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30 November 2011 Sri Lanka has the second highest unresolved cases of disappearances – Amnesty International “Sri Lanka has the second highest unresolved cases of disappearances registered with the Working Group on Disappearances. This means 1 ,000s of unclarified cases, 1,000s of families without closure.” Yolanda Foster said. Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka expert Yolanda Foster made above remarks at an interactive meeting organised by the Freedom from Torture’s Sri Lanka event at Loading Bay Gallery, London on Friday (25).Freedom from Torture has published shocking new evidence of torture in Sri Lanka which demonstrates the practice has continued long after the end of the civil war in May 2009. The research shows that torture is perpetrated by officials within both the military and the police and that people within the Tamil population who are perceived by the authorities as having links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) remain at risk of being detained and tortured.“An independent international investigation is crucial for two reasons: firstly, to protect the global principle of accountability for international crimes, and prevent the establishment of a negative precedent for other states that may emulate Sri Lanka’s attempt to flout international law so egregiously; and secondly, to help the process of reconciliation inside Sri Lanka through findings issued by a neutral outside body free of perceptions of bias, that can establish the truth and provide justice for the crimes committed by all sides to the conflict, including the LTTE, government forces and their affiliates.” she further said. The full speech is reproduced below: Amnesty International has been documenting human rights abuses in Sri Lanka for over 30 years.These include disappearances by the security forces; unlawful killings by proxy armed groups like the EPDP; child recruitment by the Tamil Tigers as well as custodial torture by the police. Impunity in Sri Lanka has a long history. To me, the lack of independent investigation for 1 ,000s of disappearance over the last 3 decades is a symbol of this impunity. Sri Lanka has the 2nd highest unresolved cases of disappearances registered with the Working Group on Disappearances. This means 1 ,000s of unclarified cases, 1 ,000s of families without closure.The end of the war in Sri Lanka marked a nadir in terms of the scale & gravity of human rights abuses by both sides of the conflict.Amnesty International has called for an independent UN-led investigation into alleged war crimes committed by both sides in the last phase of the Sri Lankan armed conflict. We have done so because we doubt Sri Lanka’s will and ability to bring perpetrators to justice, given the gravity of the allegations levelled by witnesses against both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military, the potential that serving members of the Sri Lankan government may be implicated in the violations, and persistent official denials that crimes occurred.The country’s climate of impunity – stretching back decades, its long history of ineffective domestic inquiries into human rights violations, and its lack of political will to end ongoing, serious violations of human rights makes it doubly doubtful that justice will be served for war-time atrocities. At an international level there has been a failure to act The UN Security Council failed to address the situation in Sri Lanka in 2009, arguing “that there was no threat to international peace and security since the conflict was contained within Sri Lanka and had no spill-over effect across its borders”.In June 2010 the Secretary-General appointed a Panel of Experts to advise him on accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka. It looked into the modalities, applicable international standards and comparative experience with regard to accountability processes, taking into account the nature and scope of any alleged violations in Sri Lanka. It submitted its report to the SG in April 2011. The SG made the report public on 12 April 2011.The mandate of the Panel of experts did not extend to fact finding or investigation and therefore falls short of what would have been required, but it did assess the “nature and scope of alleged vlolatlons.” It did not receive authorization from the Sri Lankan government to visit the country. “But it did produce a strong, credible report – for the first time an international body acknowledged the extent of human rights abuses committed in the last days of Sri Lanka’s brutal conflict, when at least 10,000 civilians were killed”. It found credible allegations of a wide range of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE, some of which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.The Panel of Experts recommended, among others, the establishment of an independent international mechanism with concurrent functions to monitor the domestic accountability process conduct independent investigations and collect and safeguard information provided to it. The SG said on 25 April he could only initiate an investigation with Sri Lanka’s consent or a decision from Member States through an “appropriate intergovernmental forum”The Panel of Experts also recommended a review of UN actions during the war in Sri Lanka, given its failure to take actions that might have protected civilians during the final stages of the war. The SG indicated that he would enact this recommendation.You may ask, Why was no investigation commission of experts appointed in 2010 …. !?In line with the approach in 2009, the SG never brought the Panel’s report to the attention of the Security Council, and the SC never discussed its findings. After a great deal of pressure, the SG finally transmitted the Panel’s report to Hle President of the Human Rights Council and OCHCR in September 2011. No further action has so far been taken.The failure of the UN to act in 2009 is an example of pragmatism trumping the protection mandate. What is needed now is committed, global support for an independent international investigation.The fact is that the government continues to arbitrarily detain, torture or otherwise ill-treat and subject people to enforced disappearances. It has failed to address most instances of impunity for violations of human rights and humanitarian law.Sri Lanka continues to rely on security laws and a military apparatus that perpetuated human rights violations. We are faced with a challenge that the discussion on accountability at a global level has been taken to the Human Rights Council but it’s our job then to use the space of the Human Rights Council and other forum as constructively and best we can.That means bringing clear evidence into the public domain and faming the arguments in a human rights framework so that this is perceived to be a nonpartisan debate.An independent international investigation is crucial for two reasons: (1) to protect the global principle of accountability for international crimes, and prevent the establishment of a negative precedent for other states that may emulate Sri Lanka’s attempt to flout international law so egregiously; and (2) to help the process of reconciliation inside Sri Lanka through findings issued by a neutral outside body free of perceptions of bias, that can establish the truth and provide justice for the crimes committed by all sides to the conflict, including the L TIE, government forces and their affiliates. Son of former Tamil National Alliance MP accused of plotting to assassinate Sri Lankan President Attorney General of Sri Lanka filed charges at Colombo High Court yesterday against a son of a former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP and another person for plotting to assassinate the President, the Defense Secretary and the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka.One of the accused persons is Kanagarathnam Adithyan, 32, the son of former Vanni district MP of TNA Sathasivam Kanagarathnam.Sathasivam Kanagarathnam lived with the displaced people in Vanni during the last phase of the war and crossed to the government controlled area during the last days of the operations against Tamil Tiger rebels. He was detained for eight months and later released.He supported President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his Presidential campaign in 2010 and contested in the general election held in the same year as a ruling United People's Freedom Alliance candidate but failed to get elected to the parliament. Sri Lankans protest the jailing of ex-army chief Sri Lanka - Thousands of opposition activists marched Tuesday demanding the release of Sri Lanka's former army chief, who was sentenced to a second jail term, this time for implicating the defense secretary in war crimes.Supporters say former presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka is being victimized for his political allegiance. The demonstrators displayed placards that read "curse the rulers who put the general in the prison" and "let's defeat government's dictatorship.""Is the government afraid of Fonseka and human rights? Today, Fonseka has become a symbol of political prisoners," Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told the gathering.Wickremesinghe accused the government of undermining democracy and rule of law and called on the people to safeguard them.He said millions of people worldwide have come to the streets to protect their rights and that movement — from the Arab Spring uprisings to the Occupy Wall Street protests in the U.S. — "should be brought to Sri Lanka too."Fonseka is already serving a 30-month prison term after a court martial found him guilty of planning his political career while still in the military and of committing fraud in purchasing military ware.He was sentenced last week to three more years in prison for breaching the country's harsh emergency laws. He said he was misquoted when a newspaper reported him saying Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakasa ordered the execution of Tamil Tiger rebels attempting to surrender as the civil war was ending in May 2009.Fonseka was hailed as a war hero after he led Sri Lanka's army to victory in its 26-year civil war with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, and he and President Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother of the defense secretary, were immensely popular among the Sinhalese majority for defeating a rebel group that had seemed invincible for decades.He challenged the president in last year's election and days after Rajapaksa's re-election, Fonseka was arrested and jailed and stripped of his rank and medals.Fonseka will start the second jail term when he finishes serving his first sentence in February 2013.Human rights groups have long accused the Sri Lankan government and the rebels of committing war crimes in the final stages of the civil war. A U.N. panel reported in April tens of thousands of civilians may have been killed in the final months of the fighting and ethnic Tamil activists claim government troops executed unarmed rebels who surrendered.The government rejected any wrongdoing for more than two years before conceding civilian deaths did occur. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told a conference last week that the military may have committed "crimes" and promised to investigate them. Only Colombo can resolve Tamil problems: Malaysian MPs Two Malaysian MPs who are very vocal about the situation in Sri Lanka now say that only Colombo can resolve Tamil problems, not any other country or government. M. Manogaran and S. Ramakrishnan also called upon the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, which they have bitterly criticized in the past, to show a large heart and meet the aspirations of the island's minority communities."Only the Sri Lankan government can address their (minorities) problems," Manogaran told IANS at the end of a short India visit, speaking for both of them. "Others including we can only play a secondary role."He said that now that "the war was over, and a winner and loser have been declared", the Tamils in particular - who suffered the maximum from the ethnic conflict - expected a better life."The government must not only go for reconstruction (in the former war zone) and restore (minority) rights but also provide the necessary space for restoration of normalcy," he said.Both Ramakrishnan, who is from the upper house, and Manogaran are second generation Malaysian Tamils of Indian origin. Both belong to the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is part of Malaysia's opposition alliance.In June, both visited Sri Lanka where they met a large number of people both in Colombo in the north. Many ordinary Tamils there told them that they expected India, which has previously played a major role in Sri Lankan affairs, to push Colombo to help them lead a life of dignity and equality. Ranil accuses speaker over denial of speech Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has accused of the speaker of parliament of preventing him from asking a question from the government and the prime minister.Speaking to the media in Colombo today (Nov. 29) he said he had wanted to raise the prosecution of former Army chief Sarath Fonseka.As a signatory to international conventions, presidential and parliamentary election candidates cannot be taken before courts in Sri Lanka, Mr. Wickremesinghe said he had wanted to say.For the first time, the leader of the opposition was prevented from asking a question important for the country and the people, he said.He said that he had the right to ask the question under parliamentary standing orders.Mr. Wickremesinghe added that he removed his Commonwealth Parliamentary union tie and left the Chamber in protest. TIC calls on the Sri Lanka government to create a single authoritative record of causalities of Armed Violence The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) welcomes the statement made by the Sri Lankan Secretary of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday, 24 November 2011, at the Inaugural National Conference on Reconciliation: The Way Forward for Post Conflict Sri Lanka”, recognising the importance of recording civilian casualties of war in Sri Lanka.Secretary Rajapakse confirmed that a census is being carried out by the Department of Census and Statistics, in an effort to gather information on civilian deaths in the final battle in 2009. The government hopes that the data collection will disprove allegations of war crimes, as the census apparently already shows that very few casualties were caused by military action. According to the Defence Secretary, the categories of deaths recorded in the census includes those who died of natural causes and in accidents, those who died while fighting as members of the LTTE, whether voluntarily or under coercion; those who were killed by the LTTE; and those who died as a result of state military action. It is claimed that missing persons will also be accounted for by discovering those who have left the country illegally.TIC welcomes the initiative of recording civilian causalities by the government as a necessary development and the fulfilment of a state obligation. TIC looks forward to studying the census data and methodology in comparison with other such work being carried out internationally. TIC believes that no person should die unrecorded, and a democracy is only properly functional if its people are well informed. The primary responsibility to record the details of every causality of armed violence lies with the state, and the state must investigate the circumstances of deaths. The governmental recognition of this fact is both welcome and overdue.However, the government should not take this census only to counter the figures of civilian deaths being quoted by various NGOs and the UN. The government should ensure that every person killed by armed violence is promptly recorded, correctly identified and publicly acknowledged.TIC is also undertaking a project of collecting information on all deaths in the history of conflict in Sri Lanka, as we believe that full information on “all lives” lost is essential for several different reasons. Firstly, officially recognised casualty data, including the name of the person killed and a description of the incident, restores dignity to the individual. It allows families, friends and communities to grieve and move on, and supports practical arrangements such as attaining death certificates. This information is also central to truth and reconciliation efforts, and peace processes must be based on full factual analysis of the conflict and its impact. TIC will be glad to examine the data produced by the government and compare it to its own database.We urge the government to expand its census back to the time of the first political killing of at Government Clerical Services Union (GCSU) Member and the clerical officer of the Department of Health and Sanitary Services, Velupillai Kandasamy, on 5 June 1947 at Kolonnawa in the Western Sri Lanka, for participating in a demonstration protesting the interdiction of the GCSU president T.B. Illangaratne and nineteen other of his trade union colleague for having held a meeting on the Galle Face Green in contravention of public service regulations. In this incident, the police fired on the orders of the British police superintendent Robins. Since then, thousands of lives, Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim, have been lost to violence both in the long-term armed conflict in the context of Tamil national struggle, in the context of the JVP uprising in the 1970s, and in political assassinations. The state should have a full record of all lives lost in the duration of the country’s violent history.Recognition of every casualty of armed violence at its largest scale is a state obligation and cannot be ignored. The fact that such work is being done by non-governmental entities such as TIC is an illustration of the fact that it can be done. 29 November 2011 Tamil prisoners on hunger strike Government response The authorities have prevented a team of lawyers and representatives of We Are Sri Lankans (WASL) organisation from entering the prison, they said.WASL's Udul Premaratne has told media that it was the first time the lawyers were prevented from visiting the prison to look into an incident.Prison Affairs Minister Chandrasiri Gajadheera said the incident has occurred as the authorities conducted a search after receiving information that there were plans to commemorate annual Heroes Day inside the premises.After the search, said the minister, 19 mobile telephones have been confiscated.He rejected the accusation that the prisoners were ordered to strip naked and taken out while it was raining for the search. JVP not allowed to visit A’pura prisoners: Udul The attempts by JVP dissidents to visit LTTE inmates in the Anuradhapura prison were thwarted by the prison authorities yesterday, a dissident member said today. Dissident member Udul Premaratne who is the former Convener of the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) said that he, along with a group of lawyers wanted to enter the prison premises to see these inmates who were allegedly assaulted by some other prisoners after they tried to celebrate Maveera Day in coincidence with the birth anniversary of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.Mr. Premaratne said that the senior prison officials did not allow his team to enter the prison premises. “These LTTE inmates have stopped as a mark of protest. We do not believe that these inmates tried to celebrate Mahaveera Day. There are LTTE members held in other prisons. No such thing happened in them,” he said.Mr. Premaratne said that he would complain to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka about this incident.“Lawyers should be allowed to visit any suspect. But, that right was not guaranteed by the officials of the Anuradhapura prison,” he said. Sri Lanka to attract more Chinese tourists Sri Lanka, in an ambitious move to attract more Chinese tourists has taken an unusual measure of opening a page on a Chinese social networking site.Sri Lanka has opened a public page on Chinese Facebook, www.renren.com, with the aim of attracting more Chinese tourists to the country, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported quoting a Sri Lankan tourism official."As the booming economy of China has led to a creation of a rich middle class and extensive per capita spending, targeting the Chinese travel market would be an ideal opportunity for Sri Lanka," Rumy Jauffer, managing director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has said.The tourist arrivals to the island already surpassed this year's goal with the 750,000th tourist arriving in the country last week.The tourism official has said that opening a public page on the Chinese social networking site was a key aspect in promoting a destination via social media and creating awareness."We have implemented a number of programmes targeting the broad tourist base in China with the support of Chinese tour agencies," Jauffer has said.According to the latest statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority in the first 10 months of 2011, tourist arrivals from China grew by 71.6 percent to 13,889 in October from 8,092 in January. Sri Lanka's first toll road earns one million rupees within 12 hours of opening The Road Development Authority of Sri Lanka says the country's first toll road, E-01 Southern Expressway, collected a revenue of one million rupees during the first twelve hours of its operations.The collection was from 6 pm yesterday, the time the road was opened for