50 years of universal adult franchise. The golden jubilee of franchise and democracy was marred in Jaffna then. Today we mark the silver jubilee of a clear case of undemocratic rule where the steamroller majority was used to move a vote of no confidence on the Opposition Leader.

The UNP debated the motion sans the opposition.Majoritarian rule was entrenched by that time. Even the attempt to decentralize on district basis failed. What was given with one hand was attempted to be taken back this time with blood-stained hand. Two government ministers were at hand and over 500 policemen were dispatched to Jaffna to subvert democracy by intimidation. There was unrest and in the process three policemen were shot, and the police rioted with arson and killings. There was even an attempt to arrest the Leader of the Opposition on the eve of elections. The SLFP boycotted the polls and the previous year walked out during the debate on the District Development Council Bill.

The SLFP also opposed the 13th Amendment and the Provincial Council Bill in 1987 and boycotted the first PC polls the following year. History does repeat itself, they say. How true!The JVP launched its second uprising using the 1987 Indo-Lanka Peace Accord that provided for provincial councils. Ironically, it is the SLFP and the JVP that is in control of all the councils, barring the defunct North and East PCs.The North-East provincial council was a failure because the LTTE opposed it and the UNP government, under President Ranasinghe Premadasa, undermined the operation.

In exactly a week we would be stepping into the 20th year since the July 29, 1987 Accord was signed by Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.During a meeting with Jayewardene’s nephew, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe this week, Congress Leader Ms. Sonia Gandhi made it clear that the ethnic conflict should be resolved within the parameters of the 1987 Accord, lest there be other complexities. She also observed that there was no need to waste time looking for new models. India is clear about one thing! That any solution could not go beyond the Indian quasi-federal system.

Ms. Gandhi’s remarks make it clear that the Indian government does not agree to the JVP’s unit of devolution, the district. In fact during Wickremesinghe’s last meeting with Ms. Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in April this year, both leaders separately stressed that the time had come for devolving power, leaving the extremists and the chauvinistic groups behind. Dr. Singh spoke of a federal form of government. So it was clear that what India has in mind is a coming together of the two main Southern parties towards finding a political solution.

The General Secretary of the Marxist Communist party in India was also of the view that a federal form of government would be able to solve the ethnic crisis. He made this observation during his last meeting with Wickremesinghe. This relegates the JVP to the level of a chauvinistic group rather than a Marxist group. India is also miffed with the JVP, cultivated by the previous High Commissioner Nirupam Sen. This is particularly so because of the JVP gravitation towards China from the run up to the last general elections. We shall discuss the China axis of power and India’s worries later on in this column.

The LTTE is insisting that the provincial council was inadequate and federalism was the alternative to a separate state. Very recently LTTE’s ideologue Anton Balasingham remarked during a New Delhi Television (NDTV) interview that if the Indian form of federalism was offered in 1987, then the LTTE would have accepted it. Ms. Gandhi’s remarks that it was a waste of time looking at other models make it clear that the Indian Government does not want Swiss, Canadian and other models the LTTE and others were looking at. The Indian government has consistently maintained that foreign models should not be imposed on Sri Lanka. This limits the role of the larger international community and Wickremesinghe’s reference to the Tokyo and Oslo declarations may have been out of place.

Throughout the UNF peace process, India was not happy with the Japanese involvement even as Japan was keen on getting a toe-hold in South Asia via Sri Lanka.Ms. Gandhi has in a cryptic way conveyed the message to Wickremesinghe, that India regrets having taken a backseat in the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict over the past 15 years, leaving room for other interested parties. It is also clear that New Delhi would play a more pro-active role and not leave too much room for other players.

India has not taken kindly to the decision of Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to allow the Chinese to operate from the Hambantota port. Hambantota is one of the deepest harbours in the world. Samaraweera and President Rajapakse were not successful in their previous visits to india while Wickremesinghe as Opposition leader was given right royal treatment. It could be to make amends for previous actions that saw the downfall of Wickremesinghe. In any case Wickremesinge, reeling under a major leadership crisis within his party, needed a moral booster.

Samaraweera who granted the Chinese a role in the Hambantota port recently was in India on an urgent invitation forcing him to cut short a trip to Helsinki. This time around India had a positive message for him about Indian involvement in ensuring a political solution to the ethnic conflict. Sri Lanka was set to end an agreement with a Norwegian Oil exploration company and commence an agreement for oil exploration with an Indian and Chinese company as part of its balancing action.

The Chinese interest in the Indian Ocean and recent remarks on these lines by Chinese leaders have been taken seriously by India. China’s growing importance in the Indian Ocean and the growth of Iran as a strong naval power in the oil-rich Persian Gulf that abuts on the Indian Ocean, are posing a threat to the international system that is dominated by the West, according to an article in the July 2006 issue of the Northeastern Monthly. The article is titled, “Conflict: India, U.S, China and Iran; or why the Sri Lanka crisis has to be resolved soon.”

The long-term strategy of China is to oppose the US in Asia as well as in other parts of the world says Zen Jon Ling a former Chinese diplomat now domiciled in Australia. According to Zen, China is wary of US foreign policy, which preserves friendly ties between them while making containment moves at the same time. He says China is therefore using its naval presence in Myanmar (Burma), the Maldives, Pakistan and Iran in order to establish its dominance and power in the Indian Ocean region.

The biggest current world news is about the action in Lebanon where Israel, an ally of the US, has continued its air raids on Beirut, killing hundreds of civilians. This follows the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah. Ground troops are also invading Lebanon. The reaction far outweighs the capture of two soldiers and some say Lebanon is the ideal gateway to launch an attack on Iran. While many world leaders feel the action was unwarranted, US President George Bush has failed to make a reasonable statement. The leaders at the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg failed to come up with a meaningful statement on the Israel action in Lebanon.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is to join the Government, after talks currently under way to formulate a Common Minimum Programme (CMP), are concluded.Government and JVP leaders have already had three rounds of talks so far to work out areas that should be covered by the proposed CMP. It is expected to include a joint approach towards resolving the ethnic issue, dealing with the international community and tackling economic issues. President Mahinda Rajapaksa led the Government side during the three rounds of talks held at “Temple Trees” on July 14, 19 and 20. With him were SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena, Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premajayantha and Parliamentarian Dullas Allahapperuma.

The JVP team was headed by its leader Somawansa Amerasinghe and comprised General Secretary Tilvin Silva, Parliamentary Group leader Wimal Weerawansa and Anura Dissanayake. President Rajapaksa made clear during the talks that the support and backing from the JVP, as a partner in the Government, would go a long way in achieving the ideals his Government stood for. JVP leader Amerasinghe made clear his party wanted to ensure that there was a clear cut programme of action agreed upon. Hence the move to agree on a Common Minimum Programme. Mr. Amerasinghe wants to go public with such a CMP at a news conference soon after an accord is reached during talks with President Rajapaksa and other Government leaders.

Although the issue of cabinet portfolios to the JVP members has still not been discussed, The Sunday Times learns that President Rajapaksa may offer them four ministries. A cabinet reshuffle that is to take effect after the Government and the JVP reaches accord on a CMP will see the emergence of 36 ministries, according to highly-placed government sources. The next round of talks to reach finality on the CMP is to be held at Janadipathi Mandiraya. President Rajapaksa moved in there yesterday. This was after a pirith ceremony on Friday night followed by a dana yesterday.

Kegalle District UNP MP, Rukman Senanayake is tipped to be appointed as UNP Chairman on Tuesday when the Political Affairs Committee meets under the Chairmanship of party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Party sources disclosed that the majority of MPs have recommended Senanayake's nomination to the post with incumbent Malik Samarawickreme due to tender his resignation. Rukman is one of the seniormost members now in the party having entered parliament in 1973 after the demise of his uncle,the late Dudley Senanayake. Party sources said that Rukman had the full backing of the UNP leader and his Deputy, Karu Jayasuriya too in the move to elevate him as party Chairman.

SB resists move to make Rukman UNP chairman

An effort by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to make Rukman Senanayake, MP, the UNP’s chairman was shot down by the party’s national organiser, S. B. Dissanayake, who indicated that he would contest Senanayake for the job if such a move was attempted.Well informed political sources said that Wickremesinghe had invited Dissanayake for a meeting at Siri Kotha on Monday evening and when Dissanayake got there he found Malik Samarawickrema, the incumbent party chairman, and Tissa Attanayake, the assistant secretary, already closeted with the leader.

Samarawickrema had bowled the googly asking Dissanayake, "should we not appoint Rukman Senanayake as party chairman?’’Dissanayake had resisted this suggestion saying that there was already a decision that Karu Jayasuriya should be the party chairman and handle UNP reforms and wanted to know why there was a sudden change of thinking. Wickremesinghe and Samarawickrema had presented the case for appointing Senanayake chairman but Dissanayake was not biting. He had said that if this was the case he would also throw his own hat into the ring.

An year’s extension for Major General Mallawaratchchi

The term of office of Major General Nanda Mallawaratchchi, now acting Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, is to be extended by one year. It is to take effect in the coming week through a Gazette notification.The decision to do so, The Sunday Times learns, has been taken by President Mahinda Rajapakasa, who is also Minister of Defence and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces.Maj. Gen. Mallawaratchchi, if he is not granted an extension of service, will have to retire on August 2 this year upon reaching 55 years, the age of retirement. Extensions of service of senior officers, beyond the age of 55, have been granted in the past too. This was under special circumstances.

One such instance was the extension of the service of Major General (now retired) Neil Dias. He reached 55, the age of retirement, on June 14, 2000. However, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, through a Gazette notification (1136/7) dated June 13 2000 extended his term for six months. Similarly, Major General (now retired as General) Lionel Balagalle was to have retired on April 12, 2001. Through a Gazette notification (1179/21) dated April 12 2001 his term was extended till December 31, 2001- a period of eight months and 18 days.

The extension of service for Maj. Gen. Mallawaratchchi would mean he will serve in his substantive post as Chief of Staff of the Army for a further year. He was appointed acting Commander of the Army on July 7. This was two months and 11 days after the Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka was injured when a female suicide bomber infiltrated Army Headquarters and carried out an attack on his motorcade. He will function in this acting capacity until the return of Lt. Gen. Fonseka who is still undergoing treatment in a Singapore hospital.

Despite periodic media reports of Lt. Gen. Fonseka's return to Army Headquarters, it has been delayed. As a result, the passing out parade and related ceremonies of a team of officer cadets at the Military Academy in Diyatalawa was put off at least on three different occasions. It was held yesterday in the absence of Lt. Gen. Fonseka. Taking his place was acting Commander Maj. Gen. Mallawaratchchi.Maj. Gen. Mallawaratchchi assumed office as Chief of Staff of the Army on December 26, 2004. Born on August 3, 1951, his career in the Army has spanned 34 years. This was after he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Light Infantry in 1972.

THIRAIMADU, Sri Lanka, July 23 (Reuters) - Bodies dumped in wells, dead children hung from rafters and underage boys abducted to fight.During two decades of civil war, such atrocities were commonplace in Sri Lanka but a ceasefire since 2002 halted the worst of the attacks on children.Now, with violence rising, nightmare tales and gory pictures are again emerging from the island's war-battered north and east. But apportioning blame is hard and global interest limited.In addition, many of these areas were badly battered by the deadly 2004 tsunami, and the nation's combatants are finding fertile ground in camps for survivors of the disaster.

In the island's east, temporary relief camps like Thiraimadu were hastily built but these have to proved to be easy places for children to be abducted to be trained as soldiers."Some people come for boys and take them away," Indrajh Piyaraj, 24, told Reuters as he returned from washing. "Some come back but refuse to say what happened. They said their faces were covered with cloth and they didn't know where they were taken."Not everyone gets away from abductions alive.In a nearby village close to the front line of rebel Tamil Tiger territory, a few burnt scraps of cloth and discoloured sand mark where three young men were shot and burned.After the funeral, the family refused to say who they believe killed the men for fear of retribution. Villagers were also too scared to say.

Near an army camp in the north in May, a family showed Reuters where they had dug away the earth around their front door to remove blood and brains after unidentified gunmen shot dead a father in front of his young children.In northwestern Mannar district, photos showed a family slaughtered in their home, the bodies -- including those of young children -- left hanging from the roof. The army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blamed each other.With more than 700 people dead so far this year, almost all of them in the past three months, apportioning blame in each case is almost impossible.

The government and the rebels, who want a separate homeland in the island's north and east for minority Tamils, publish lurid pictures. Each claims the other is trying to provoke a war, but deny doing anything wrong themselves.Ceasefire monitors and other observers say that, despite denials, the security forces, Tigers and breakaway ex-rebels have all been involved in abductions, attacks and killings, risking restarting a war that has killed some 65,000.High profile attacks such as a bus blast that killed 68 civilians or suicide bombs in Colombo make international headlines.

Killings and abductions do not. More than 200 people have disappeared in the northern Jaffna area since December.Few aid agencies or local journalists dare dig too deep or talk too much on the record. Local aid staff have gone missing and four media workers have been killed so far this year.

Nonetheless, main donor nations and aid agencies are growing increasingly impatient.Most diplomats say the Tigers kick-started the recent escalation of violence, but others say the government began by backing breakaway ex-rebels led by former Tiger commander Karuna Amman who have attacked the mainstream rebels in the east.The government denies backing Karuna, but aid workers still trying to rebuild tsunami-damaged areas say his fighters operate with increasing impunity. UN children's fund UNICEF says that, like the Tigers, Karuna is now abducting child soldiers -- probably dozens during June.

Angry over the rising violence, the European Union and Canada followed Britain, India and the United States in listing the Tigers as a terrorist group, threatening to hit their funding from Tamils overseas.Donor nations were also taking an increasingly tough line after reports of rights abuses by the military in the past six months, making barely veiled threats to cut or freeze aid promised after the tsunami and 2002 truce.

They also say the Tigers must choose politics not violence, give up child soldier recruitment and halt use of suicide bombers. Abuses on the government side must also be punished."The strong support of the British government, and I suspect of other governments, can only be sustained over the medium term if that is the case," said British High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott said."We have higher expectations of the authorities and security forces of a democracy -- because they represent democracy."

President of the Aathikovilady Fisheries Society and Board member of the Federation of Fisheries Societies, Vadamaradchi North, Mr.Rasathurai Inthirarajah,38, has been reported "missing" since Friday, 21 July. Inthirarajah went missing while he was riding a bicycle from his home at Valvettithurai to Fisheries Society office at Pt.Pedro, his family members said.On Saturday, Justine Cruz, 35, President of the Myliddy Fisheries Society was abducted while he was riding a bicycle in Pt.Pedro by men in while van.Fisheries Society officials blamed Sri Lankan Government armed forces for the abductions and have warned that they will launch protest campaigns if the fishermen are not released.

A mission from the IMF visited Sri Lanka to conduct consultations with Sri Lankan authorities in terms of Article IV of the Articles of Agreements of the IMF from July 13-17. The mission led by Ms. Olin Liu, Deputy Division Chief, Asia Pacific Department of the IMF highlighted the following at a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

* The economy grew at 6 percent in 2005 and the growth momentum further improved in the first quarter of 2006, reflecting a broadbased improvement in activities. CPI inflation declined in 2005, aided by declining food prices and a tightening of monetary policy.

* Though the economy was hit by slowing apparel exports and high oil prices, strong remittances and tsunami - related inflows, including debt relief strengthened the balance of payments of the country in 2005. The current account deficit too narrowed in that year.

* Monetary policy has been tightened to curb inflation. Accordingly, the Central Bank has adjusted upwards its policy interest rates by 200 basis points since November 2004 to reduce the excessive demand pressure and remove inflationary pressures. As a result, key real interest rates have turned positive in the last quarter of 2005.

* Total public debt declined by 11 per cent of GDP to 94 per cent of GDP by end 2005 from 105 per cent GDP at end 2004, mainly on account of high growth and appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.

* The financial system soundness indicators have improved markedly. This reflects the strengthening and better enforcement of the regulatory and supervisory framework as well as the ongoing restructuring of the two large publicly owned commercial banks. The CPI ratios have declined, while provisioning has increased across the banking system. The Central Bank has taken several measures to enhance the regulatory and supervisory framework, including raising the minimum capital requirement (by 2007) and adopting the Base II capital accord (by 2008).

* The mission expects that the government's ongoing efforts in finding a solution through multi-party negotiations will be successful. The country has significant untapped growth potential, including the conflict affected areas in the North and East. There is also potential to take advantage of rapid growth in major countries in the region, such as India and China.

* The government's medium-term policy framework places a strong emphasis on reducing poverty through raising economic growth. The policy strategy seeks to spur sustainable economic growth to 8 per cent by 2008 through a substantial increase in investment and a greater emphasis on the role of the state to facilitate growth.

* The mission supports the authorities emphasis on macroeconomic stability and growth.

* The mission is also of the view that there are significant downside risks to the outlook. External vulnerabilities include a global growth slowdown, rising international interest rates and risk aversion, increased competition for export market share, and obstacles that may affect the investment climate.

The mission has also emphasised the need to continue with the government's efforts at keeping the budget deficit under control and raising public investment to ensure sustainable future growth.

LTTE drafting ‘law’ to prevent terrorism

In an ironic twist of events, the LTTE is drafting its own “Prevention of Terrorism law” to deal with those whom the Tigers consider as “Prisoners of War”, LTTE legal section chief Eliyathamby Pararajasingham alias Para told The Sunday Times.He said the “law” was expected to be ready by the end of the year and would be made use of to handle situations such as the remanding of the NCPA police officer and a soldier captured during a clash in the east last week.He said the ‘law’ was being drafted and would be sent to some legal experts overseas before being implemented.He said the word ‘terrorism” would be defined in their ‘law’.The LTTE is demanding the release of five of its cadres in exchange for the release of NCPA sub inspector Bandujeewa Bopitigoda but the government has rejected any such deal.

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a person, Thirunavukarasu, 67, in Mallakam around 1:00 p.m. Sunday, Police said. Civilian sources in Mallakam alleged that the victim was an informer to the Sri Lanka Army in the area. Mallakam is located 11 km northeast of Jaffna town.

Two persons, a Tamil and a Sinhalese, were found shot dead at a graveyard in Thonikkal, 2 km from Vavuniya, Police said. Police suspected that the victims were persons involved in petty theft and burglary in Vavuniya area for a long time. The Sinhala victim is a homeguard from Madukande and the other is a Tamil from Rasendrakulam in Vavuniya. Victims hands were bound and eyes were covered when the Police recovered the dead bodies. Vavuniya police is conducting investingations into the killings.

Restore Tamils’ faith in forces’ - TNA Group Leader R. Sampanthan interview with The Sunday Leader

Q: The LTTE has recently stated that the All Party Conference (APC) was merely an exercise to achieve a southern political consensus. Was the TNA invited to be a party to the APC?

A: It appears that the government is keen to reach a southern consensus through this exercise. The APC also includes the CWC, UPF, WPPF and SLMC as well.

Devising a Sinhala consensus however cannot be undermined. The primary concern of the PAC seems to be not to stir a hornet’s nest and manage the Sinhala hardline parties.

However, the final consensus needs to be one that recognises the fundamental position of the Tamil people.

Q: Doesn’t this exercise delay true discussion from taking place which also causes a delay in seeking a solution?

A: It may be a time buying exercise. In any case, it is a reversal of the position taken by former Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Chandrika Kumaratunga. They both did not steer away from the position that the LTTE should be spoken to.

President Rajapakse instead of taking one step beyond their position has taken one backwards, perhaps because he did not wish to jettison those forces who worked with him.

A: We have not been invited so far. I do not wish to speculate on the role we could have played if we were involved.

In 2001 and 2004, the Tamil people have clearly mandated the TNA to take up the position that the LTTE should be spoken to. It is a position the international community also subscribes to, include those countries that have proscribed the LTTE. All this means, there is no solution as long as the LTTE is not spoken to.

Q: You told parliament on Wednesday that the government has adopted a "cloak and dagger policy" with regard to the ethic issue. Are you saying that the government is insincere in its peace efforts?

A: Tamils are not convinced that this government is sincere in its efforts to resolve the conflict as it seeks cover under the LTTE’s violence. A sincere government would not act in that manner.

If sincere, the President should come up with fresh ideas keeping in mind the legitimate Tamil demands. Where is that effort? Such a move takes courage. What is worse, the present administration has failed to honour its Geneva commitments. The international community and the SLMM have spoken about it. The US that has banned the LTTE has made strong comments about it.

Q:If that is so, what does the TNA propose to immediately overcome the current impasse?

A: First, the government must stop violence in government-controlled areas. Both the international community and the SLMM have said the Sri Lankan state is in wanting in this regard. Such a course of action would compel the LTTE to make some public reciprocation.

Then, the state must ensure that Tamils in the north and east are able to live sans harassment and intimidation. There should be rehabilitation and resettlement and a sincere effort to restore normalcy in the northeast.

Speaking of a final solution one must accept "certain realities" so that the Tamil people and the LTTE cannot reject what the south offers.

Q: Following the attack on the Twin Towers in the US, there is a global move to crush terrorism. In that backdrop, hasn’t the LTTE lost significant international support which requires them to scale down violence?

A: The international community has made it known that violence even for the achieving of legitimate political goals is unacceptable which is their criticism against the LTTE.

While shunning violence, they have also recognised the LTTE’s goal as a legitimate one which is why they insist on negotiations with the LTTE.

In 2000 December, the LTTE unilaterally declared a ceasefire which the government rejected. It was extended to four months. While the LTTE gave up arms voluntarily, it was the government that commenced violence through Operation Agnikeela with drastic results.

Q:It is believed that LTTE Leader Velupillai Pirapaharan will make a crucial announcement about the Tigers’ course of action in the coming year on November 26. Is there any likelihood that the LTTE would announce war?

A: I do not wish to speculate on what he may say. But what he would say largely depends on what happens between today and November. It is still open to the government to influence the future positively.

Q: President Mahinda Rajapakse has recently called for LTTE’s suggestions to resume peace talks at the earliest. Why has the LTTE not responded to this call?

A: It is a poor response given the fact that the Tamil people have for decades called for a federal arrangement. In 1976, the TULF adopted a resolution of unilaterally declared sovereignty. At the 1977 general election, the Tamil people endorsed this position.

The stance of the Tamil people therefore is fairly well known. It is for the government to get its act together and act honourably.

Q: There is a marked increase in the CFA violations by both sides to the conflict, but more by the LTTE which demonstrates the Tigers’ refusal to be amendable to a peaceful solution?

A: Violence should not be discussed in numerical terms as it distorts the picture.

Yet if this is the argument, then every civilian who has not been resettled would add to the CFA violations by the government and the numbers would far exceed those of the LTTE.

One could say the CFA is no longer there given the present situation. Of course, we want it resuscitated. It has broken down and there is low intensity war today.

Q: You spoke in parliament of further deterioration of security in the northeast amidst increasing violence. What are your key requirements to contain the situation?

A: The unfortunate thing about security for the northeast Tamils is that armed forces are hostile to the people. There is little exception, but most look at civilians also as if they are enemies.

The composition of the armed forces is such that they are 99% Sinhalese. There are an increased number of checkpoints, army camps and road barricades. The forces are more severe with ordinary Tamil civilians who are on combat traning. This is why they are fleeing the country at great risk.

The present composition of the forces needs to be changed to restore confidence amongst the Tamils that they are safe in their hands. Also, no credible investigations are held in connection with the human rights violations which show that the law enforcement mechanism is also not supportive. Those who feel unsafe have commenced fleeing.

Q: LTTE ideologue, Anton Balasingham has recently stated that it was a "mistake" that Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Though no direct admission of guilt, isn’t it an indirect apology by the LTTE for the assassination and a move to win India’s friendship again?

A: The LTTE reached out to India much earlier when they suggested our neighbour at the talk’s venue. Next, the LTTE suggested India as an observer at the talks which clearly indicated the recognition of India’s role in settling the conflict.

Q:Secretary Shayam Saran recently called for positive action by both the government and the LTTE to prevent the country from sliding back to war. Do you think that India after all these years is interested in playing a positive role in resolving the conflict?

A: Yes, there is a great role for India to play. India has changed from the role of spectator to a country that wishes to positively influence resolution of this conflict. It is a welcome change.

Q: The LTTE for a long time has failed to regard India as a neutral party given the fact that India wants the LTTE leader for Gandhi’s assassination trial. Isn’t India’s interest not only due to strategic reasons but also because it is an aggrieved party?

A: India may have her own concerns. Gandhi’s assassination was absolutely tragic.

It was a great mistake in my view, and India has all the reason to be an aggrieved party, and that too for more than one reason.

A sailor at the ceremonial parade here assaulted Premier Gandhi, during his visit to sign the Indo Lanka Peace Accord. He was given a jail term by a Sri Lankan president and pardoned also by a president.

The IPKF arrived in Sri Lanka at the invitation of the government. The state provided arms and vehicles to the LTTE to fight the IPKF.

It was India that was at the receiving end. It was a sad chapter in our history. India is a great country and one that wants Sri Lanka to prosper.

Despite all the blunders committed by Sri Lanka, India may still be willing to lend a hand. India has tremendous love for Sri Lanka and we could benefit from her genuine affection in our decisive moment.

Southern Province Governor Kingsley T. Wickramaratne. In an interview with the Sunday Observer

Q: You have been entrusted by other Governors at the recently concluded Governors conference to fight to win back the powers under the 13th Amendment to find a solution to the North and East problem. How confident are you of that task and how will you find a solution under the framework of the Provincial Council system?

A: The Governors passed a resolution to regain powers devolved from the 13th Amendment. There are lots of advantages of the Provincial Council (PC) system. When the PC system was introduced in 1987, I was in the opposition and the SLFP opposed it. But later I realised that countries are becoming smaller by forming groups like the European Union(EU). These states became more successful. So why are we afraid to devolve power? There is no need to introduce a new solution to the ethnic problem. We can use the PC system as a solution to ethnic problem. If the late President J. R. Jayewardene had given a portion of the country to the LTTE, then it would have divided the country. Instead, he created nine PCs to devolve power. But due to certain `pressure groups' he was scared to grant full powers to the PCs.

Q: How can the 13th Amendment address the issues that have surfaced over the last two decades?

A: I see the 13th Amendment as a base to move from the present deadlock. Another solution will be a failure. This solution is in the Constitution and also there is a Provincial Council Act to implement the 13th Amendment. It is just a matter of giving more powers to end the hostilities in the N and E. We must give greater powers to PCs and merge certain provinces like the Central Province with North Central Province because these two provinces are too small. Some people urge to demerge the N and E but it is not fair after 20 years. Majority of our people have a misnomer on devolving power. We still think that Parliament is supreme and believe that Parliamentary democracy prevails. But after 1977, Sri Lanka is governed by the Presidential rule, and not by the Parliamentary democratic system. The PCs should be given full powers to run its own police force. Southern Province Police force can be called Ruhuna Police force. Let the LTTE call the N and E Police Force, Eelam police or whatever name they want. There is nothing in a name. Why should we worry about names.

Q: What guarantee do you have that we can address the disparities in the Provinces under the PC system?

A: The LTTE is asking for greater devolution. The 13th Amendment is a better devolution than the Indian model. We must improve the facilities in all provinces. Computer literacy is very poor in certain provinces.

We need a digital rich society. We boast about 94% literacy in Sri Lanka, but our digital literacy is just 9 percent. So we need to improve education facilities. We should connect smaller towns with main cities. If we cluster the smaller schools with bigger schools, we can reduce the rush for popular schools. In this exercise, we can improve economic development. Specially in the N and E we can improve tourism by beautifying beaches. The palmyrah industry is another good source of income for the NE people.

They even used to produce strawberry jam sometime ago. Each region can develop industries according to available resources. Tamils are hard working people.

Under the PC system we need to revamp the present administrative system. The Judicial system should improve within the regions with Appeal Courts.

Q: Don't you think that we are too late to implement the PC system because it's now 19 years old and we are still struggling to devolve power?

A: Yes, we are too late but after the ceasefire, the LTTE was asking something and we have to respond. We can give them powers through the PC system. Our 13th Amendment is a better devolution than the Indian model. We developed it with our own experience and our own model. It is not like the American, French or Indian models.

Q: You were a powerful Minister in the People's Alliance Government but you never voiced this at that time. Why is the sudden turn now?

A: Why not, I voiced many a time. If I tell you one day at the Select Committee meeting former President Chandrika Kumaratunga snapped at me as I was silent. Normally, I contribute at every controversial meeting. Then I told, `Madam will you give me permission to say what I have to say even if it is foolish'. She permitted me to express my views. Then I said `Madam, the LTTE is asking Eelam and why can't we give it. We must give the Eelam. Everyone was shocked. Why I said so was that, after ten years, Eelam will be just a name board like Peliyagoda. You just see the political development in the world. The World is breaking into smaller states. European Union is one such example. In Europe the greatest wars took place on ethnicity, boundaries, power, natural resources etc., but today there are no boundaries and a EU citizen can freely move. Likewise, in ten years time, there will not be an Eelam, it will be just a name board. We are killing each other every day for no gain. I propose to grant full powers and autonomy to the N and E province. Let them call it Eelam Province or whatever name they like. I will call the Southern province as Ruhuna Province. Let all these provinces use their currencies, but printed by the Central Bank. This is important to maintain their culture. No country was ever divided on the name be it unitary, federal or union, flag, national anthem or otherwise. But countries were divided only if there were two Central Banks. Irish people use their own currency today but it is printed by the Bank of London. One day the world will move towards one currency.

A: No, there will be elections. North will select their members and the East will select their members. Members of both provinces will work together to develop N and E.

Q: Do you think that LTTE leader Prabhakaran will accept the 19-year-old 13th Amendment as a solution to the ethnic problem because he wants more?

Q: So how can you convince him to accept the Provincial Councils system as the only solution?

A: It is my belief that before the end of this year, the terrorist problem will be solved with the intervention of the European Union and other countries. For the first time, India works closely with the USA and conducts naval exercises in the Indian Ocean because of the Al Qaeda problem. It will, in a big way help to settle our problem. India wants to solve the NE problem because India is scared it will spread to Chennai. This is the maximum we can give to the LTTE. It's like their own and they can have any name for the N and E province. They have land, police, etc except for military powers.

Q: You are talking about giving more powers to the PCs. But once misinterpreting a Supreme Court judgment, the Central Government took the Agrarian services under its control. But Justice Shirani Bandaranayake gave a landmark judgment stating that Agrarian Services come under the PCs. Three years lapsed, still the Central Government had not complied with the Supreme Court order. Don't you think that you are dreaming because all the Central Governments in the past were reluctant to devolve powers to the periphery?

A: No, once the powers are given and the administrative structure is in place, it will work. Officials still think that the Central Government is powerful. Central Government Ministers are useless because Parliament is no more supreme. Once full powers are giving Governors of respective provinces will be powerful Heads. Now Government gives me Rs. 6 billion a year. We get very little money for capital expenditure and I have to spend Rs. 6 billion only for recurrent expenses.

Q: The 13th Amendment was introduced as a solution to the N and E problem. But except the N and E today, all the PCs are functioning. Some say PCs are white elephants, because the public has to bear an unnecessary cost to maintain them. What is your view?

A: Even I used to call it a white elephant when I opposed it at that time. But today I have realised the importance of the PC system which can render a yeomen service to the rural masses. A PC member is the closest person to the people, but members can't do anything today. Minister Nimal Siripala sometimes comes to the Southern Province and conducts development projects and hands over those projects to us. But we find it difficult to recruit a watcher to look after that project, because it is not budgeted. We get ambulances but we can't hire a driver because it has not been budgeted. We were given a fire brigade but can't get 14 firemen because there is no cadre. But if he allocates such funds, then we can plan development projects. If powers are given to us, expenditure of the Central Government will reduce tremendously. In Canada, USA, EU Countries municipal councils are very powerful.

Q: I have interviewed some of the previous governors, chief ministers. They were of the same view. They claimed they would fight tooth and nail to get powers. I think you are no different. So how will you prove yourself?

A: I have a great advantage. The President has set up an All Party Representative Committee to work on a new mechanism to find a solution to the NE problem. I will present our views to the President. We will draft a new set of proposals because the President asked everyone to plan out new ideas without copying the exiting models. That is why I was really interested to battle for powers. I will request to set up a permanent committee to study our proposals and use this as a base to improve a final solution to the N and E problem.

Q: Finally the fate of your proposals will be in the hands of the President. Do you think that the Central Government Ministers will let him devolve all powers to the PCs as they may become redundant?

A: The President is genuine to find a solution to the NE problem. He will do everything possible to settle the present conflict. If the UNP supports us to amend the 13th Amendment, then we can pass it. It is the responsibility of the UNP. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who always advocates greater autonomy will never oppose a document that grants autonomy to N and E provinces and all other provinces. He should not run away from this as usual and give excuses once it is tabled in Parliament.

EXCHANGE RATES ON 21.07.2006 IN SLRS
Average Rates at which the following currencies were quoted by Commercial Banks in Colombo for telegraphic transfers at 9.30 A.M.

Currency	Buying (Rs.)	Selling (Rs.)
US Dollar	103.38	104.54
Sterling Pound	190.69	193.82
Euro	130.25	132.70
Swiss Franc	82.79	84.58
Australian Dollar	77.08	78.95
Singapore Dollar	64.94	66.30
Japanese Yen	0.8803	0.8998

The Approximate Exchange Rates of GULF Currencies based on previous day's Market Weighted Average Rate for the Us$ are as follow.

Country

Currency

Indicative Rate(RS.)

Bahrain	Dinar	275.83
Kuwait	Dinar	359.55
Oman	Rial	270.10
Qatar	Riyal	28.57
Saudi Arabian	Riyal	27.73
UAE	Dirham	28.31

The Average Weighted Prime Lending Rates (AWPLR) & the Lowest Prime Rate (LPR) during the week ended 14th July, 2006 by all commercial banks were 12.64 percent and 10.80 per cent respectively.
The Average Weighted Deposit Rate (AWDR) of Commercial banks for the month of May, 2006 was 6.61 percent.

SL leaders should realise that our support is only for a political settlement- Sonia Gandhi

Any attempt to find new solutions by veering away from the path that was adopted from the Indo-Lanka accord which is a concept of the late Rajiv Gandhi to the Tokyo declaration will only further aggravate the Sri Lanka's ethnic issue, Indian Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said.Mrs Gandhi expressed these sentiments when Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe called on her yesterday in New Delhi. India will not be hesitant to take all possible measures to prevent a breakout of war in Sri Lanka once again and Sri Lankan leaders should not look for anything else but a political settlement if Indian assistant is needed, she cautioned.

Wickremesinghe spelled out the position adopted by the UNP with regard to the ethnic problem and added that the responsibility of carrying the peace process forward now lies with the President and the government. The Opposition Leader also said that the government should exercise utmost care not to allow the peace process to be sabotaged over frivolous issues like fulfilling the commitments made in Geneva. The Congress Leader said she keeps a close tab on Sri Lanka's peace process and other internal conflicts.

A Swedish diplomat has failed to persuade Tamil Tiger rebels to drop their demand for the withdrawal of European Union (EU) peace monitors from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) by September 1, 2006. Anders Oljelund’s visit to Kilinochchi came at a time when there was increasing silence about finding a peaceful solution to the country’s ethnic conflict. The LTTE wanted EU member states removed from the SLMM following the EU ban on Tamil Tigers in May this year.

Although Oljelund met LTTE leaders including S.P. Thamilselvan, political head of the rebels and Seevaratnam Puleedevan, head of the rebels’ Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi on Friday, he was not available for comment. But, Thamilselvan told reporters there was no change in the rebels’ position that EU monitors should leave by September 1, 2006.

“There is no change in the stand of the Liberation Tigers, expressed in the post-EU ban scenario, with regards to the engagement of EU member states,” said Thamilselvan, who added that the Sri Lankan government should abstain from what he called as state-sponsored terrorism against Tamil civilians. It was the LTTE contention that since Finland, Sweden and Denmark listed the LTTE as a terrorist group, monitors from these countries could no longer be neutral.

Chief Government whip and senior minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle yesterday said the Indian model was the best form of power devolution to solve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.Mr. Fernandopulle told Parliament that power devolution models adopted in countries such as Switzerland, Norway and the United States, were not suitable to solve the problem here.“In countries like Switzerland, there are no elements asking for a separate state through terrorism. But, we have such elements here. Therefore, such models are not acceptable here”, he said.

He said India had remained undivided since 1947 despite the existence of such groups and therefore the Indian form of power devolution was the way out to the conflict in Sri Lanka.“There is no point in branding constitutions as unitary or united, if there is no devolution of power. Power has been devolved to the Provincial Councils but what’s the purpose if they do not have powers over police, schools and land,” he asked.Mr. Fernandopulle called for a broad discussion among political parties regarding to possibility of adopting the Indian model to solve the national question. However Mr. Fernandopulle said this was only his personal point of view and not the government stand.

A roadside bomb killed a Sri Lankan soldier and wounded three others in northern Jaffna, in the latest attack blamed on separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.The victims were on a road-clearing patrol when the bomb exploded, military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe said, blaming the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the blast.A Norwegian-brokered truce halted large-scale fighting between the government and the Tigers in 2002.It has virtually disintegrated in recent months, with near-daily skirmishes between rebels and security forces renewing fears of a resumption of a civil war.

Batticaloa Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr Senathirajah Jeyananthamoorthy’s home came under attack by two rocket-propelled grenades on Friday, 21 July around 9.15 pm in Poompuhar, Batticaloa. Mr Jeyananthamoorthy, his wife, children and relatives barely escaped. The roof and windows were extensively damaged. Mr Jeyananthamoorthy and his family have been under threat from the GoSL operated force, the Karuna group. An ‘office’ of the Karuna group is located close to his home. SLMM monitors visited his home the following morning. Other TNA parliamentarians have received serious death threats from various paramilitary groups and also the Sri Lankan armed forces. Recently Jaffna TNA parliamentarian S Kajendran came under threat while several attacks on his office by the SLA were carried out.

Sri Lanka's central bank unexpectedly increased borrowing costs for a second time this year, to curb inflation stoked by higher fuel costs and an accelerating economy. The Colombo-based Central Bank of Sri Lanka today raised the repurchase rate at which it drains money from the banking system by one-eighth of a percentage point to 9.125 percent, a new 3 1/2-year high. Five of seven analysts in a Bloomberg News survey expected the rate to be left unchanged, while two predicted a quarter-point increase. The central bank said the rate will be effective July 24. It was originally scheduled to announce its decision on that day.

Policy makers led by Nivard Cabraal, who took office as central bank governor on July 3, increased the benchmark rate for a second straight month after the annual inflation rate surged to a four-month high in June. Gains in consumer prices may accelerate as violence between the military and separatist Tamil rebels threatens a 2002 truce in Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war. ``Probably the monetary authorities are telling the markets that they are on a tightening bias,'' Ghazzali Saduk, head of research at Capital 1st Research who predicted an increase, said by telephone from Colombo today. ``Inflation pressure is still on, and further rate hikes will be needed to correct the imbalances.''

Gains in consumer prices averaged 10.1 percent in the 12 months to June, the highest since February. The consumer price index rose by a record 17.7 percent in June from a year earlier. The central bank on June 30 raised its 2006 forecast for Sri Lanka's annual average inflation rate to as much as 10 percent this year from 8 percent. Inflation averaged 11.6 percent in 2005. Ceylon Petroleum Corp., Sri Lanka's state oil company, on June 11 raised fuel costs for the second time this year to ease the government's subsidy burden amid rising global oil prices. The government plans to limit fuel subsidies to 3 billion rupees ($29 million) this year from 26.1 billion rupees in 2005. Crude oil prices in New York are up 26 percent in a year.

``The available indicators show that the growth momentum will continue across all major sectors,'' the central bank said in its statement. ``The rise in fuel prices, however, remains a concern in overall macroeconomic management.'' Seventeen central banks, including those of the U.S. and India, raised borrowing costs in June as record oil and metal prices fueled inflation. At least seven other central banks besides Sri Lanka have raised rates in July.

Sri Lanka's cease-fire is being violated by almost daily acts of violence that have occurred since the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam met in Geneva in February to strengthen the truce, their first meeting in three years. The rebels want an interim self-government body established in areas they control in Sri Lanka's north and east before a peace settlement is reached.

Two Sri Lankan military personnel were killed and 12 soldiers and three civilians injured in a July 19 bomb attack blamed on Tamil Tigers in the Jaffna district in the north of the country. A June 26 suicide bombing killed the army deputy chief of staff, while an April suicide blast in Colombo wounded the army commander and 60 civilians were killed in a June 15 bus bombing.

Sri Lanka's $24 billion economy has recorded uninterrupted expansion since the February 2002 cease-fire. President Mahinda Rajapakse's government is targeting 7 percent growth this year, the fastest in almost 30 years. Gross domestic product rose 8.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace in at least nine years, on higher farm output and as roads and hotels damaged by the December 2004 tsunami were rebuilt.

Economic growth is expected to exceed 7 percent this year, helping the government achieve its 2006 budget deficit target of 9.1 percent of GDP, Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera said July 4. The economy expanded 6 percent last year. The central bank will support the government's growth target, Cabraal said in an interview on June 22, when he was named by President Rajapakse to succeed Sunil Mendis as central bank governor. Cabraal was the president's economic adviser.

Sri Lanka needs to rebuild about 100,000 houses, as well as bridges, hospitals and ports damaged by the tsunami that killed more than 35,000 people and left half a million homeless. The central bank today also increased the reverse repurchase rate at which it adds money to the banking system by buying bonds to 10.625 percent from 10.50 percent. It last raised both interest rates by a quarter-point on June 16.

The bank has been selling securities to drain excess liquidity from the banking system to curb lending. Borrowing by companies for working capital and investment, and credit for private consumption, has been spurred because interest rates are below the inflation rate.

Amid reports that former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is coming back to Sri Lanka soon and might move into frontline politics, one of her loyalists and senior Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle told parliament yesterday he believed the Supreme Court could not give a verdict on the former Cabinet’s decision to provide 198 personnel for Ms. Kumaratunga’s security.Speaking on the vote of condolence for the slain TNA parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham, Mr. Fernandopulle said the Supreme Court did not have the right to decide on any person’s security one way or the other.

He said it was the state intelligence service which should decide on the extent of security to be provided for any person. “Courts should not intervene in the matters regarding security,” he said. Mr. Fernanopulle said JVP and JHU MPs too had received threats and therefore it was necessary to provide them security and it was not fair for the Supreme Court to intervene and stop it.He said he believed the Supreme Court also did not have the right to decide on the provision of a residence for the former president.

The UNP has split into three and the Government into two groups, National Organizer of the UNP S. B. Dissanayake said yesterday (21).He said one group in the UNP sought for reforms but did nothing to bring about the changes but were instead holding on to their positions Dissanayake told The Island that a second group was working for party reforms sincerely as they were not satisfied with the way the party is now functioning.He said the third group was dreaming of crossing over to the government to get positions and was not helping the party to become stronger.

Asked what the two groups within the Government were, he said one group in the government wanted to get as many UNP parliamentarians to cross over to their side and go for a General Election, while the other group says there is a crisis in the country and the Government should go for elections after forming a coalition with the JVP and minority parties and that too only when the current six year term is over, he said.

He also said the JVP was seeking for reforms within the party and were going ahead with a new membership drive. However, he said the UNP was the strongest single political party in the country, representing a majority of the people in the country, and will be able to come to power sooner than expected, if the party reforms are carried out in good faith, as these will help to revive the party’s image.

Hundreds of Muslim demonstrators and their supporters protested in Colombo expressing support to the Palestinian government and Hezbolla organization of Lebanon, and shouting slogans against a US and Israel, along Galle Road between Bambalapiitya and Colpetty Friday, sources in Colombo said.After the Friday prayers in Bambalapitiya Mosque, Muslims assembled in front of the Mosque and started to march along the Galle road towards the US embassy in Colpetty. Sri Lanka Police placed barricades at the Colpetty junction to stop the marchers from proceeding to the US embassy, sources said.The protesters carried placards denouncing President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and Prime Minister of Israel Olmert.A similar protest was also held in Oluvil in Amparai, earlier in the day.

A team of nine senior Indian journalists who are on a visit to Sri Lanka visited the Jaffna Peninsula yesterday. The Indian media personnel who arrived in Colombo early this week, met President Mahinda Rajapaksa and discussed with him the current situation in the country. A special Sri Lankan Air Force aircraft flew the nine Indian media personnel to Palaly yesterday. They met the Commander of the Security Forces in Jaffna Major General G.A. Chandrasiri at the Palaly Army Headquarters, where they were briefed on the overall security situation in the peninsula. The Indian media personnel were taken to Jaffna where meetings were held with civil society representatives.

A Grama Niladhari of Dehiwala, who is alleged to have helped an LTTE cadre obtain a National Identity Card by fraudulent means, was arrested by the Police Special Crimes Investigation Unit Mt. Lavinia this week.The LTTE cadre, who the Grama Niladhari is alleged to have assisted, Aralappu Kumar was killed by Navy retaliation fire in Mannar. He had been part of a group of Tigers that attacked a Navy patrol on June 30 and killing a sailor. Aralappu Kumar’s NIC had a bogus Dehiwala address. It was that of a house that had been washed away by the tsunami long before the Grama Niladhari had certified that he was living there, police said. The Grama Niladhari had also reported that the LTTE cadre was a resident of the address for ten years and it is believed the Grama Niladhari was helping the LTTE to obtain forged documents, SSP Willie Abeynayake, Mt. Lavinia police said.

Indian central government yesterday emphasized that the only way to end the Sri Lanka’s ethnic issue was to find a political solution based on the ceasefire agreement signed with the LTTE.At the meeting the main Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had yesterday with the Indian Foreign Minister E. Ahamed in New Delhi, the Indian government expressed the view that the political solution should not be delayed any further. Mr. Ahamed also reminded the Sri Lankan Opposition Leader and his group the need for the two main political parties to make a joint effort in this connection.

In reply, Mr. Wickremesinghe said he and his party accept the fact that both p arties should work together to find a solution to the problem and added that his party would support any acceptable solution proposed by the government or the all party advisory committee. He said the UNP was for a political solution based on the Tokyo declaration under which power is to be devolved in an undivided Sri Lanka.

Mr. Wickremesinghe and his team also met Indian opposition parliamentarian Justivan Singh who was the Indian Foreign Minister at the time the cease fire agreement was signed. He said the Indian opposition too was awake to the Sri Lankan political environment. UNP MPs John Amaratunge, Milinda Moragoda, Opposition Leader’s foreign affairs coordinator Dr. V.K. Watson and media secretary Saman Ataudahetti joined Mr. Wickremesinghe at the meeting.

The Opposition Leader is due to meet Indian President Dr. Abdul Kalam tomorrow. Meanwhile addressing a news conference in Colombo, UNP Parliamentarian Hemakumara Nanayakkara said that with the government having failed miserably to take meaningful steps to halt the escalating violence, Mr. Wickremesinghe hoped to resolve these issues with the support of India.Mr. Wickremesinghe’s visit to India is a step towards solving the current crisis in the country, Mr. Nanayakkara said.

The Attorney General yesterday issued a direct indictment without non-summary proceeding on one suspect in connection with the abduction and killing of TamilNet website editor and Daily Mirror columnist, Dharmaretnam Sivaram alias Taraki. The accused, Arumugam Sri Skandarajah, PLOTE member and driver of PLOTE leader, Dharmalingam Siddharthan was indicted on four charges of abduction and murder of Mr. Sivaram.

He was charged with conspiracy to abduct, abduction, murder and robbery of the cellular phone belonging to Mr. Sivaram. According to the magisterial inquiry the accused, a resident of MC road, Trincomalee had worked as the driver of former MP and PLOTE leader Dharmalingam Siddharthan.The offences were said to have been committed between January 1 and April 28, 2005 in Colombo, Bambalapitiya and Maharagama.

According to the powers vested under Section 3 (1) of the Special Provisions Act and Section 13 (2005) of the Criminal Procedure Code, Attorney General K. C. Kamalasabayson issued an indictment without non-summary proceedings. Dharmaretnam Sivaram was abducted on April 28 at Galle Road, Bambalapitiya and his body was found in the high security area near Parliament at Sri Jayawardhanapura Kotte the following day.

The two claymore mines discovered from the road leading to the Kandy residence of government defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella have been pilfered from an Air Force armoury, a CID investigation has revealed.It is reported that the CID has interrogated the two persons who were in charge of the armoury and their statements have been recorded. Officers of the Kandy police station after preliminary investigations said that the mines were the type used by the security forces. In the bombs it was clearly written in Sinhala 'Idiripasa Sathurata' (To the enemy ahead).

Investigations conducted so far have not revealed any LTTE link in the planting of the two mines. Six Tamils were arrested in this connection and produced before the court and were remanded. Two of them have already been released.

The British High Commission yesterday urged anyone in Sri Lanka receiving unsolicited correspondence claiming to be from UK lottery companies to exercise extreme caution, particularly if they have been asked for money in order to receive winnings.

A High Commission spokesperson said, they had received many enquiries from Sri Lankans who had received authentic looking letters and or e-mails claiming they had won prizes in UK lotteries. “Legitimate UK lottery companies do not ask for money or personal banking details to be sent in order to receive winnings. If a member of the public receives an e-mail or letter claiming to be from a lottery they have not entered we advise that they do not reply to it and do not complete any claim forms” he said. He warns saying “ Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. ”

The UK National Lottery website says, that it did not advise a player had won a prize by e-mail. If the e-mail says ‘Winning Notification’ or ‘Lottery Sweep Stake’ in the text, the e-mail one had received was not from UK National Lottery. It says that the National Lottery did not put winning numbers or winning dates on an e-mail and also did not advise of a winning amount on an e-mail.It reiterates that it did not ask Players for information like name, address or bank details in an email

The High Commission gave some tips on how to spot if the correspondence is fraudulent. One was there might be a sense of urgency, eg 'respond within 5 days or your account will be closed' warning. There could also be links within the body of the e-mail that looked legitimate because they contained all or part of a real company's name. These links might take one to spoof websites which would instruct anyone to update personal information,Finally, he warned that any person receiving such letters or e-mails should recollect whether he had ever entered such a competition? “If not, then chances are you haven’t won and the information is bogus” he says.

A man believed to be a local resident was killed when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers opened fire indiscriminately after two unknown assailants hurled a hand grenade into the SLA sentry located near St.Patricks College junction in Gurunagar Jaffna at 8:15 p.m. Thursday, sources in Jaffna said. The body is lying 50 meters from the sentry point and has not been identified. The alleged assailants escaped after throwing the grenade, according to sources. Although it is customary for the District Court judge to visit the site, in recent weeks, due to security concerns, Judges have refrained from visiting crime sites at night, legal sources said.

Since only local residents move about during evening hours, it is suspected that the dead man is a local resident.Details of injuries to SLA soldiers are not known. Two weeks earlier, in a similar grenade attack, few SLA soldiers suffered injuries.Gurunagar is fishing village located 1 km southeast of Jaffna town within the Jaffna Municipal boundary..

Two full-fledged Tamil schools are to be constructed in Colombo and Kandy, the government announced today. Cabinet spokesperson Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said, “The declaration, made under the promotion of knowledge and virtues in the Mahinda Chintana policies for the construction of two fully fledged Tamil Medium schools, is a proposal which is very essential to be implemented.” A three-storied building in Wellawatta with five classrooms starting at Grade One will serve as a new model Tamil Medium school next year.

Deputy Minister Arjuna Ranatunga today sent a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa informing him that he would be stepping down from the tourism Deputy Minister's post. Ranatunga said that circumstances that led to hid decision will be disclosed at a media briefing scheduled at the Ministry at 10.00 a,m today morning. It is reported that an issue related to the Chairman of the Cricket Interim Committee to be appointed by the Sports Minister has led to Ranatunga’s decision to call it quits.

Ranatunga is reported to have requested the Sports Minister to appoint him the Chairman of the Interim Committee however the Minister’s response has been that he could not hold the position while serving as a Deputy Minister. Former World Cup winning Sri Lanka captain has decided to leave the Deputy Minister's post as his first love is cricket and not politics.

Ranatunga entered active politics during Chandrika Kumaratunga administration. Though he was expecting to be either the Sports Minister or the Deputy Sports Minister but he was offered neither. Under the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration too sports portfolio was not given to him and once again he was made the Deputy Minister of Tourism.

Unknown gunmen shot dead Selvar Yogan, 60, a supporter of Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), at 8:00 p.m. in Atchuvely, Valigamam East Thursday, sources from Jaffna said. The gunmen requested Mr Yogan to come out the house and shot him at point blank range before escaping from the area, according to local residents.Mr Yogan was an EPDP candidate in the 1998 local council elections and was an elected member of a pradeshya sabha.His body is still lying in front of his house according to latest reports.

Britain’s trust in the safeguards built into the constitution of Ceylon at independence was misplaced and their weakness is to blame for the island’s present problems, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mr. Dominic Silcott, said in an interview with the Sunday Virakesari. In a wide-ranging interview last weekend, Mr. Silcott said that LTTE and the Sri Lanka government must now negotiate an end to the conflict. The UK and the United States were in agreement on their policies on Sri Lanka, he also said, adding that India also wants a negotiated solution to the conflict.

The UK High Commissioner was asked to comment on accusations that ‘divide and rule’ policies of the British colonial administration precipitated the present ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka.“When the British came to Ceylon in 1796 there were three distinct kingdoms. The British made it one country for purposes of administrative convenience,” Mr. Silcott explained.“In over half the number of countries in the world the British colonial rulers adopted a ‘divide and rule’ policy. In that regard this policy was not unique to the island alone.”

“If one were to truly examine Britain’s role one important aspect deserves special mention. That is the constitutional arrangement that Britain left behind. It left behind the Soulbury Constitution. Britain considered the Soulbury Constitution as having the necessary arrangements to provide for safeguards for minorities.”“Britain thought that the rights of the Tamils in particular would be safeguarded by these arrangements. However history has proved otherwise that these safeguards were inadequate and not robust enough. I regret that Britain’s policies have to such an extent been the cause for the problems,” the High Commissioner said.

Asked about present British policy, the UK wanted the Sri Lankan government to engage the LTTE in negotiations, the High Commissioner said.“There is an imperative not only for the Liberation Tigers but also the government of Sri Lanka to move forward to arriving at a negotiated settlement.”“In the end, the final settlement that’s reached must be satisfactory to both parties. The present impasse must not be allowed to continue. The government of Sri Lanka and the Tigers must both dedicate themselves to peace. By some means, both parties must return to peaceful negotiations. There is no other way.”

Saying “there have to be changes to [Sri Lanka’s] political system,” as part of a solution to the conflict, the High Commissioner said: “although we cannot say much in this connection, Britain’s view is to move forward to a political settlement that’s based on the 2002 Oslo Declaration … on federal lines in a united Sri Lanka.”Asked about the position of the United States, Mr. Silcott said: “the US has, from time to time, taken a contrary view from Britain in world affairs. However in Sri Lanka’s conflict, Britain has been in agreement with America.”

“It’s noteworthy that India is [also] fully in favour of a political settlement achieved through peaceful means,” he added later.Given the present climate of international opposition to the use of violence to pursue political goals, the LTTE “could achieve more through negotiations than through violence,” Mr. Silcott said.If the LTTE returned to the negotiating table then Britain could ask the EU to reconsider its proscription of the LTTE, the High Commissioner said.

Meanwhile, Britain’s proscription of the LTTE in 2001 was not an impediment to direct contact between the UK and the Tigers, Mr. Silcott said. British policy was that direct contact was necessary to move the LTTE towards peace.Asked about the status of Mr. Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist who resides in London, the High Commissioner said: “Mr. Balasingham is a British Citizen. He has the right to live in Britain. Britain had banned the LTTE way back in 2001. It’s been five years since the ban was imposed. As such the ban does not affect Mr. Balasingham.”

“I do not think there would be any change in respect to Britain’s attitude to Anton Balasingham,” Mr. Silcott added. “Similarly, there would not be any significant change in this respect in view of the ban imposed by the EU.”

The Tamil Tigers terrorist organization is "entrenched" in Canada and uses a Toronto-based "front organization" called the World Tamil Movement to raise money for arms, says a summary of an ongoing RCMP probe released yesterday.

The 58-page document released by the Ontario court provides the first glimpse of a four-year RCMP investigation, called Project OSALUKI, into the Canadian fundraising efforts of the Sri Lankan terror group the Tamil Tigers.

According to the heavily edited outline of the investigation provided to the court to justify search warrants, the probe is focused on the World Tamil Movement (WTM), a registered non-profit organization, which has had offices in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

It adds the WTM is "predominantly utilized to collect funds for the purposes of purchasing arms in furtherance of their cause."

The investigation, which began in July, 2002, has found "significant evidence" of terrorist financing, RCMP national security investigator Corporal Satish Tarachandra writes in a sworn "information" document used to obtain a warrant to search the WTM offices.

The Tamil Tigers, who are fighting for independence for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority, have long been accused of various financial schemes in Canada that generate money to underwrite their attacks. Canada has the largest ethnic Tamil population outside South Asia.

"I believe that this organization is collecting funds in Canada that are used to finance terrorist activities in Sri Lanka. The LTTE operates in Canada through a front organization known as the World Tamil Movement," Cpl. Tarachandra writes.

While many Canadian Tamils support the Tigers, the insurgent group has been widely condemned for its tactics, which include suicide bombings, assassinations, the recruitment of children and the ethnic cleansing of Muslims.

"I believe that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an organization listed as a terrorist entity by the Canadian government, is entrenched within our country and is actively exploiting our financial infrastructure to finance their vision of an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka," Cpl. Tarachandra writes.

The Liberals repeatedly refused recommendations from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to designate the Tigers as a terrorist group under the Anti-terrorism Act. But weeks after coming to office, the Conservatives finally banned the group on April 8.

Within days, WTM members in Montreal tried to "conceal and relocate" documents from their office, the RCMP statement says, prompting police to raid the building on April 13.

"Significant evidence of terrorist financing was found," writes Cpl. Tarachandra, "including pre-authorized loan forms, well-organized ledger and receipt books formatted by postal code, indicating names of contributors and collectors, and large quantities of LTTE propaganda materials, and merchandise."

Days later, RCMP officers conducting surveillance of the WTM headquarters in Toronto's east-end watched as materials were removed through a side entrance, loaded into a Jeep and taken to another building at 240 Wellesley Street, where they were loaded through a door.

Due to the isolated location of the door, coupled with the covert nature in which the articles were removed from the WTM office, I believe that the articles were placed inside this location by the occupants of the Jeep in order to conceal them from the police," the corporal wrote. The RCMP subsequently raided the Toronto office on April 22. A U-Haul truck was needed to cart away the papers, computers and other materials. The seized materials are still being analyzed by police.

Police would not comment at the time of the search. But the RCMP warrant application says there are reasonable grounds to believe the WTM has violated three of Canada's terror-financing laws by collecting money knowing it would be used by a terrorist group and terrorist activity.

The WTM acknowledges it supports the LTTE's goal of establishing an independent Tamil state but denies any involvement in fundraising for the Tigers, whom it considers freedom fighters.

Following the Toronto raid, the Canadian Tamil Congress said Tamils were being "slandered and portrayed in a negative light in the media. Tamils are increasingly being subjected to suspicion and scrutiny."

But other Canadian Tamils quietly applauded the government's efforts to tame the Tigers, saying they were long overdue. Many Tamils complain about the aggressive money-collection efforts of the Tigers.

A Human Rights Watch report released in February said the LTTE and its supporters were using threats, intimidation, extortion and vandalism to secure donations to finance warfare.

De-merger of North-East will tantamount to declaration of war on the Tamils-TELO Muthalvar Sivajilingam MP in Parliament

M.K.Sivajilingam,TELO Muthalvar and TNA M.P told Parliament Wednesday that the proposed de merger of North-East would be considered a declaration of war by the Tamils. TELO MP continued that the Tamils of India have expressed their solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamils at this hour of peril when the Sri Lankan Government has unleashed violence on the innocent Tamils of the North –East.

"It’s the JVP and JHU that are going to pave the way for the establishment of Tamil Eelam. While the President portrays him self as a man of peace, his government is causing violence on the Tamil people. The president must be given the best award as the best actor of the year," Sivajilingham observed.

The TELO member has also observed that the JVP has gone to courts to seek an order for the de merger of the North and East. The government plots to separate the North from the East by a sort of war. "It must be categorically stated by the government that the de merger will never see the light of day" he further demanded.

A special Swedish envoy is in Sri Lanka to act as a liaison between the Peace Secretariat and the LTTE leadership to discuss the future of the European Union (EU) truce monitors who are part of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Government said yesterday. Envoy Andres Oljelund who arrived here early this week had a series of discussions with Peace Secretariat officials during last two days, Defence spokesman and Plan Implementation Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. "During the last couple of days Oljelund held a series of discussions with senior Peace Secretariat officials," he told reporters at yesterday's weekly security press briefing.

The Minister said Oljelund was scheduled to brief LTTE leaders in Kilinochchi on Friday on why the European Union at large had disagreed to withdraw their monitors from Sweden, Denmark and Finland, the three EU member countries in the SLMM. They account for more than two-third of the monitors. "He will explain the EU position to the LTTE and brief them on why the EU disagrees with their demand," he said. Following the European Union ban on the LTTE as an international terrorist organisation last June, the LTTE demanded the withdrawal of truce monitors from EU member countries from the SLMM claiming they had no faith in EU monitors.

Questioned about the Government's stance on the issue, Minister Rambukwella said that the Government position had not changed vis-a-vis the truce monitors, adding that there had to be talks if the composition of monitoring team is to be amended. "One party cannot unilaterally change an Agreement reached by two parties and was witnessed by the donor and the international community," he said. The Minister said the Government's position conforms with that of the International community, Co-Chairs and Norway. The Government's argument was that the 37 Monitors from the three EU countries in the SLMM team function in their individual capacities and do not represent the countries of their nationality.

If the EU members are forced to leave as demanded by the LTTE before the end of this month it would leave the 60 strong monitoring body with less than 25 members who are from Norway and Iceland, the two non- EU Nordic countries in the Mission.

Vaiko protest military aid to Sri Lanka

India should refrain from supplying arms to Sri Lanka and get back the two radars already provided to that country, MDMK chief Vaiko said today.In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom he called on at New Delhi this morning, Vaiko said India should not provide any military aid, including arms, to Sri Lanka to honour the decision taken by the Union government in 1999 in a meeting of all political parties, Vaiko said.

Drawing the Prime Minister's attention to happenings in Sri Lanka and the "enormous" sufferings of Tamils due to the alleged "systematic genocidal attacks by the Sri Lankan armed forces", he said the island nation's government "is making a deceitful disinformation campaign to mislead and hoodwink the international community".Successive governments there had denied basic human rights to Tamils for the past 50 years and "never honoured any of the assurances of devolution of power to Tamils in the north and east, who are the original inhabitants of the island", he said.

All pacts between the authorities and the Tamils in 1957, 1965, 1987 were abrogated by the Sri Lankan government which "forced the Tamil youths to resort to armed struggle", he claimed.The current Sri Lankan government of Mahinda Rajapakse "is totally under the control of Buddhist monks and Sinhala fanatical forces...Who are opposed to any form of devolution of power to the Tamils", he alleged.

Vaiko said the Sri Lankan government was "trying to distort the real situation and hoodwink India by making false promises" about devolution of powers. "India should not fall into the trap," he cautioned. The situation is now "grave" and innocent Tamils "are killed by strafing and bombing by the government forces and so a large number of Tamils are coming to the shores of Tamil Nadu as refugees.

"I would request you to take all effective steps to see that the refugees reach our shores safely and to provide all succor and solace to them," he said. (Our Corespondent) He said the Prime Minister was "kind enough" to consider his "genuine request" to dispense with the move to have a defence cooperation pact with Sri Lanka - "which would have been a fatal historical blunder".

However, he was "shocked" to know that India had supplied radars to the Sri Lankan Air Force. "With agony I would point out that India would be found fault with for enabling the Sri Lankan Air Force to strafe and bomb the Tamil areas, killing innocent Tamils," he said.Hence, he wanted India to get back the radars and not provide any further military assistance to Sri Lanka.

Motorbike riding armed men shot and killed two young men in two seperate incidents in Jaffna, Friday morning, police and hospital sources said.N.Ravindrakumar, 29, who owns a saloon at Inuvil junction, was shot and seriously injured while he was opening his shop, around 7.30 a.m.. He succumbed to his injuries at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. N.Ravindrakumar is from Ilavalai.In the second incident, a 22 year old young man was shot and killed by armed men, at Irupalai, around 8.30 a.m.. Three youths were shot and seriously injured by motorbike riding armed men at Irupalai, Thursday evening.

A warm welcome was accorded to Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who arrived in India yesterday on a 5-day official visit.Mr. Wickremesinghe who arrived in New Delhi on the invitation of the Indian Government is scheduled to hold discussions with top Government leaders in New Delhi as well as senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janatha Party which is the main opposition and leaders of other political parties.A group of senior officials of the Indian Foreign Ministry warmly received the UNP delegation headed by Mr. Wickremesinghe when it arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The Indian government had strengthened security at the airport in view of Mr. Wickremesinghe’s visit.

The Opposition leader’s delegation consists of Gampaha District MP John Amaratunga, Colombo District MP Milinda Moragoda, Foreign Relations Coordinator Dr. V.K.Walson and Media Secretary Saman Athaudahetti. Mr. Wickremsinghe also toured India in April on an invitation of the Indian Government.The diplomatic community in New Delhi and in Colombo are reportedly keenly watching Mr. Wickremesinghe’s second visit to India within a few months.The Indian national press reported that the talks to be held with Indian leaders would centre on the peace process which has reached a critical point.

Sri Lankan soldiers die in blast

Two Sri Lankan army personnel have been killed and at least 12 injured in a landmine attack by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels, officials say. "An army bus was hit by a Claymore mine on the Jaffna peninsula," military spokesman Brigadier P Samarasinghe is quoted as saying by Reuters. The attack comes after one person was killed in a similar attack on Tuesday. Violence has spiralled in Sri Lanka in recent months, claiming about 700 lives and undermining a 2002 truce. There has been no comment on the latest attack by the rebels in which one officer and a soldier were killed. "Two officers, eight soldiers and two policemen escaped with injuries," Brig Samarasinghe said.

Suicide bombers caught in Tissa

The authorities in Sri Lanka say they've arrested four women who were planning to become suicide bombers. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told a news conference that the four were trained Tamil Tiger operatives, who were intending to carry out attacks on VIPs in the south of the country. One of those arrested was reported to be carrying cyanide capsules, to swallow in case she was arrested, but had been overpowered by police before she could take them. In a separate statement, police say three army personnel have been killed and at least fifteen others injured in a claymore attack by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels. There's been no comment from the rebels about the attack which happened in the Jaffna peninsula.

Kayts Magistrate hearing Allaipitty murder case warned the CID that contempt of court proceedings will be initiated against them for their continued failure to submit the relevant reports. Jayaraman Roxy, the Kayts Magistrate observed that although several dates were given, the CID had failed to forward necessary reports. The CID officers were neither present in Court nor had submitted reports. They merely faxed a report from Colombo. The report that was faxed did not explain the reasons why they were not present in court. They have not taken steps to seek the advice of the Attorney General as directed by the Court on the last date, the Magistrate observed.

Sri Lanka's rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said all-party talks called by President Mahinda Rajapakse on a political settlement are a ``peace posture'' aimed at winning the support of the international community. Rajapakse's government is following previous administrations by ignoring Tamil inspirations for a separate homeland and trying to advance a one-side solution, TamilNet cited the LTTE as saying in its official periodical published this week. The all-party talks began July 11.

``The LTTE has no alternative except to seek its own path to win political freedom for the Tamil people'' if its political position is rejected, the group said, according to TamilNet. Sri Lanka's 2002 cease-fire is being violated by almost daily acts of violence that have occurred since the government and the LTTE met in Geneva in February to strengthen the truce, their first meeting in three years. The Tamil Tigers want an interim self-government body established in areas they control in Sri Lanka's north and east before a peace settlement is reached.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for two decades for a separate homeland, in a conflict that has killed more than 60,000 people. Tamils make up about 8.5 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million people with Sinhalese comprising almost 74 percent of the population, according to U.S. government data. Rajapakse's talks ``have not wavered from taking a hard line position, promising little change to the traditional Sinhala approach to the Tamil national question,'' the LTTE said.