public, to 6 am this morning.During the first twelve hours of operations nearly 5,000 vehicles travelled up and down on the expressway.Around 1,000 of these vehicles entered to the expressway from Kottawa entry in Colombo district while 800 vehicles entered from the Pinnaduwa entrance in Galle district. The highway has eight entry/exit points.Meanwhile, the first accident on the newly opened Expressway took place today in less than 24 hours after its opening.The history-making accident took place around 7 am today near Kahathuduwa area, police said. The police said failure to control the vehicle at high speed was the cause for the accident.Two passengers in the vehicle were injured, police said.Sri Lankan automobile experts warn of risks of permitting 100 km per hour maximum speed in the expressway since local drivers are new to high speed. They wanted the maximum speed to be reduced to 80 km per hour. Minister Vitarana says they did not recommend devaluation Senior Minister of Scientific Affairs Prof Tissa Vitarana yesterday said in Parliament that his party LSSP did not recommend the suggestion to devalue the rupee by the budget proposals.Participating in the second reading of the budget debate, Prof Vitarana said: "The LSSP is of the view that the devaluation of the rupee by three percent will contribute to a further increase in the cost of living and other adverse effects. There are more sustainable ways to increase exports."The cost of living was bound to increase due to external factors that the government could not control like the increasing prices of fuel and food in the world market. The only answer was to be self sufficient and we welcomed the support for this in the budget, he said."For successful development, the support of the public servants and the working class is essential. From this perspective and from the social justice aspect the LSSP and the Socialist Alliance requested that there should be Rs 2500 increase in the monthly salary of public servants, and a rise in the minimum wage of the private sector employees to Rs 12,500. While the former has received a ten percent increase, the budget gives the requested increase, as an allowance, thereby only the upper bracket will receive about Rs 2500, and not the many in the lower bracket. The private sector continues to be left out. The LSSP is unhappy about this and hopes that it will receive attention in the near future. While welcoming the support given in the budget to strengthening public transport, particularly the railways, the LSSP would appeal for financial support to the CTB to get down engines and spare parts to enable more buses to be repaired and put on the road," he said. 28 November 2011 European Parliamentarian visits Jaffna Geoferey Van Orden, President of the European Parliament Friends of Sri Lanka Group, arrived in Palaly, Jaffna as a part of a two day fact-finding visit to the North. Accompanied by several officials he was received on arrival in Jaffna by security forces commander Maj. Gen, Mahinda Hathurusinghe.The top military officer presented a detailed account on the development of social, economical, health and educational spheres in Jaffna in the aftermath of the three decade long conflict.Mr. Orden was keen on the accelerated de-mining, under which more than 98 per cent of the affected lands in Jaffna has been cleared and resettlement of IDPs already completed.Maj. Gen. Hathurusinghe explained to the envoy that the civil military coordination has shaped a high level of mutual cooperation between the security forces and the civilians.Mr. Orden appreciated the welfare measures, specially the housing project for the poor initiated by the Army for Jaffna populace.He also met Bishop Jaffna Most Rev. Fr. Dr. Thomas Saundranayagam at the Bishop House and a group of civilians at the Jaffna Civil Affairs and Public Relations Office of the Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna before visiting a few important places in the city. Immediately after the visit in Jaffna, Mr. Orden and his retinue flew to Mullaitivu. TNA members to hold discussions with Ya sushi Akashi Members of the Tamil National Alliance to hold special discussions with Japanese Ambassador to SriLanka Ya sushi Akasi who is currently engaged in tour in SriLanka. Tamil National Alliance spokesman Suresh Premachandran said that they will hold discussion with Japanese Ambassador in Colombo and also went on to say date for the discussion will be announced later by the respective officials.However Akashi will meet the Minister of External Affairs G.L.Pieries today.It was also announce Akashi will hold special discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaks and Opposition leader. What Happened To India’s 50,000 Houses? When The Sunday Leader interviewed R. Sampanthan a week ago, the TNA leader claimed that of the 50,000 houses the Government of India had donated to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka, only 50 had been fully completed.“According to our sources, when the Indian Foreign Secretary visited last month, only 50 houses had been completed,” he said.When contacted, the TNA claimed that the primary cause for the delay has been that lists of beneficiaries have been manipulated by Government Ministers.“The Indian Government wanted the houses to be given to the most deserving people. But the list of beneficiaries was not being determined in a fair way,” said a TNA MP on condition of anonymity.The 50,000 housing project was announced by the Indian Government during President Rajapaksa’s visit to India in June last year. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lankan has stated that construction on housing that is presently ongoing is part of a pilot project for 1,000 houses. They have also refuted claims that only 50 houses have been completed.Informed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Indian agencies had been appointed to carry out the construction of these 1,000 houses, on 27 sites across the five Northern districts.They explained that, “Most construction is taking place in fairly remote areas, and they are working under very difficult conditions.”Expectations are that the houses will be handed over early next year, when construction is completed on all houses. “We want to hand over a house that is complete in all aspects,” they said, adding that this would include auxiliary roads and other basic facilities.They also said that “Identification of beneficiaries has been on the basis of criteria agreed upon by both Governments. The essential criteria are that they should be landless people. Priority will also be given to those who are unable to construct houses on their own. Currently, construction is being carried out on land provided by the Government of Sri Lanka.” When questioned regarding the remaining 49,000 houses that make up the entire project, The Sunday Leader was told that in most of the cases, the people will build their own houses through grant assistance provided by the Government of India. “The indication given is that most [beneficiaries] will be able to build the houses themselves,” sources said.However, they also added that the requirement for houses was a serious need of the moment, and that this requirement went much beyond what the Indian Government is presently doing. Rajapaksa wants Colombo–Jaffna expressway Soon after opening the first expressway in the country, connecting the capital Colombo with the southern port city of Galle on Sunday, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has begun spadework on the next infrastructure project: An expressway linking the capital with the Tamil-dominated Jaffna.“I will work on the Jaffna expressway so that the distance can be covered in three hours,” Mr. Rajapaksa said. Jaffna is about 400 km from Colombo. The A-9 highway leads to Jaffna and the road, which had not been re-topped in a few decades, is being repaired in stages now. A one-way journey takes upwards of 10 hours by bus now.“The President is determined about it [the Colombo – Jaffna expressway,” said Director General, Presidential Media, Bandula Jayasekara. “He said the country needs more connectivity to bring people together,” he added.The expressway linking the two cities is in top of his mind and figured in his Monday morning briefing. Mr. Rajapaksa, who is also in charge of Highways, has directed his officials to get on with the preliminary works so that work begins on an early date. He is particular that the delays that plagued the first expressway does not come back to delay the work on the Jaffna highway. Developing infrastructure Mr. Rajapaksa is pushing to get Sri Lanka infrastructure-ready to make sure that foreign investments are not held back merely because the country’s transport and other infrastructure is in a shambles. Work is already on to build a second passenger terminal at the gateway to Sri Lanka, the Bandaranaike International Airport; a second international airport is coming up at Hambantota and other smaller airports in the country are being developed.India, for instance, has helped in rebuilding the runway at the Palaly airport in Jaffna. The country’s main airline, Sri Lankan, has begin operating air taxis to many destinations – Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Bentota, Trincomallee and Arugam Bay.Besides, work on the Colombo Port’s second terminal is apace and India is working on the Kankasanthurai harbour, which is closest to the Tamil Nadu coast. Roads across the country are being re-laid and air-connectivity between Colombo and some world capitals have recently been revived.The number of tourist arrivals crossed the mark set for the year 2011 in November – 7.5 lakh. No prisoner beat up at A’pura Prison - minister Prisons reforms minister Chandrasiri Gajadheera has totally rejected a claim that Anuradhapura prison officers had beaten up LTTE suspects detained there.He is responding to a claim made by ‘We Are Sri Lankans’ executive committee member Udul Premaratne to ‘Srilankamirror.’Mr. Premaratne said 65 political prisoners were assaulted by around 35 drunken prison officers around 2.30pm yesterday (Nov. 27). In response, the minister said LTTE detainees had behaved in an unruly manner when being searched.Acting on information received, prison officers found 19 mobile phones from them, said Mr. Gajadheera, adding that the phones were to be used to plan LTTE heroes day. Elections for two local governments in uncleared areas of Sri Lanka's North early next year Elections to the two local government bodies in the uncleared areas of Mullativu district in Sri Lanka's North are like to be held next year.Elections Department officials have said elections for Puthukudiyiruppu Pradeshiya Sabha and Maritime Pattu Pradeshiya Sabha which were postponed this year would be held in March next year.The elections to the two local government bodies were to be held in March this