A political settlement in Sri Lanka must be a ``home-grown solution'' with the support of the people, Rajapakse said in an opening address to the talks, according to a government statement at the time. The meeting included representatives of political parties and a panel of experts on constitutional changes. The LTTE needs to respond to the people's expectations that a settlement is based on democratic values, political pluralism and the tolerance of dissent, Rajapakse said. The government has invited the LTTE to be part of the peace process, he said.

``It is only by doing so that the aspirations of the Tamil people can be addressed, not through streams of blood and shattered limbs,'' Rajapakse said. Two Sri Lankan military personnel were killed and 12 soldiers and three civilians injured in a bomb attack yesterday blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels in the Jaffna district in the north of the country. A June 26 suicide bombing killed the army deputy chief of staff while an April suicide blast in Colombo wounded the army commander and 60 civilians were killed in a June 15 bombing on a bus.

Sri Lanka's $24 billion economy has had uninterrupted growth since the truce, brokered by Norway, halted the civil war. The rebels have told Norway that European Union members of the international team monitoring the truce must leave by Sept. 1. The LTTE says the EU's decision in May to declare the group a terrorist organization means EU members with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission aren't neutral in the conflict.

Norway heads the SLMM, with EU members Sweden, Denmark and Finland, as well as Iceland. The LTTE's demand affects 37 of the 57 monitors. The Norwegian government has asked for a six-month transition phase for changing the SLMM. Sweden sent an envoy to Sri Lanka this week to hold discussions with the government and rebels before the deadline on EU monitors, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, citing Keheliya Rambukwella, a Defense Ministry spokesman. The LTTE should resume peace negotiations either directly or with Norwegian mediation, the government said June 19.

Peace not in Words But in Deeds

Presently there is a demand for de-merger of North-East, a call to separate the North from the East. While this agitation is afoot, there is the danger of an imminent war. In this context TNA Leaders(TELO,TULF.ACTC AND EPRLF)have met the foreign secretaries of the European countries and Scandinavian countries and pointed out to them that the government was getting ready for a war while preaching peace. They have explained that in recent months 700 Tamils were killed and hundreds abducted. They have outlined the miseries and the harassment Tamil people undergo following arrests and cordon off search operations by the security forces.

We wish to emphasise that empty promises for peace be stopped and initiatives for peace resumed immediately. What the people want is deed, not word. All sections of the society and particularly the government must show serious concern about the consequences of the present situation and find a solution. We reiterate that the government must make efforts for peace with dedication and a political will. Without a determination, we cannot solve the present ethnic strife It must be understood that peace and peace alone can save the country and people from this impending calamity.

United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Tissa Attanayake has warned of drastic consequences over moves within the Sri Lankan government ranks to de-merge the Northeastern Province. The government’s ally, the People's Liberation Front (JVP), filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court last week seeking the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the setting up of two separate provincial councils. Attanayake has stated that any efforts to de-merge the Northeastern Province without holding a referendum, as insisted upon under the Indo-Lanka Peace Agreement of July 1987, would lead to the abrogation of that agreement.The Provincial Council system was introduced to eight Sri Lankan Provinces and the Northern and Eastern Provinces were merged as one single unit of devolution under the Indo-Lanka Peace Agreement. But the Northeastern Provincial Council administration became defunct in 1988.

Attorney General tells Inspector General to expedite investigations on student killings

Attorney General K.C.Kamalasabaysan has directed a letter to Inspector General Chandra Fernando informing him to bring the investigations into the killings of five youths on January 2 in Trincomalee under him and to conduct hem efficiently and expeditiously.The killings earned local and international condemnation and allegations were made against the government as well. The AG has informed the IGP to be mindful of this situation and take measures to bring culprits to the book.Initially it was claimed that the deaths of the students were caused by a bomb explosion but at the post mortem it was revealed that they died of gunshot wounds.

The LTTE has hit out at the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission for failing to immediately rule against the alleged acts of violence by the government security forces including those at Pesalai and Vakaneri. While noting that the SLMM had on Monday ruled against the army for infiltrating LTTE areas in Vakaneri, the LTTE said the delay in doing so raised suspicions over the credibility of the ceasefire monitors. The LTTE’s Batticaloa and Ampara political head Daya Mohan said after the Kebithigollewa incident, the SLMM had immediately pointed its fingers at the LTTE while the SLMM took a more subtle stand towards the security forces following the Pesalai incident.

"Several civilians who witnessed the Pesalai attack told the media, the Navy was behind the incident but when the SLMM was asked to comment, it said it was unable to do so before carrying out inquiries," Daya Mohan said.He said by ruling against the LTTE for the Kebethigollewa incident and taking a softer stand on the government following the Pesalai attack, the SLMM appeared to favour the government forces as some of the monitors themselves were ex servicemen. "By not giving a prompt response it prevents the international community from knowing exactly what is happening on the ground and gives the security forces more opportunity to infiltrate areas under our control to carry out their attacks," Daya Mohan said.

In a major confrontation between the army and the LTTE at Vahaneri in Batticaloa last week, 12 soldiers and four Tiger cadres were killed while several others were injured. The LTTE claimed the army infiltrated rebel-held areas which lead to the clash while the government insisted the fire fight erupted in no-man’s land and might have continued in an un-cleared area.

The LTTE peace secretariat yesterday informed the Batticaloa LTTE leadership to permit the SLMM to visit the injured soldier who is in LTTE custody. The soldier, identified as Lance Corp. Karunaratne, was taken captive following last week's clash between the army and the LTTE at Vakaneri. Daya Mohan however ruled out the possibility of the soldier’s immediate release saying that instead the decision was a matter for the LTTE leadership.He said while several LTTE cadres remained in government prisons it would be unfair to pressurize the LTTE to release a soldier who infiltrated rebel areas and attacked LTTE cadres killing four of them. Lance Corporal Karunaratne was receiving medical attention in an LTTE hospital in Batticaloa and was later expected to be brought before an LTTE court.

Eight civilians, all Tamil women, were injured in an explosion that took place Tuesday afternoon around 3 p.m. in Anpuvallipuram, a suburb along Trincomalee-Anuradhapuram road located about 3 km off east port town. The women were engaged in shramadana (voluntary work) campaign cleaning the side walks along the road when the explosion occurred, police said.Police sources claimed a bomb hidden in the refuse had accidentally detonated during the cleanup activity. The injured were admitted to the Trincomalee general hospital, sources said.A combined search operation was launched immediately in the area by the SLA, security sources said.

Civilian killed in blast shock, 4 SriLanka soldiers, 2 civilians wounded in Thenmaradchi

A saloon owner standing outside his business was killed in blast shock and four Sri Lanka Army soldiers (SLA) were injured when their tractor was hit by a road side Claymore mine at Kodikamam in the Thenmaradchi sector of the Jaffna peninsula, around 9:00 a.m., Tuesday. Two SLA soldiers and a 70-years old civilian who was inside the saloon, were seriously wounded. A saloon worker was also wounded. The blast occured on the road to Pt.Pedro, about 400 metres from the Kodikamam junction. The saloon owner who died on the spot was identified as Sinnathamby Nagarasa, 55, from Kudamiyan, Varani. The wounded SLA troops were airlifted to Palaly military base hospital. Two soldiers were critically wounded, police sources said.

The JHU has called for the abrogation of the contract with a Norwegian company to conduct oil exploration in Sri Lanka’s territorial sea.JHU Group leader Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero told parliament yesterday (18), that the said Norwegian company, NOPEC Geo physical company had the exclusive rights to gather seismic data.Ven. Rathana thero alleged that this right was given by the UNP regime to a country that was waiting to plunder the resource base here.The thero also called for the abrogation of the contract and assurance the rights are not given to Norway that is undermining the country’s territorial integrity. The JVP too has opposed the move.

Pakistan possesses nuclear power to face any challenges, says High Commissioner in Colombo

Pakistan High Commissioner in Colombo Bashir Wali Mohmand said that unlike other Muslim countries, Pakistan is the only country that possesses nuclear power and they are ready to face any challenges. While pledging Pakistan’s fullest support to the Sri Lankan government, Mr. Mohmand said, “Pakistan accepts the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, and President Rajapaksa could bring about a peaceful solution in Sri Lanka.” The Pakistan High Commissioner made this comment at a ceremony in Kandy where he donated 10 computers to the Faizer Mustapha Computer Training Institute in Peradeniya.

A special police team has been deployed to ascertain the owner of the intercooler in which Daya Master, the LTTE media spokesman travelled to and fro Killinochi for treatment. It was in this intercooler vehicle that Daya Master was brought to Colombo for urgent medical treatment for his heart ailment on July 12th. It was by the same vehicle that he was taken back to Killinochi on July 15th after treatment. The inquiries are directed by a special police team to identify the owner of the vehicle. Preliminary inquiries have revealed that the vehicle belongs to a former member of parliament of the UPF and a minister of the North Central Province and that this vehicle was registered under his name in 2001

Constitutional Solution To The Sri Lankan National Question Would NeverBe Viable & Why? By: M.R.Wilson Source: TamilCanadian

Constitution of Sri Lanka based on racial, linguistic and religious dominance by virtue of the numerical strength of the Singhalese community, would be a major stumbling- block to settling any ethnic disputes or to achieving any peaceful atmosphere or communal harmony in the country as it would debar the fulfillment of any aspirations of theTamils.

His Excellency the President (Mahinda Rajapakse) who determined to capture power by hook or by crook, jettisoned all the aspirations of the Tamils for peace by prioritizing war in 2005, with his own ideology called “Mahinda Chinthanaya” that emphasizes “no Norway, no federal constitution, no right to Homeland, no self-determination, no nation-hood for Tamils, no P-TOMS, no recognition as sole partner in negotiation and no Oslo as venue for talks”.

Now, just to mark time and to smack of a complete eye wash, His Excellency the President, who, with impunity had already camouflaged and hoodwinked the whole world into believing that he is a genuine leader,proposes brazenly to enact a draft framework with appropriate amendments to the Constitution on the devolution of powers with two-thirds majority in Parliament, to enable his Government work on a national consensus.

Firstly, as a gesture of ingenuity, the President has to junk his own ideology “Mahinda Chinthanaya” to create a congenial environment for such an idea.

Secondly, even if he does so, it is unfortunate that not necessarily two-thirds but one- third of the numerical strength of the Singhalese population will suffice to override the numerical strength of the entire Tamil population. Thirdly, the Singhalese community by virtue of their majoritarian status and voting strength could arrive at any decision of their own at any referendum and defeat any opinions or proposals voiced by the Tamil community with regard to their aspirations and fundamental rights.

Fourthly, the Singhalese representatives in the legislative assembly could enact and have enacted any law or frame any constitution arbitrarily at any time to the advantage of the Singhalese community only, by their voting strength overriding any opinions or proposals put forward by the Tamils. Unless there is will and desire induced by change of heart among Singhalese, nothing tangible can be expected and there are no indications at all for any atmosphere of peace by settling the disputes.

Tamils have a very legitimate desire, as anybody would, to control their own lives, to rule their own destinies, and to govern themselves in their homeland, in the areas they have traditionally inhabited.

When Sri Lanka, (formerly Ceylon), which once occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and later by the Dutch in the 17th century, was ceded to the British in 1796 there were three kingdoms. It became a crown colony in 1802, and was united under the British rule in 1815 for administrative purposes. Now, for the prevalence of the ill-fated ethnic rift in the county, the British have to bear sole responsibility, as they were the architects who designed the independence of Sri Lanka in 1948, without any adequate commitment enshrined in the Constitution to safeguard the basic and fundamental rights of the Tamils or to fulfilany of their aspirations.

In view of the foregoing facts and by virtue of the right to self-determination and accepted international norms and standards, Sri Lankan Tamils with their own linguistic identity and identifiable homeland are free to stand on their own feet and determine their political status, to enable them to live with equal rights with other communities. And also, they are entitled to pursue their economic,social and cultural development and establish their self-autonomy, and self-identity within the purview of the United Nations' Charter.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has postponed the Cabinet reshuffle that was expected this week.The Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga said that a series of discussions were held with the minor parties by the President. However he declined to answer the exact date of the Cabinet reshuffle to take place. the government is waiting for feedback from India to work out modalities to form a national government with the support of the United National Party (UNP). Ranil Wickramasinghe, the leader of the Opposition and UNP, is to visit India this week. Meanwhile, informed sources said that only key ministerial positions are expected to be changed at the intended reshuffle. Several Opposition parliamentarians have already crossed over to the government and more are expected to cross over shortly.

A roadside bomb killed one person, wounded four soldiers and two others in northern Sri Lanka Tuesday, the army said. Separatist Tamil Tigers triggered the roadside bomb targeting a group of soldiers who were on a foot patrol in northern Jaffna peninsula, said an official of the Media Center for National Security, speaking on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorized to talk to the media. There was no immediate comment from the LTTE.

Issuing a statement, the Jathika Hela Urumaya has alleged that the government has been trapped in a highly advanced military- political and psychological operation launched by the LTTE through the concocted heart ailment of Daya Master.The statement issued by JHU General Secretary Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha thera stated that the image built by the President in the southern society had been shattered by this psychological operation. It brought to an end the credibility, the people of the South had in the President along with the Mahinda Chintanaya's dominating authority.

A new Sri Lanka proposed by Mahinda Chintanaya's was brought back to old Sri Lanka. The Daya Master episode proved that Mahinda Rajapaksa too is following the same path taken by Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe.The Tiger operation was able to heap public abomination on President Mahinda Rajapaksa and he lost his standing among the public.

The comic act has now come to an end. Doctors at Apollo hospital have confirmed that Daya Master did not suffer from any heart condition. The JHU claimed that the government was taken for a ride by the doctor of the Kilinochchi hospital, the Tiger Peace Secretariat, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the Norwegian embassy.Meanwhile Daya Master who was admitted to Apollo hospital was discharged on the 15th and left for kilinochchi on the same day. He was given tight military security even on the return journey.

74 year Tamil Norwegian Arrested and detained overnight by the Army and police in Putur

74 year Tamil Norwegian Arrested and detained overnight by the Army and police. in Putur, and interrogated. One of the many horror stories that was told.Mr K. Mylvaganam seventy four year old Norwegian Tamil and free lance journalist was arrested by the army and was detained overnight by the police on his way to a wedding in the Jaffna peninsula. He had travelled on 11 July 2006 from Killinochchi where he was staying

He related his horror story where he describes the army at the Puthur post interrogating him with all kinds of silly and irrelevant questions merely because he was a resident of Killinochchi an LTTE controlled area. The army personnel who had a gun pointing to his head all the time had also gone through the photographs taken in Killlinochchi and grilled him in a manner designed to incriminate him as a LTTE militant. He was asked to sign a statement written in Sinhalese said to be to the effect that he was not harassed.

He was detained at the police station and had to spend the night not as a guest at the wedding but at the Atchuvely police station and released on a magisterial order the next morning. He was completely devastated and disoriented.

Paramilitary groups abducted three youths from the villages of Paddiyadychenai in Valaichenai Kalkudah Police area in Batticaloa district on Sunday midnight, Police said. Parents of the abducted youths, who have not lodged any formal complaint with police authorities so far in fear of bring victim of harassment. Tension prevails in the interior villages of Batticaloa district, according to sources. Abducted persons were identified as Nadarasha Surendran, 22, Shanmugam Ariyan, 21, and Kanthashamy Mohanraj, 22.

Trincomalee district political secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a statement issued Monday appealed to Tamil people in the district not to give room for the enemy to forcefully occupy their own lands by leaving their homes to other areas and countries fearing violence.
The statement follows:

"We appeal to all Tamil people in the Trincomalee district not to flee to other countries frightened by the ongoing brutal attack on them by the enemy, leaving their own traditional land in the district. "It would help the enemy to implement their well-planned aggression of our traditional land in the district if Tamil people leave. Please do not give an opportunity for the enemy to occupy our traditional land forcefully. We should not leave our own areas under any circumstances until we retrieve our traditional land from our enemy."

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) General Secretary Hassan Ali is steadfast in his belief that under the existing unitary system, the northeast problem cannot be solved. He says power sharing must take place and communities must be allowed to live the way they want to, and after about 10 to 15 years there can be a referendum to find out from the people whether they want to continue with this system or not. “Take India for instance. There is devolution of power but all identify themselves as Indians. It is because they have the freedom to make decisions on their life and their rights. Our past leaders have ruined this country. If India had a unitary system, the country would have gone to pieces. Freedom must be given to preserve our cultures and faiths. Then there will not be any problem. We will be happily living as Sri Lankans,” he told The Nation in an interview.

Following are excerpts:
Q: How do you assess for yourself the steps taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to solve the ethnic crisis?
A: We know he is trying to solve the problem but I don’t think this comes from the bottom of his heart. During the elections he was very friendly with the JVP and the JHU but at the same time he signed a memorandum of understanding with some of the Muslim groups. Now these MoUs are contradicting each other. To the Sinhala parties he has stood committed to a unitary structure saying there is no devolution of power on a community basis but later on with the Muslim parties he has stood firm for devolution of power on a community basis. Only now the contradiction has surfaced and the President, it appears is cornered. If the President is too keen to find a solution to the problem, he should look for the real identity of different political parties in Sri Lanka. Firstly he and his government must accept that there is an ethnic problem and not merely look at it as a terrorist problem. We have three ethnic groups namely the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. And these three communities must be given equal stake holder status in any solution. Whatever political dialogue there may be, it should lead to solving the problems of these three communities and not to solve the problems of the political parties. We find that all the talks and conferences are aimed at solving the problems of the political parties.

Q: The Muslim community has become a victim to the northeast war, through no fault of its own. Is the government giving due consideration to this fact?
A: We are in a dilemma. We don’t know what is going to happen to our community. Many international forums accept that the Muslims have problems. They accept that we are displaced and so many killed. Even the government is accepting it. But at the peace talks nobody wants to give us equal stake holder status. We don’t understand why.

Q: Are you optimistic that President Rajapaksa is capable of delivering the goods to the nation especially to the Muslim community?
A: Every ruler has given a lot of promises but never delivered the goods. We have had enough experiences with the past leaders. Chandrika was looked upon as an ‘angel of peace.’ The country expected a lot from her but nothing happened. She had to listen to the Sinhala extremists. Chandrika came to power promising to usher in an era of peace. But Rajapaksa got the support of the extremists to win the election and promised to please the extremists. But now he is trying to change himself. It is a difficult task to perform. He came to power with a southern consensus and now it is going to be difficult to change this southern mindset.

Q: What do the All Party Conferences, the All Party Representative Committee meetings and the Advisory Committee meetings mean to your community?
A: We have no big expectation on the first two conferences. At the APC practically the President has been only collecting views from the political parties and there has not been any concrete solution discussed. That was the only exercise that has taken place so far. In the representatives’ meeting, I don’t know how far they will go because here also the same parties are represented. So this is another APC in my view. These representatives will not take decisions. Instead they will have to go back to their parties. We have some faith in the advisory committee but firstly the committee will have to formulate some strategy to change the minds of the Sinhala radical forces. Otherwise there can’t be any solution.

Q: How does the SLMC view the inclusion of Faiz Mustapha into the advisory committee?
A: He is one of the leading lawyers from our community and has been closely associated with our late leader and our present leader. But to be successful in this exercise not only he but even other delegates must visit the northeast and spend time with the people there. They have to visit camps and vulnerable areas and meet the people and obtain on the spot information and find solutions. We are expecting a very serious work from this committee.

Q: Pressure is mounted on President Rajapaksa by the JVP and other extreme political parties not to entertain foreign help. Is it possible to find a solution without this?
A: If the government was working according to an international agenda they could have gone half way through by now I think. During the UNP time the Oslo declaration was signed and the foreign donors promised aid if the government showed commitment to solve the crisis. But Chandrika spoiled the opportunity of Sri Lanka getting a huge sum of money by dissolving the government prematurely. Then the tsunami came and the international community wanted to help us through the P-TOMS. This too was not implemented due to pressure. So whenever the international community came to play a role, the local politicians never wanted it. I don’t think without the support and blessings of foreign nations, the problem here could be sorted.

Q: President Rajapaksa also insists on a ‘home grown’ solution. Is it practicable?
A: He must be more specific about his ‘home grown’ theory. Nothing is home grown for that matter. Take for instance our constitution. Even this is not home grown. I don’t think any country can survive with home grown solutions. We live in this modern era and must borrow ideas.

Q: The UNP says the President has not come out clearly with his formula to solve the crisis. What is the SLMC’s view?
A: During the APC, our leader pointed out that if the government wanted to resume the peace process, it should not talk about military matters. The government only spoke of the Ceasefire Agreement and military matters. We told that it was high time for the government to put forward some package to the public. But the President has still not done it. As a result the entire nation is confused. We know that the President’s mandate was not for devolution of power. He won the election obtaining a mandate from the south and now he should tell the people what his thinking is about the solution to the northeast problem. He now talks of home grown solution and power sharing under a unitary structure and so on. We hope he will at least come out with something concrete after the deliberations of these committees. With the southern consensus how can he solve the northeast problems? He is in a difficult position.

Q: Do you justify the UNP’s decision to stay from the representative committee meetings?
A: As a responsible alternate government in this country the UNP should never keep away from these exercises. The UNP did a lot during its two year term towards achieving a solution to the country’s problem. They had six rounds of talks and produced some meaningful documents like the ISGA and CFA. Ranil Wickremesinghe engaged himself in serious work. If the government was not dissolved, the country could have taken off in a big way. So I think the UNP should continue its good work.

Q: The UNP also charges that President Rajapaksa is wooing UNP members into his fold. Who is at fault? - The President for absorbing them or the members for leaving the UNP?
A: Actually crossing over will destabilise a political party and it is not fair by the voters who voted for such members who cross over. If the political parties have to preserve their clout and strength, this crossing over should be stopped. The loop holes in the judiciary system should be made rigid and more powers should be given to the political parties. Crossover should be done after facing a by election and the person who crosses over must win the election and get the mandate from the people to cross over. One person can’t get the mandate from the people who voted for him, enjoy powers or portfolios and then quit the party and join the other parties. Today members from the UNP are crossing over to SLFP and tomorrow it might work vice versa.

Q: But there is no provision under the present electoral system for by elections?
A: Yes. This is why my party says there must be amendments to the electoral system.

The Indian government is attempting to broker a deal between the Sri Lankan government and the main opposition to form a national government to solve the national question expeditiously, diplomatic sources said. The stage was set for this during the recent visit of Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran. He met with UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe twice during this visit. First, Saran met Wickremesinghe in the company of Milinda Moragoda and secondly for a brief meeting with Karu Jayasuriya and Professor G.L. Peiris.

This move will be further discussed during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India this week. It is learnt that a warm welcome awaits Ranil Wickremesinghe and his delegation, which includes Milinda Moragoda and John Amaratunga. However Professor Peiris had rejected an invitation extended by Wickremesinghe to accompany him to India, when they met the day following the UNP political affairs committee meeting on Tuesday (11).

Tuesday’s political affairs committee meeting became stormy when Professor Peiris charged that Milinda Moragoda participated in a long discussion with Wickremesinghe and Shyam Saran, in spite of him (GL) being the chief negotiator for the previous UNP government during peace talks. Wickremesinghe told the committee that it so happened that Moragoda had arrived early, adding that he first met with Saran alone without any aides.

On Wednesday (12) when the pair met Wickremesinghe had apparently tried to persuade Professor Peiris to be part of his delegation to New Delhi. But Professor Peiris flatly rejected the invitation on the grounds that he was overlooked at the meeting with Saran. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe during his visit is likely to bring to the notice of the Indian authorities the duplicity of Presidnt Mahinda Rajapaksa in luring several UNPers into his fold and making matters worse for the UNP.

Meanwhile, President Rajapaksa who is gradually moving away from the unitary state concept has been considering a proposal by some of his close party aides to join hands with the UNP for a national government. Soon after the recent SLFP central committee meeting where the party gave the green light to the President to accommodate UNPers to strengthen his parliamentary majority, Western Province Chief Minister Reginold Cooray urged the President to negotiate with Ranil Wickremesinghe to form a national government rather than picking individuals from time to time. “That will be more stable,” Cooray had told the President.

President Rajapaksa who had not responded to this move, is awaiting feedback from India to work out modalities in this regard.Meanwhile the President has put off the cabinet reshuffle scheduled for this week, deciding to wait for New Delhi response to this historic move. It is also learnt that President Rajapaksa had a breakfast meeting with an Indian diplomat on Monday where the question of UNP crossovers had been raised and the President had been discouraged to accommodate any more UNP dissidents in the light of the move to form a national government.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for a report from IGP Chandra Fernando on an LTTE suicide cadre who allegedly posed off as a Sinhala police officer for 16 years in the police service. The LTTE cadre Sangiras Camillus Tissera from Muttur has served in the police using a Sinhala name Camillus Tissera since 1990 January 19.A senior police officer told the Daily Mirror that the report will be submitted to the President tomorrow. Initial investigations have revealed that he had been trained as an LTTE suicide cadre and taken part in two offensives against the military in Mullaitivu. IR

42 Sinhalese held for helping the LTTE

Forty-two Sinhalese have been arrested for having ties with the LTTE.The DIG Western Province Southern Region K. P. P. Pathirana said the suspects are under arrest for crimes such as providing shelter, transport and information to the LTTE. Two weeks ago, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) also said it is ready to divulge a list of names of Sinhalese who allegedly have links to the LTTE.

Mr. V. Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) participated in the twenty third memorial anniversary of Charles Anthony, from Trincomalee, one of the first commanders of the LTTE who died in 1983. Mr. Pirapaharan addressed more than a hundred senior level field leaders of two artillery units that completed training. The LTTE leader payed homage to Lt. Seelan, Ananth and other five cadres and awarded merit certificates to the officers who had completed training at an undisclosed location in Vanni Sunday, LTTE sources said. Experienced LTTE cadres with many years of field experience were selected for the training programme conducted by Northern Front Forces Training Academy and Major Roy Training Academy, producing them into officers capable of coordinating artillery and mortar operations, LTTE sources said. The first regular regiment and later an special force of the LTTE, Charles Antony Regiment, formed in 1991, completed 15 years on July 15.

United National Party Colombo District Parliamentarian M.H. Mohamed, in a hard hitting statement, said it is left to the public to judge whether the founding fathers of the UNP would have perceived Milinda Moragoda’s conduct worthy of their esteem and approval. Referring to a letter Mr. Moragoda reportedly sent to UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, he said the party is better off without the former’s moral standards and self appointed proponents.“The prominent feature of this letter is the highly spiritual and lofty posture it tries to adopt. The sentiments espoused are worthy of Nelson Mandela. There never was so outstanding an example of sanctimonious humbug,” Mr. Mohamed said.

Mr. Mohamed explained that Mr. Moragoda had made a passionate appeal to members of the party, to rally round the leader, after sending a letter to deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya, in the form of an MoU, under which he supported the latter for his appointment as leader of the Opposition, if Mr. Jayasuriya took action to secure the appointment of himself as the deputy leader of the party. “This reflects a strange notion of loyalty and no one has inflicted as much damage to the party as Mr. Moragoda has done,” he added.

Many of Mr. Moragoda’s actions have damaged the party, according to Mr. Mohamed. Mr. Mohamed said that the former’s crude publicity exercise in Washington, in April 2004, prior to the Tokyo summit, had damaged the party, while his remarkable statement, which said it was the UNP leader who divided the LTTE, made a significant contribution to the defeat of Mr. Wickremesinghe. In addition, Mr. Mohamed said that Mr. Moragoda deserves a very special accolade for his role in the unprecedented tragicomedy in the present state of affairs of the Colombo Municipal Council.

The Government has taken steps to develop highways, electricity supply, healthcare, education, transport, housing and construction, water supply, irrigation and all other infrastructure facilities in the Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mulaitivu districts under the accelerated development programme of "Jathika Saviya".

This was disclosed when the National Task Committee of the "Jathika Saviya" accelerated Development Programme met at the Vavuniya District Secretariat to discuss the development activities in the Vanni District, last Saturday(15).

Jathika Saviya is an accelerated development programme implemented under the President's Office on the direction of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to give priority to unsolved problems in areas where development was comparatively lagging behind vis a vis other areas.

Jathika Saviya Co-chairmen, Re-settlement Minister Rishard Badurdeen, North East Governor Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, TNA Parliamentarians and the President's Senior Advisor Basil Rajapaksa attended this special meeting.

Acting Army Commander Major General Nanda Mallawarachchi, Vanni District Secretary K. Ganesharajah, Divisional Secretaries and Officers from the Defence Forces participated at this discussion, where development and security activities in the four districts were discussed at length.

At the meeting it was disclosed that President Rajapaksa has given instructions to all sections concerned to provide maximum cooperation in the proposed development activities of the four districts and that the necessary funds have been allocated under the decentralised budget, by the Treasury as well as under many other funds.

Sri Lankans set to go on trial for ‘political killing’ in Doha-Source:Gulf Times

THE trial of five Sri Lankan men accused of killing a compatriot in Doha last February will start on July 26, legal sources said. Police believe the murder of Sri Lankan Tamil Manokaran was a case of "political assassination" as he was a former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and later probably a member of a rebel faction. A sixth "unknown" suspect was involved in the killing but his identity could not be established, police sources said.Manokaran was a native of Eravoor, near Batticolova in Sri Lanka’s eastern province.

The main suspect in the case is believed to have come to Qatar on January 4 to "organise" the murder but left a few days later. Legal sources said Qatar would ask Colombo to extradite him.According to sources, Manokaran, 25, succumbed to his wounds seven days after he was attacked at his labour camp on Street 49 in the Industrial Area.The charge-sheet said the main suspect supplied his accomplices with iron bars and face masks to carry out the crime. The fifth suspect, who lived in the next room, supplied the group with information about the victim’s movements while the third stood guard outside his room.

"The first, second and fourth accused sneaked into Manokaran’s room and repeatedly hit him on his head with an iron rod," the charge-sheet said.A police officer, who will appear in the court as a witness, said the suspects failed to kill Manokaran outside his accommodation, so they decided to murder him inside his room."On the day of the incident, the unidentified suspect was monitoring the stairs to ensure that no one was around, while another one stood in the corridor."The others went inside the victim’s room and hit him many times on his head while he was sleeping," the officer told the prosecution.

"Though two of his roommates woke up after the victim started to scream, they were forced to remain silent as the attacking group threatened them," the witness said."The attackers stopped the assault only after they felt that the victim was dead," he said."In the car of the fourth suspect, we found iron bars, two gloves and two face masks. The police dog which sniffed the bars led the investigating officials to the second suspect." A Sri Lankan roommate of Manokaran, who was summoned as a witness, said. "I saw three men, two of them near the victim’s bed and the third standing near me in our room. I saw a man hitting the victim on his head with an iron bar, about 60cm long."They threatened to kill me if I opened my mouth. They told me that they belonged to the Tamil Tigers and I knew they would not hesitate to kill their detractors.""When they left the room, the victim was alive."

The witness said that because it was dark in the room, he could not see the attackers well. "One of them was focusing the beam of a torch on my face to prevent me from seeing them."Another roommate of the victim corroborated his statement, the police said. The medical report said Manokaran sustained bleeding in the brain and fractures as a result of the attack.

1983 is, for many, Sri Lanka’s annus horribilis – our darkest hour. It was a year that defined the meaning of ethnic conflict for many in my generation. Coming home from schools hurriedly closed to allow for children to go home, we walked amidst burning vehicles, buildings and on occasion, charred bodies, to get to homes in neighbourhoods suddenly torn apart by ethnic identities. There is that infamous iconic photo, like the young naked girl running for her life in Vietnam, of a man, naked and surrounded by three other men, taken in Colombo at what appears to be a bus-stand - symbolic of the Sinhalese mobs that ran amok laying waste to lives and property in that bloody month of July.

When we look back as a nation at those shocking images and our own memories, what do we remember? Does Sri Lanka today have the confidence to say, as the slogan chanted on the streets against torture, rape and disappearances in Argentina promised – Nunca Mas (Never Again)? Recently, the suicide attack on Gen. Sarath Fonseka and the Claymore attack on a civilian bus in Kebbitigollawa most seriously tested Sri Lanka patience with terrorism. Many said that the lack of mobs running amok on the streets was a sign of Sri Lanka’s maturity in the face of extreme provocation.Can we really be certain of this? Colombo’s streets, anxious and empty after the attack on Gen. Sarath Fonseka, were far from calm – people were rushing back home, to their loved ones, away from the general vicinity of the bomb blast, for fear of a communal backlash in response to the attack.

The reporting of Kebbitigollawa also whipped up ethnic fervour – images of children, mothers and strewn limbs fed into the real fears of human security not just in the North and the East of Sri Lanka, but for those living in Colombo as well. Again, fears of mob rule were on the ascendant. Why is this the case? After over 25 years of bloody conflict, Sri Lanka is still unable or unwilling to come to terms with a past written in blood of innocents.Many of whom were too small to recall 1983 in great detail were children and adolescents in the bloody years of the JVP reign of terror, that saw both the JVP and the Government of the day engage in acts of brutality too horrible to mention. Even today, news reports speak of a society that tortures those in custody, a culture of impunity that values human life at less than the price of the bullet or machete that culls it.

Perhaps there are sociological or genetic reasons for violence. However, the agency of political actors cannot be underestimated in an analysis of communal riots. For instance, newspaper accounts are not very clear about the precipitating events that led to the riots in 1983. The main event is recorded as the killing of 13 soldiers.The impression that is conveyed in the press reportage is that spontaneous violence then erupted in Colombo. However, there is a corpus of literature that gives detailed information on the events that occurred. To cite from one, the first outbreak of violence in Colombo occurred on 23rd July 1983, the day the bodies of the dead soldiers were brought to Colombo.