year in the first phase of the local government elections. However, the polls had to be postponed since the de-mining and the resettlement in the areas were not completed in time.According to the Elections Department, the period of the postponement of elections to the two bodies is to end next month.Meanwhile, Elections Department officials have recently visited the Mullativu District with officials from the Mullativu District Secretariat to observe the situation in the area. JVP calls for war crimes probe An opposition party in Sri Lanka that supported the government's war against the Tamil Tigers has called for an investigation into alleged war crimes.Somawansa Amerasinghe, the leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says it supports the recent statement by the defence secretary that accountability will be addressed by the government if needed."Every war is a dirty war. The war is the worst thing in the world," the JVP leader told BBC Sandeshaya.The JVP leader is visiting England to address several meetings commemorating party members killed by Sri Lanka's armed forces in the late eighties.Addressing a recent seminar in Colombo, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that the government has investigated alleged war crimes,"including those concerning major offences including murder, rape and sexual abuse." Hirunika to launch new political party The daughter of the late Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, Hirunika Premachandra says that she will create her own political party for people who are ready to rally round her, and those who respect law and order.Speaking to LAKBIMAnEWS she said: “My motto is ‘Law and Order.’ Unfortunately, no political party is following it today. That is why I don’t want to join any political party.” “Why I want to create my own political party with the supporters of my late father is due to the absence of an independent political party in the country today,” she added.Premachandra said that entering politics has been a childhood dream and she wants to assist people who are in the grip of violence.She said though her mother is very worried about her, she is determined to help people as her father did, despite the threat to her life. KP paid $850m to save his life? A powerful minister of the Sri Lankan government currently on tour outside Sri Lanka has revealed to Lankaleaks the amazing details behind the sudden ups and downs of the Sri Lankan stock market that took place during the last two years.According to this minister a huge ransom of US $ 850.00 Million paid by KP to save his life was invested in the Sri Lankan stock market.Dhammika Perera & Nimal Perera, Ashok Pathirage, Dilith Jayaweera and Raynor Silva, thereby creating a huge artifical boom in the stock market.The idea had been not to profit through the stock market but to launder the dirty money. Recently they withdrew the money, giving legitimacy to the dirty money but creating this slump in the market. 25 November 2011 US demands SF’s release The US has warned the government that the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva would be moved against Sri Lanka unless the defeated presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka, whom the US considered a political prisoner, is released from prison forthwith, the island news paper reports.The former army chief was sentenced by a Trial-at-Bar on Friday (Nov. 18) to three more years in prison.Authoritative said that the warning had been given during a meeting between a US diplomat and a top minister representing the SLFP following the conclusion of the ‘White Flag’ case.Sources quoted the diplomat as having told the minister that a survey carried out by the US had revealed that the majority of Sri Lankans wanted Gen. Fonseka released.The diplomat had, sources said, asked the minister whether the government intended to pardon Gen. Fonseka. Its failure to do so would cause the US to raise the issue with the Geneva HRC, the envoy told the minister.Responding to a query, sources said that though US Ambassador Patricia Butenis was scheduled to meet the minister initially, she had changed her mind at the eleventh hour and assigned a representative.Commenting on the on-going negotiations between the government and the TNA, the US diplomat told the minister that the Tamil parliamentarians were not happy with what was going on. The government has taken up the position that the TNA, though engaged in talks here in Colombo, had come under pressure from the overseas LTTE activists during a recent visit to Washington. To the surprise of the minister, the diplomat unwittingly acknowledged that the TNA faced the same dilemma in Jaffna due the presence of ‘radicals’. The minister reminded the diplomat that those threatening the TNA weren’t radicals but terrorists. Unity essential key to transitional change -Paul Willms Master student MSc.Public Policy and Human Development Rival LTTE factions in Canada clashing over ‘Great Heroes Day’ event unite due to soccer club efforts by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Both Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) factions in Canada have agreed NOT to have different”Great Heroes Day”functions on Nov 27th 2011Clashing LTTE factions in Canada have decided to conduct one “Great Heroes day” function in Ontario Province&another in Quebec Province only The Canadian situation is in striking contrast to Europe where rival LTTE factions are competing with each other to stage Great Heroes days Overseas LTTE factions led by Perinbanayagam Sivaparan (Nediyavan) & Segarampillai Vinayagamoorthy (Vinayagam) have been clashing on this issue In Canada “Vinayagam” faction opened a separate “Maaveerar Panimanai”office to organize&conduct the “Maaveerar Naal”(great Heroes day)event “Nediyavan”faction opened a “Ninaivezhuchi Ahavam”(memorial resurgence centre) office to conduct a”Thamizhar Theseeya Ninaivezhuchi Naal” The Nediyavan faction has”renamed” Great Heroes day” as”Tamil National resurgence Commemoration day”(Thamizhar Thesiya Ninaivezhuchi Naal”) The Vinayagam faction wanted to stage the event as “Maaveerar Naal”(Great Heroes day)as was the custom in the past instead of changes The “Maaveerar Panimanai” office of Vinayagam faction announced it would stage their event at the Downsview park in Toronto on November 27 The “Ninaivezhuchi Ahavam” of Nediyavan faction announced it would stage the event l at the Markham fair grounds & the Quebec event in Montreal Both factions claimed their event was the authentic one&competed in many ways to draw the larger number of participants & spectators to them While this intra-tiger battle raged in Canada as among LTTE factions in Europe a “unity” conference was organized by a Tamil soccer club” “Toronto Blues” soccer club whose membership is predominantly from Vaqdamaratchy region in Jaffna wanted unity in staging the Nov 27th event The Soccer club achieved what seemed impossible by getting both factions consent to a single event by one faction only for this year .The Vinayagam faction has abandoned its project of staging a “Maaveerar Naal” on Nov 27th at Downsview park in deference to the unity call The “NInaivezhuchi Ahavam” of the Nediyavan faction will stage” Great Heroes Day”as”Thamizh Thesiya Ninaivezhuchi Naal” on NOvember 27th The event on Nov 27 at Markham Fair Grounds will have 4 separate functions conducted on the same day at 6 .30 am, 12.00 pm, 3.00 pm & 6.00pm Dr.Sivalingam, Canada based “deputy Premier”of Transnational Govt of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) has said Canadian”unity” example be followed in Europe. Warrant issued against members of Tamil Rehabilitation Union Colombo high court issued warrant order against the 5 members of Tamil Rehabilitation union.Government blame that Tamil Rehabilitation Union as sent large amount of money collected from overseas towards LTTE organization for the development programme in the Northern province.During the time court hearing arrest warrant was issued against 5 members named Gandhilingam Pream Regi, Kathiraysu Ganesalingam, Balasubramaniyam Sriskantharaja,Komaliyan Prabakaran and Thurairasa Priyadahrshan.Most of them found guilty by the Attorney General for collecting money for terrorist activities. Here are the full details of the group of white Van criminal abductors Lanka e News is in receipt of reliable information on the groups involved in the abductions of civilians in the notorious white Van. This whole operation is carried out on the orders of defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse by a former Sergeant Major of the Special Force's (SF's) LRRP unit. His name is Maddumage Wasantha who lost a leg during the Mamaduwa in Vavuniya District army operations. He left the Army because of his disabled condition on medical grounds. Although he is supposed to have left the Army , he is even now carrying out orders of his mentor Gotabaya Rajapakse while being based at the STF regiment Headquarters, abducting civilians in the white Van on Gotabaya’s orders. He is supported by about six soldiers of the army. This entire group is presently not in the Army permanently. Maddumage Wasantha joined the first group of the STF and was attached to the Engineering regiment . He was the most efficient soldier in the SF remote places operations unit.He resides at ,Wedagawatte, Magamana, Homagama . But he visits home only once a week.He meets Gotabaya through latter’s private secretary Colonel Jayantha Ratnayake who is a former officer of the SF. Colonel Ratnayake was a commanding officer for the SF from the Gajaba regiment under Gotabaya Rajapakse. When this group abduct civilians in Colombo , it is Colombo district commanding chief, Brigadier Shantha Dissanayake who gives protection to them. Shantha Dissanayake is a Brigadier who is ready to do any unlawful directives and criminal actions at Gotabaya's bidding.Prior to the recent elections , it is this Shantha Dissanayake who deployed army soldiers to clean up latrines and slums in Colombo.This same Dissanayake is the Brigadier who gives orders on the routes to be followed and safeguards the abductors when the abductions are done via the white Van , without being confronting the Security detail on the routes. This ignominious task was performed earlier by Mahinda Haturusinghe , another infamous Major General who is now the Commanding chief in Jaffna. Kuganathan migrated to European country Editor of the Uthayan tamil news paper Kunasundaran Kuganatham had been migrated to a foreign country for security purposes.57 year old Kuganathan was allegedly attacked by a group of Army Intelligence unit members and EPDP members while returning home on July29th.Police fail to arrest suspects in connection with this allege attack.During the time of war Kuganathan faced several death threats by the government supporting armed groups for releasing news about the war in the North.At present it was revealed Kuganathan and his wife had been migrated for a European country for security purposes.However Uthayan news paper fail to comment on this issue. JVP to distribute leaflets against budget The JVP is organizing a leaflet distribution today (Nov. 25) as its first step against budget 2012.The campaign takes place from 10.30 am onwards in front of Colombo Fort Railway Station.Similar leaflet distributions will take place in other towns in the island simultaneously.Leaders of the party will take part in the campaign. Britain high commissioner met Eastern province CM British High Commissioner to SriLanka John Rankin met Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathura Chandrakanthan at his Trincomalee office this evening.During the meeting both leaders discuss about the present development activities, future development activities and defence programmes of the Eastern province.According to the sources during time of discussion high commissioner revealed British government will help to uplift the livelihood of widow mothers and also education programmes for children in the Eastern province. 24 November 2011 Sri Lanka approves committee on postwar reforms Sri Lanka's Parliament on Wednesday approved the creation of a multiparty committee to recommend constitutional changes for ethnic reconciliation two years after a devastating civil war.However, a lawmaker from the largest party representing ethnic minority Tamils said it would not participate in the committee at this time because the recommendations of a previous committee had never been implemented. "This too can be a time-buying tactic," Suresh Premachandran of the Tamil National Alliance said.The government has faced strong international criticism over lagging reconciliation efforts since the end of the 26-year war.Under the law approved Wednesday, the new committee is to have 19 members from the ruling party and 12 from the opposition.It is to recommend constitutional changes within six months to ensure that "all people will preserve and promote their respective identities and live with dignity and security as one nation."It also is to suggest steps to "enhance the unity of people of Sri Lanka" and "empower the people and country to promote socio-economic, political and cultural development."In the civil war, government forces crushed Tamil Tiger separatists who were fighting to create an independent Tamil state after decades of marginalization by governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.Between 80,000 and 100,000 people are believed to have died. The United Nations says at least 7,000 civilians were killed during the last phase of fighting.Premachandran said the Tamil National Alliance would not immediately join the committee's deliberations."We have a bitter experience with these committees," he said.He said the party instead would continue to talk directly to the government about power sharing based on federalism.President Mahinda Rajapaksa already has rejected requests for Tamil control over local police and land in Tamil-majority areas.Jehan Perera, an analyst with the activist group National Peace Council, said the committee would not be effective without the Tamil National Alliance."A dialogue must take place with the participation of the party that represents the majority of the Tamil people. It will be futile if the discussions take place without the TNA," he said.Rights groups and other countries have criticized the government's postwar policies and called for power sharing.The Belgium-based International Crisis Group said in July that government policies have hindered reconciliation and that Rajapaksa's administration "has refused to acknowledge, let alone address, the Tamil minority's legitimate grievances against the state."Rajapaksa's ruling coalition has more than a two-thirds majority in the 225-seat legislature. Problems of Tamil people should be included in the 'day of protest' : Mano Ganesan Sri Lanka major opposition United National Party (UNP) has decided to hold a massive protest in Colombo on November 29 naming that day a Protest Day.UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake says the protest is against the imprisonment of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, takeover of private enterprises, non-provision of relief measures to people through the budget, and undemocratic moves of the government.UNP has extended an open invitation to all organizations and individuals in the country to join this protest.The party says it hopes to hold the protest island wide.UNP General Secretary invited Democratic People's Front to take part in this protest campaign.Speaking this regard leader of the Democratic People's Front Mano Ganesan said problems of the Tamil people of this country should be included in this protest.He also said as a Major Tamil party in the Colombo district we have a responsibility to raise voice for the problems faced by our people.We have step forwarded to third year war victory celebrations in such situation during the discussions with the Tamil National Alliance government fail to propose proper solution for the problems of Tamil people of this country.Steps should be taken to release Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka and Tamil political prisoners who have been detained for long period.Most.Ven.Sobitha Thera, Dayasiri Jayasekara, MP Sumandiran, MP Wickramabahu Karunaratne, Sirithunga Jayasuriya and Siral Lakthilaka were also present at this media briefing. Tracing Sri Lanka's missing children Two and a half years after the end of Sri Lanka's bloody ethnic conflict, hundreds of families displaced by the war are still engaged in a fraught, exhausting search for missing children. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tamil civilians were caught up in the chaos of the military's ferocious final assault on cornered Tamil Tiger rebels in the jungles of northeast Sri Lanka in April and May 2009.As the offensive intensified, Usha Devi Selvaratnam said goodbye to her teenage son, Sivakajan, having sold a gold chain to buy him passage on a rebel-controlled vessel bound for the relative safety of the northern Jaffna peninsula.She never saw him again."There is no trace of him... just a big hole in my heart," she told AFP in Vavuniya where huge numbers of refugees were interned in the months following the end of the war.Sivakajan left home with just a backpack, containing clothes, identification papers, as well as textbooks and school attendance records to prove that he was not a fighter with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).Usha heard that her son had been taken in for questioning by the military with other passengers when the boat docked in Jaffna. But since then, nothing, despite countless requests to the authorities for information. Sri Lanka denies devaluation at IMF request Sri Lanka denied on Wednesday that it had devalued its currency at the demand of the International Monetary Fund to secure the rest of a $2.6 billion bailout.Colombo on Monday cut the value of the rupee by three percent against a basket of currencies, despite spending millions of dollars in recent months to defend the unit.Release of the latest IMF payment had been held up by the Washington-based body's calls for the island to adopt a "flexible exchange rate policy" to ensure its export competitiveness and protect reserves.But Sarath Amunugama, senior minister for international monetary cooperation, said: "The IMF concerns are not our priorities."We have done it (the depreciation) to meet Sri Lankan priorities" of boosting exports, he told reporters in the capital.He added that Sri Lanka may not even need the final installment of the bailout as the island's economy is growing robustly."We have foreign remittances of $4 billion (from Sri Lankans employed abroad) and we have eight percent growth," he said. "We are not in a crisis situation... We are not in a rush for the IMF money.""We don't need that (IMF) money," Amunugama said, although he added that the government might consider accepting it only because the loan was on concessionary terms.Sri Lanka obtained the IMF bailout in 2009 when the island's foreign reserves dipped below $1 billion and the country faced a major balance of payment crisis.It has drawn $1.8 billion of the package, with the most recent payment coming in April when the IMF released $218.3 million.Sri Lanka says its economy has been improving steadily since government security forces crushed Tamil rebels in May 2009 and ended a decades-long Tamil separatist war which cost up to 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009. 23 November 2011 The Tamil people have not been treated as equal citizens for a very long time-Sampanthan Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, says the Tamils in the country are still not treated as equal citizens and have lost their dignity and self respect.In an interview with The Sunday Leader, R. Sampanthan also spoke on Sinhalese settlement in the North and East, as well as local and international efforts towards assuring accountability for alleged war crimes. 'Death threats' against Judge Deepali Wrawewa never infomed about threats When asked about media reports of threats against one of the judges in the Trial-at-bar which convicted Gen. Fonseka who challenged Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2009 presidential election, Judge Wijesundera dissmissed the allegations saying that the fellow judge had never informed her about the threats.Justice WTMPB Warawewa who acquitted General Fonseka in the hearing popularised by the media as the 'white flag case' has reportedly been threatened with death following his verdict. Politically motivated Deepali Wijesundara, and Justice Zulfikar Razeen found the accused Sarath Fonseka guilty for implicating the government in war crimes.The court ruled that he lent credence to allegations the defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ordered Tamil Tigers to be killed as they tried to surrender in May 2009.Fonseka rejected the verdict, telling the court was it politically motivated. No choice in defence budget increase:MR The threats to the nation and the country still remain intact though the heroic soldiers who were able to save the mother-land from terrorism and the government had no choice but to set aside the largest amount of funds possible for the defence of the country, from the budget for 2012, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.Delivering the Convocation Address of the ‘General Sir John Kotalawala Defence University’ last afternoon at Temple Trees, President Rajapaksa said there was no end to the challenges confronted by Sri Lanka despite the obliteration of LTTE terrorism two years ago.