A large crowd had gathered at Kanatte, the main cemetery in Borella, Colombo where the corpses were to be brought before being given a military burial. At the last minute, the official burial at Kanatte was cancelled and the packed crowd at the cemetery had erupted in violence. Street thuggery had taken place in Borella, Thimbirigasyaya, Nugegoda, Wellawatte and Bambalapitiya for almost a day before the police and army intervened. On 25th July 1983 however the violence had taken a different turn when armed gangs went through the city targeting the economic bases of the Tamils in Colombo and their homes .Why this political flaccidity to quell the communal violence? While many point to the lack of political will as a factor that has prevented the transformation of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, it is in fact the opposite that is true. Political will is in abundance and often exercised to incite communal passions.

Given the perverse nature of political will, how can one engender reconciliation?

Sri Lanka’s biggest driver of reconciliation is also its fatal flaw - our political architecture. Sri Lanka’s political framework gives those in high political office extremely undemocratic powers that can be used to galvanise progressive public opinion, but regrettably (and understandably) used for parochial political gain. This was certainly the case in 1983, where the President and the government of the day aided and abetted Sinhala mobs. No apology, to date, has been made by the United National Party (UNP) for its role in the events of 1983. The Peoples Liberation Front (JVP) has made no apology for its role in the bloodshed during the JVP- led insurrection towards the late-80’s.

No apology has been made by the LTTE for its acts of terrorism, most notably the bombing of the Temple of the Tooth in 1999. The only expression of regret regarding the events of “Black July” to date (as the riots in July ’83 are referred to) is one tendered by the former President Chandrika Kumaratunge in 2004.Comfortable in their high offices beyond guilt, responsibility, shame, reprimand, public accountability and regret, those who command and instigate acts of violence are today free men, elected into office or reign supreme in their fiefdoms in the North and East of Sri Lanka. These then are the deep ironies of political life in Sri Lanka.

At the same time, the key to reconciliation is also in their hands. A single statement from the President or from Prabhakaran has more effect than years of civil society initiatives aimed at reconciliation. With the complex interplay of caste and religion, reconciliation in Sri Lanka is (unfortunately) driven by the whims and fancies of those in power. We witness, for instance, the graveyard of commissions and committees on reconciliation in the past decade, all of which have only succeeded in increasing the cynicism of those affected by violence. An official apology or statement of regret is symbolically important, but is appropriate and truly useful only if it is accompanied by substantive measures that seek to repair the damage that is the basis for the apology. In this sense, Sri Lanka is an abject failure.

We celebrate words, but shy away from action, assuming that compensation for victims of communal riots bring closure to the trauma of such events. From 1983 onwards, we have not initiated a single successful process of social transformation to reveal the unpleasant reality of protracted conflict – that we are all victims and all aggressors. Those who espouse the “eye-for-an-eye” response to terrorism forget that blindness is the only surety of such a course of action.Rather than regress into the darkest hours of our nation, we must look instead to the future and how we can create, in spite of great adversity, social contracts between communities that hold human life and human rights over and above the incitement to violence by politically motivated forces. To paraphrase Irish Nobel Laureate John Hume, this requires us to “forge a covenant of shared ideals based on commitment to the rights of all allied to a new generosity of purpose.”

There is a memorable passage in James Blinn’s Gulf War novel, The Ardvaark goes to War. In it the hero is asked what makes him feel anxious. His answer is a telling commentary of Sri Lankan society today:What am I afraid of? I’m afraid of everything. You think war scares me? Is that what you think? Well, it does, it scares the shit out of me.… I’m afraid of my ignorance. I’m afraid of things I can’t see, things I don’t even have words for…But the main thing that frightens me is fear. From the timbre of fear that pervades Sri Lankan society today to the high ideals expressed by Hume lies a peace process that needs to embrace reconciliation at all levels. If we are willing to talk about war, let us by all means plan for it in full knowledge of its pyrrhic nature – that any victory on the battlefield is an inevitable defeat in winning over the hearts and minds of the very communities we wish to embrace in a multicultural, multiethnic Sri Lanka.

Why are we so fearful of reconciliation? Is it because we hate Tamils so much? Is it because they hate us so much? Is it because years of terrorism have eroded a fundamental humanity that binds communities together? Is it because war, as the likes of the JVP, PNM and JHU with strained vocal chords tells us, an answer to all that bedevils Sri Lanka? These are questions we need to ask ourselves when asserting with an utterly misplaced confidence that another Black July is unthinkable in present day Sri Lanka.The fact that with every serious violation of the CFA, and with every high profile suicide attack, we teeter on the edge of communal violence, even in Colombo, is proof enough that much more needs to be done urgently to engender reconciliation at all levels of society.The victims of Sri Lanka’s bloody past are watching us. And waiting.

Lanka allocates oil block to China in Mannar Basin

China and Sri Lanka have decided to enhance ties with Colombo allocating oil exploration block to the communist giant in the Mannar Basin while Beijing pledged to support the island nation's efforts to 'defeat' terrorism and maintain territorial integrity. "Sri Lanka allocated an exploration block in the Mannar Basin to China for exploration of petroleum resources which was appreciated," a joint communique issued here late last night by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.

The oil exploration block allocated to China is in the Gulf of Mannar, between the southern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka, which has been identified for the first phase of oil exploration. Samaraweera, who visited china from July 12 to 16, briefed the Chinese side on the peace process in Sri Lanka. "The Chinese side reaffirmed that it would continue to help Sri Lanka in its efforts to defeat terrorism and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country," the communique said.

The two sides reaffirmed their opposition to the 'three evil forces' of terrorism, separatism and extremism and discussed steps to increase their coordination in regional and international anti-terrorism activities. Sri Lanka also welcomed China's status as an observer of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Beijing reiterated its readiness to conduct exchanges with SAARC. The two sides also agreed to continue coordination of their positions on the UN and Security Council reforms.

The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary and the brother of the SL President, Gothabaya Rajapakse, on Sunday, paid a visit to the 51-2 Brigade Head Quarters in Jaffna town amid high security. Civilian traffic was blocked on the road when Mr. Rajapakse landed in the old Dutch Fort area of the town in a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter and transported in an armoured vehicle towards the 51-2 HQ. Top officials of the SL Navy, Air Force and Army from Colombo were in Jaffna to confer future course of military actions, SLA sources said. The officials visited Forward Defence Lines in several locations in Jaffna Peninsula to give morale boost to the troopers.Major General GA Chandrasiri, the Sri Lankan Commander of the Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna SF HQ (J), received the delegation at Palaly military complex on Saturday.

The delegation toured SL Forward Defence Lines (FDL) in Nagarkovil and Muhamalai that border Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled territory. The team inspected the Sri Lankan naval base at Kililai.The delegation also toured the Kankesanthurai port and Karainagar sea bases of the Sri Lanka Navy. A special conference, where all commanders of the Sri Lankan brigades in Jaffna were summoned, was called on to brief the future course of actions in Jaffna, the sources added. The security of the coastal areas was the special focus of the conference, informed sources said.

Gothabaya Rajapakse was appointed as defence secretary by his brother, Mahinda Rajapakse, who is the Sri Lankan President and the Commander-in-Chief of the SL forces. Gothabaya's visit to Jaffna comes after the attack on Sri Lanka Army commander, Lieutenant General G. S. C Fonseka, who had visited his former theatre of war at the end of March, 2006, before he was attacked.Mr Gothabaya Rajapakse served under Fonseka in Jaffna at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel when Fonseka was a Colonel, when both were forced to rescue the Sri Lankan troopers from the fort of Jaffna that was captured by the Tigers.

Leader of the Tamil Democrat United Liberation Front (TDULF), Vigneswaran is of the view that the petition filed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), before the Supreme Court seeking de-merger of the northern and eastern province, would only further antagonise the Tamils and drive them to the LTTE fold. Dr. Vigneswaran, who is also a member of the multi-ethnic expert group to advise the Sri Lanka President, told The Hindu , "The latest gimmick by JVP is a reflection of Sinhala chauvinism. It is a deliberate and mischievous act to widen the ethnic distrust". He said the merger of the two provinces took place after the Parliament approved the 13th amendment to the Constitution and was a consequence of the 1987 India-Sri Lanka accord. The TDULF leader maintained that the courts have no jurisdiction over the subject.

Two gunmen riding in a motorbike opened fire at auto-rickshaw vehicles, killing two drivers, both brothers, on the spot Sunday at 8:40 a.m. in Point Pedro, 30 km northeast of Jaffna town. The attack, marking a renewed terror campaign against auto-rickshaw drivers and owners in Jaffna district, took place opposite the main entrance of the Sri Lanka Army 52-4 Brigade quarters in Point-Pedro, Vadamaradchi.The victims, identified as Vaseekaran Navartnam, 25, and Paheerathan Navartnam, 20, were waiting for passengers Sunday morning at the auto-rickshaw parking at the old Point-Pedro Central Bus Stand, near Mahatma Ghandi statue, Police said.

The Jaffna University will reopen for freshers tomorrow (17). Acting Registrar of the Campus, P. Kandasamy told The Sunday Leader that there was no change in the date of reopening despite the current security situation. He said that the new security measures adopted by the Sri Lanka Army would not affect the university. "There are new security measures arranged by the security forces. I do not think that these would be a barrier to the students and would affect their work," Kandasamy said.

"Now it is too late to make any more plans. The students should not think of these but come for the lectures. If the situation becomes bad and affects the students, the university will have to come up with some plans to rectify the situation," Kandasamy said. He however said that student attendance was satisfactory until the campus closed for vacation. "The exams were held with not many problems and we hope it would continue this way," he said.

However, the students who had come to Colombo were reluctant to go back as they were not sure of the situation in Jaffna."There are confusing reports on the situation in Jaffna and we don't know what to do. We may have to go if campus starts as scheduled," a campus student said. However, Kandasamy said that campus would open on July 24 for the seniors.

The state and non-state parties to the Sri Lankan conflict want India to play a more active role.

AS Sri Lanka grapples with yet another round of ethnic conflict, the spotlight is on India. It is no surprise, since the island-nation is a mere 18 nautical miles away from India. With the wave of assassinations and bomb explosions reaching a new high in the past few weeks, the debate on the India factor is getting shriller. It revolves around questions such as whether India can afford to be a silent spectator to the events happening in its neighbourhood, what options it has before it, and what could be the possible scenarios.

Ironically, the various parties involved in the guessing game have their own expectations of India. The clear indications from New Delhi about the nature of its approach to the latest phase of turbulence has had little dampening impact on the expectations of key players. The perceptions in Sri Lanka on the influence India could exert in determining the course of events could actually be a cause for anxiety for New Delhi. For India, no common denominator is available from the varied expectations to define its role and carve out a please-all strategy. It is as if every interested party wants New Delhi to become a partner in its own pursuits. In other words, no one is ready to concede an unfettered role to India.

The ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and its chief and President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse, has not missed a single opportunity to talk about the importance of India and the role it can play in helping the government tackle the turmoil. Since assuming office in November 2005, Rajapakse has invoked the India factor and its relevance repeatedly in finding a lasting solution. However, these pronouncements are short on details.

However, senior Ministers and also the Foreign Office do spell out in private some of the things New Delhi could do in the short and medium term. The emphasis appears more on military rather than political involvement. They want greater military cooperation from New Delhi to take on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem in the context of the latter's newly acquired capabilities. In addition, they want India to make public statements on the need for a solution within the framework of a united Sri Lanka in order to disabuse the minds of the Tigers of any illusion that one day India would reconcile to a Tamil Eelam. The government wants India to convince the various constituencies in Sri Lanka of the virtues of federalism or what is often referred to as the `Indian model' as the ultimate solution.

Colombo is of the view that New Delhi has not paid enough attention to the growing military power of the LTTE, particularly in the context of the danger it poses to stability in the region. There have been murmurs about the insufficient appreciation on the part of India of the aerial raids conducted by the Sri Lankan military targeting the military airport supposedly built by the LTTE in the north. The exhortations by New Delhi on the adverse effect of collateral damage and civilian casualties, of course behind closed doors, are viewed as proof of India's indifference to the ground realities. Colombo's logic is that it is a war-like situation, if not war, and India should give the necessary leeway to Sri Lanka to deal with it, without raising too many questions.

The LTTE, the principal non-state party to the conflict, has its own expectations. Anton Balasingham, chief negotiator and ideologue, in a much-publicised interview to an Indian television channel, chose to articulate them. "As far as that event [Rajiv Gandhi assassination] is concerned, I would say it is a great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy for which we deeply regret and we call upon the Government of India and the people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind and to approach the ethnic question in a different perspective," he said.

Asked whether the LTTE could assure India that an event like the Rajiv Gandhi assassination would not happen again, Balasingham replied: "We have made pledges to the Government of India that under no circumstances we will act against its interest and that ever since the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, India played a detached role. What we feel is India should actively involve [itself] in the peace process."

It is a clever-by-half approach on the part of the LTTE. Without acknowledging its role in the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Balasingham tries to tell India to forget the past and focus on the rights of Tamils. He wants India to team up with the LTTE to take up the cudgels with the Sri Lankan government on behalf and in the name of Tamils.

Balasingham did not bother to clarify the LTTE's position as stated in its `Oslo communique', where it has returned to the position of `self-determination' and an independent Eelam state. There is wide consensus within and outside Sri Lanka that the appeal made by the LTTE for greater Indian involvement is a result of its own isolation in the international community. Perhaps it was a renewed effort to reach out to constituencies in Tamil Nadu that were disillusioned with the LTTE after the assassination.

The other non-state actors from the Tamil-speaking community concede that they have lost ground to the LTTE thanks to the policy of systematic elimination and co-option followed by the LTTE supremo V. Prabakaran in the past two decades. These parties have their own wish lists. They would like India to help them regain lost ground, particularly in the North and East. Besides, they want New Delhi to put pressure on Colombo to ensure that the legitimate grievances of Tamils are addressed and the process for genuine power-sharing between the South and the North and East is put on the fast track.

Veteran Tamil leader and president of the Tamil United Liberation Front V. Anandasangaree, in a lengthy letter to Rajapakse in the last week of June, made a strong case for the adoption of the `Indian model' to resolve the ethnic conflict and to isolate the LTTE. He argued for a sincere attempt by Colombo to end the conflict, on the grounds that the LTTE would settle for nothing less than Eelam, and said that a workable model on devolution of powers could be the beginning of a strategy to isolate the Tigers.

The non-LTTE political forces also desire a greater role from India in encouraging those who are willing to take on the LTTE. Of course, they have no clear thinking on how New Delhi could help them in regaining lost ground in the Tamil areas.

India, on its part, is watching the situation closely and sticking to a nuanced position emphasising the need for an `expeditious' solution to the legitimate aspirations of all sections of Sri Lankan society. A statement issued after a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in the third week of June said that the Prime Minister had conveyed India's abiding commitment to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka even while the legitimate aspirations of all sections of Sri Lankan society needed to be addressed expeditiously. It said he emphasised the need to make all possible efforts to strengthen the ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE and to work towards a devolution package that would win the approval of the major political parties and restore ethnic harmony.

The statement went on to add that Samaraweera conveyed to the Prime Minister that for his government, war was not an option and that it remained committed to a political solution. The government had invited the LTTE for talks to strengthen the ceasefire, he said. At the same time, an all-party conference in Sri Lanka decided to set up an advisory committee to look into different variants of a devolution package. India more or less repeated its position a day after the assassination of the deputy Army chief of Sri Lanka Lt. Gen. P. Kulatunga, on June 26 by a suspected suicide squad member of the LTTE on the outskirts of Colombo. Condemning the killing, India made it known that there could be no military solution to the ethnic conflict.

JVP Parliamentarians yesterday (14) filed fundamental rights applications before the Supreme Court seeking separate Provincial Council for the East.Petitioners Jayantha Wijesekera of Seruwila, L.K.Wasantha of Digamadulla and A.S.Mohamed Buhary cited the Attorney General, the Governor of the North East Provincial Council and the Commissioner of Elections as respondents.In their petitions, they are asking the court to declare that the Proclamations issued by former President J.R.Jayewardene on September 2 and 8 of 1988 enabling the Northern and Eastern Provinces as one administrative unit to be administered by one elected Council and purported amalgamation of the Northern and Eastern Provinces are null and void and of no legal effect.

They are also seeking a declaration from the court that the failure of the President to appoint a date by order published in the gazette for the establishment of a Provincial Council for the Eastern Province is an infringement and a continuing violation of their fundamental right to equality and they pray that such an order be directed to be made by the President.They are seeking another declaration from the court that the consequential failure to afford the petitioners and other inhabitants of the Eastern Province an opportunity to exercise their right to vote at an election for membership of the Provincial Council of the Eastern Province a denial of their right to equality and equal protection of the law.They are asking the court to declare that two separate persons be appointed by the President as Governors of the Northern Province and the Eastern Province respectively.

Daya Master, the spokesmn for the LTTE is on his way back home to Kilinochchi after receiving treatment at the Apollo Hospital, Narahenpita , for his heart ailment.He is being escorted back by the SLMM.

The National Movement Against Terrorism held a protest today calling on the government to immediately arrest LTTE media spokesman Daya Master who was rushed to Apollo Hospital, Colombo last night from Kilinochchi to receive medical treatment for severe heart ailment. Two demonstrations were also held opposite the French embassy and handed over two memorandums to the embassy calling for proper implementation of the LTTE ban.

Unidentified persons riding a motorbike lobbed a grenade at the Jaffna main office of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) at Temple road, around 12.45 p.m., Saturday. Several international organizations, including UNHCR, UNICEF, ICRC and SLMM also have their offices close to the TRO office. The Sri Lanka Army has a mini camp and check a post at Kaylasapillaiyar tempel, about 200 metres from the TRO office.The grenade exploded outside the front outer wall of the office building and no damages were caused, TRO officials in Jaffna said.

Sub Inspector Bandujeewa Bopitigoda of the Child Protection Authority who was arrested and detained by the LTTE at Murukkan, Mannar is expected to be released today.He was arrested by the LTTE with two other officers of the Authority on September 9, 2005 when they visited Mannar to apprehend British paedophile Michael Smith. Two of the officers were released subsequently but SI Bopitigoda was detained. SI Bopitigoda's wife and relatives through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. The Child Protection Authority also made requests through the International Amnesty and the President but they too were of no avail.

Meanwhile, SI Bopitigoda's relatives yesterday made a written request for his release from the LTTE appealing the organisation to consider the magnanimous gesture by the government permitting LTTE media spokesman Daya Master to come to Colombo for medical treatment on a request made by his wife. The request was made through the Monitoring Mission with the full knowledge of the Defence Ministry and the Peace Secretariat.The SLMM had handed over the letter containing the request yesterday itself to the LTTE Peace Secretariat.

The Navy’s Deputy Chief of Staff Sarath Weerasekera was yesterday appointed as Chief of Staff, a senior Defence Ministry official said.He said the letter of appointment signed by the President was forwarded to Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda.Navy Commander Karannagoda had reportedly recommended a six-month service extension for current Chief of Staff Sarath Rathnakeerthi but with the President not approving the extension, Rear Admiral Rathnakeerthi is due to retire on Sunday at the age of 55.The new Chief of Staff will assume duties on Monday after a brief ceremony at Navy Headquarters.

Members of the public, students, International NGO staffers, and Religious dignitaries staged a human-chain protest demonstration that stretched across the highway from Kallar to Oddamavady in Batticaloa district, calling for peace and a return to normalcy in the North and East on Friday from 9 to 10 a.m., sources in Batticaloa said. The demonstration was organised by humanitarian organizations in Batticaloa district.

Fighting intensifies between Sri Lankan troops, Tamil rebels, killing at least 16

Fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels killed at least 16 people, the Red Cross and rebels said Saturday, while the guerrillas said the clashes indicate Sri Lanka is fast heading back to a full-scale civil conflict.Of 13 government soldiers reported missing, as many as 12 may have died in the clashes in a rebel-held village in eastern Batticaloa district on Friday, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said Saturday."I am not able to confirm that until we get the bodies. So far as we are concerned, we have listed the soldiers as missing," Samarasinghe said.

He said Friday another four soldiers were wounded.A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said he expected the soldiers' remains would be returned to the military later Saturday."We have been told that there are 12 bodies of Sri Lankan soldiers and we are getting ready to receive them" from the Tamil Tigers, Sukumar Rockwood said.Samarasinghe said he had information that at least 10 Tamil rebels were killed in Friday's clashes, but there was no independent confirmation of that claim.The pro-rebel Web site TamilNet reported Friday that four rebel fighters were killed.

A spokesman for a Nordic cease-fire monitoring mission confirmed the fighting in Kulathumadu village, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) east of the capital, Colombo. Samarasinghe denied that troops had knowingly entered the rebel-held area, saying there was no way of knowing they had left government-held territory.Under a Norway-brokered cease-fire signed in 2002, both sides are prohibited from entering each other's territory with arms.

More than 750 people have been killed in escalating violence, especially in Sri Lanka's north and east, since December, raising fears that the island nation could plunge back into full-blown civil war."Friday's incursion ... marks a degree of escalation in the long-running 'low intensity war' between the (rebels) and the Sri Lankan military," TamilNet said Saturday.

The Tamil Tigers - formally named the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - have fought the government since 1983 for a separate homeland for the country's 3.2 million ethnic Tamil minority, accusing the 14 million Sinhalese of discrimination.More than 65,000 people were killed in the conflict before the 2002 truce.

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers on Saturday handed over the corpses of 12 soldiers they killed during one of the worst military clashes since a 2002 ceasefire, but said another they captured would be tried in their courts.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) handed the dead from Friday's clash to Red Cross officials, who took them from rebel territory in eastern Sri Lanka across a heavily defended border to government territory.

The Tigers, meanwhile, honoured four of their fighters killed during Friday's clash. "The captured soldier is injured and is being treated at a Tiger hospital," Daya Mohan, head of the rebel political wing in the eastern district of Batticaloa, told Reuters by telephone.

"He will not be released. He will be produced in our courts." The Tigers meanwhile rowed back on a pledge on Friday to release a policeman they have detained since September 2005 when he entered their territory without permission to track down a suspected foreign paedophile.

February 22-23, 2002: Ceasefire agreement between Sri Lankan government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam comes into force at midnight. Northern and eastern Sri Lanka demarcated between government- and LTTE- controlled areas, security restrictions eased.

September 5, 2002: Government de-proscribes LTTE, a pre-condition by the Tigers for negotiations.

October 31-Nov 3, 2002: Second session of talks. Sub-committees formed on sensitive issues, including de-escalation.

November 27, 2002: LTTE leader V. Prabakaran wants Sri Lanka Army to vacate Jaffna High Security Zones (HSZs).

December 2-5, 2002: Third session of talks (Norway). Government and LTTE agree to explore federal models.

December 26, 2002:The first parting of ways following differences on de-escalation of Jaffna HSZs.

January 6-7, 2003: Fourth session of talks (Thailand). Differences on HSZs persist.

April 21, 2003: LTTE "suspends" participation in talks, cites "excessive internationalisation" and "non-implementation of promises" by government.

October 31, 2003: LTTE hands over proposal for an Interim Self-Governing Authority for the North-East (ISGA).

November 4, 2003: President Chandrika Kumaratunga takes over Defence portfolio;Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe says he no longer has control over the peace process.

March 6, 2004: Revolt by LTTE's special commander, V. Muralitharan ('Col.' Karuna).

April 2, 2004: Wickremesinghe's United National Party loses snap parliamentary elections.

January, 2005: Differences between government and LTTE on tsunami relief distribution.

June 24, 2005: Government and LTTE sign Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (PTOMS).

August 12, 2005: Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar assassinated in Colombo. Government calls for talks on ceasefire implementation.

November 27, 2005: V. Prabakaran wants Colombo to give a "practical solution" within a year; otherwise LTTE would "intensify" its struggle.

March-April, 2006: LTTE pulls out of Geneva talks following differences on transportation of LTTE cadres between East and North.

April 26, 2006: Sri Lanka Army Chief Sarath Fonseka survives attack by suspected LTTE suicide bomber. Government resorts to limited "deterrent strikes", including aerial strikes, on LTTE locations.

May 12, 2006: LTTE claims "sovereignty" over land, sea and air in the North and East.

May 30, 2006: E.U. lists LTTE as a "terrorist organisation," freezes funds, bans fund-raising.

June 8, 2006: LTTE refuses to negotiate with government and protests against the presence of SLMM monitors from E.U. countries.

June 9, 2006: LTTE communique from Oslo says it is resuming fight for "self-determination".

June 10, 2006: LTTE's Mannar commander, `Col.' Mahendi killed in claymore attack.

June 15, 2006: 64 passengers killed in claymore attack on bus in Anuradhapura. Government and LTTE blame each other for attack.

June 15, 2006: Government's deterrent strikes on "specific targets" in the North-East, including LTTE's airstrip.

June 26, 2006: Deputy Chief of Sri Lanka Army Parami Kulatunga killed by suspected LTTE suicide bomber on the outskirts of Colombo. Government revives pre-ceasefire security measures.

TELO Wishes To The Government & The People of France on The occasion of Their National Day

Government spokesman and senior minister Keheliya Rambukwella claimed last night the police had discovered two claymore mines set 100 metres from his residence in Kandy apparently to attack him.Mr. Rambukwella told State TV ITN in its midnight bulletin he was grateful to the police for saving him from the attack.Minister Rambukwella said he was to go to Kandy but had to put it off due to an important engagement in Colombo. However, he said that his security unit which was inspecting the surroundings of his Kandy residence had detected the two claymore mines and called in the bomb disposal squad.

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have said government troops had penetrated deep within their territory and killed four rebel fighters. The incident occurred in a rebel-held region in the northeastern Trincomalee district, about 215 kilometers (135 miles) from the capital, Colombo, a report posted on the pro-rebel TamilNet website said Thursday.The defence ministry denied government troops had entered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territory.The rebels and the government signed a ceasefire in 2002 but it has been breached by almost daily tit-for-tat attacks in the past six months.At least 830 people have died in the violence since December, according to official figures.

Lawyers in the Jaffna peninsula are to boycott the proceeding of all courts in the districts Thursday (July 13, 2006) as a gesture of protest against the alleged attack and intimidation on the Additional Jaffna Magistrate Mrs.Srinithy Nanthasekaran by three soldiers. The members of the Jaffna bar met at an urgent session and resolved to stage this protest.

PLOTE Vavunia Leader killed

Leader of the PLOTE's military wing in Vavuniya has been shot and killed. The body of Ratnam Sriskandarajah, alias Bavan,46, was found Thursday morning at Cheddikulam, about 15 km. southwest of Vavuniya, police said. 'Bavan' has been operating with PLOTE in Vavuniya for a long period. He was abducted when he went Wednesday night to put up posters, sources said.

Gandhi killers taken to hospital

A couple convicted for killing former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi have been admitted to hospital in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The husband and wife have been on hunger strike since 26 June, because they want their 14-year-old daughter to be given a visa to enter India. She lives in Sri Lanka and has rarely been able to see her parents since they were imprisoned in 1992. Doctors in the town of Vellore say the couple's condition is stable.

The authorities say they have moved Nalini and Murugan to a government hospital as a precautionary measure. Earlier, a leader of Tamil Nadu's MDMK party wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommending that the visa be given to the teenager, who is being raised by her grandparents. Nalini and Murugan were sentenced to death but Nalini's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2000 while Murugan's mercy petition is pending before the Indian president.

Mr Gandhi was opposition leader at the time of his death in 1991, and had been campaigning in Tamil Nadu in the run-up to a general election. The attack has been blamed by India on a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber. The Tamil Tigers recently expressed "regret" for the killing. Indian courts are still seeking Tamil Tiger leader Prabhakaran and rebel intelligence chief Pottu Amman in relation to the attack.

Daya Master, the LTTE spokesman who was rushed to Colombo Wednesday night in an ICRC Ambulance has been taken into the Operation Theatre of the Apollo Hospital at Narahenpita, Colombo, for an urgent heart surgery.Daya Master's wife and son are with him at the hospital. The Assistant Superintendant of Police of the area has provided tight security for the middle rank LTTE leader at the hospital.Media has not been allowed to disturb the patient. Two correspondents from the Sinhala media were able to creep in somehow and extract information about the patient being taken into the operating theatre.

Daya Master was admitted to Kilinochchi hospital on Monday with a complaint of chest pain. He was detained at the hospital for observation. On detection of a heart problem, frantic moves were made to rush him to Colombo. SLMM officials accompanied Daya Master and his family all the way to Colombo along with the ICRC Ambulance and were with him till he was admitted to the Apollo Hospital at Narahenpita. Medical staff were at stand-by to conduct immediate test on the patient.

The executive of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) computer section who was arrested in connection with the video filming the Temple Trees, Katunayake Airport and Sapugaskanda Refinery is kept under detention. He is now under interrogation by the CID.. According to police the suspect had taken the films on CD and had stored them in his computer. He is reported to be a resident of Bambalapitiya and had been working for over 10 years at CPC. He has had a relationship with two women security guards who are residents in Jaffna. The suspect had told the police that he had permission to video these places from high officials of CPC.

29 arrests were made as a result of highly successful day long activity under Operation Enver on Thursday 8 July. The six boroughs of Brent, Croydon, Harrow, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest ran a three phased operation to arrest and disrupt criminal activity being perpetrated by a small number of Tamils against other members of the Tamil community.The day started early with a series of raids leading to arrests for offences including theft, possession of an offensive weapon, money laundering and drug offences. There was a wide range of seizures including over 50g of cocaine, weapons, cash and valuables.

The day continued with a successful reassurance phase where officers visited Tamil shops and premises and explained the reasoning for the earlier raids.Officers also promoted a new Tamil hotline, 0800 587 2935, set up at the request of the community as a way to leave details in Tamil anonymously if required.

Phase three began early evening with a co-ordinated Automatic number Plate Recognition operation across the same boroughs, which resulted in more arrests. Territorial Policing Commander Alfred Hitchcock oversaw the day's events, which he hailed as a triumph: "I would like to extend my thanks for the hard work and commitment of all those involved in the planning and action carried out. It is as a result of their hard work that this operation has given us these results.

"The success of the operation demonstrates the result of the Met working with the Tamil community to prevent this criminality and where it has occurred to quickly identify and apprehend those responsible."Whilst we have made major inroads into arresting and in many cases convicting those at the centre of much of the violence, the operation demonstrated how we have responded to intelligence and calls from the community, and are committed to working steadfastly to continue to disrupt violent and criminal activities and bring further perpetrators to justice."

The woman, Kanapathipillay Manjula Devi, who was alleged to have been the suicide bomber who jumped onto Army Commander Sarath Fonseka’s vehicle, is still among the living, latest investigations have revealed.A senior investigator said the woman suicide bomber, who initially resided in Rambukkana and later shifted to Weliveriya, had been initially identified as Manjula Devi. Her identity card was also found by the police. It was also revealed that Manjula Devi was in Anuradhapura when she was a child. But when a special police team visited the house at Anuradhapura, the parents informed police that it was not their daughter’s picture in the identity card, leading the investigations into another angle, the investigator said.

The Batticaloa Police yesterday searched the political office operated by the Karuna faction in the Batticaloa town following reports that three abducted youths were being held in the premises, the SLMM and the Karuna faction told the Daily Mirror.According to the SLMM, the search was conducted after witnesses informed the ceasefire monitors that the three missing men were seen in the office of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), the political arm of the Karuna faction.However, despite a more than one hour search by some 12 police officers, the three men were not found in the TMVP office premises, the SLMM said.

The Sri Lankan Government has categorically declared that it will not attempt to disarm LTTE renegade leader Karuna and his cadres, because it does not want to get entangled in another war, the newly launched 'Sunday Standard' said in its lead report. "Defence Spokesman, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella made the declaration amidst continuous LTTE pressure demanding the Government to disarm Karuna cadres, if they are to resume peace negotiations, the report said.

If the LTTE expects us to hunt down the Karuna faction, that's not possible at this stage simply because we will then have two wars to fight in the country, one with the LTTE the other with Karuna, Minister Rambukwella told the Sunday Standard. He however assured that the government was taking all steps to maintain law and order and the Karuna faction or any other armed group will be strictly dealt with. Minister Rambukwella also stressed that the Government was not ready to take any chances if it felt that the sovereign State was threatened, which was why it had decided to intensify the recruitment drive of youth to the military.

"We cannot take chances, although the most prudent thing to do is to negotiate for a peaceful settlement. But we must keep in mind that we are dealing with one of the most ruthless internationalized terrorist organizations. We have to be prepared even for the worst because we are responsible for 19.5 million people and the assets of this country," he said. Meanwhile, the Government has also taken steps to boost the intelligence unit of the Army, now debilitated after the great betrayal of the safe house at Athurugiriya during the UNP regime. The move comes amidst allegations that the security forces have failed to thwart many LTTE attacks against security forces and civilians including suicide missions.

Minister Rambukwella despite admitting that the country had suffered several incidents of large magnitude stressed that even most developed countries despite having all the intelligence and funding, terrorists have successfully infiltrated. "Despite lapses at some instances, what we should think is if not for our intelligence what will be the situation of the country today. We should also remember that we are dealing with a ruthless terrorist organization," he added.

A spokesman for Tamil Tigers on Wednesday suffered a heart attack in the northern rebel-held town of Kilinochchi and was being brought to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo for urgent medical treatment. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) media coordinator Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya master, suffered a cardiac attack and was being rushed to Colombo for heart surgery, the government's defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. Rambukwella said President Mahinda Rajapakse agreed to allow Daya master to be brought to Colombo with military escorts from Kilinochchi, a distance of 330 kilometres.

Head of Jaffna district PLOTE group, Sebastian Iruthayarajan (alias Bolder Rajan), 43, was shot dead along Martin Street, Jaffna by unknown gunmen Wednesday afternoon, sources in Jaffna said. Iruthayarajan was riding a bicycle towards the Girls' Convent located in Martin Street to pickup his school aged children when he was shot, witnesses to the shooting said.The gunmen followed Mr Iruthayarajan shot him at close range and escaped, sources said. His body is still lying in the middle of Martin Street, according to sources.Iruthayarajan is a father of nine children.

A senior member of People Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) for several years, Iruthayarajan was an honorary member of the last Jaffna Municipal Council under the leadership of Mr Sellan Kandaiyan, and resigned from his post with the other members after the controversial reign of the Council administration. Jaffna Police are investigating into the killing.