“The opposition keeps asking why such a large amount of budgetary allocations has been proposed for the defence ministry. They must realise that while taking measures to face local and global anti-national elements the government has to pay salaries and allowances to the armed forces, provide welfare to Ranaviru families and parents of war heroes who paid the supreme sacrifice for the territorial integrity and peace of the mother-land,” President Rajapajksa emphasised. Abduction of businessman creates tension in Sri Lankan capital Tension prevailed in the Dematagoda township of Colombo city on Tuesday as the residents agitated against an alleged abduction of a businessman.The protesters alleged that a businessman from Dematagoda was abducted at 5:30 this morning. According to them, a four member group abducted the victim.The protestors blocked the main artery to the city, Baseline Road, causing heavy traffic jam in the afternoon. Police Media Spokesperson SP Ajith Rohana said that Grandpass Police have received a complaint that four individuals abducted a businessman from Orugodawatte.Grandpass police are investigating the incident. People’s Movement to Free Fonseka inaugurated The People’s Movement to Free Sarath Fonseka held its inaugural meeting at the public library in Colombo this afternoon where people from all walks of life aired their views on the need to form a united front to secure the former Army commander’s release.Even though several prominent politicians, members of the clergy as well as Mrs.Anoma Fonseka were present on the occasion, people who attended the meeting were asked to express their views on how best to put pressure on the government to free the former general.The inaugural speech the meeting was made by Dahmbara Amila thero who said that man who ended a 30 year old war cannot be allowed to languish in jail. “It is the people who can come forward and put pressure on the government,” he said.The movement will hold meetings across the country to mobilize people towards this end .A signature campaign too will be carried out to win support for the Free Fonseka campaign. 22 November 2011 UK calls on Sri Lanka to release war commission report The United Kingdom today called on the Government of Sri Lanka to publicly release the report of its commission appointed to probe the decades-long armed conflict between the government forces and Tamil Tiger terrorists.Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for South Asia of the British Government, Minister Alistair Burt today called on the Sri Lankan government to release the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) which was handed over to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa on November 20."Many hope this report will mark a significant milestone in Sri Lanka's recovery from conflict, and I call on the Government of Sri Lanka to seize this important opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to national reconciliation and accountability," Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said in a statement."Making the report public at the earliest opportunity is a vital part of this commitment and I look forward to the Government of Sri Lanka setting out the steps it will take in response to the report."Sri Lankan President has said that he will present the report to the parliament to make it a public document. The President has also assured to follow the recommendations by the LLRC.The President has recently said that the government will take actions without shielding anyone if the LLRC finds any human rights violations during the war which ended in May 2009. Ruling party lawmakers attack opposition protesters inside Sri Lankan Parliament Lawmakers from Sri Lanka’s ruling party attacked opposition members who were protesting inside Parliament on Monday as President Mahinda Rajapaksa presented next year’s budget.Opposition United National Party legislators tried to hold up placards protesting the proposed budget, which they said did not contain enough measures to ease the economic burden of the people. They were surrounded by ruling party lawmakers who punched them and grabbed the placards, resulting in a brawl.Opposition lawmakers walked out after the attack."Today our Parliament became a symbol of lawlessness," opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told reporters. "We had to leave the chamber for our safety. What wrong did we commit?" Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition has more than a two-thirds majority in the 225-seat legislature and is expected to approve the budget. There was no immediate comment from the government on the incident. Assault of UNP MPs inside parliament proof of Rajapaksa dictatorship – John The assault of UNP MPs, inside the parliamentary chamber, by some government MPs yesterday, reflected the dictatorship that had been foisted on the people by the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, John Ameratunga MP said.Addressing a news conference in Colombo, Ameratunga said that he, Karu Jayasuriya, Anoma Gamage, Harin Fernando and several other opposition legislators had protested peacefully in Parliament against the government’s undemocratic acts including the harassment and imprisonment of Retired General Sarath Fonseka, enactment of unethical and unfair legislation to acquire profitable enterprises and the skyrocketing cost of living, when a group of ruling party MPs had pushed and assaulted them.He said that the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had also been kicked on his leg.It was a sad day for democracy because the rough house tactics employed by the Rajapaksa regime, was displayed within the hallowed precincts of parliament and proved that the law and order situation was deteriorating rapidly into anarchy, Ameratunga observed.Leader of the UNP Ranil Wickremesinghe said that thuggery should not be tolerated at any cost, adding that the UNP was willing to support what was good, but unfortunately the government’s policies, including the budget, had not provided any relief for the masses.Jayalath Jayawardena MP, said that he had been stopped by security personnel at the entrance to the member’s chamber in parliament and prevented from carrying any documents with him.General Secretary Tissa Attanayake had also been checked and denied permission to carry the files in his possession. The denial of their parliamentary privileges would be brought to the notice of the Inter Parliamentary Union and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, he said.Dayasiri Jayasekera MP, said that it was a disgrace to see ruling party MPs assault opposition legislators in the presence of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the only conclusion that can be drawn was that the President condoned such actions. EIU says expropriations will hurt Lankan economy UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit said a Venezuela-style law to expropriate dozens of private enterprises will hurt the Sri Lankan economy, undermine policy predictability and scare investors despite state assurances that it will be a 'one off'."The Sri Lankan authorities have repeatedly tried to assure investors that this is a "one-off" measure which will not be repeated," EIU said in a risk analysis."Unavoidably, however, the move undermines the predictability of policymaking and increases uncertainty for foreign investors.EIU said the law which deemed some 37 firms as 'under-utilized' or 'under-performing' also resembled similar asset seizures in other populist countries."It also raises uncomfortable echoes of the actions of populist Latin American governments, notably Venezuela, which has repeatedly used similar excuses to nationalise foreign-owned land and companies," EIU said."As this comparison suggests, Sri Lanka's expropriation law is likely to be economically counter-productive."EIU said the asset seizures will be "particularly counter-productive at a time when Sri Lanka is keenly seeking foreign investment for development following the end of the civil war."The legislative process that was used to pass the law was also a concern, EIU said."Firstly, the passage of a law which specifically lists assets to be expropriated, rather than a general set of principles to be applied, appears to conflate the roles of the executive and the judiciary with that of the legislature," EIU said."Secondly, the speed with which the legislation was pushed through will add to the political opposition's concerns that the government is using its two-thirds majority to consolidate its grip on power."Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party and the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party have alleged that the government is targeting businesses linked to opposition parties, a charge the government denies."EIU said Sri Lanka had recently made gains in a World Bank doing business ranking."However, the passage of an expropriation law with scarcely any public scrutiny or debate is likely to undo at least some of this progress in the eyes of foreign firms." LeT sending LTTE and BKI militants to do its dirty work: Intelligence The Maharashtra and Mumbai police have received an alarming alert from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) warning them of possible presence of sleeper cells and militants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in and around Mumbai, especially in the Navi Mumbai area. The warning is part of a confidential report which states that the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is using LTTE cadre and Sikh militants to infiltrate into India to carry out terror activities.The alert, which came earlier this month, warns the police about specific footprints of LTTE cadre observed in Navi Mumbai.“Currently, it seems to be a sleeper cell, but their activities and movements have increased in the past couple of months,” said a central intelligence officer on condition of anonymity. Based on the information the security agencies concerned have been alerted, the officer said.The alert assumes significance because in the same confidential report, the IB also warned security agencies to keep a close watch on Sikh militants as well. “There is source-based information that militants and activists from the LTTE and Sikh militant groups are being infiltrated into the country by the LeT,” the officer said.According to the police, the link between the LeT-LTTE and LeT-Babbar Khalsa is not new and their association is an open secret. However, the incident in Ambala, where a Tata Indica car laden with explosives on its way to New Delhi was intercepted, has indicated that they have become active.