In the latest development at the main opposition United National Party (UNP), UNP strongman Milinda Moragoda submitted his resignation to the party leader last Sunday, informed sources said. “Mr. Moragoda met with UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe and discussed various issues for three hours,” Moragoda’s aide told ColomboPage. It is learned that Mr. Moragoda was in the center of controversy in the UNP for allegedly misusing trust vested in him by the party leader. “He handed over his resignation from the UNP organizer post in western Colombo and leaves to India,” his aide added. UNP seniors criticized Milinda Moragoda’s role for failing to submit valid nominations for the Colombo Municipal Council election.

Two policemen were killed and six others, including a civilian, injured when suspected LTTE cadres exploded a claymore mine targeting a police cab yesterday evening at Nallur in Jaffna. Military sources said the vehicle carrying some policemen was badly damaged by the blast of the claymore mine, which had been planted by the side of the Nallur-Nawaldi road.The injured were rushed to the Jaffna hospital. Meanwhile, a soldier sustained minor injuries when a claymore mine exploded at Uduppili in Jaffna yesterday morning. He was admitted to the Jaffna hospital.In another development, naval craft patrolling the seas off Vettalaikerni came under Sea Tiger attack in the early hours of yesterday. At least five LTTE boats had taken part in the attack. However the naval craft had repulsed the attack without suffering casualties, military sources said.

In a breakthrough in the investigations into the killing of Lieut. Gen. Parami Kulatunga, the Colombo Crimes Division has arrested a suspect in Jaffna, police said.The suspect said to be an LTTEer had reportedly given a cellular phone to the suicide bomber to help receive instructions and set up the suicide blast on the army’s deputy chief of staff. A resident of Kopai, the suspect had reportedly purchased the mobile phone from a shop in Jaffna town few months ago and later transferred it to the suicide bomber.Police said the suicide cadre had used this cellular phone in maintaining regular contact with LTTE leaders in Killinochchi and Jaffna.

Retired soldiers called to join SLA

The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has invited retired soldiers to join the force again.Defence ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe told journalists that the SLA had commenced recruiting soldiers for a special unit exclusively to safeguard Colombo.This new unit of 1000 soldiers "will be deployed only for security duties in Colombo," Brigadier Samarasinghe said. "We are also calling for those who retired from the army after 12 years of service to rejoin this special unit."

The SLA announcement came on Wednesday while four were killed in Jaffna.Two policemen have been killed in a mine ambush in Nallur while one SLA soldier was killed by a sniper attack, the military said.The SLA also said that a member of the Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) was shot dead in the Jaffna town.All these attacks were blamed on the Tamil Tigers.

India is to supply an air defense system for Sri Lanka shortly, a Defense Ministry source says. "The equipment is now on its way to Colombo," a high-ranking ministry official said. The news comes hot on the heels of a visit by Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran to Sri Lanka, bearing messages from New Delhi that India was fully backing the Rajapaksa administration’s efforts to bring peace, together with offers of support in various areas. In the wake of mounting threats by the LTTE to launch aerial attacks on key government installations, the government of India assured Colombo of its commitment to provide air defense radars to combat the threat.

The inauguration ceremony of the new General Hospital in Kilinochchi district, was held Monday 10, July 2006 at 11.30 a.m. presided by Kilinochchi district health services officer, Dr. Nandakumar, sources in Kilinochchi said. The hospital building on the main A9 Road in Anandapuram, Kilinochchi built with Rs. 600m funding assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was opened by Deputy Head of Liberation Tigers Political Wing, S Thangan who was the chief guest. The first phase of 200 beds, of a planned 600 bed facility, is now in operation and open to the public, hospital sources said.

The opening event began with a ceremonial parade led by traditional Tamil music band with dignitaries and guests taken in procession round the main hospital complex.The new General hospital has both Out-patient and In-patient departments complete with Pediatric, Maternity, Surgical, Public Health and Disease Control sections, a Pharmacy and a Dental clinic in addition to research facilities and a blood bank. Dr. S Kuharajah welcomed the dignitaries, guests, doctors, employees and the public followed by an address by S. Thangan.

Dr. K Nandakumar said the decision to build a hospital in Kilinochchi was made by a previous Kilinochchi district health services officer, Dr. Sathiamoorthy and the Government Agent (GA) Mr. Rasanayagam with a proposal for funding from ADB. He complimented Mr. Illankainesan a project director in NECORD for his perseverance in completing the present first phase in record time. He expressed his hopes that the two future phases of the planned 600 bed facility will be completed without much delay.Dr. Nandakumar said that furniture for the new facility from NECORD and the promised delivery of medical equipment by the Canadian Red Cross would arrive soon as anticipated.

Dr. Nandakumar stated that the most pressing issue facing the hospital is the shortage of doctors.He requested GA to make arrangements for medical specialists to make regular visits to the facility. Without the needed doctors patients have suffer the inconvenience of travelling to th Jaffna General Hospital or to the Vavuniya Hospital. Ambulances are force to make five to six trips a day, he said.He praised nursing staff and other hopital employees for their dedication in enabling existing hospitals to provide adequate levels of medical services during difficult times. He said the GA should take appropriate action to improve the facilities in these hospitals to bring them on par with the new hospital.

He cited the absence of a geriatric facility as one of the shortcomings.Earlier Dr. Nandakumar presented the hospital document also at the opening the first patient to the new facility was given treatment. Mr. Nandakumar said for the new hospital to function effectively cooperation of the people as well as the staff from other supporting sectors is crucial.

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka—A few weeks ago, after midnight, a white van full of what appeared to be government soldiers pulled up in front of Kanakan Sasikaran's house.They kicked in the back door and about 15 men, some of them with black masks, stormed into the house. They hauled Sasikaran, 29, from his bed, dragged him out to the van and, just before speeding off, struck his wife in the face with the butt of an AK-47 assault rifle. There has been no trace of Sasikaran since. Now, his weary relatives search for news at the Red Cross, the police station and, on this particular afternoon, in the hot waiting room of the human rights commission. It operates an arm's-length government agency that tries to record the troubling spike in killings and disappearances of Tamils here in the last six months.

Neither the army, nor the police say they picked Sasikaran up, according to his 45-year-old uncle Sittambalam Mohandas. His nephew, he says, worked as a tractor driver and has no connections to the Tamil Tiger rebels. "We don't know whether he is still alive or not," Mohandas says. "And if he is alive, where is he? We don't know the answers." In Jaffna, more than 100 Tamil civilians have been killed and 255 have been reported missing so far this year, according to Mudiappah Remadious, a lawyer at the human rights commission. The strong evidence has Remadious convinced that the Sinhalese-dominated security forces are behind at least 40 of the disappearances and most of the killings.

As Sri Lanka teeters at the brink of all-out civil war, the recent string of killings and disappearances of Tamils living in government-controlled areas is a chilling signal of the bloody ethnic fight that looms ahead. Neither the government nor the Tamil Tiger rebels who are fighting to create an independent homeland for the Tamil minority have yet declared war here. Nevertheless, fighting and attacks have killed more than 700 people — more than half of them civilians — so far this year. Diplomats and rights watchdogs like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are sounding the alarm about the killing and disappearance of Tamil civilians, which is spinning the cycle of violence out of control.

As the Tamil Tigers have stepped up their suicide bombings and attacks on military, government and civilian targets, the security forces appear to have responded by taking revenge on Tamil civilians. It has already created a culture of fear among Tamil civilians. Some 50,000 mainly Tamil refugees have left their homes since the end of April, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Some have moved into territory controlled by the Tamil Tiger rebels, others have paid smugglers to ferry them to India.

An estimated 40,000 soldiers patrol the 500,000 Tamils on the Jaffna peninsula. In Jaffna town, troops in full combat gear line the streets at 20-metre intervals. And when their 15-truck convoys barrel through the centre of town, civilians are forced to the roadside. Across town, a Roman Catholic priest who's also been recording the human rights violations unfolding around him worries that a government plan to terrify Tamil civilians is working, especially in Jaffna.

On his desk sit two file folders, one labelled "killing list" and the other labelled "missing." He pulls a spreadsheet from the "missing" file and begins to read: "April. 38 missing. Nine traced. 29 not traced. May. 55 missing. 18 traced. 37 not traced." The soft-spoken priest looks up: "We haven't finished (the month) yet, but the number is still increasing." He fears many of these missing Tamils are already dead. "It's schematized killing," he says. "To threaten the people. To keep them under pressure. To send the message that the government can save the life and the government can destroy the life."

The priest doesn't want his name published because so the security forces don't hinder his work. The military, however, claims that its soldiers have nothing to do with the disappearances or killings. "Civilians get caught in the crossfire also, but there are no organized killings," says army spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. "And about the disappearances, of course the army is not responsible for this. Whenever someone is taken into custody, they are handed over to the police."

But when pressed, Samarasinghe admits that there may be "a few bad eggs. "When you take 1,000 people in the army, you get one or two corrupted people, right," he says. "If we find them and they are found guilty they will definitely be court martialled and punished." "There is very good evidence that the security forces have once again started killing civilians and quite indiscriminately," says a Western diplomat in Colombo, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Most recently, for example, the Tigers were thought to be behind the bombing of a bus last month that killed 68 and injured 66 civilians. Two days later, members of the Navy hurled grenades into a church in the western town of Pesalai, where 3,000, mainly Tamil refugees, had taken shelter. The grenade blew one woman's head off and injured 47 others inside the church, according to a report by Ryappu Joseph, the bishop of Mannar, and filed with the Vatican.

"See the cruelty here. I don't think anything like this happens anywhere else in the world," says the Human Rights Commission's Remadious. What frightens him is how quickly the scope of such killings and disappearances is growing. Families have been executed in their homes. Hindu worshippers have simply disappeared from their temples. And when the putrefied remains of a missing Hindu priest and a retired high school principal were discovered in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Jaffna the government authorities refused to continue searching the suspected mass grave, Remadious says.

"The suspected places are still under supervision (by the army)," the priest said. "They can't exhume them." Remadious, the priest and several diplomats agree that neither the police nor the judiciary is seriously investigating most of the killings and disappearances. They worry signs of a government cover-up suggest the orders to carry them out may have come from Colombo. "You basically have an apparatus in terms of law enforcement and institutional culture, that created this problem in the past — in the '90s. It was never effectively dismantled," says an international analyst who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Things are switching back to their old ways and tactics," the analyst said. "I think maybe it's too far to say it's a calibrated strategy, but the signals and so forth come from the top." To make matters worse, the Tamil Tigers' propaganda machine is using these attacks to justify their own attacks on government and civilian targets. "Invariably, it is a self-defence exercise that the Tamil people are engaged in," S.P. Thamilselvan, the Tigers' political leader, said in a recent interview, describing the guerrillas' fight.

Right now, for example, gruesome photos of the killing of a family of four, where the mother and daughter were raped and then hanged, are pasted on telephone poles and in shops throughout the territory controlled by the Tamil Tigers. Everyone assumes the military was behind the attack. But the government's own propaganda machine is at work, too. Not far from the priest's office, a giant government troop carrier equipped with loudspeakers rumbles by carrying an auspicious message. "Some groups are trying to destroy the good relationship that exists between the army and the civilians," the voice says over the loudspeaker in perfect Tamil. "Don't believe them. They are spreading rumours."

All signs are, India is going to step into the Sri Lankan arena. India is not happy the US is taking more interest. US interest, US presence and US influence in its backyard is anathema to India. Men of eminence from Indian think Tank have commenced a crusade advocating India's interference in favour of the Sri Lankan polity. India's move against the LTTE, perhaps may precipitate an early war. If India openly assists or supports the Sri Lankan government, then the JVP, JHU and the militant elements in the Armed Forces would recommend an early declaration of war. Are the Tamils and the LTTE aware of this? How are they going to face the contingency? Is history going to repeat itself? OR, is a new history in the making? Here's what Ashok K Mehta proposes

The story of the Government's firefighting action in Nepal is instructive. While the crisis was brewing, BJP leader Jaswant Singh was invited to Kathmandu by King Gyanendra. A special RNA aircraft was to take him there. He informed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and requested for a briefing on Nepal. This spurred the Government into looking for its own emissary. Celebrating Baisakhi in Jammu, another Maharaja, Dr Karan Singh, was hurriedly recalled to Delhi and put on the first plane to Kathmandu to preempt any non-Government initiative. Yet, CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury outside the Government is now the visible face of India's Nepal policy

India's Sri Lanka policy has its moorings - you guessed right - in Chennai. The escalation during May and June in violence - a combination of Claymore mines and suicide attacks by LTTE and air and artillery 'deterrent retaliation' by Sri Lankan Security Forces (SLSF) - in Sri Lanka led to a steady stream of refugees into Tamil Nadu. A joint but mild resolution by the ruling DPA alliance asked Delhi to "take necessary steps to ensure peace in Sri Lanka". The DPA was seeking protection for Sri Lankan Tamils including their human rights, safety of fishermen and freeze on supply of weapons to SLSF. It had objected to the sale of two low-level radars for deterrence against LTTE's fleet of six light aircraft which could be used on a possible kamikaze mission to Colombo. Manmohan Singh sent National Security Advisor MK Narayanan to Chennai to assuage southern Indian concerns and had M Karunanidhi saying his policy on Sri Lanka was the same as the Government of India's..

Earlier, India's High Commissioner in Colombo, Ms Nirupama Rao, was summoned to Delhi and was one of the four persons who met the Prime Minister while he was convalescing after a wrist operation. She brought a set of options on what India could and should not do. Remember, the new Sri Lankan President, Mr Mahinda Rajapakse, had pleaded for India to be more proactively involved in Sri Lanka. One of the 'dos' recommended by Ms Rao was the provision of defensive weapons only to SLSF whereas they had been asking for tanks and aircraft.

In a worse crisis than the present in April 2000 the NDA Government not only refused to supply any weapons it also ignored a request to evacuate the Sri Lankan garrison in case LTTE had overwhelmed Jaffna peninsula. Today, Sri Lankans recall that the Pakistan-supplied Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers saved Jaffna. On his first visit to India earlier this year, Mr Rajapakse had given Mr Manmohan Singh a list of military needs and followed it up with a polite reminder. Later he sent his brother, Defence Secretary Col Gothabaye Rajapakse, to prod Indian officials on his request but apparently while they were very positive, nothing happened. One more effort was made last month when Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera arrived on a sudden visit to brief Mr Manmohan Singh on the evolving situation in Sri Lanka and also handed over a letter from Mr Rajapakse requesting military supplies.

Mr Manmohan Singh's message for Samaraweera was clear - the need for a political solution, the first time India had publicly done some plain speaking. The assassination of General Parami Kulatunge in Colombo on June 26 drew an uncharacteristically strong response from Ms Rao but, conspicuously, mention of LTTE was absent. While emphasising the importance of the political solution, the statement contained the standard "upholding the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka".

Days later, the politically cornered LTTE fielded its chief ideologue Anton Balasingham to express regret over the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi which was clarified by the outfit's spokesperson Thaya Master as "not owning responsibility for the killing". The Congress went into a tizzy. Its party in Chennai plastered posters demanding a ban on anti-national parties like AIADMK and its allies MDMK and DPI. If Delhi is to be more effective in the peace process, it has to reopen lines to the LTTE.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran's visit to Colombo last week was the high point in the current trajectory of India's revived self-interest in Sri Lanka. The gloves are not quite off but after the fiasco in Nepal, Delhi wants to ensure it is not caught napping with another Elephant Pass. Mr Saran told his interlocutors that violence must end and "we will do whatever we can to bring down tension". This is significant. Even more significant is "our security cooperation is aimed at building deterrence of SLSF". No Indian official has ever said this before. If one is to build an effective deterrence, one has to gauge its current operational capacity. SLSF is poor and low in this and also completely demoralised compared to an upbeat LTTE celebrating the 19th anniversary of Black Tigers Day, an awesome reminder of Prabhakaran's glorification of the ultimate act. Last week, he was shown blessing his flock of self-destructive bombers with an aircraft painted in camouflage colours in the background.

If India is serious about enhancing deterrence, it has to intensify defence cooperation and provide or enable SLSF with more than just defensive weapons. Mr Rajapakse's list of needs has to be scrutinised and minimum requirements met before Pakistan and China, waiting in the wings, step in. Is it UPA or DPA that is making policy, especially after Mr Karunanidhi has said his policy is the same as the Government of India's?

Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, Commander of Sri Lankan Navy, is in Delhi and yesterday thanked the Coast Guard for transferring one of its vessels to SLN. He said he needed another offshore patrol boat. The SLN has faced the worst onslaught of the Sea Tigers recently. Karannagoda would like the Indian Navy's patrolling the Eastern Coast of Sri Lanka to be more intimately coordinated with SLN. Our Integrated Defence Staff has declared the Sea Tigers as a threat to India too.

It is worth recalling that the origin of the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka was the change in President and Army High Command at the same time. While Mr Rajapakse announced a reversal from federal to unitary polity, Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, an assassin's bomb shrapnel still inside him, adopted a more proactive approach, replacing the 'live and let live' policy. Last year, Prabhakaran had warned the President about coming up with a political package in a reasonable time frame or 'face the consequences'.

After India perked up so has the political process towards a devolution package in Colombo. Der aaye lekin durust aaye. Now Delhi has to match its words with deeds or 'face the consequences'.

LTTE men get invite to talk reforms in constitution

Sri Lanka's president on Tuesday invited Tamil Tiger rebels to participate in reforming the country's constitution - a key demand of the insurgents _ saying it was the only way to achieve the aspirations of ethnic minority Tamils.President Mahinda Rajapakse extended the invitation during a meeting with a committee appointed by the government to suggest ways to grant more autonomy to Tamil areas, where rebels have pushed for a separate homeland. Hours before Rajapakse's comments, suspected rebels exploded a bomb in the Tamil city of Jaffna, killing a government soldier, the Media Unit of the defence ministry said.

Rajapakse condemned such violence, saying it was only through constitutional reforms "that the aspirations of the Tamil people can be addressed, not through the streams of blood and shattered limbs". "There are many examples around the world that we may study as we evolve a truly Sri Lankan constitutional framework, including our immediate neighbour India," Rajapakse said, in a reference to India's federal system. No comment was immediately available from the rebels. Rajapakse set up the committee to examine methods of power sharing, focusing on models in India and Canada. "The committee is expected to give a broad framework on how to share power by advising constitutional reforms," chief government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella earlier said. "They will work out the legal aspects on how to grant more powers without dividing Sri Lanka," he said

The Ceylon Workers Congress today(11) decided to join the government. Following this decision, CWC parliamentarian Muttu Sivalingam will take oaths tomorrow (12) as a deputy Minister, party deputy chairman R.Yogarajan told 'Lanka e News'.When asked as to why the CWC decided to join the government, Yogarajan said an official statement will be issued tomorrow.At the recently concluded local government polls, the Congress contested in an alliance with the government.

Meanwhile despite earlier speculations that CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman will be offered Civil Aviation portfolio, it is now reported that he will not accept a ministerial portfolio. Thondaman was reported to have made claims for the Civil Aviation portfolio held by Mangala Samaraweera.'Lanka e News' reported on June 10th that Samaraweera had threatened to step down if any changes were made in his portfolios.

A Sea Tiger boat was destroyed when the Sri Lanka Navy returned fire in Kilaly lagoon this afternoon, the Navy said. Sources said three Navy boats conducting patrols in the Kilaly lagoon observed a LTTE fiberglass dinghy approaching them at high speed from the Nagathivanthurai area. The approaching LTTE craft opened fire at the Navy boats and naval troops retaliated, resulting in complete destruction of the boat along with four Sea Tigers. The Navy is currently conducting a search operation in the lagoon.

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will undertake a two-day official visit to India on July 19.The visit of Wickremesinghe comes in the backdrop of India indicating its willingness to be more engaged in Sri Lanka’s peace process during last week’s visit of External Affairs Ministry Secretary, Shyam Saran.The special two-day programme for Wickremesinghe will include a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Party Leader Sonia Gandhi.The Morning Leader learns the talks will centre on the peace process, the escalation of violence, a political solution to the conflict and the breakdown of relations between President Mahinda Rajapakse and the UNP.

A weapon belonging to the army captain taken in for questioning in connection with journalist Lakmal Silva’s killing is to be examined to determine whether they were used to fire the fatal shots.The police detectives who are conducting investigations into the journalist’s killing said they had received threats from some unidentified people.The journalist is reported to have been in possession of information on people who have gone missing after being arrested by the state intelligence service.

It is also reported that many journalists who write articles on defence matters have also received death threats. The Defence Minister has decided to hand over the investigations on these complaints to the CID and the CID has been directed to arrest those known to have threatened the journalists.

The LTTE cannot expect to indulge in violence and gain international acceptance, outgoing US Ambassador Jeffery Lunstead said yesterday."You cannot bomb your way to a solution, the LTTE should get it," he said during his farewell press conference. Lunstead however said that the LTTE should be involved in any sort of negotiations."I think you have to talk to the LTTE, the LTTE needs to change its behaviour for talks to resume."

The outgoing Ambassador said that the SLMM would find it difficult to operate if members from European Union nations are removed as monitors by September as demanded by the LTTE. "It would be very difficult for the SLMM to operate if EU monitors are removed. Without the SLMM the situation would become all the more difficult." Lunstaed said that he hoped that LTTE reconsiders its position and allows the SLMM to continue.

He said that the goal of the US designating the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organisation was to get the LTTE to move away from violence and ultimately removed it from the list. The US has been holding discussions with other countries that have banned the LTTE to effectively monitor fund-raising and other activities.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress politburo yesterday gave the green light to their leader Rauf Hakeem to go ahead and try to bring a settlement between the SLFP-led coalition government and UNP-led Opposition, as it was important in reaching a consensus on the ethnic conflict and to avert an imminent war, Chairman of the SLMC and Parliamentarian Cegu Dawood said.The present stand of the UNP is to boycott the All Party Conference since their MPs are being lured into the government’s ranks. They have decided to oppose all Bills presented in Parliament even if they are beneficial to the ordinary people, he said.The meeting also decided to focus attention on the security of Muslims in the East and to start discussion with the LTTE on this.

In response to the call by the Sammanthurai Majlis Assurah, residents of Sammanthurai division in Amparai district Tuesday observed general shut down condemning the killing of Mohideen Bawa Nizar, a bodyguard of Mr.Anwer Ismail, Minister of Irrigation and Amparai district parliamentarian two days ago, and to protest against killing of Muslim civilians in the North East, sources said. Business establishments, government offices, schools and branches of state and private sector banks were closed. All transport services through Sammanthurai came to a standstill. Business establishments in Mavadipalli and Maruthamunai also were closed in support of the general shut down, sources said.

Mr.Anwer Ismail held a press briefing later and explained the objective of the general shut down.He said his bodyguard was killed in a premeditated well planned attack. Within two months this was the fourth time his bodyguards have been attacked. His residence was also attacked earlier, he said.He further said these attacks had been made by nefarious elements who are determined to defeat Muslim people in achieving their legitimate aspirations. "Everyone should strive hard to strengthen the harmony among Tamil and Muslim communities," said Mr.Anwer Ismail.Mr.Dayamohan, Batticaloa District LTTE political head denied the allegation made by Mr.Anwer Ismail at the press conference that there were reports that LTTE was behind the killing of his bodyguard. Mr.Dayamohan said the killing was an internal matter to the Muslim community.

India and Sri Lanka are to sign an MOU for the Mega Coal Fired Power Project in Trincomalee which would provide 500 MW electricity, at an affordable price to consumers.Minister of Power and Energy W. D. J. Seneviratne, commenting on this project, said this energy at an affordable price would be most welcome at a time when fuel prices are sky rocketing. The project is on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis and would have BOI status. It is estimated to cost US dollars 500 million. A high level Indian government delegation is expected in Colombo at the latter part of this week to finalise the signing of the MOU

The Minister said 65 per cent of the country’s electricity needs are met by thermal power and the government has put on hold an inevitable price increase taking into consideration the cost of living. A further price increase would further burden the poor masses, he said."Taking all into consideration I am determined to go ahead with the Electricity Reforms Amendment Bill. But certain sections of the coalition are pressurizing the President to remove me from my portfolio" Seneviratne said.The government also has plans for alternative cheaper energy sources but they are now being studied, he said.

LeT, SIMI hand in Mumbai blasts

The terror attack on Mumbai trains was carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba and local Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists and was designed to trigger communal conflagration in the country’s financial capital, intelligence sources said. While still waiting for clues to emerge, top intelligence sources in New Delhi seem pretty sure the blasts on the trains were plotted by Lashkar modules which are increasingly collaborating with activists of SIMI, which boasts of strong pockets of influence across Maharashtra. The estimate of intelligence agencies here is derived from the scale of the attack, as well as precise information about the Lashkar’s sleeper cells that have proliferated in Maharashtra.

Sources in the home ministry, in fact, said that a carnage had seemed very much on the cards with information pouring in about stockpiling of arms and explosives by religious extremists. Unlike last time when tip-offs helped the Maharashtra police foil the fidayeen attack on RSS headquarters at Nagpur, this time, Maharashtra and central sleuths failed to detect the plot. "Every time, you cannot be lucky. Information as to which train they are going to attack and where is not easy to come by," said a top intelligence official engaged in counter-terror operations.

Officials here are convinced that the terrorists' objective was to cause communal mayhem in the city. The conviction is based on two facts. First, the trains were targeted just after the communal-tinged violence in Bhiwandi, and the protests by Shiv Sainiks over the insult to the statue of Meenatai Thackeray by miscreants.

SOUTH Block in New Delhi must be busy drafting and redrafting India’s policy towards its neighbours. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran was in Sri Lanka last week, telling government and opposition leaders about what India thought they should do, while special envoy Sitaram Yechuri, a Communist Party leader, was in Nepal on a similar mission.The two missions had clear messages to the leaders of the two countries. In Nepal, Yechuri, whose party has differences with the Congress Party over privatisation reforms, was in congruence with the thinking of South Block when he articulated India’s stand with regard to new political realities in Nepal. He said India should have no objection towards a possible United Nations role in Nepal — a demand put forward by the Maoist rebels to enter the political mainstream. But the media in Nepal speculated that Yechuri’s mission was to advise the interim government and the Maoists, albeit diplomatically, on the parameters of India’s limits of tolerance.

In Sri Lanka, Sharan advised government and opposition leaders on how they should get about with the threat facing the country with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam increasing the tempo of violence. He was not licensed to meet the LTTE, a banned terrorist group in India. Saran is due to retire from his post later this year, but he is tipped to get a post at the Prime Minister’s Office as an adviser, especially on Sri Lankan affairs. His visit was unannounced and unscheduled, but it was certainly not like how US President George W. Bush visited Iraq last month. The government was informed that Saran was coming, but it was not in a position to raise the ante and say "the President is busy and unable to meet him" — a diplomatic snub sometimes thrown at Norwegian facilitators when Colombo wants to express its displeasure over Oslo’s alleged mollycoddling with the Tiger rebels. The India’s top diplomat was here not only because India was concerned about the escalating violence and its spillover effect on Tamil Nadu, but also because India was alarmed by reported moves aimed at bringing in Britain or the UN as mediators instead of Norway.

New Delhi can welcome the presence of Norway or the UN as facilitator in Nepal where it is concerned about China’s growing influence, or in Sri Lanka, but not the presence of a country that may not heed India’s concerns. But when India felt that Sri Lanka was seriously toying with the idea of roping in players more powerful than Norway, it was to time to act. The Saran mission came hard on the heels of a visit by Sinn Fein Chief negotiator Martin McGuiness to Sri Lanka where he met the President and LTTE leaders. His visit follows a secret trip to Britain by an adviser of President Rajapaksa who is desperate to stop the present low-intensity war exploding into a full-scale war. The presidential envoy is reported to have discussed with British government officials about the worsening security situation in Sri Lanka and even invited Britain, our colonial master whose divide-and-rule policy is seen by some as the root cause of the ethnic crisis, to play a facilitator role.Some analysts here believe that there is more to it than meets the eye in the visit of McGuiness to Colombo and on a special Air Force helicopter to Kilinochchi to meet the Tiger leaders.

Saran’s visit heralded a significant shift in India’s Sri Lanka policy which Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee put in some perspective when he addressed a media conference at a high-level Asia-Pacific security meeting in Singapore last month.Mukherjee said New Delhi would not play an active role in the Sri Lankan peace process although it fully supported Colombo’s search for peace.He said India avoided an active role in Sri Lanka’s peace process because of ethnic reasons and its belief that a "pro-active and active participation will complicate the issue instead of resolving it". But last week Saran was advising the government and the opposition what to do and what not to do. He is reported to have told the President to draw a distinction between the LTTE and the Tamil community. He urged the government to offer the Tamil people a devolution proposal and said India would be more than happy to share its devolution model with Sri Lanka.

But whether Rajapaksa will heed India’s advice and offer federalism as a solution remains to be seen. After all, federalism is a taboo word in the Sinhalese-dominated southern parts of the country, although Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had political courage to include it in his election manifesto last year. Rajapaksa was returned to office on a pledge that he would devolve power within a unitary Sri Lanka while Wickremesinghe said it would be within a united Sri Lanka. The government now says it would devolve power within an "undivided" country. It is naïve to believe that political nomenclature and the Indian model could offer a solution. If so, the problem could have been solved long time ago. With India signalling an active shift in its Sri Lanka policy, hope is stirred in this peace-starved country. During the week when McGuiness and Saran were here, there was a lull in the violence. President Rajapaksa is reported to have told Saran that India cannot find a better friend in Sri Lanka than him. In diplomatic parlance, a friend could also mean a vassal. But such a diplomatic stance is a price worth paying for the sake of peace.

During peace negotiations in South Sudan, Northern Ireland, Montenegro and Bougainville, the international community did not set "united country" as a pre-negotiation parameter for the expected outcome of a negotiated solution. The international community's stand that solution to the Tamil national question should be found within a united Sri Lanka, runs contrary to the current international practice, and to the law of self-determination, argued Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, legal advisor to the Liberation Tigers, in a paper presented at a conference held in Zurich in April. The paper was released by the organizers, the Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD), Sunday.LTTE's flexibility in the current peace process

Mr. V. Rudrakumaran said that partial blame for the impasse in Sri Lanka's peace process rests with the international community.

Extracts from the paper follow:

The Sri Lankan leaders repeatedly claim that they had established an "international safety net" designed to surround and contain the Tamils' struggle for self-determination.The international community has failed to repudiate these claims and disassociate itself from the stated partisan goals of such a "safety net". The most damaging aspect of the international community's action was its insistence that a solution should be found within a unified Sri Lanka.

Such a position is not only contrary to the law of self-determination, which states that self-determination can be exercised intra alia through the establishment of an independent state. It is also contrary to the current international practice with respect to national conflicts in other parts of the world.

The Machakos Protocol, signed with the facilitation of the US, the UK, Norway, and Italy, recognized the South Sudanese people's right to form an independent state. The Protocol provides for a referendum in South Sudan after six years on the question of remaining within the state of Sudan or forming a separate state.

Similarly, the Good Friday agreement allows the people of Northern Ireland to determine their political future through a referendum every seven years. Along these same lines, the Serbian - Montenegrin Agreement recognizes the Montenegrin people's right to form an independent state and provides for a referendum on this matter after three years.

The Papua New Guinea- Bougainville Agreement allows Bouganville to hold a referendum between ten and fifteen years to ascertain the political aspirations of the Bouganville people. South Sudan, Northern Ireland, Montenegro and Bougainville are not relics of colonialism. The above conflicts arose in non-colonial contexts. The international community did not oppose the Machakos Protocol on the grounds that it infringed on the sovereignty or the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom.

It did not oppose the Serbia - Montenegro Agreement on the grounds that it infringed on the sovereignty or the territorial integrity of Serbia. It did not oppose the Papua New Guinea - Bougainville agreement on the grounds that it violated the sovereignty or the territorial integrity of Papua New Guinea. The international community did not set any pre-negotiation parameters on what the outcome of peace negotiations should be in any of the above-mentioned conflicts.

Recently, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stated that "Talks on whether Kosovo should remain part of Serbia or be given independence should start soon." Thus, although the international community employs concepts such as "earned sovereignty," "phased out sovereignty," and "conditional sovereignty" in the above conflicts, its insistence that the Tamil - Sinhala conflict on the island of Sri Lanka be resolved within a united country creates a perception that the international community is applying a double standard.

Even purely from the point of view of negotiation, leaving the options of "earned sovereignty," "phased out sovereignty," and "conditional sovereignty" off the negotiation table will reduce the incentive for the Sinhala Nation to put forward a meaningful power-sharing proposal or even to take the peace process seriously. On the other hand, having these options on the table will increase the confidence of the Tamils in the fairness of the current peace process.

The Seminar in Zurich, "Envisioning New Trajectories for Peace in Sri Lanka", was organized by the CJPD in collaboration with the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies.The CJPD is an organization formed with a team of diaspora Tamil intellectuals and international experts in the field of conflict resolution.

Exodus from UNP to govt, Mahinda to reshuffle the pack

A group of UNP parliamentarians, including Navin Dissanayake and Milinda Moragoda, will cross over to the Government. President Mahinda Rajapakse has already decided on a cabinet reshuffle and to abolish non-cabinet portfolios in a bid to accommodate the defectors from the UNP, senior Government sources said yesterday (10).The cabinet reshuffle is likely to be effected within the coming fortnight but a number of UNP crossover parliamentarians are to be sworn in as deputy ministers pending the cabinet reshuffle sources said.They placed the number of crossover UNPers at seven.

Navin Dissanayake, son of former UNP leader Gamini Dissanayake, is tipped to be sworn in as Deputy Minister of Mahaveli Development or Foreign Affairs, while Anuradhapura District UNP parliamentarian W. B. Dissanayake, who crossed over last week, is to be sworn in as Deputy Minister of Highways shortly, sources said.

President Rajapakse summoned a meeting of senior cabinet ministers last Saturday (8) at the President’s House Kandy. Some Ministers were taken by chopper to Kandy, to discuss the new political situation. They were SLFP General Secretary and Mahaveli Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena, Chief Government Whip and Trade Minister Jeyraj Ferandopulle, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Education Minister Susil Premajayantha.

President Rajapakse has informed the ministers, who were summoned to Kandy, that a cabinet reshuffle was imminent and some changes in the system of non-cabinet portfolios were on the cards. But he had not gone into the details of what he had in mind.President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga was also present, sources said.

The 15-member multi ethnic Advisory Board, a body of legal and constitutional experts tasked with facilitating a power sharing plan will meet today under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's chairmanship following Government efforts to explore a home grown solution to the ethnic crisis. The Advisory Body initially designed to accommodate 12 members was later expanded to 15 to make room for more Tamil and Muslim representation, Government sources said. According to Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella the advisors are expected to study all devolution modules that are in currency today including that of neighbouring India, but ultimately crafting of a power sharing plan would be done on the basis of meeting the aspirations and the needs of the different communities.

He said the Advisory Board comprises of representatives from political parties represented at the All Party Conference (APC) sans the main opposition United National Party and will be headed by President's Counsel and Constitutional lawyer H.L. de Silva. Commenting on the boycott, UNP Deputy General Secretary Tissa Attanayake raised party concerns over increasing human rights violations in the North-East and elsewhere and said they have serious doubts with the Government's sincerity to find a lasting political solution to the national question.

Attanayake said: "We have written to the Peace Secretariat on our stance" adding that the Government has still failed to put forward any concrete proposals on devolution despite several sittings of the APC. He assured that the UNP would not try to sabotage any efforts to solve the national crisis and said it will continue to be present at the APC. "We have not yet decided to withdraw from the APC," he said adding that party's Political Affairs Committee scheduled to meet today will make a decision on this issue. Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance sources said they were not invited to the Advisory Board.

Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed a Sri Lankan soldier in a mine ambush on Tuesday, the army said, while in the capital a meeting on constitutional reform began without the rebels or opposition.The government says it hopes the first meeting of a committee aimed at reforming the constitution will be the first step to peace, but they say they fear the Tigers will keep up violence in an attempt to destroy a 2002 ceasefire and start a new civil war. There was an explosion -- an attack on a foot patrol," army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said, blaming the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the attack on the northern Jaffna peninsula. "One soldier was killed."

Security forces in Jaffna said the claymore mine -- a block of plastic explosive that sends out a hail off ball bearings when detonated -- was hidden under a tree where soldiers often rested.More than 700 people have been killed so far this year, over 200 in June alone. Violence appears to have fallen slightly in July but, with the peace process still entirely deadlocked, military sources say the Tigers may be preparing a new attack.The Tigers, who have fought for two decades for an ethnic Tamil homeland in the north and east, say that the government is not serious and accuse the military of attacks on Tamil civilians. They pulled out of talks in April.

The government says it wants to move beyond discussing the battered ceasefire -- and a breakaway group of ex-Tiger fighters now said to be government-backed -- to talk about a lasting solution to a conflict that has killed some 65,000 people.That would mean changing Sri Lanka's constitution to give more power to the northern and eastern provinces that are home to minority Tamils and Muslims. But few expect the government's appointed committee will offer enough to satisfy the rebels.Neither the rebels nor their political proxies will attend and on Saturday the opposition United National Party (UNP) also pulled out of the meeting.The UNP said the government had not enough given details on its stance on the peace process, but the party is also unhappy over the recent defection of UNP parliamentarians to the government.

Govt Ban on fishing Results In Starvation and Death In Mannar Tamil Areas

Due to the ethnic crisis, people in the coastal areas face economic problems in addition to stress and harassment. The people of the coastal areas have still not recovered from the disasters of war and Tsunami but the ban on fishing imposed on the North –East has made their situation worse. As far as the fisher folk are concerned, fishing is their traditional form of their livelihood. They cannot change their means of earning over night .In this background the ban can cause severe hardships.

The fishermen of Thalaimannar, Pallimunnai and Pesalai have faced untold miseries in recent times due to ban on fishing. Similarly, the fishermen of Mannar are affected by the limited ban on fishing. Today a committee of the Federation of Fisherman of Mannar meets at an emergency meeting. The efforts taken by the government agent, the divisional secretary, the non-governmental organizations and the fishing societies to get the ban lifted have failed to bring any concrete result They are unable to remain peacefully without any harassment in their homes. They complain that the quality of the two-week dry ration is very poor. Instead they want the ban on fishing lifted. We wish to point out that imposing a ban on fishing under the pretext of security is not prudent.

Sri Lanka naval chief in India

Sri Lanka's new navy chief, Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, is visiting India amid concerns in both countries about spiralling violence in the island. The Admiral, making his first visit abroad since assuming the post, arrived here Saturday and spent a quiet Sunday before beginning his official programme Monday."The Admiral has rightly chosen India as the first country he should be visiting," a Sri Lankan diplomat told news agencies. "He will be meeting his counterparts in all three wings of the Indian military."

During the three-day visit, Admiral Karannagoda will meet the top Indian military brass besides going to the Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, Tamil Nadu. He will return home from southern India. Both Indian and Sri Lankan sources said that the situation in the island nation, where the 2002 Norway-brokered ceasefire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has virtually broken down, will come up for discussions.

The LTTE's naval wing, Sea Tigers, is bound to figure in the discussions. "Well, there is no fixed agenda, but our Indian friends know what the LTTE is and everything about Sea Tigers," the Sri Lankan official said. "After all they operate in the waters dividing the two countries." An Indian military official added: "The Sri Lankan situation would definitely be discussed, because if it comes to hostilities it will be the (Indian) navy that will be in the forefront in dealing with any influx of refugees. To that extent, a peaceful solution of the conflict is equally in India's interests.

"However, given (India's previous military) experience, India is not likely to take the initiative to offer any assistance other than humanitarian aid. "As to whether Sri Lanka makes a specific request, it would be dealt with considering its implications, both political and military," the official added. Admiral Karannagoda is one of the most heavily protected military figures in Sri Lanka, where an LTTE woman suicide bomber tried to assassinate the army chief, Lt. Gen. Sanath Fonseka, in April. The General survived and is now hospitalised in Singapore. On June 26, another LTTE suicide bomber succeeded in assassinating Maj. Gen. Parami Kulatunge, the army's number three, while he was driving to his office.

Two youths were shot dead by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers Monday morning in Mannar district in two separate incidents during a cordon and search operation. One body was found in a paddy field opposite the Nanattan Pradesiya Sabha (PS) office building and the other body at Rasool Puthuveli area, located one and half km off Nanattan, police sources said. A group of SLA soldiers on patrol duty in Sooriyakaddaiakadu in Nanattan Monday morning around 8:30 p.m. fired at an unidentified person allegedly for placing a claymore mine on their route. But the person had fled from the area. Thereafter SLA soldiers had launched a cordon and search operation in the area.

During the search operation the soldiers were attacked with grenade followed by firing. SLA soldiers retaliated. Later the Police found the body of a person in a paddy field located two hundred yards away from the Nanattan PS office building, sources said.Police said they also recovered a T 56 gun, a micro-pistol and grenade near the body.SLA troopers came under gunfire second time around 12:30 p.m. when they continued their search operation. They retaliated and later found a person with gunshot injuries on his head at Rasool Puthuveli located about one and half km off Nanattan. The troopers told police that they had recovered a micro-pistol and a grenade, also from this youth.

The dead youth in the first incident that took place Monday morning was identified by the Murunkan Police as Ravi with his identity card, police said.Mannar Acting Magistrate Mr.A.S.Johnthasan Monday afternoon visited the site of the bodies and instructed the Murunkan Police to remove them to the Mannar general hospital for identification and post-mortem examination, police said.

The All India Congress Committee (Congress Party) General Secretary V. Narayanasamy on Sunday, had urged the Centre to impose a ban on political parties and groups supporting the LTTE. Addressing a news conference in India, Mr. Narayanasamy said though the LTTE was banned in India and some other countries, certain movements under the cover of "Eelam Tamils Protection groups" were supporting the cause of the LTTE.

He said these groups should be severely dealt with. "The LTTE, which assassinated former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi should never be forgiven and its leader V. Prabhakaran, the prime accused, must be punished according to law." Mr. Narayanasamy urged the Centre to take immediate steps to protect the Tamil Nadu fishermen from the "atrocities of the Sri Lankan Navy." Meanwhile BJP leader and former Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh says India is shirking its responsibility in Sri Lanka, refusing to play its rightful role as a regional player to restore stability in its troubled neighbourhood.

Ever since the Indian military was thrown out of Lanka by late president Premadasa and the LTTE ganging up against India, New Delhi had kept the goings on in Sri Lanka at arms length. Now more than over a decade has passed since the IPKF debacle “obliterated India’s self confidence” much like what happened after the border war with China, Singh said.

A member of the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) was shot dead at a cycle park operated by the group in front of the Jaffna Hospital, around 9 a.m., Monday, police in the northern town said. Sri Lanka Army soldiers handed over his body to the Jaffna Hospital.Sources in Jaffna said the man was a Sri Lankan army informant.Three PLOTE cadres have been killed and another wounded in four seperate attacks at the cycle park recently.

The stalemate in the peace process, continuing violence and stalled constitutional reforms and the Muslims’ political aspirations in the current context, were deliberated upon recently at the two-day session of the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).The need to move forward with the peace process was agreed upon, with the SLMC reiterating its commitment to a negotiated resolution of the ethnic conflict. The stand and the aspirations of the Muslims, in the event of any interim and/or transitional arrangements being made, were also considered.Internationally renowned constitutional expert Professor Yash Ghai, graced the occasion.

The SLMC’s Constitutional Affairs Committee has been engaging with Prof. Yash Ghai in the past as well, with a view to formulating political power-sharing options for the Muslims of the North and East. A comprehensive set of principles dealing with devolution, that would satisfy the legitimate political aspirations of the Muslims of the Northern and Eastern provinces, were prepared in 2004, in consultation with Prof Ghai, This proposal was to be tabled for discussion as agreed by the then Government, when the peace talks resumed.

In the backdrop of the Government’s attempt at formulating its own framework for devolution and continued marginalization of the Muslim interests in the discourse, the SLMC’s Constitutional Affairs Committee met with Prof Ghai to strategize as to what it could do towards propagating the Muslim Dimension, in the context of the ethnic conflict and its resolution.In an exercise in continuity the Constitutional Affairs Committee is to meet shortly again this week to formulate its plan of action.Along with SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem, the following members of the Constitutional Affairs Committee participated at the two-day sessions. Hasen Ali MP, Basheer Segu Dawood MP, A.M. Faiz, Nizam Kariapper, S. Najimudeen MP, M.S. Thowfeek, Prof. Hareed Zafarullah and M.I.M. Mohideen.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa bade farewell to US Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead this week. Like his predecessor, Ashley Wills, Lunstead played his role in the Lankan peace process. But the bottom line is that both failed to reap the desired results during their respective terms. While Wills moved on to become Assistant Trade Representative, Lunstead will move into retirement. The key question is will the US role in the local peace process gradually fade away? Lunstead’s replacement, Robert O. Blake Jr. in his statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently hinted at such a possibility by referring to the US role as part of the “so-called Co-Chairs” to the peace process. Contrast this with the robust US involvement all this while. Is this the beginning of the end of the involvement of the international community?

“Recent events, including the collapse of ceasefire implementation talks between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as well as escalating violence, have again placed the country at the brink of open hostilities,” said Blake in Washington, painting a grim picture even before assuming duties. Lunstead in Colombo almost echoed Blake’s observation. “Barricades which had been dismantled are being once again thrown up. And not just physical barricades, but also the barricades which divide one citizen from another, as fear and mistrust grow,” observed Lunstead on the eve of his departure.

The year 2006 will also go down in history as the year of exodus from the US Mission in Colombo. An unprecedented number of top US officials will be leaving. Blake, who was Deputy Head of Mission in India, will assume duties sans the benefit of experienced hands around in the mission. It appears that the local peace process has taken a back seat in US foreign relations but South Asia, particularly India, will continue to enjoy that special place. Blake, in his statement before the committee said, he was “privileged to serve as Deputy Chief of Mission in India during a period of exceptional progress in our bilateral relations with that important country.”

Even his Charge D’ Affaires and Deputy Head of Mission is expected to be picked from India. The US and India are very much in a strategic partnership from economic to defence to matters nuclear. (It was very recently that the US-India deal on civil nuclear cooperation was sealed).James Moore is tipped to fill this No. 2 slot as Deputy Head of Mission to replace James F. Entwistle who has been assigned to Bangkok. Public Affairs chief, Philip A. Frayne, has already left to take up his posting in Jordan. So, top three officers of the US Mission are moved out indicating that the US was scaling down their involvement. President George W. Bush’s second and final but eventful term draws to a close in 2008.

To top it all, the heads of the Human Rights, Consular, Administration and General Services in the US Mission in Colombo are also shortly due to leave for assignments elsewhere. The exodus prompted a wag to quip that the US has had enough of paradise. It was a symbolic week where President Rajapaksa bade farewell to the US Ambassador and welcomed the Indian Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran who paid his first official visit after President Mahinda Rajapaksa took over the reins. He first visited Colombo during the dying days of President Kumaratunga’s second term. Are the events of the week casting their shadows of things to come?

With Wills’ departure, it was predicted that his successor would lose interest in the peace process. That was not to be. Even with the exit of US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, the super power, which put its hand into the plough, was keen on going the whole hog. Not even the electoral defeat of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was able to dampen the US interest. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher tried hard to get Wickremesinghe to support new government in a peace deal. The US policy was to neutralize terrorism either by taking the menace head on through its “war on terror” or by keeping the terrorists engaged, politically.

Most speeches pertaining to the peace process were laced with the order to the LTTE to “renounce terrorism and violence.” It was the refrain of every visiting high ranking US official, and Ambassador Lunstead’s Independence Day speech was no exception.
He reiterated the mandatory call to “enter the political path,” and also made it clear to both parties on the brink of war - the LTTE and the Government- “there is no military solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem.” India has pretty much reiterated the same message.

The US and India have realised that the way forward for progress in the region is by peace talks aimed at political solutions to regional conflicts.Lunstead urged radical changes in the way the entire nation is governed. He envisaged “a greater say in how” people “are governed in the areas where they live.” His successor Blake, even before assuming office, said “The Sri Lankan government must show it is willing to address legitimate Tamil grievances, including articulating a political vision for the future of the country that provides room for the aspirations of all Sri Lankans, from all religions and ethnicities. It must also crack down on the disturbing increase in violence in government-controlled areas.”

Wills had often stressed the territorial integrity of the country as a message to the LTTE to drop its fanciful ideas of separation. This also helped allay the fears of the Sinhala masses who felt Wickremeisnghe could sell out the country. In contrast, Lunstead had a different role to play. He had to allay the fears of the Tamils as President Mahinda Rajapaksa was perceived as a Sinhala nationalist. After he assumed duties, the international community gave him the benefit of the doubt. He is now seen as a moderate but was unwilling to upset the nationalist forces by being decisive.

Wickremesinghe signed the Ceasefire Agreement and lifted the ban on the LTTE against the backdrop of a hostile President and Sinhala nationalist forces. Kumaratunga stuck her neck out and lost the JVP in her alliance by signing the P-TOMS agreement. Will Rajapaksa take such drastic steps? As a nationalist, he is better able to do so. The international community, including India, is miffed over the “impunity of the forces.” Lunstead called on the Government to “ensure that the conduct of its security forces is impeccable, even in the face of severe provocation.” This follows a similar observation by the British High Commissioner in Colombo, Dominic Chilcott to mark the Queen’s 80th birthday last month.

The EU Council of Ministers, in their statement following the LTTE ban, and the Co-Chairs statement last month named the Karuna breakaway faction and the EPDP as responsible for violence in government-controlled areas.India, too, expressed concern over civilian casualties following the air raids by the air force. Tamil Nadu made the first complaint and a resolution was passed forcing the centre to send a delegation to Colombo. This resulted in Saran’s visit. Prior to that, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera cut short an official visit to Helsinki, and flew to New Delhi to meet Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. According to an Asian Tribune report dated June 23, Colombo was finally told it can count on New Delhi’s support but that was on the condition that it “must work towards strengthening the ceasefire with the LTTE.” Colombo was also urged to “evolve a genuinely consensus based devolution package.”

LTTE’s political ideologue Anton Balasingham, in an interview with New Delhi Television (NDTV) last week noted that had India offered federalism, it would not have reneged on the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord. Almost coinciding with Special Envoy Saran’s visit, President Rajapaksa, using the same medium, NDTV, in an interview called upon the LTTE to come to negotiations. He pledged to offer an outline of peace to the LTTE and allow it to flesh out a peace deal. LTTE Political Wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan ruled out negotiations on devolution of power based on the Sri Lankan unitary Constitution. If President Rajapaksa’s government is willing to go beyond the unitary state, then there is still some hope. India has reiterated an offer to provide constitutional expertise to help Sri Lanka find a political solution. The government has pledged to announce its devolution proposals this week.

A fortnight ago EPDP leader, Douglas Devananda revealed that he had a proposal, involving the LTTE, to resolve the ethnic conflict. Is the peace process baton being passed on from the international community to India? Or is it that, India, which has greater leverage over the parties, is expected by the international community to play a bigger role? Time will tell.

The LTTE said yesterday that the Tamil people would not accept a political solution that fell short of full autonomy, even as President Mahinda Rajapaksa prepared to sit down with an all party and government committee tomorrow, to discuss the framework for a solution.LTTE political head S.P. Thamilselvan, in an interview with New Delhi Television (NDTV), said that, while ideas from international devolution models could be taken into account, it could not form the basis for the solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka.

“Ideas from others should remain as ideas and not the solution. Only our people can determine what the final solution can be. Our people have been carrying out a freedom struggle for our full rights. As far as we go, our people are hoping for a political solution with full autonomy,” Mr. Thamilselvan was quoted as saying.He also questioned President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s sincerity in calling for talks, even as the security forces and paramilitaries operating in the north and east, continued attacks on civilians and rebel controlled areas.

The Government information department, meanwhile, in a statement states, “There is a growing consensus that issues relating to devolution of power needs to be addressed and that the conflict has to be resolved through negotiations based on a multi party approach and an inclusive process. It is for this purpose that President Rajapaksa also set up a Panel of Experts that is multi ethnic and multi disciplinary. The Government has made a genuine commitment to resolve the conflict afflicting the country, through discussion, while the LTTE continues to obfuscate and resort to mindless violence,” the statement said.

The Government noted that, while the LTTE did present a written proposal in October 2003, for an interim arrangement (ISGA), it also adopted a curious position that its proposal shall constitute the "sole basis for negotiations".“This in effect precludes any Government from presenting alternative or contributory proposals and is not conducive to a principled and meaningful negotiation. It appears that the LTTE feels threatened with any substantive proposal on devolution that would render the demand for a separate State redundant and irrelevant,” the Government statement said.

There is speculation among defence sectors whether a major Southern political party is providing arms training to its members, the Ravaya newspaper said.A senior military officer who opted to remain anonymous had told the Ravaya that the two arms training camps had been held at Maligakanda along Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa border and close to Dambulla rock near Dambulla. A significant number of youths had undergone training at these camps and neither security forces nor North-East armed groups were involved in this training, according to the senior military officer who spoke to the Ravaya.

At a recent alternative all party conference held at the BMICH, Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that a faction of security forces and the JVP and the Hela Urumaya are poised for a war disregarding the President.When contacted by 'Lanka e News', a high ranking military officer said JVP groups are operating within the forces and in particular they are active in intelligence units. Earlier they were about 25 % but had gone up to 40% since President Rajapaksa assumed office.Furthermore following an investigation during the ChandrikaKumratunga regime, when tension ran high in the East over Buddha statues, a close link between the JVP and a high ranking officer in the East came to light and soon after he was summoned to Colombo and was offered a diplomatic posting.

Meanwhile addressing the recent special convention of the JVP, party leader Somawansa Amarasinghe asserted what he said at his first speech at Kalutara after arriving in Sri Lanka is still valid. At that meeting that the JVP is ready to march to the North with a voluntary force of 50,000 men.JVP leaders have also made statements recently ridiculing the security forces. Anura Dissanayake said that we have an army 'trained to water flowers' and JVP leader Amarawansa said at the convention that we have a 'headless army'.The JVP and the Hela Urumaya which advocate a military solution gained only 8% and 1% at the recently concluded local polls.

With the revelation of the identity of the LTTE female suicide bomber responsible for the Army Headquarters blast, the CID is now on the trail of the LTTE kingpin behind the suicide mission and an army ‘insider’ who helped the bomber to enter the premises. According to latest CID investigations, the suicide bomber who had resided with a couple in a rented house in Weliweriya left for Colombo on April 25 morning by train from Gampaha. She arrived at Fort Railway Station in the morning and met the LTTE kingpin of the mission who had taken her to a hideout in Wellawatta where she was assisted to wear the suicide bomb kit.

Manjuladevi well prepared for the mission had left Wellawatta within couple of hours and arrived at Slave Island shortly after 11.00am. There she had waited near theHoliday Inn, in the vicinity of the Army HQ for sometime till the final arrangements were in place. High tech investigations with the support of specialized mobile phone service providers revealed that Manjuladevi had called an unidentified person inside the headquarters and that he also had called her minutes before the explosion.

The mobile phone of the insider had functioned only for a short period after the explosion after which it had been destroyed. Meanwhile several special investigating teams have been deployed to track down the insider and the LTTE kingpin of the mission who is also believed to have been involved in sea tiger movements reported from Negombo and Pamunugama.

Jaffna Additional Magistrate Srinithi Nandasegaran's official car, with her 10-year-old son accompanied by a police guard, narrowly escaped from an attempted attack on Sunday morning on Palaly Road, eyewitnesses said. The suspects had followed the Magistrate's well-familiar official vehicle from Kantharmadam Junction at gun point in an auto-rickshaw, but gave up their mission as they did not find Mrs. Srinithi Nandasegaran in the vehicle, civilians who witnessed the incident said. The incident took place around 9:00 a.m. Sunday.

Srinithi Nandasegaran's car was transporting her son to a tuition centre near Parameswara junction from her residence located on Rakka Road in Jaffna. The driver of Ms Nandasegaran's vehicle said that he hd been harassed allegedly by the suspects who had sought details of Nandasegaran's routines recently.

The security forces have recovered a cache of explosives containing powerful plastic explosives and a heavy Claymore mine in Jaffna and Vavuniya during the weekend.In Jaffna the army had recovered a powerful claymore mine weighing 20 kgs in an abandoned land in Potpathi in Thirunaveli area. The troops on regular route clearing duty had recovered the mine yesterday morning.

The mine which had been setup targeting security forces vehicles had been defused shortly after. Jaffna police are conducting investigations.Meanwhile in Vavuniya the security forces have found a stock of C4 plastic explosives weighing 155 kgs on Saturday evening. The troops have also recovered four grenades, three T-56 assault rifles along with ammunition. The explosives and the weapons have been recovered from an abandoned building in Irasenkiran area. The Vavuniya police are conducting further investigations.

KOPAY: A 'Vidatha' Resource centre was opened recently in the Kopay Divisional Secretariat area of the Jaffna District under the Vidatha programme launched on a concept of Science and Technology Minister Professor Tissa Vitarana. Kethiswaran of the Ministry of Science and Technology will function as the Science and Technology Officer of the Kopay centre. This centre was established to uplift the lives of the Tamil community enabling them to share the advantages of Mahinda Chintana.

Resource Centres have been already established in 125 Divisional Secretariat areas out of the 323 that will be covered under this project. Minister Vitarana said that the community has immense potential but the lack of opportunities prevents them from using their abilities. The main focus of this programme is to retain scientists and technologists in this country by providing them with facilities. It will also help the rural folks uplift their economic levels and ensure quality products and services from the rural sector reaching the market. The Minister hopes to carry out this project to provide these services to people irrespective of their nationality and religious beliefs.

The Badulla police were continuing inquiries into the incident of a Tamil girl, dressed in a uniform resembling a family health nurse, handed over to them by security officers of the Badulla General hospital. The 26-year-old suspect was a resident of Gonakelle Estate in Passara.Proficient in Sinhala, Tamil and English, she could write in all three languages. She said she worked for a politician in her area at the last elections on the promise that she would be given a post as a family health nurse. Since she was deceived, she sewed a dress similar to the uniform of a family health nurse and used to visit the Badulla hospital to avoid jibes of people in the estate who may laugh at her. Police are verifying her statement.

Meanwhile, inquires have been made about telephone numbers and addresses found in her diary and police have checked several places she had been staying at, in Colombo and Batticaloa, said Badulla SSP, Ajith Fonseka. Further inquiries are being conducted under the direction of the Uva DIG, T.J. Miskin

Sri Lanka has set a 30-day deadline for the local unit of Indian Oil to resume gasoline sales or risk being taken over by the government. The Lanka-Indian Oil Company, LIOC, which controls a third of Sri Lanka's retail petroleum business stopped importing gasoline following a dispute with the Sri Lankan government over 71 million dollars. The LIOC demanded the money as "subsidy payments" for selling fuel at a loss in line with prices specified by the Sri Lankan government. A compromise was reached last month, but LIOC has not yet resumed gasoline sales. Minister of Transport and Petroleum Development A.H.M. Fowzie decided to take over all fuel retail outlets of the LIOC within 30 days unless they resumed selling fuel, the Sunday Observer said Sunday. "I have given them an ultimatum of 30 days to import petrol (gasoline) and sell at their outlets," Fowzie was quoted as saying. "If they fail to comply with my order I'll be compelled to acquire all (LIOC) outlets."

An LIOC executive said the company had not been informed of the Sri Lankan government ultimatum, but said fresh stocks of gasoline would arrive next week. K. Ramakrishnan, managing director of LIOC, said although the payments dispute was settled last month, a formal agreement that would allow LIOC to function freely was pending. "There are still outstanding matters to be finalised," Ramakrishnan said. "We are getting a shipment of petrol next week and by early August all outlets will have petrol." State-owned Indian Oil is the largest refiner and retailer of petroleum products in Sri Lanka's northern neighbor India. The previous government in 2003 handed over a strategic oil storage facility to LIOC in the restive northeast port district of Trincomalee where since December violence has escalated in the island's long-running ethnic conflict.

India Sunday successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-III intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) that is capable of reaching targets as far as China, defence officials said. The missile, for which preparations were on for the past one month, was test-fired at about 11.05 a.m. from a mobile launcher at Wheeler Island in the coastal district of Bhadrak, some 200 km from Bhubaneswar.The Agni-III, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is designed to carry a nuclear warhead and can reach targets as far as Beijing and Shanghai. It is India's longest-range missile.While Indian officials describe Agni-III as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), China's official Xinhua news agency described it as an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM). Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, top officials of the DRDO, including Avinash Chandra, director of the Agni-III programme, and DRDO chief M. Natarajan were among those who witnessed the test firing, military officials said. The test firing was successful, they added.

The Agni-III, which has a range between 3,500-5,000 km, features two solid-fuelled stages and has an overall diameter of 1.8 metres. It can be deployed from rail or road mobile launch vehicles. It is understood to be equipped with inertial guidance systems with improved optical or radar terminal phase correlation systems that gives it a high degree of accuracy.The Agni-I, with a range of 700-800 km, and Agni-II, with a 2,000-km range, have already been inducted in the Indian Army as part of the country's minimum deterrent programme.

Preparations for the Agni-III launch were underway for at least a month. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who has mentored India's missile programme, had visited the test site earlier this week.Kalam, who was on a three-day visit to the state, had visited Wheeler Island, a DRDO facility off the Orissa coast, where he was given a detailed briefing on the Agni-III launch, sources said.When he was scientific advisor to the defence minister and DRDO head, Kalam had in 1992 selected Wheeler Island for testing the Agni series of missiles.

There have been indications since 2004 that Agni-III, a three-stage missile that adds a third stage to the first and second stages of Agni-II, was ready for launch. Media reports in May said the Agni-III test flight had been put off under pressure from Washington, which felt this would send all the wrong signals at a time when the US Congress as also the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) were considering the proposed India-US civilian nuclear deal. The defence minister on May 15 had immediately rubbished the suggestion, saying: 'We have no pressure on us. We have decided on a self-imposed restraint.'

Last month, Indian officials had dismissed a media report that claimed the US had given its nod for test firing Agni-III, saying this was only the interpretation of the Washington think tank Stratfor. 'The think tank has interpreted a statement by Gen. Peter Pace (chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff) made here (in New Delhi) to imply that the US had given its go ahead for the test. India has made it amply clear that we have imposed a voluntary ban on testing and that is where the matter stands,' a defence ministry official said. Pace, while replying to a question on Agni-III at a press conference in New Delhi, had said: 'India is a sovereign nation and can decide for itself what weapons it needs. Missile tests do not necessarily destabilise the region.'

The UNP has informed India that there is a complete breakdown of trust between the party and the government and it will not be possible to work with President Mahinda Rajapakse on the peace process. The UNP thinking was communicated to both the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Nirupama Rao and New Delhi on Friday. The UNP response came after President Mahinda Rajapakse swore in UNP Ratnapura District MP Susantha Punchinilame as a deputy minister 30 minutes before a meeting with Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday without any intimation to the UNP Leader.

Wickremesinghe, who was invited for talks to Temple Trees at 7 p.m., was not informed by the President during the discussion that he had sworn in a UNP MP 30 minutes earlier as a deputy minister. The UNP had earlier informed the President any attempt to lure party members to the government at a time they were cooperating with him to arrive at a solution to the ethnic crisis would irredeemably damage their relationship. The President and Wickremesinghe met Thursday on an Indian initiative to develop a bipartisan relationship between the two parties to resolve the ethnic issue.

India's External Affairs Ministry Secretary Shyam Saran who was in Sri Lanka with a message from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged both Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe to work together and develop a bipartisan relationship to resolve the ethnic issue. He said India also stands ready to assist with constitutional expertise on the Indian model of federalism, which both the President and the Opposition Leader agreed to explore. Saran also expressed India's concerns on the plight of Tamil civilians in the north east and said a negotiated political solution was the answer to the ethnic crisis. He informed the UNP Leader the President would contact him to discuss a bipartisan approach to resolving the conflict.

However, 24 hours after Saran left, the President moved to woo UNP MPs to bolster his parliamentary majority.The UNP Leader Thursday night sent Colombo District MP Milinda Moragoda to India with a special message that the President had acted in bad faith and made a mockery of India's call for the two parties to work together. Wickremesinghe also met with Rao on Friday and communicated the same message. The Sunday Leader learns the Indian High Commission has kept New Delhi informed of the latest developments.

Gamini Dissanayake’s wife Srima for Delhi?

Slain UNP leader Gamini Dissanayake’s wife Srima is being considered for appointment as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India as part if a deal involving her son Naveen’s defection to the governemnt, The Sunday Island learns.Well informed sources said that if talks between the government and the Dissanayake family succeeded, Srima would take over the New Delhi mission before end of this year with Navin switching his allegiance to the government.The sources said that the Dissanayake family is very close to Rajapakses, particularly Basil, the one-time Country Manager of Kumagai, a major Japanese Constriction company involved in the accelerated Mahaweli Development project during the JR Jayewardene presidency.

Major General Mallawarachchi was on today appointed as acting Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.He was serve in this capacity until the Commander, Lt.Gen. Sarath Fonseka now undergoing treatment in a Singapore Hospital, recovers and returns to his post. According to reports from Singapore, Mr. Fonseka is learnt to have undergone further surgery.Mr. Mallawaarachchi remained as chief of staff of the Army. This was even after Gen. Fonseka was flown to Singapore for treatment. Hence, he had not been in a position to exercise some of the responsibilities vested by law in the Commander of the Army.His appointment as acting Commander of the Army came on the orders of President Rajapaksha who is also Minister of Defence and Commander of the armed forces.

More than 1,000 Sri Lankan refugees, who were given shelter at the Mandapam camp, on Friday night blocked the traffic of busy NH 47 protesting against a police inspector. Refugees alleged that the inspector attached to the camp assaulted seven-year-old Vithursan, son of Thiagrajan, against whom a theft complaint was given. Hence, the refugees, including over 400 women, sat on the main road. Following this, the Deputy Inspector General, Abhay Kumar Singh, the Superintendent of Police, Mahender Rathore, rushed to the spot and pacified them. The traffic was affected for more than an hour.

As uncertainty looms over the future of the ceasefire monitors from EU countries, the SLMM head said there was no "rationale," behind the LTTE's demand for most of its members to quit by September 1."Do they want to terminate the ceasefire agreement?," 60-member mission Chief Ulf Henricsson, asked in an interview. "This may be the interpretation if the LTTE goes through with its demand."In June, the LTTE issued a month’s ultimatum to Norwegian peace-brokers to remove some 37 monitors from Sweden, Denmark and Finland, saying their neutrality was prejudiced after the European Union named the LTTE as a terrorist organization. Amid strong international pressure the Tigers on June 22, extended the deadline to Sept. 1.

"We are not here as EU representatives, there is no rationale to their argument," Henricsson said, at his office in Colombo.Article 3.5 of the ceasefire agreement clearly states that the SLMM will consist of 'Nordic' monitors. The government also signed a separate Status of Mission Agreement or SOMA, with Norway on March 18, 2002 spelling out the status of the monitors. Any change in the composition to bring in non-Nordic monitors calls for an amendment to both these agreements."You cannot take a bilateral agreement and change parts of it unilaterally," he said. "The CFA is a package, you either take it or leave it."

Henricsson said there were still ambiguous areas about the LTTE's demand and further clarification would be sought in the coming days."We don't have all the answers to plan for the future yet."The LTTE has said it could not guarantee the security of the EU monitors after Sept. 1. This was discussed at length during a meeting in Oslo on June 25, convened particularly to talk about the future of the mission among Nordic representatives. The meeting concluded with consensus that the monitors will continue its operations, until further notice."If the LTTE will not guarantee our safety, it's up to our government's to decide what to do," he said. "Currently, we are not afraid that the LTTE will send snipers after us after Sept. 1."

Henricsson said there was still no "solution" to the present questions, although several options have been discussed and mooted including down-sizing the mission.Norway says if the EU monitors were to leave it would take six months to restore the mission to its original strength ."There is no queue of nations who want to join the mission," Henricsson pointed out.If the LTTE's demand was to be acceded, Henricsson who is from Sweden, will also have to go.

LTTE cadres Saturday morning around 11 a.m. arrested a cadre of Karuna paramilitary group working in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) inside the LTTE held Eachchilampathu division in Trincomalee district, LTTE sources said. Karuna paramilitary group member identified as Jeya of Puthur, Kathiraveli in Batticaloa district was in possession of a claymore mine, a roll of wire and detonator at that time of arrest, LTTE sources further said.Jeya under interrogation had told LTTE cadres that he had been sent on the orders of one Riyaseelan, now being called as Bandara, to penetrate into LTTE held Eachchilampathu in a clandestine mission to target LTTE senior leaders in the area. Jeya is now under LTTE custody, sources said.

A man has been arrested in possession of thousands of tiny steel balls, a key component in Tamil rebel explosives, the military said. Troops seized a bag containing 16,000 bicycle ball bearings during a security check Saturday of a bus in Murukkan, about 200 kilometers (150 miles) north of the capital Colombo, according to a report on the Ministry of Defense Web site. The troops arrested a man traveling on the bus and handed him to the police, according to the report. The man was not named and the report did not identify him as a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighter. "This type of steel bicycle balls are extensively used by LTTE terrorists in the production of Improvised Explosive Devices,'' the report said. Tamil rebels commonly use Claymore anti-personnel mines that fire out hundreds of steel balls propelled by plastic explosives. The rebels began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million Tamils, alleging discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

India does not wish to get involved militarily if war breaks out in Sri Lanka, "The Island" learns from a top official source here.The authoritative Indian source told this correspondent on condition of anonymity: "We have no plans to send our troops to Sri Lanka if the current tense situation there degenerates into a full-fledged armed conflict between the security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).""No IPKF-II either," the source declared when asked if India will consider a request from Colombo to send its troops yet again on a peace-keeping mission to the troubled island.

The bitter experiences of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) over 15 years ago are clearly still fresh in the minds of the people as well as decision-makers in this country.In July 1987, then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had sent the IPKF at then Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jayewardene’s specific request to disarm the LTTE and other Tamil militant groups. It was a disaster from the word go.

A Sri Lankan naval cadet responded violently by attacking Gandhi with the butt of his empty rifle at a ceremonial farewell Jayewardene had arranged for the Indian leader’s departure from Colombo a day after the two men signed the much-maligned Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement (ISLA). The IPKF did manage to disarm several Tamil rebel groups, but the LTTE refused to lay down arms. It used the local Tamils in the North and East as human shields and attacked the IPKF troops, which had strict orders against shooting civilians.

During the IPKF’s controversial stay in the island for 32 months from 30 July 1987 to 24 March 1990, 1,165 Indian soldiers and officers lost their lives, while 3,011 were injured —-most of them maimed for life. The IPKF’s very presence became a major political issue. In December 1988, UNP’s Ranasinghe Premadasa won the presidential election by promising to evict the IPKF.Premadasa supplied weapons to the LTTE to attack the IPKF, which returned home in March 1990, without being able to accomplish its original mission. The LTTE’s suicide bombers assassinated both Premadasa and Gandhi in separate incidents).

However, this bitter experience notwithstanding, the official said India will do its best to help Sri Lanka find a peaceful political solution to the bloody ethnic conflict. India is ready to share with Sri Lanka its own expertise and experience in running a union of 35 states and union territories that enjoy autonomy as well as enough political and economic freedom that enables their elected representatives to run them as they wish within a united and sovereign India.

India will do everything short of military intervention to find a political solution to the ethnic problem within a united and sovereign Sri Lanka that will satisfy the Sinhalese, the Muslims, the Tamils and others. If the current situation degenerates into an armed conflict, India believes its economic consequences will be unpredictable. If a war breaks out, the LTTE will try to hit Sri Lanka’s economic targets in order to bring its $23-billion economy to a grinding halt.

In recent years, India has made considerable investments in Sri Lankan economy. It will try to minimize damage to its economic interests in Sri Lanka without getting involved militarily, the source added.However, India sincerely believes that war is eminently avoidable if only the disparate Sinhala political entities realize the gravity of the situation, put their heads together and evolve a southern consensus on power-sharing without any further loss of time. Analysts here believe that Sri Lankan politicians need to think and act like statesmen and work together in their country’s larger national interest.

India wants to work with the Sri Lankan government, Norway, the European Union, the US, and Japan to do everything possible to prevent the present situation from escalating into a full-scale war. But a peaceful solution has to emerge from within Sri Lanka. And Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh sent Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran as his special envoy to Colombo to drive home this point.

The TNA in Parliament yesterday queried whether the 17th Amendment is to be nullified, by not making appointments to the Constitutional Council (CC) though the majority of MPs belonging to the political parties entitled to make their choice have unambiguously proposed their nominees.Making a special statement to the House, the party’s parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan said that some confusion prevails with regard to the non-constitution of the CC, and therefore he had decided to inform Parliament and the country about it.

Mr. Sampanthan referred to the relevant section of the Constitution which provides for a nominee to the CC representing minority political parties in Parliament. The provisions of Section 41A (1) (f) of the Constitution says “one person nominated upon agreement by the majority of the members of Parliament belonging to political parties or independent groups to which the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition do not belong.”He said they sent the names of their two nominees to the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader in writing on May 30, 2005

“In the said letter, I further stated a nomination on the basis of priority indicated above, is the wish of the majority of the members belonging to the minority political parties, if a consensus amongst all members of minority political parties is not attainable,” he said. He said all his efforts have been to no avail.

Mr. Sampanthan said that he sent letters to the duo again on March 10, 2006 pertaining to the said appointment. He said 25 MPs belonging to the TNA, the SLMC and the UPF approved the nominations made by him. He also said the Attorney General (AG) was consulted later, consequent to certain other claims.

The AG too ruled that the CC members should be appointed on the basis of nomination papers upon which members were elected to Parliament and as published in the gazette by the Commissioner of Elections in terms of the Parliamentary Election Act No.1 of 1981.In this context, the JVP cannot be considered a minority party in parliament as they were elected on the UPFA ticket. “We have to urge that the said appointment be made and the CC constituted,” he said. He tabled the copies of letters he referred while making the statement.

All arrangements had been made today for United National Party national list parliamentarian Navin Dissanayake, son of former UNP stalwart Gamini Dissanayake to be sworn in as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs before the President, but it was cancelled at the last moment due to a flaw in the auspicious time. State and private media men who had been waiting for two hours to report the swearing in at Temple Trees had to return empty handed.According to well informed sources two Anuradhapura district parliamentarians W.B.Ekanayake and Chandrani Bandara too were to join the government today along with Navin Dissanayake. A spokesman for Temple Trees said their cross over will most likely to take place on Tuesday.

The Italian Co-operation Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding recently to renovate the Thirukkovil hospital as its wards were obsolete and inadequate to the current national needs. The project was approved on July 4. The Italian NGO, CISP was in charge for the project implementation. The overall objective of the project was to improve the health conditions strengthening the quality of the service provided by the hospital. The project has been accomplished with the collaboration of Health Ministry, Thirukkovil hospital personnel, Thirukkovil Division Secretary, Kalmunai DPDHS, Thirukkovil MOH and others.

Sri Lanka's foreign minister will visit China next week to discuss a possible weapons purchase as the country slides toward a full-scale war with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, a news report said Saturday. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera will leave for Beijing on Wednesday to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, The Island newspaper said. China has in the past been a major weapons supplier to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.

The Island newspaper had earlier reported that Sri Lanka was considering purchasing Chinese-made 30 mm guns to help its navy quell attacks by the Tamil Tigers' explosives-laden boats. The rebels, who want to carve out a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million ethnic Tamils, often attack Sri Lankan navy positions, saying they will not tolerate intrusion into what they call their territorial waters. The rebels control one-seventh of Sri Lanka's land mass in the northeast and say they have the right to use the adjoining sea.

The Tigers would be no match for the Sri Lankan army's firepower in a conventional war, Retired Air Marshal Harry Goonetilleke told The Associated Press. The army is 150,000 to 200,000 strong, while there are only around 10,000 Tamil Tiger fighters, he said. But the Tigers excel in guerrilla warfare and have the advantage of using suicide bombers, he said. "You can hardly do anything against suicide bombers," Goonetilleke said. He said the rebels could be getting arms from Cambodia, Thailand and former Soviet republics like Ukraine. The Tigers receive large sums of money, mainly from Tamils living abroad, to make the arms purchases, he said.

Tamil rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils. More than 65,000 people were killed in the conflict before the Norway-brokered cease-fire in 2002 that halted the fighting. But subsequent peace talks broke down, and escalating violence has killed more than 700 people since April, threatening a return to full-scale war.

Nine of the several young men and women from Jaffna, feared disappeared within the last six months, have been located in jails in the South of Sri Lanka, civil society sources in Colombo said. The youths have been held in detention without being produced in court after being arrested by Sri Lanka security forces, according to sources. The information came to light after officials of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission directly conducted investigations into the disappearances of Jaffna youth, rights officials said.

Two of the nine held under detention are women. Three were arrested in Jaffna district and then taken to jails in the South by the Sri Lanka Security forces without adhering to proper legal procedures.Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission officials have appealed to the relatives of the identified detainees to immediately contact the SLHRC offices, HRC officials said. Details of the youths

1.Rasiah Anandarajah from Kodikamam, arrested in Kodikamam on 27 June,
2.Sellathurai Jananthan from Mattuvil North, Chavakachcheri, arrested in Kuruthuwatte, Colombo on 6 May,
3.Ms Vadivel Thayani, from Navatkuli Chavakachcheri, arrested in Dematagoda, Colombo on 27 April,
4.Kanthasamy Jeyasekar, from Kankesanthurai (KKS) arrested in Grandpass, Colombo on 25 April,
5.Navaratnam Sathiyaseelan from Pandatharippu Jaffna, arrested in Kesaravatte, Colombo on 25 April,
6.Ms Ariyarajah Sivajini from Urumpirai East, Jaffna arrested in Kotahena Colombo on 27 April,
7.Thirunavukkarasunayanar Asokan from Sankanai, Jaffna arrested Ehiriyagoda Colombo on 27 May,
8.Ratnam Anantharajah, from Kovil Road Mallakam Jaffna arrested in Tellipalai Jaffna on 12 January and
9.Kathiravelu Ragulan arrested on 20 April by Crime Division Police.
Meanwhile, several relatives of the disappeared youths allege that they have received intimations of ransom from Sri Lanka military officials and armed paramilitaries operating with them through third-party mediators, for the release of detainees. Sums close to Rs100,000 is alleged to have been demanded for one detainee's release, sources in Jaffna said.

Lanka to let India, China explore oil along its coast

The Sri Lankan government has decided to allow India and China to explore for oil along its coast, a news report said on Saturday. India and China will be allowed to explore two of the six blocks identified for oil exploration off the island nation`s northwest coast, the state-run Daily News quoted Petroleum Resources Development Minister AHM Fowzie as saying."The proposal received Cabinet approval this week. We will shortly call tenders for exploring the four remaining blocks," Fowzie said.

Sri Lanka, which now imports all of its oil and gas, might be able to produce oil within three years if exploration efforts were successful, according to the Petroleum Resources Development Ministry. The Gulf of Mannar, between the southern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka, has been identified for the first phase of oil exploration, which is likely to begin in August 2007, the news report said.

Fowzie said that many countries engaged in the oil trade, including giants Saudi Arabia and Iran, have been told about opportunities in Sri Lanka and have provided technical assistance and expertise for local oil exploration. In October 2005, a Norwegian seismic survey company, after completing a second phase of studies, said that there may be oil and natural gas reserves off the west coast of Sri Lanka.

An earlier survey had showed the possibility of small hydrocarbon reserves in the northwest Gulf of Mannar. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, overseas companies had explored areas off Sri Lanka`s coast, but failed to find any oil or gas reserves.

A former member of Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) was shot and seriously injured by unknown gunmen in front of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital at 8:15 a.m. Saturday, sources in Jaffna said. Rasa Premkumar, 32, was immediately taken to the Jaffna Hopital and is undergoing emergecy surgery, hospital sources said. Mr Premkumar is the third ex-militant who has been attacked near the same area in the past two months. Other two died in the atttacks.

The location where the shooting occurred lies inside the High Security Zone (HSZ) demarcated by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). SLA sentry points are located to the the east and to the west, and a Sri Lanka Police station is located 200 meters from the site of shooting. SLA's 51-2 brigade head quarters is located behind the Jaffna Hospital.Several SLA troopers have been brought to the Jaffna town to strengthen security around the hospital. A search operation is also taking place.The gunmen used hand pistol at close range and escaped after firing at Premkumar, local witnesses said.

The last memory Ruth Parathasangary has of her daughter was as she left home on the morning of 7 July, heading for work. "She did not say anything when she left. She just gave me a sweet smile." Born in Sri Lanka, Shyanuja Parathasangary was brought to the UK in the 1970s at the age of one, when her father, Sangary, was given the chance to study in Britain.She and her older sister Sindhu quickly adapted to their adopted country and Shyanuja followed her mother's religion, Christianity, rather than her father's, Hinduism. She worshipped at the Fernhead Road Methodist Church in Paddington, west London, but was said to be tolerant and understanding of other faiths. 'Many friends' Living in Kensal Green, north London, Ms Parathasangary, 30, worked as an assistant buyer for the Royal Mail at offices in the centre of the city. Known as Shaynu or Shy, Ms Parathasangary had "an outgoing personality and made many friends", according to her parents.

She could often be found on Thursday evenings enjoying the company of her friends Nell Raut and Andrea Cummings at Chiquito, a Mexican restaurant in Staples Corner, north-west London, according to the Guardian. "It was kind of a tradition for us," Ms Raut told the paper. "That, and we would also go to the movies once or twice a week." Ms Parathasangary would laugh at pretty much anything, Ms Raut added. 'Angelic' She was also said to have recently bought a house with her sister, which was a source of great pride to her. She might have avoided the 7 July attacks but for the fact she left for work later than usual because she had been feeling unwell.

She died in the blast on the number 30 bus in Tavistock Square. "We adored our daughter. With so much to live for she paid the price of man's wickedness to man," her parents said in a statement. "She was the sweetest, most generous girl you could ever meet. No-one had a bad word to say about her. She was angelic. "We're all devastated and can't imagine life without her."

Muslim Youth Distributes Pamphlets Insulting Muslims in Mutur –TNA MP in Parliament

Thurairatnasingham, Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian representing Muthur addressing the House yesterday raised the issue as to why no action was taken against the Muslim youth who distributed pamphlets insulting Muslims in Mutur.He further stated that since independence, every successive government has run the most part of their rule under a state of emergency and there have been serious consequences as a result of the regulations framed under the emergency. The emergency regulations have affected not only the Tamils but also the Muslims and Sinhalese. Tamils are forced to live in fear under the emergency rule. Due to this and with the intention of escaping from army harassment, they are compelled to flee to various countries even braving the sea

There is a propaganda that the LTTE is responsible for the displacement of Tamils but the truth is Tamils are fleeing from army controlled areas to LTTE areas seeking security. There are efforts to prevent non-governmental organizations from performing humanitarian services in the Trincomalee district. In this district thousands of Tamil families live in schools as refugees without any government assistance. He added that ministers and senior government officials hold conferences in Katcheries about development in Trincomalee district but Members of Parliament representing the Tamil people are deliberately not invited.

Recently the President has sent a directive that the public servants who could not report to work on a hartal day would be deemed to have vacated post. This can cause more confrontations. Recently army discovered that it was a Muslim youth who distributed notices against the Muslim community from a communication booth in Mutur but so far no action has been against him, the Member pointed out. Was it to promote misunderstanding between Tamils and Muslims, he asked.

Karuna Group cadres, Thursday abducted more than 35 underage youths from the villages of Thivuchenai, Karuppalai, Sorivil and Sevanapitty in Batticaloa district, residents said. Parents of the abducted children, gripped by fear and insecurity, are afraid to make complaints to the police or human rights watchdogs, a Grama Sevaka official said. Tension prevails in the interior villages of Batticaloa district. More than 125 underage Tamil youths were abducted by the Karuna Group, in June 2006, from the villages of Valaichenai, Kiran, Santhiveli, Pethalai, Vinayakapuram, Kannakipuram, Pattiyadichenai and Kalkuda in Batticaloa, with Sri Lankan Army (SLA) support.UNICEF, in a statement released from their Colombo office on 22 June, had called for immediate action to halt the abduction and forced recruitment of children by the Karuna group.

MANKENI, Sri Lanka -- They slipped out of the village and into the jungle after dark, whole families abandoning prized fishing boats and what little else they had to escape forced military training at the hands of the Tamil Tiger rebels. In many ways, the 69 men, women and children sheltering this week at the Mankeni Roman Catholic Church in this fishing village are the lucky ones -- they've gotten away, for the time being. Dozens of others haven't made it across this seaside sliver of eastern Sri Lanka, where aid workers and villagers say the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and a renegade rebel faction are abducting children and young men. The Tigers are also openly training civilians to fight.

The result: People here are struggling to keep from being sucked into Sri Lanka's ferocious ethnic conflict. Classrooms stand empty, fishing boats beached and streets deserted. Guarded by soldiers, the people at Mankeni's church explained that they fled their village, Panichankerny, in rebel territory, after the Tigers began forcing able-bodied people between 14 and 55 to undergo military training. "We're not soldiers, we're fisherman -- even firecrackers scare us," said Nadarasa, a 28-year-old who asked that his last name not be used for fear of rebel retribution. He said dozens of others remained in the village, but "they may join us if they can slip away."

As violence surges across Sri Lanka, the abductions and forced training of civilians are seen as a sign that insurgents are preparing for a potential return to a vicious civil war that for nearly two decades pitted rebels from the Tamil minority against the government dominated by the Sinhalese majority. Tensions are perhaps highest in this eastern region of fishing villages, rice paddies and groves of coconut palms, a predominantly Tamil area split between government and rebel zones. It's also the region where two years ago, the renegade Karuna faction broke away from the Tigers, sparking a murderous crackdown by the mainstream insurgents.

The few hundred Karuna fighters now left regularly attack the Tigers and are widely thought to get government protection. UNICEF says they have pressed at least 50 children into service since March. The Tigers have a well-documented history of using child soldiers, and UNICEF says they abducted 64 children in April and May. Aid workers also say both the Tigers and the renegades have abducted dozens of young men over age 18 in recent months. Everyone feels the fallout. "Teachers aren't going to schools, doctors aren't attending health centers it's having an overall impact on life in the communities," said Yasmin Haque of UNICEF.

In the nearby village of Pasikuda, one mother said she pulled a teenage son from school and asked another son, a contractor and the family's sole breadwinner, to stay away from work. "Even going to the shop is scary," she said, asking her name not be used for fear of attracting attention to her fighting-age sons. The rebels are also openly readying civilians for war. A pro-rebel Web site last week claimed that 6,000 civilians already had been trained in regions they control. Faced with such a frightening prospect, the fisherman of Panichankerny fled, most carrying the only valuables they could -- the intricate gold jewelry Hindu women are given when they marry.

"Everything else is lost," said Selvaseram, 20, who slipped into the jungle after midnight last Saturday with his wife and baby daughter. He also asked his last name not be used. Kamawadipillai Balasubramaniam, 46, who was among those who escaped, said that in the past two weeks his 15-year-old son and at least two other children in the village had been pressed into joining the Tigers, abductions that helped spark the exodus. Leaving wasn't an easy decision abandoned were two new fiberglass fishing boats, pricey replacements provided by international aid agencies for ones lost to the 2004 Asian tsunami, which devastated this region. But, he said, "I fish for my family, to earn them money. I am nothing without my family."

A Sri Lankan who entered Britain illegally at the age of 15 has been told that he is likely to be deported and will have to take his English wife and baby son with him - or otherwise run the risk of not being allowed back to see them.Mohammed Samad fled violence in his home country seven years ago. He has since married, has a 17-month-old son, plays cricket for his local team and works as a groundsman for an independent boarding school.Now, at the age of 22, he has been told by the Home Office that he will probably be deported - with no guarantee that he would be able to return to see his family - after his appeal for asylum was refused.

TELO Muthalvar and TNA MP M.K. Sivajilingam in Parliament yesterday claimed that journalist Lakmal Silva was killed because he knew the names of persons responsible for the beheading of five youth in Avissawella.Speaking during the Emergency debate, the Jaffna district MP alleged that the Armed Forces were carrying out illegal killings of Tamil civilians, and that journalist Lakmal Silva had been killed because he possessed the names of those who killed the five youths in Avissawella in April.“The Tamil people want peace, not war. But if you want peace you must stop killing the Tamil people.

When civilians are killed it is inevitable that Security Forces personnel are killed in return,” he said.He said that Emergency regulations were used to suppress the Tamil people, and not protect them.The MP said that hundreds of people were fleeing the North and seeking refuge in Tamil Nadu. “When this happens there will be sympathy from the Tamils of India to the Sri Lankan Tamils”, he said.

Sri Lanka extends emergency rule

Sri Lankan Parliament today overwhelmingly voted to extend an emergency law to deal with a surge in violence by Tamil Tiger rebels. The law, which must be renewed by parliament every month, gives the military and police wide powers to arrest terrorist suspects and detain them indefinitely. The decades-old law was allowed to lapse after the government and the tigers reached a cease-fire accord in 2002. However, it was revived after the assassination of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August, a killing the government blames on the Tigers.

Meanwhile, police guarding the Eelam People's Democratic Party's office in Jaffna, 300 kilometers north of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, were attacked by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels late yesterday, an army statement said. Four police were injured and hospitalized for treatment, the statement said. Separately, the army discovered a powerful anti-personnel mine weighing five kilograms in Jaffna, an army spokesman said. "The claymore mine was to target a convoy of soldiers," said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, accusing rebels of setting the mine.

The party, better known by its acronym EPDP, is a coalition partner in the Sri Lankan government and has been targeted by Tamil Tiger rebels in the past. The EPDP used to be a militant group but it renounced violence and joined mainstream Sri Lankan politics a decade ago. The party accuses the rebels of killing at least 40 of its members since a cease-fire between the rebels and the government came into effect in 2002.

With violence showing no signs of abating in Sri Lanka, international peace monitors in the island’s embattled northeast are finding the going tough.Monitors from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the five-nation Nordic body whose future is in doubt after the Tamil Tigers ordered its European Union constituents to get lost, are facing hostility from both the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), SLMM sources said.‘There are increasing cases of SLMM members finding themselves ignored by both parties,’ a source told IANS over telephone from Batticaloa, in Sri Lanka’s east coast. ‘Naturally, it is frustrating.

‘In a few cases, local LTTE cadres and (Sri Lankan) soldiers have simply refused to cooperate.’But the source quickly added that there had been no physical violence against any of the nearly 60 monitors.An SLMM source based in Colombo admitted that things were difficult because of the unending violence in the north and east that has claimed over 800 lives since December 2005. The total number of truce violations is many times more.Asked if this was proving to be frustrating, the source said: ‘Yeah, I guess so, perhaps at an individual level. Sometimes the two sides can be difficult but it is not that bad.’

The SLMM is made up of monitors from Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Their job is to oversee the 2002 ceasefire agreement between the LTTE and Colombo.After the 25-nation European Union banned the LTTE in May, the Tigers refused to accept monitors from Denmark, Sweden and Finland, saying they can no more be considered neutral.Since the three countries account for 37 of all monitors, the SLMM urged the LTTE to reverse its decision. The Tigers have refused and asked members of these countries to quit by Sep 1.

It was also in May when the LTTE tried to attack a ship carrying Sri Lankan troops off the east coast with one SLMM monitor on board. The LTTE later denied it had targeted the vessel or that it was aware of the monitor’s presence.Since then, the SLMM has stopped all sea monitoring activities. ‘Obviously, if the LTTE cannot guarantee our safety, then that is it,’ the Colombo source said.Even before violence escalated in Sri Lanka’s northeast in December, the SLMM had been toying with the idea of upping the number of monitors. But now the main task is to find replacements for those who may have to quit by Sep 1.

One Tamil source in Colombo with contacts in the northeast said the LTTE ’sounds very uncooperative’ but added that the SLMM was now recording more ceasefire violations by the government.‘The SLMM will also find their work more difficult because government forces are less amenable in matters of impunity,’ the source said.Colombo has already reacted furiously to a detailed SLMM report on ceasefire violations.The Nordic body had also come under attack in the initial years for ignoring many killings, mainly blamed on LTTE, because the monitors were more concerned about ensuring that the truce held. This led to skepticism about SLMM’s role.

Tamil sources referred to the June 25 torture killing by government forces of a Tamil man, Baskaran, at Anbuvelipuram, a suburb of Trincomalee following a grenade blast. The next morning his body, with clear signs of torture, cuts and beating, was found. His mouth and hands had been tied with his shirt.SLMM monitors arrived on the scene but, after talking to the troops, could give no assurance to locals that such an incident would not happen again.

Diplomatic sources say the monitors’ main problem is that they cannot call anyone directly to account. Many ordinary residents who approach the SLMM also get threatened by both soldiers and the LTTE. ‘Nevertheless, you must realize that the monitors have provided relief in many, many instances. This cannot be denied,’ said one source. ‘At the end of the day, if the Tigers and the government don’t want peace, why blame the monitors?’

Journos in protest

A number of journalist organizations joined in a protest in front of the Fort Railway station in Colombo on Thursday.They voiced their frustration on ongoing police investigations to the killings of fellow journalists.The Journalist said that police investigations are not effective.The most recent incident was the assassination of freelance journalist Sampath Lakmal de Silva, who was shot by unidentified gunmen after abducting him from his parents' home in Borallasgamuwa,

According to the Free media Movement (FMM) De Silva had recently written reports that embarrassed elements of the security forces. He was the former defence correspondent for the Sinhala-language newspaper "Sathdina Weekly".“No one has been produced in court so far and its only that a number of people have been questioned and released “said Sunanda Deshapriya spokesman of the FMM.

Deshapriya added that there is no reason to believe that the police are going to have a proper investigation this time as they have not done so in the past.According to the International Federation of Journalists, six media workers have now been killed in Sri Lanka since January 2005. None of the crimes have been either investigated or solved.The murdered journalists include Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan, Relangi Sevaraja, Dharmeratnam Sivaram, Suresh Kumar and Rohana kumara .

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is contemplating appointing his brother and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the Deputy Defence Minister, a post which has remained vacant since the President’s election, sources close to the President said.In addition, the President is also looking at the possibility of promoting the present Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Donald Perera as Defence Secretary, they said.In the event these two appointments are made, there is a likelihood of Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda being made Chief of Defence Staff.

The Counsellor for Political Affairs in Canadian Embassy in Colombo, Christina Prefontaine, Thursday morning paid an official visit to Mannar and held talks with V.Visuvalingam, the Government Agent at the district secretariat. Mrs. Christina Prefontaine, obtained first hand information in regard to the ground situation prevailing in the district, district secretariat officials said. The Government Agent brought to the notice of the Canadian diplomat about the difficulties and sufferings undergoing by the fisher folk of the district and the violent incidents that had taken place in the coastal villages in the district in recent days.

Prefontaine later visited the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Mannar and held talks with SLMM monitors.The Canadian diplomat also toured the coastal areas in Talaimannar area and held discussion with fishermen about their problems. She in the evening paid a visit to the Church of Lady of Victory in Pesalai and held talks with Rev.Fr. Vincent Patrick, Parish Priest.Prefontaine then visited the Pallimunai St.Lucia Church where she held discussion with Rev.Fr.Ganapiragasam, Parish Priest. She met with displaced families who have been sheltered in the church, sources said.

A United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian, Suasntha Punchinilame, representing Ratnapura district in the south joined the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government Thursday and was sworn in as the Deputy Minister for Rural Economic Development by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. He is the fourth UNP MP to cross over to the UPFA alliance since the elections in last November.Earlier Kurunegal District MP Rohitha Bogollagama, Kalutara District MP Mahinda Samarasinghe and Kandy District MP Keheliya Rambukwella joined the UPFA government. All of them hold ministries.The UNP has slammed the UPFA for the cross-over of Punchinilame and issued a statement saying that they will not extent any support to the UPFA government.

Memories of India's "other war'', with Sri Lanka, are very much back on the radar these days, what with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran flying to Colombo to meet the all-mighty and the all-powerful Sri Lankan leadership, carrying with him a simple message: Colombo must earnestly begin the process of "maximum devolution'' of power to the rest of the country.In other words, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's concept of federalism within a "unitary'' Sri Lanka will no longer do.

To revive what is left of the tattered peace process that Oslo has been attempting for so many years with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), it has now become imperative to actively "devolve'' and "share'' power.To some in Sri Lanka, the above will amount to an interference, once again, in domestic politics, perhaps bring back jingoistic memories of India's unhappy involvement during the Eighties, which led to Indian troops fighting the LTTE on behalf of Colombo.

Scores of Indian soldiers died in that messy war, but in the greatest irony of ironies, India was blamed by none other than the erstwhile Sinhalese for fighting in their country. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 at the hands of the LTTE, even after the withdrawal of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF), was nothing short of a Shakespearean tragedy.

So has India come full circle with its Sri Lanka experience? Is New Delhi now gearing up for a more active role in Sri Lankan politics, what with the DMK government back in power in Tamil Nadu? Does India want to revive its linkages with the LTTE, considering it has now, sort of, apologised for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi? Most interesting of all, what does the most powerful person in India, Sonia Gandhi, burnt by the LTTE like few other people, think of all this?

Like all conundrums, this one too is hardly easy to simplify. But one thing is clear: If Colombo doesn't quickly evolve a strategy that will restart the peace process in earnest with the LTTE, if both sides begin to make innocent Tamils deliberate targets and if the Tamils begin to flee Sri Lanka as a consequence, India will have no option but to play a more active role in the affairs of its southern neighbour.

If this sounds music to the ears of the jingoistic crowd that spends all its time waiting for New Delhi to fall flat on its face again, then they will surely be disappointed with the melody. Truth is, India is no longer interested in playing military peacekeeper as it did in the eighties, and it has nothing to do with the fact of whether it has the stomach to take casualties or not.

However, New Delhi seems determined that the Sri Lankan government lives up to its promise of devolving power to the LTTE. Indian intellectual opinion is slowly veering around to the fact that Rajapakse a survivor if ever there was one in Sri Lankan politics must bite the LTTE bullet. And if the map of Sri Lanka has to stay the way it is today, then Colombo must begin to seriously speak to Rajiv Gandhi's killer, Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

None other than the Europeans, in fact, may have unwittingly given Colombo the room to do so. By banning the LTTE as a consequence of which, the LTTE has demanded that truce monitors withdraw from the island by September 1 the European Union may have temporarily dealt itself out of the peace process. The removal of the EU fig leaf suddenly leaves India, exposed, as the most important player in Sri Lankan politics.

Interestingly, moderate Tamil leaders have been touring India these days, pointing to the "Indian model'' of federalism as the way to do it. That can hardly be a coincidence. Perhaps they are only saying, in their own words, what the Indian leadership has repeatedly been telling Colombo recently.Meanwhile, the choice of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's messenger to Colombo may also be intended to send its own message.

It was none other than Shyam Saran who, in April, supported the people's movement in Nepal at its most critical juncture thereby, telling King Gyanendra that India would not support him against his own people. Saran's visit to Colombo may even constitute a similar demarche.Still, the India-Sri Lanka-LTTE story would not be complete if Sonia Gandhi, in some way or the other, did not get involved with it.

It seems as if the daughter of Nalini and Murugan, both accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination and currently lodged in the Vellore jail, has recently visited her parents in jail. Having given the child and her grandmother a visa on humanitarian grounds after much internal debate, New Delhi is now caught in a bind. Should it acquiesce to the natural desires of a little girl? The India-Sri Lanka story just got muddier.

LTTE Political Head, S.P. Thamilselvan yesterday ruled out negotiations on devolution of powers based on a unitary constitution and accused President Mahinda Rajapaksa of adopting a duplicitous approach when he was asked to comment government’s move on setting up a committee to examine power devolution. "Colombo's call for talks based on the Sri Lankan constitution, rejected by Tamils decades ago, is a deliberate act of deceiving the International Community while failing to implement practical steps to implement the fundamental terms of the ceasefire agreement as agreed at Geneva I", Mr. Tamilselven said.

The Government said it had set up a 12-member multiethnic committee "to examine devolution of power," as a first step to address the Tamil demand for separation. "The concept of devolution of powers, based on the Sri Lankan Unitary Constitution, has been rejected decades ago by the Tamils," Mr. Thamilselvan said. "Locked into its constitution, Colombo is attempting to deceive the International Community by inviting Tamils to reinvent the wheel while letting loose horrifying terror on the Tamil population," the LTTE's political head added.

If Sri Lanka's President is genuinely interested in advancing the peace process he should immediately stop the violence against Tamil civilians, remove the economic embargo on the North and East and create conditions for peace with the help of Norwegian facilitators, Mr. Thamilselvan said. The "most immediate need of the moment," according to the LTTE political head was the execution of measures agreed in Geneva on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

Claims that the Army does not have intelligence to defeat the Tiger terrorism mean that the Army does not have a head and a headless body cannot perform any task, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said at this evening special convention of the party held at the Colombo Municipality Grounds. 'There is only terrorism in the country and not a war and if terrorism is to be defeated, it should be properly identified' Amarasinghe said adding that the LTTE was able to eliminate senior Army officers due to the lapses in the Army and quipped that senior Army officers are travelling around without proper prioperty while instructing a others to be careful.

I heard when I landed in the country that the LTTE has decided to deliver the knockout punch to the JVP, the JVP leader said and added the JVP will not be intimidated by LTTE threats. If a life is claimed from our camp we'll settle the credit without holding back any dues,Amarasinghe said and noted that the speech made by him in 2001 at Kalutara is valid even for today.Amarasinghe said "The cease-fire is still being talked about. Now it is over. Neither the President nor the SLFP can revive it. It is gone. Now we have to start afresh. If the Tigers want to participate they should firs lay down their arms. We don's ask them to surrender arms. But hey certainly cannot use them.

The democracy in our country is still very much alive. Eve though there are inequalities, the law and order situation prevails. The Co-chairs say that the entire country has collapsed. These are a pack of lies. Even Japanese peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi had expressed similar sentiments. I call him not Akashi but 'Yakashi' (a reference to devil.) Let him come again ? Under the prevailing circumstances we are going to lose the country. You cannot be complacent. The President should show his mettle now. If he (President) can translate his work into action, we would continue to support the President.

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels celebrated their suicide bomber squads on the 19th anniversary of their first attack yesterday, but in the capital Colombo troops nervously scanned streets fearing new blasts.With a 2002 ceasefire increasingly in tatters and more than 700 people dead so far this year, many fear the rebels might unleash more Black Tiger suicide bombers against civilian, military and economic targets."Our Black Tigers have stood as pillars of strength and force," said the rebel-linked Jaffna University Students Union in a statement. "Every time they walk into the battlefield... they scatter like cotton and mingle and join the air for the love and passion for their goal... without considering death."

The military said a Tiger claymore fragmentation mine attack killed one soldier in the northern town of Vavuniya yesterday, but that it was clearly not a Black Tiger attack.During two decades of civil war for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) say they have used 273 suicide bombers.The first attack took place on July 5, 1987, when rebel Captain Miller drove a truck packed with explosives into an army camp. The Tigers said they would parade his picture on a motorcade through their northern heartland.

A slickly produced Black Tiger music video tribute released on a pro-rebel website showed footage of ethnic Tamils dead and fleeing their homes, Tigers in black fatigues laughing and walking along a beach as well as fighters and frogmen training.With two suicide blasts in or near the capital this year, killing Sri Lanka's third most senior general and seriously wounding the army commander, and the sinking of three naval patrol boats in suicide explosions, many worry that the wartime bombings could be about to resume.The LTTE deny carrying out recent blasts. Few believe them."Colombo is as dangerous as the north and east now," one air force infantryman said.

Proposals to devolve powers to the north and eastern parts of the country to resolve the country's ethnic conflict will be disclosed shortly, despite talks between the government and the LTTE being delayed indefinitely.Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said that the proposal which is being currently drawn up will be made available within the next few days, but declined to elaborate on the contents of the proposals.The proposals are based on the recommendations made by the political parties involved in the All-Party Conference which was established to put forward proposals to resolve the ethnic conflict.

Rambukwella said that the multi-party committee that was formed via the APC and the government would put forward separate proposals this week to devolve power to the north and east as a solution to the ethnic conflict. This is the first time the government would be putting forward proposals to resolve the ethnic conflict.However, President Mahinda Rajapakse told an Indian television station that he would be putting forward only an outline to resolve the ethnic conflict and thereafter the LTTE could put forwards its proposals.In response to a question whether the president had a roadmap or even a blueprint for peace given the scepticism of the international community Rajapakse said a committee of experts was in the process of drafting the outline.

Ambalavanar Punithavathy, 43, from Uduvil in Manipay area has been shot dead after being raped by unknown assailants at 11:00 p.m. Tuesday, sources in Jaffna said. Assailants who forced entry into the unmarried woman's home, told the occupants that they have come to search the house, attacked the elderly mother before raping the woman, local residents said. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp that houses the Intelligence Wing is located close to the house where the crime took place. The house is located in Ponniah lane in Uduvil, Valikamam in Jaffna district.

The Uduvil SLA camp has been accused of several previous violations of human rights and harassment of Jaffna residents.Local residents said that after dark only the SLA soldiers patrol the streets surrounding the camp and the area where the murder site is located. No civilians venture out in the area, the residents added.Tension and fear prevail in the area, civil society sources said.The mother has been admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital with serious assault injuries.Mallakam District Court judge, Sarojini Ilankovan, inspected the site of the crime and directed the police to transfer the body to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for postmortem examinations.

Explosion kills Sri Lanka soldier

One soldier has been killed in a mine explosion in northern Sri Lanka, the military says. The mine attack targeted a group of soldiers on foot patrol near the town of Vavuniya on Wednesday, defence spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said. The army said the attack was similar to ones carried out by separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.Violence has spiralled in Sri Lanka in recent months claiming about 700 lives and undermining a 2002 truce. The latest attack comes amid increased security across the country on the day when the Tamil Tiger rebels honour over 200 colleagues who have carried out suicide attacks. The rebels have not commented on the incident.

The rebels and the government say they still stand by the truce deal - but with rising unrest, the peace exists only on paper, correspondents say. Many victims of the violence have been civilians and members of the security forces. Many Tamil civilians have also been killed - by the security forces or affiliated paramilitary units, the rebels allege. Others blame some of those deaths on the rebels or other armed groups. More than 60,000 people have died in Sri Lanka since the rebels began their fight for independence for minority Tamils in the 1970s.

The suspected LTTE female suicide cadre responsible for the attack on Army Commander Sarath Fonseka has been identified and three other suspects wanted in connection with the blast inside the Army Headquarters have been arrested, police said. Detectives arrested a couple and another male suspect at Rambukkana and recovered the national identity card of the 32-year-old suicide bomber Manjuladevi. The three suspects had reportedly helped the suicide bomber in planning and carrying out her dastardly deed.IGP Chandra Fernando told a news conference at police headquarters yesterday that a special CID team sent to Rambukkana soon after the incident had located the suspects. The suspects were said to have been well paid by the LTTE to assist the woman suicide bomber and the couple and the other suspect had been summoned to Killinochchi and asked to accompany Manjuladevi to Rambukkana and find her lodgings. The suspects are being detained for further questioning.

The Peliyagoda Crime Division yesterday arrested a robber gang led by a Captain of the Army, now a deserter. The gang was said to be responsible robbing luxury vehicles and selling them to the LTTE.Among the vehicles recovered by the police from the gang are a Prado worth ten million rupees, a car and a van.The suspects have been arrested in the areas of Battaramulla, Tissamaharamaya, Kegalle, Ratmalana and Ranna. A bank executive was also a member of the gang, police said.Investigations have revealed that the gang had already sold most of the vehicles robbed.

Vavuniya police took in to custody the Prado when it was being taken to a Tiger controlled area.Police said that the Army Captain had last served in the Kuruwita army detachment and he befriended the Tigers while serving in the North and the East through a racketeer identified as a Tamil who had close links with the LTTE.After deserting the Army he had robbed luxury vehicles from a number of areas, including Colombo and Wellawatte and sold them to the LTTE via the racketeer.

Police in Millekele Watte, Monaragala have found a child's shoe filled with 50g of C4 high explosive. Following a tip-off received from a private informant, Monaragala Police found the shoe near a tree by the side of the road, Monaragala HQI M. Linton said. The explosive material was taken for further investigation with Army, he added.Defence authorities suspect that the LTTE is transporting explosives in various forms to different areas in the country. Monaragala police have conducted a search operation. UVA Province DIG T.K. Miskin is leading the investigation with three police teams from Monaragala. No arrests have been made so far. In another incident, a soldier was killed in Pirappa Madu, Vavuniya in a claymore mine attack around 9 a.m. yesterday. Soldiers and police personnel engaged in route clearing have been targeted by two LTTE claymore mines.

There is no military solution to Sri Lanka's separatist conflict, outgoing US Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead said, as daily bloodshed has raised fears of renewed war. Lunstead, who is leaving the country after three years, also said in a statement released Wednesday that a solution to Sri Lanka's civil strife would require "radical changes in the way the entire nation is governed".These changes must "empower all the people of Sri Lanka: Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others, and give them a greater say in how they are governed in the areas where they live", he said in an American Independence Day address.

Spiralling violence has claimed the lives of more than 830 people and displaced tens of thousands more since December as a ceasefire agreement between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) crumbles.The tit-for-tat killings and military operations have sparked fears of an all-out war, with political sniping between the government and rebels effectively crippling truce monitoring efforts."I have to confess ... that I leave with some disappointment," Lunstead said.

"Peace talks have not resumed, the ceasefire is under constant pressure. Violence has increased," he said."Barricades which had been dismantled are being once again thrown up. And not just physical barricades, but also the barricades which divide one citizen from another, as fear and mistrust grow."Some 60,000 people have died since a Tamil separatist conflict erupted in 1972 after years of persecution at the hands of the Sinhalese majority.

Lunstead urged Colombo to address "legitimate" Tamil grievances and rein in its security forces, which have been accused of recent killings and disappearances."The government of Sri Lanka must ... ensure that the conduct of its security forces in impeccable, even in the face of severe provocation," he said.But he also said the Tigers must "renounce terrorism and violence and enter the political path".The United States is one of the key backers of Sri Lanka's peace process.

Celebrations commemorating the Black Tigers, elite combat squad of the Liberation Tigers, were held in Jaffna Campus Wednesday morning presided by Student Union President Baheerathan, union members in Jaffna said. Jaffna Campus Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof K Kumaravadivel lit the ceremonial flame.Mr Baheerathan hoisted the Tamil eelam flag. This was followed by lighting of the flame of sacrifice by the Jaffna Campus Workers' Union President, N. Kalaraj, and laying of the flower offering by the President of Jaffna Campus Science Faculty Students, Mr Sritharan, sources attending the event said.Head of Social Sciences Department, Dr. N. Shanmugalingam, and Head of Department of Commerce, Dr K Thevarasa, gave memorial speeches.

India informed both President Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe this week it is now ready to get more engaged in helping Sri Lanka achieve a political settlement to the ethnic conflict.This message was conveyed to both Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe by Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran during his crucial two day visit to Sri Lanka which commenced Monday.Saran met Wickremesinghe yesterday at the UNP Leader’s private residence down Fifth Lane, Colombo 3.Associated with India’s External Affairs Secretary were High Commissioner Nirupama Rao, her Deputy A. Manickkam and Political Affairs Secretary N Gill.

Associated with Wickreme-singhe at the meeting were Milinda Moragoda, Karu Jayasuriya and G.L. Peiris.Secretary Saran told Wickremesinghe it was important for the leaders of the two principal parties to work together to bring about a lasting solution and for the two leaders to have a dialogue. Saran had also said if there is consensus in the south to adopt the Indian model of federalism, India stands ready to assist.Wickremesinghe pointed out his party agreed with the LTTE in Oslo to explore a federal solution and given the flexibility of the Indian model, it could be a good starting point.

The European Commission provides €7 million in humanitarian aid for people displaced by the ongoing conflict in the north and east

The European Commission has allocated €7 million to help around 300,000 people displaced by the ongoing conflict in the north and east of Sri Lanka. The funding has three aims: to provide shelter and food security for people returning home or relocating to new land, to improve the conditions for displaced people who continue to live in “welfare centres” and to meet the emergency needs of those newly displaced by the escalating conflict.Commissioner Louis Michel said: “Since the tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka, international attention has been focused on the victims of that catastrophe and the response of the Commission and European citizens has been massive. However, we should not forget that the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka have been a theatre for conflict for over 20 years, and that nearly 350,000 people cannot return to their homes. With this decision, the European Commission brings immediate support to those who continue to suffer from the conflict”.

People moving home are returning to villages and houses badly damaged by the war. The aid will provide them with urgently needed basic shelter, food security kits so they can grow their own food, water and sanitation facilities and protection. The 68 000 people who remain living in ‘welfare centres’ often face a lack of safe drinking water, violence against women and no income. The funding will help maintain their shelters and construct drinking water wells and latrines. For people newly displaced by the conflict, the aid aims to meet their food, emergency shelter, water and sanitation, and medical needs.

Since 1983, the ongoing conflict between Tamil separatists and the Government of Sri Lanka in the north and east of the country has claimed over 65,000 lives. Up to 800,000 people have been internally displaced during 20 years of civil war. Many believed that the unprecedented tsunami tragedy of December 2004 would lead to a revival of the peace process but this has not been the case. Instead the security situation in Sri Lanka has been deteriorating rapidly since the end of 2005 with renewed hostilities leading to a further 800 deaths and 40,000 people displaced.Since 2004, the Commission has given a total of €59 million in humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka. This includes €42 million from the Commission's response to the tsunami in December 2004 and a further €17 million (including today’s €7 million) specifically for those people directly affected by the conflict. All funds are channelled through the Commission’s Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid, ECHO, under the responsibility of Commissioner Louis Michel.

With the LTTE continuing to boycott the second round of Geneva talks the Government said it would this week submit a set of proposals to the parties that took part in the All Party Conference in a bid to resolve the ethnic conflict.Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told the Daily Mirror that the multi party committee that was formed via the APC and the government would put forward separate proposals this week to devolve power to the North and East as a solution to the ethnic conflict.

The government meanwhile said LTTE’s chief negotiator Anton Balasingham’s view that President Mahinda Rajapaksa should squarely take the blame for the current situation in Sri Lanka was ‘disingenous’ since the rebels had turned a blind eye to the negotiation process.Mr. Balasingham had told NDTV the current 'low intensity war' was a result of the Lankan President's “hardline stand” adding that if he got the chance to meet the President he would urge Mr. Rajapaksa to contain the paramilitaries and create congenial conditions for peace negotiations.

"If I have the opportunity to meet President Rajapaksa, I would urge him to take concrete action to contain the excesses of the armed forces, to see that the armed forces are disciplined and not to allow the armed forces to commit extra-judicial killings," Mr. Balasingham said. Government Peace Secretariat Head Palitha Kohona told the Daily Mirror Mr. Balasingham’s comments were disingenuous and part of the LTTE’s endless excuses to avoid re-entering the negotiating process which had remained stalled since the first round of Geneva talks last February.

Minister Rambukwella meanwhile noted that President Rajapaksa had been critisised by several political parties despite the untiring efforts he made to resume talks with the LTTE .he negative signals that came from the rebels.In the NDTV interview Mr. Balasingham also denied the Tigers were behind the attack on a bus in Kebethigollewa on June 15 noting that owing to the LTTE’s past record people refused to accept the denials.

The special police team probing the abduction and killing of freelance journalist Sampath Lakmal de Silva is to arrest an intelligence officer attached to the Sri Lanka Defence sector intelligence unit, police sources said. It has now been established that the intelligence officer who is alleged to have made a call to Sampath's mobile phone on the day of the abduction as 'Kumara Sir'. He is a resident of the South. It is reported that Sampath had used two mobile phones and one of them had been presented to him by this intelligence officer and that phone had gone missing since his murder. The mobile phone found at the place where the Sampath's body was found was the one used by him personally.

It has also been revealed that Sampath had had close links with government intelligence officers and certain officers had made use of him to publish reports that they wanted. Some intelligence officers were furious over the details exposed by him and on two previous occasions these officers had abducted and assaulted him and threatened him not to write any more about intelligence activities.In addition it has been disclosed that Lakmal had engaged in massive financial deals with an individual connected to the LTTE to obtain information about the organization. These transactions have become a hot topic these days in defence as well as political circles. It has come to light that intelligence units of the armed forces have furnished wrong clues to mislead the investigating teams.Non sooner Lakmal's murder was committed, a defence website blamed the killing on the LTTE.

Security has been increased islandwide today, July 5, the day the LTTE commemorates its suicide cadres, the Army Media Unit said.All checkpoints, especially those in the city, have been warned to stay on high alert and security forces personnel have been increased at the entry and exit points to Colombo city, officials from the Army Media Unit told ."The security forces have been warned to stay on high alert due to possible terrorist attacks. All steps will be taken to protect the city," officials said.Security was heightened to pre-ceasefire levels after last week’s assassination of Maj. Gen. Parami Kulatunga.The LTTE has increased attacks in July in the past, the latest being the attack on the Bandaranaike International Airport in July 2001.

The JVP backed trade union wing yesterday warned the public sector would be forced to resort to a massive strike action since it believed President Mahinda Rajapaksa had failed to fulfill his election pledges.Addressing a seminar in Colombo on public sector salary anomalies, JVP Union leader K.D. Lal Kantha said the Rajapaksa regime had betrayed the public servants who had initially hoped that their grievances would be looked into by the government.“The government is now inviting the public sector to resort to a massive strike since it has conveniently forgotten to address the grievances of the public sector,” he said.

“We have been discussing to rectify the crisis created by the 2/2006 and 6/2006 circulars for the past six months. Even the government accepts that there are shortcomings in the circular. Yet they appear to be shielding themselves by putting the national question before it. But it is the government’s duty to resolve other matters in the country as well,” he said adding that he did not understand the logic behind the government’s moves to increase the salaries of ministers and MPs under the same circumstances.

“The public servants are not asking anything new from the government but only to solve the problems faced by them for years,” he said.. Now the government praises us but once we start fighting for our rights it will scream that we are sabotaging everything regardless of the country’s situation,” he said.“There are problems over salary scales as employees in similar grades were given different salary scales. This has to be rectified. The Circular does not clearly mention about the strategies of granting public sector allowances and several grades were not established in their due salary scales,” he added.The seminar was organized by the National Trade Union Centre (NTUC).

An EPRLF member was shot dead by unidentified persons in Jaffna yesterday morning.The incident took place in Periyakoviladi.Sources said that the victim, Ariaratnam Linton (34) was a member of the Varathan faction of the EPRLF. He had been employed as a bodyguard of a prominent EPRLF member some time ago.The body was handed over to the Jaffna hospital.

Members of Swiss Tamils Women's Association held a protest rally in front of UNICEF offices in Zurich Monday against the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) violence on women in NorthEast, Tamil sources in Switzerland said. The protesters appealed in a Memorandum addressed to the Government of Switzerland and UNICEF to condemn the SLA violence, and to pressure the Government of Sri Lanka to take steps to stop the violence immediately, spokesperson Nirmala Pararajasingham said.

"Sri Lanka security forces have killed many children and women in a gruesome manner, and have sexually assaulted many women in NorthEast in the last several months," the memorandum pointed out.President of the Women's association, Ms Pushparani Senthamilchelvan handed over a memorandum to Swiss UNICEF Executive Director Ms Alexandra Rosetti to be delivered to the Secretary General of UNICEF.An information package in Deuth language detailing the SLA, and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) atrocities was also distributed to concerned Swiss citizens who stopped to learn of the protest, organizers said.

Three civilians were injured yesterday when an unidentified gunman opened fire at fishermen in the Uppuveli lagoon in Trincomalee last morning, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said. A spokesperson for the Centre said one of the injured was a member of People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), a rival organisation of the LTTE. The Security Forces suspect the LTTE to be behind the shooting. The PLOTE member, admitted to hospital, was said to be out of danger. Meanwhile, Mohammed Ali, 24, from the Mud Cove area in Trincomalee was shot dead by an unidentified gunman on Monday evening. The MCNS said they believe the LTTE was behind the killing.

India Yesterday offered to share with Sri Lanka its experience of federal polity as Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran met President Mahinda Rajapakse and discussed the faltering peace process in the island nation. Saran, who arrived here yesterday morning amid a looming fear of major conflict breaking out, delivered a letter carrying a message from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Rajapakse. The contents of the letter were not immediately known. The two held talks on the current status of the strained peace process besides a host of other issues.

Saran discussed with Rajpakse the "efforts being made to evolve a political consensus in Sri Lanka to promote a peaceful settlement of the ethnic problem," Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters in New Delhi. During the meeting, Saran conveyed India's willingness to share with Sri Lanka, its constitutional experience with regard to federal polity in the context of happenings in the island nation, Sarna said. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary H M G S Palihakkara were also present, a spokesman for Rajapakse's office said here. Saran conveyed India's support for a negotiated political settlement, he said.

New Zealand and Swiss monitors to replace EU in SLMM - Government comes under Norwegian pressure

The government is under tremendous pressure from the Norwegian facilitators to accept amendments to the ceasefire agreement as suggested by the Tigers to exclude ceasefire monitors from EU countries, The Nation learns. What they are proposing is to include monitors from New Zealand and Switzerland,government sources said. The LTTE proposed to the Norwegian facilitators to exclude ceasefire monitors from the three EU countries; Finland, Denmark and Sweden after the European Union listed the LTTE as a terrorist organization. The Tiger demand would compel 37 out of the present 57 ceasefire monitors to vacate.

However the government is adamant that no amendment should be made to the Ceasefire Agreement on the whims and fancies of the LTTE. The government is of the view that they should have been consulted before bringing amendments since the agreement is between the government and LTTE. The LTTE’ position was conveyed to Norwegian Ambassador Hans Bratskar when he visited Killinochchi recently. Meanwhile representatives of Finland, Denmark and Sweden meeting with the Norwegian facilitators in Oslo on Thursday to discuss the LTTE’s demand ended in a stalemate. Norway is to convey to Colombo the outcome of the discussion. The LTTE extended the earlier one-month deadline for the removal of monitors from EU countries

Sources close to President said that he is planning to go for a general election after declaring the Sri Lanka Freedom party stand on the national problem. It has also been decided to replace weak party organisers prior to s snap poll.A party spokesman told 'Lanka e News' that the district committees of the party will be convened on the 13 and 14th of this month. Two representatives from the party headquarters and two Ministers each will represent these committees and they will brief participants on the prevailing economic and political situation and the ethnic issue and war.

Reorganisation activities of the party at electoral level will be carried out from July 22 to 30 and recruitment of new members and removal of inefficient organisers will be don during this period with the aim of going for a snap poll probably in October or November, he added.The party convention is scheduled for September 2nd and the President is expected to make a special statement on the SLFP stand on the ethnic issue and a resolution based on this statement will be passed at the convention.The spokesman added that since the days of the late S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike the party followed a policy of devolution as a solution to the ethnic issue and added that the party cannot veer away from this position.

A rift has arisen in the Negombo police over the arrest of a businessman said to be linked to the LTTE.The businessman was taken into custody along with boat engines and equipment allegedly to be handed over to the LTTE, police said yesterday (3). The rift within the police had led to the businessman’s property being searched by a large posse of policemen, but they had not found anything suspicious or incriminating there.Some policemen of lower ranks have informed a local politician, who is said to be a friend of the businessman, that the ‘raid’ was conducted at the insistence of a police officer but the head of Negombo police division has told the politician that he was not the one who had ordered the search, sources said.

Junior officers of the Negombo Police are asking how such a raid could be conducted without the head of the police division being aware of it. They also blamed the IGP for not taking action against the person who ordered the raid. They complain that the division between the senior officers may affect police duties in the area.The CID is investigating another case where a person in Negombo, who was in possession of boat engines and equipment to be given to the LTTE, was released a day after he was taken into custody with the engines and equipment, police sources said.

The Jathika Hela Urumaya is to disclose a list of 58 names within two weeks including Cabinet Ministers, parliamentarians, high ranking defence officials and senior officials of Ministries whom it alleged were engaged in activities with the LTTE endangering national security and providing vital information to the organization.A comprehensive report on these persons is to be handed over to the President next week, JHU media spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said and added if the President failed to take action their names will be disclosed to the country as persons who posed a serious thereat to national security.

The party had undertaken a careful study of al these persons and the President, too, is aware of some of these persons, Warnasinghe claimed.He further noted that the Sinhala persons too are involved in the LTTE terror network as a result of the cease-fire agreement and added this situation was made possible by the short-sighted polices adopted by Ranil and Chandrika and alleged that in the security forces alone there are 48 high ranking officers who have direct links with the LTTE.

When 'Lanka e News' asked as to how he could be so sure about these figures, the JHU spokesman said that they received all information from the forces themselves.Some of these officers are involved in business activities with the LTTE while some others are leaking sensitive defence information to the LTTE with an assurance that they will not be harmed by them.Among the LTTE informants are cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and 10 senior public officials, Warnasinghe said.

As the allegation that there is a cabinet minister among them is very serious, 'Lanka e News' queried whether there is sufficient evidence to prove this and the JHU spokesman claimed that the entire country knows who this minister is even though name is not divulged. He added that it is no secret who exerted pressure on police officers who arrested 'Koti Christy' from Negombo and other suspects nabbed after the explosion of an LTTE boat off Pamunugama and influenced senior police officers to release them and then provided shelter to them.

When one of the soldiers arrested from Welioya was interrogated, he admitted that the LTTE had given him a satellite phone and he added that this was an indication that there are LTTE informants even among lower ranks of the forces.

Martin McGuinness today urged the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to prevent the island nation from slipping back to full-scale civil war, his party said.McGuinness, deputy leader of Sinn Féin, is a former leader of the IRA, which fought for decades to end British rule in Northern Ireland before giving up its weapons in July 2005 as part of a peace deal.His meeting with Tiger political leader S.P Thamilselvan in the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi comes as Sri Lanka’s four-year-old peace process stands on the verge of collapse amid escalating violence that has killed more than 700 people since December.

“My core message was that both sides need to act decisively to prevent the downward spiral into all out conflict,” Sinn Féin quoted McGuinness as saying in a statement issued in Ireland.“The reality is that, just as in Ireland, there can be no military victory and that the only alternative to endless conflict is dialogue, negotiations and accommodation,” he said.McGuinness said the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, or LTTE, could benefit from the lessons learned in Northern Ireland’s peace process.

“I am very keen to share my experiences as one of the leaders of the Sinn Féin movement in Ireland, not just with the leaders of the LTTE, but also with Sri Lanka,” the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site quoted McGuinness as saying.McGuinness, meanwhile, criticised the European Union for recently banning the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organisation.He called the decision a “huge mistake ... to demonise the LTTE and the political leaders of the Tamil people,” TamilNet reported.

The Tamil Tiger rebels began fighting the government in 1983 to create a separate homeland for the country’s ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination.More than 65,000 people were killed before a Norway-brokered cease-fire was signed in 2002. Both sides accuse the other of being behind the recent spike in violence that threatens the truce, but each denies it.McGuinness’ visit, which was unannounced, was approved by the Sri Lankan government, which provided him a military helicopter to visit rebel territory.

'Five killed' in Sri Lanka blast

At least five people, including four security personnel, have been killed in an explosion at an army checkpoint in Sri Lanka, an army spokesman says. More than 10 others, most of them civilians, were injured. Army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the blast in the north-eastern city of Trincomalee. Violence has spiralled in Sri Lanka in recent months claiming about 700 lives and undermining a 2002 truce.

The military says explosives were placed inside a three-wheel taxi parked near the checkpoint. "It is a Tiger explosion. We don't know if it's a claymore [mine] or an improvised explosive device," Brig Samarasinghe told Reuters news agency. Separately, two police commandos were injured in a landmine blast in the east, the army said.

In June, a top Sri Lankan army general was killed in a suicide bomb attack blamed on the Tamil Tigers. Maj Gen Parami Kulatunga was the third highest ranking officer in the Sri Lankan army. The rebels and the government say they still stand by a truce deal agreed in 2002 - but with rising unrest, the peace exists only on paper, correspondents say. Many victims of the violence have been civilians and members of the security forces.

Many Tamil civilians have also been killed - by the security forces or affiliated paramilitary units, the rebels allege. Others blame some of those deaths on the rebels or other armed groups. More than 60,000 people have died in Sri Lanka since the rebels began their fight for independence for minority Tamils in the 1970s.

The special police team probing the death of freelance journalist Sampath Lakmal De Silva questioned a journalist of 'The Sathdina' weekend newspaper this morning and recorded his statement.A six member police team comprising Inspector Upul Samarasinghe, Sub Inspector Wasantha Sudasinghe and six other officers has been appointed by DIG Western Province South K.P.P.Pathirana to probe the murder of the journalist.The police have questioned the 'Sathdina' journalist about likely suspects and his connections with Lakmal.On an earlier occasion, Lakmal was abducted and assaulted by the Army.

Prior to the murder Lakmal had received 4 threatening phone calls and those numbers had been handed over to the investigating team. The journalist had also informed the police about an underworld figure who visited the Sathdina office itself and threatened Lakmal for writing an article on the underworld.Meanwhile after the recovery of the Lakmal's body at Jayawardane Avenue, Karagampitiya, Dehiwala several persons in civvies had asked the policemen on the scene whether they had found a notebook. The police are also focussing on these people and their whereabouts.Police have also directed investigations on 261 series-three wheeler and a white van believed to have used by the assassins.

I and Prabhakaran can hold direct talks: Rajapakse

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has suggested he and LTTE chief Prabhakaran could hold direct talks on the island nation's peace process which is hanging in balance. "We are human beings, they are all Sri Lankans. Whether he is Prabhakaran or Mahinda Rajapakse both of us are from Sri Lanka, so we can sit and discuss this...So, this is what I am asking them, to come and discuss what they want," he told a private news channel in an interview. Noting that efforts to amend the Constitution as well as solutions like fedaralism were rejected by the rebels in the past, he said "so what I say is we will give them an outline, we can get the LTTE to sit and draft what they want...They can discuss."

"I will give an outline, yes what we want is an outline; I didn't want to give them something and tell them now to eat it or push them into a tight corner and say you have to accept it. I don't want to do that...What I want is for him to come and participate, let the LTTE also come and participate in the whole process," he said. Asked if he had a roadmap or blueprint for peace, Rajapakse said "yes certainly, we have appointed a committee of experts. There are Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim representatives, intellectuals, lawyers, even government servants to draft and outline."

Asked if he was seeing in LTTE statements a sense of insecurity and desperation on their part, he said, "I am studying it whether they are desperate. With recent statements by (LTTE ideologue) Anton Balasignham about Rajiv Gandhi's killing, it looks like they are desperate, but in a way they have given a message also, that's what I feel." Asked about the rebel demand that the government should rein in LTTE's breakaway group if it wanted them to come back to the negotiating table, the Sri Lankan President said the government was not allowing any activities by the faction led by Karuna.

"On earlier occasions when we had talks in Geneva or Oslo, Karuna was one of the participants from the LTTE. Now they have broken away from the LTTE and he is also operating," Rajapakse said. "So we have said in our territory where we are controlling we are not allowing anyone to operate, no faction of the LTTE or Karuna or anyone to come in controlled areas with weapons," he added.

The PMK, a constituent of the ruling UPA coalition government at the Centre, today termed as "a big mistake" the Union Government's decision to supply two radars to Sri Lanka.PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss told reporters here that any move by India on the Sri Lankan issue should inspire confidence among the Tamil population in that country."Any discussion between India and Sri Lanka on the issue should be transparent," he added.He alleged that the Sri Lankan government was "blatantly violating human rights".On the opposition against 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in higher learning institutions among some sections, he said it was "unconstitutional and against social justice".He demanded that the Centre come up with a bill in the monsoon session of Parliament to implement the proposed reservation

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is expected to be here in the next few days for consultations with the Mahinda Rajapakse Government on the latest situation in the country in the face of an undeclared war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lanka military. Both sides are tight-lipped about the impending visit and it appears to be a conscious decision. "We want to avoid premature and unnecessary publicity given the sensitive issues involved," a senior Sri Lankan Government official privy to the visit told The Hindu .

New Delhi is concerned about the surge in violence and targeted assassinations of high-profile figures in the Sri Lanka establishment. The countries are in close touch on the developments and measures required to ensure that the tensions do not escalate.The Rajapakse Government has time and again talked about the need for a greater role to India in assisting Colombo to tackle the threat posed by the Tigers as well in its endeavour towards resolving the ethnic conflict. However, for a variety of reasons, the Sri Lankan Government has been shy of spelling out the exact nature of the role it desires from India.

Besides the ground situation, what role India could play in the current situation is expected to be an important item on the agenda of the Foreign Secretary. Asked about the nature of help Sri Lanka expected from India, a senior Minister told The Hindu , "We have been engaged in intense but quiet consultations. Indications are that the President would, in the next few days, unveil a package on the political issues related to the conflict and aspirations of the various sections within the country." India has articulated its expectations as recently as June 22 when Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraveera made a one-day visit to New Delhi to apprise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the latest developments.

Dr. Singh conveyed to Mr. Samaraveera India's abiding commitment to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, while emphasising the need to address expeditiously the legitimate aspirations of all sections of Sri Lankan society. A statement on the meeting by the External Affairs Ministry quoted the Prime Minister as saying that he emphasised the need to make all possible efforts to strengthen the ceasefire between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. They should work towards a devolution package that could command consensus among the major political parties and restore ethnic harmony.

Mr. Samaraveera told Dr. Singh that for his Government, war was not an option and that it remained committed to a political solution. On June 26, strongly condemning the assassination of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army, Parami Kulathunga, India reiterated the political message. "India is determined to stand by the people of Sri Lanka in our common struggle against terrorism, of which both our countries are victims. It is our view that political processes must be activated through sincere dialogue to arrive at a settlement which takes into account the aspirations of all the sections of Sri Lankan society, while upholding the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka," New Delhi had said.

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers today accused UNICEF of exaggerating reports of child soldier recruitment by the rebels and questioned the effectiveness of the world body's agency despite its presence in the island nation for decades. The UNICEF last week gave the Tigers a list of 1,387 children said to be among rebel ranks, but the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said a verification of names showed that 800 of them were over the age of 18 years. In the UNICEF list, some names had been counted twice and thrice, the Tigers claimed.

"Given that more than 800 of the youths in the list are now over the age of 18, UNICEF's call for the release of these youths is not based on any international human rights standards," they said. "It can only be viewed as a desperate attempt to boost the numbers in their list with the view to discredit the LTTE. When viewed against the silence of the UNICEF in the face of horrendous attacks on children by the Government of Sri Lanka operated forces, the above view is further reinforced." The Tigers had been internationally condemned for their practice of enlisting underage combatants and one of the key charges that prompted an European Union-wide ban against them was the question of child recruitment.

The leader of the breakaway LTTE faction Karuna Amman is considering setting up a political office in Colombo, his spokesman Mr. Thooyavan told the Daily Mirror.Mr. Thooyavan says the political arm of the Karuna faction also known as the Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) also plans to open offices in Trincomalee, Ampara and other major towns and cities.“Amman has been thinking about this for a long time, so we plan to open our new political offices very soon, including one in Colombo,” Mr. Thooyavan said.

He however added that an exact date or time period has not yet been set for the opening of the Colombo office, nor did he mention any possible location.The TMVP is registered as a political party in Sri Lanka and already operates an office in the Batticaloa town under tight security owing to threats from the LTTE.Police together with UNICEF officials recently searched the Batticaloa office following a complaint that children were being employed by the group for combat purposes, similar to that done by the LTTE.The police search however did not yield any results but UNICEF officials continue to have discussions with the Karuna faction over child recruitment allegations.Following the signing of the CFA, the LTTE had operated political offices in government controlled areas of the Nort