“It was after the Ambala incident that security agencies started keeping a close watch on the activities of BKI and LTTE. It was during this close surveillance that it was revealed that there has been a substantial increase in the activities of suspects belonging to the two outfits,” the officer said.A senior official from Maharashtra police confirmed that the police have received the alert from the IB and adequate steps are being taken to keep a close watch on the suspects and their activities.According to experts, LeT using LTTE and BKI is a new trend and this has happened because of the inability of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to make any effective in-roads in the country. “After the IM media cell was busted and a few of their important functionaries identified by Indian security agencies, it has become difficult for the IM to function and penetrate without risk,” said a senior Mumbai police officer.Key functionaries of IM, including founder member Riyaz Bhatkal, his brother Riyaz and Amir Raza have been grounded in Pakistan because they are in danger of being recognised and caught. “IM was using the ground network and sleeper cells of SIMI, however, most of the cells have been busted or are under constant surveillance, making it difficult for them to function,” the officer said.“Another key operative Abdus Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer, recently had a close shave when Indian sleuths almost nabbed him. Such incidents have dented the image of the IM and now LeT and ISI are looking for other options,” the officer said. Suspect in bombing Pakistani High Commissioner discharged A Colombo Court discharged a youth today, who was in remand custody on charges of having been involved in a plot to kill the Pakistan High Commissioner in Kollupitiya on August 14, 2006.Filing a report in court, the police informed that the Police Intelligent Unit, Terrorist Investigations Division and Criminal Investigations Division notified that the suspect S. Sivananda Raja had not been involved in the incident.Having considered the police report, Colombo Fort Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne ordered the suspect to be discharged. The police had begun investigations after a confidential report submitted by the police intelligence unit. The report said the suspect S. Sivananda Raja had left the country using a forged passport, after the bomb targeting the Pakistani High Commissioner. The suspect was arrested last month by the airport police upon arrival from England.Defence Counsel who appeared on behalf of the suspect, told court that his client was arrested by the police based solely on anonymous information and moved court to discharge his client from the case.On August 14, 2006, Pakistani High Commissioner to Sri Lanka narrowly escaped death when a bomb went off next to his vehicle. The High Commissioner escaped unhurt although seven others, including four Army commandos, were killed and several others injured. Nedumaran writes new 1000 page biography of LTTE leader Prabhakaran A 1000 page book on the life of Veluppillai Prabhakaran,leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is to be released in January 2012 The book “Prabhakaran: Thamizhar Ezhuchiyin Vadivam” (Prabhakaran; Personification of Tamil resurgence) is written by Pazhaniyappan Nedumaran. Nedumaran a well-known TamilNadu politician & leader of the “Thamizhar Thesiya Iyakkam” (Tamil National Movement) is supportive of the LTTE Nedumaran allowed LTTE to stay&train in his farm in Madurai in the late 70′s &early 80′s during the early days of the Tamil militancy Nedumaran closely interacted with the LTTE leader during the time when the LTTE leader stayed in Tamil Nadu & established close rapport Nedumaran also visited Sri Lanka 4 times both openly & clandestinely & interacted with Prabhakaran & other senior LTTE leaders in the North & East Nedumaran has written books on the LTTE & Prabhakaran but this one will be his “Magnum opus” recollecting his 30 years relationship with both A sgnificant feature of the book will be the inclusion of of hitherto unpublished correspondence between Nedumaran & Prabhakaran in the past Nedumaran will also reveal several facts &intersting anecdotes about Prabhakaran & other LTTE leaders unavailable in the public domain so far The book will also include a vast array of photographs in colour & black & white that have not been publicly available in the past The 1000 page book is priced 800 Indian rupees or 20 US dollars & will be released in a book launch scheduled for “Thaipongal day” in 2012 As Nedumaran is one who says Prabhakaran is alive there is wide speculation whether the new book will acknowledge the LTTE chief’s death. 21 November 2011 UNP MPs walk out of parliament UNP parliamentarians walked out of the parliament while President Mahinda Rajapaksa presented the 2012 budget following a commotion in the House.The opposition and governing party members created a commotion in the House a few minutes after President Mahinda Rajapaksa commenced the budget speech.The President had to stop the speech for a few minutes until the Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and the Sergeant at Arms brought the situation under control.The President was reading the budget speech and commented on the 1978 economic policies and about elections when the opposition members started to shout and criticize the government. Governing party members also started to respond.The President commenced the budget speech a little after 1.50 p.m. SL Police launches re-registration of Tamil residents in Colombo Sri Lanka Police has launched re-registration of persons in Colombo district under Section 76 of the Police ordinance. Civil sources said SL police personnel are distributing forms to houses where Tamil families reside. However, the SL Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana told media persons when queried that all three communities have been asked to fill such forms for re-registration. The SL Police started distribution of forms on Saturday evening in Kotahena police division to every household asking chief occupant to register family members and other staying there, sources said.Earlier, the registration of persons was done in Colombo district under 23 of the Police Ordinance under the Emergency Regulations. Controversial Sri Lankan Minister asks paparazzi journos to reserve coffins Sri Lanka Minister of Public Relations Mervyn Silva has asked the scandalous media persons to go to funeral parlors and reserve coffins for them, a local Sinhala newspaper reported.Addressing a public rally in Katunayake area, the Minister has said that he did not know the addresses of these disreputable journalists who insult the VIPs in the country,The Minister has reportedly stated that he was looking for these journalists who are posting stories against him as well.The Minister has further said that he was ready to take up any challenge and face any circumstance.Minister Mervyn Silva is well known for his controversial statements against media. Opposition MP's to cross over to government End of the budget proposal some of the opposition MP's will cross over towards the government, sources said.According to the government high ranking officials special discussion was hold between government and opposition MP this regard. However favorable decision was taken during this discussion said the officials.United National Party Colombo district parliamentarian in much more interested to cross over towards the government sources said.Sources further said active UNP politician will receive post of Deputy Ministry when he enter to the government.UNP Matara district parliamentarian also getting ready to join with the government. Government representatives hold discussions tis regard with the former Ambassador and uncle of the relevant parliamentarian this regard. During the discussion Uncle promised that his son-in -law will join the government as soon as possible. Sources furthermost famous MP of the Tamil National Alliance and MP form the Democratic people's Alliance will also cross over to the government. However respective party leaders have taking disciplinary action against these members. “Problem Solved” Gota Is The “Hero” The triumvirate comprising President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya and Army Chief Fonseka was hailed for providing political, administrative and military leadership respectively in the triumphant war against the LTTE.Since Sarath Fonseka entered politics the credit of military victory was in dispute and ended a friendship. Who deserves the total credit? The UNP and JVP led a fierce battle against President Rajapaksa. They claimed that Fonseka was the real hero who won the war against the LTTE.One camp said Rajapaksas, not Fonseka, deserves credit for the military victory. Another camp said Fonseka, not the Rajapaksas, deserves credit for the military victory. Victor Ivan divided the victory credit into three portions, the larger portion to Mahinda Rajapaksa, the second larger portion to Gotabhaya and the third to Fonseka. Well known political commentator Gamini Viyangoda wrote that the Rajapaksas have not fought in the battle fields like Dutugemunu, so it is unfair to give the large portion to the Rajapaksas. Some argued giving credit does not require taking it away from someone else. It is not a finite commodity. Refusing to credit Fonseka or the Rajapaksas is wrong.D.B.S Jeyaraj a well known commentator wrote subtlety, but analytically; President Rajapaksa made two crucial appointments at the onset of his presidency in anticipation of a savage war with the LTTE. One was to make his younger sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Defence Secretary. The other was to appoint Sarath Fonseka as Army Commander and extend his tenure. Gotabhaya an old soldier himself held Lt. Colonel rank when he quit the army in 1991 and migrated to the United States of America. Although a US citizen Gotabhaya returned to serve his brother and country with a missionary zeal. His objective was to defeat and destroy the LTTE and rid Sri Lanka of a menace plaguing it for decades. It was at Gotabhaya’s behest that Sarath Fonseka was made Army Chief. He was scheduled to retire as he would have reached the mandatory age 55 on December 6, 2005. But Gotabhaya persuaded his brother to make Sarath Army Chief because Fonseka was the best man to lead the army at that point of time. There was also Fonseka’s colossal arrogance. He fancied himself as a combination of Hannibal, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Napoleon and Rommel. In Sarath Fonseka’s self-perception he was Sri Lanka’s greatest military treasure and all glory was due to him alone. It was the “I, me., myself alone” syndrome.But still the big question remains. Who was the main drive behind this victory? Was it Mahinda or Gota or Fonseka? Certainly Mahinda wasn’t. I recall my own experience with Mahinda Rajapaksa. If I’m correct he only gave an interview re: Ranil Wikremesinghe’s peace process to me. It was published in “Peace Monitor” (Sama Vimarshi) at that time. While President Chandrika Kumaratunge and Mangala Samaraweera were subtly sabotaging the peace process and publicly criticising it, as the leader of the opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa has given fullest support to the Norwegian led peace process. He didn’t believe a war victory was possible. Then who was the main force behind the war victory? Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim answered the question last week. Addressing a Oslo seminar followed by the launch of the evaluation report of the Norwegian Peace effort in Sri Lanka between 1997 and 2009.Erik said “No one. Maybe with the exception of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, but he’s the only person I can mention who thought a military victory was possible. No one in Colombo thought it was possible. I was very close to Indian intelligence and an enormous amount of time throughout this process and never, ever did any Indian official hint that a military victory was possible until mid 2008. Then they started, I observed the change in M. K. Narayanan and others and gradually shift into the position that may be, still maybe the government can wipe out the tigers military victory. Before that no one thought it was possible, the United States thought it was impossible, USA, India and Colombo thought it was impossible, so again a complete change from what we all based the peace process on until that point.”Now we know why Gota is so powerful and why Mahinda is so beholden to him. So, thanks to Solheim, problem solved, Gota is the hero. But one thing is there. I would like to quote a comment among hundred comments on Colombo Telegraph.“That’s exactly what our hero Gota did. He killed the Rat by burning the house. 20 November 2011 Mullaitivu LG elections on Dec. 31? Local Government elections for the two divisions in the Mullaitivu District where polls were not conducted would depend on the pace of the de-mining activities and the level of resettlement, the Elections Commissioner’s Department said. LG elections were not conducted in the Puthukkudiyiruppu and Maritimapattu Divisions at the last local government elections in the North due to the delay in the resettlement process affected by the de-mining activities in the area. Additional Elections Commissioner, W.P. Sumanasiri said the polling date had been temporarily set for December 31. “This is temporary. It all depends on the de-mining and the resettlement process. Security Forces as well as several NGOs are still busy in these areas on de-mining,” he said. Local Government elections for 65 local government bodies in the Northern Province were held on July 23 this year and polling for the Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council were held in August 2009. In the East, the local government polls for the Batticaloa Urban Council were held on March 2008 while the election for Trincomalee and Ampara Urban Councils was conducted on March 17, 2011.Meanwhile, Resettlement Ministry said that 44,637 persons were resettled in Mullaitivu by November 18. Yet another 7,500 remain in the relief villages in Vavuniya. According to the ministry statistics, 7,547 persons continue to be housed at the Kadirgamar (3,384) and Anandakumaraswami (4,163) relief villages. The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Wanni were initially housed in four relief villages in Vavuniya. Lanka praises India for managing ethnic diversities Sri Lanka on Saturday praised India for successfully managing ethnic diversities in a federal democratic framework. "The key lessons from India’s development efforts and its stature as a world’s largest democracy was its success in managing ethnic diversities in a democratic framework and its ability to reach out to the poorest sections of the society through innovative social schemes involving the closest cooperation between the central and the state governments in a stable federal structure," Foreign Minister GL Peiris was quoted as saying by the Indian High Commission in a release today.Peiris was addressing a gathering at a lecture yesterday by former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on "India and Sri Lanka and the Asian Resurgence", marking the launch of the India-Sri Lanka Foundation, it said. Peiris has long been a proponent of a federal solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict involving the Tamil minority community. However, with the failure of the Norwegian peace initiative during which the LTTE was thought to have agreed for a federal solution, the federal idea has been shelved. The Sinhalese nationalists perceived federalism as another means for giving into the LTTE's demand for a separate state.Amid the direct talks with the main Tamil party TNA, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has tasked a parliamentary select committee to formulate a solution to political aspiration of the Tamil community.Rajapaksa has responded to calls by Tamil parties for following the Indian model, saying he would look for a "home grown solution". LLRC report to President today The final report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) will be handed over to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa today. Spokesperson for the now defunct LLRC, Lakshman Wickremasinghe said the report would be handed over to the President today at 11am at Temple Trees.The LLRC was dissolved on November 15 after the completion of its final report on its findings and submissions given by various personalities and members of the public.The commission was appointed by the President on May 15, 2010. The LLRC conducted several sessions in various parts of the country including Colombo, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and the East.It was initially given a deadline of six months till November 15, 2010 to produce its report. The deadline was extended due to the interest shown by people to come forward and place their submissions to the commission. The commission was given the mandate to inquire and report on matters that took place during the ceasefire period from February 22, 2002 and May 19, 2009.The commission was to look into the facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the 2002 ceasefire agreement and the sequence of events that followed thereafter up to the end of the war in May 2009. It also looked into whether any person, group or institution directly or indirectly accepted the responsibility in this regard and possibility of taking further action through necessary institutional, administrative and legislative measures to ensure that there would not be a recurrence of such events. Crimes in North on the rise The crime rate in the North has registered an unprecedented increase over the past couple of months unfolding a high number of drug peddling, prostitution, rapes and illicit liquor brewing.The police raided a brothel last week and arrested eight women and five men. In another incident, five students were arrested inhaling heroin. Upon further inquiries, a man who supplied heroin to the area was also arrested.When asked why such incidents have increased in the recent past, DIG Jaffna V. Indran said the rot has set in with the arrival of large number of local tourists since there is no war in the North now.He said thousands of locals from other parts of the country arrive in Jaffna every week. As a result many guesthouses and hotels have been open in Jaffna due to the related profit increase.” Naturally when more local tourists accommodate guesthouses and hotels there is a tendency of consuming more liquor as well as marked increase in other vices which were very minimal earlier,” DIG said.Indran said even as early as 9 am liquor shops were crowded and people queued up for purchase, ‘but the police does its best to arrest the increasing illegal activities’ he stressed.Suresh Premachandran, TNA parliamentarian for Jaffna district said Jaffna was guarded by thousands of security personnel as well as an increased number of police personnel. ‘If they keep strict vigilance the crime rate could be arrested’, he pointed out.TULF leader V. Anandasangaree was of the view that people were without proper income and some have no means even to have their meals. “Unemployment leads people to all kinds of illegal activities to make fast buck. Narcotics and brothels have become lucrative businesses for earning quick money”, he said.Asked why robberies have increased in the Kilinochchi district when compared to other districts in the North, Sangaree said it was again to find elusive money. There were a number of incidents recently in Kilinochchi where shops and houses were robbed. Daylight house robberies are carried out threatening inmates. Cash, jewellery and valuable goods have been robbed in this manner. Shops have been burgled during nights. In a recent incident, a shop was robbed in the night and the same night the shop owners’ house was also robbed. Vaiko gives Lankan spin to Centres push TIRUCHY- MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Saturday charged that the Centre was keen on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) since it had planned to supply a portion of power generated from the project to Sri Lanka. "Why should the people of Tamil Nadu risk their lives to provide electricity to Lanka, which had committed a genocide of Tamils in the island," he asked."The UPA government has been insensitive on the Lankan Tamils issue and the Mullaiperiyar dam dispute. But, it shows tremendous interest in the KKNPP, not because it will benefit Tamil Nadu," he said.He said the Sri Lankan Electricity Board and the Indian Power Grid Corporation had signed an agreement on June 9, 2010, to lay undersea High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power transmission line under the Gulf of Mannar from Rameshwaram to Thalaimannar to share electricity. The Centre was planning to divert a part of the electricity to Lanka, he charged. Two venues booked for ‘Great Heroes Day’ event in London cancelled at short notice by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE)faction led by Segarampillai Vinayagamoorthy alias Vinayagam has suffered a major setback in Britain LTTE Vinayagam faction is in a quandary because it is unable to conduct the”Maaveerar Naal”(great heroes day)on November 27th as planned Earlier the Vinayagam faction scored over the faction led by Nediyavan(Perinbanayagam Sivaparan)by booking the Excel hall for the event The EXCEL which was used in the past by the LTTE to stage the great heroes day event was to be used by the Vinayagam faction this time Both LTTE factions engaged in a power struggle are competing to outdo each other by staging the Maaveerar Naal in style to prove a point The Vinayagam faction getting Excel was a feather in Vinayagam group’s cap as the prestigious venue was expected to attract massive crowds The Nediyavan group was compelled to book other smaller venues to counter the huge advantage gained by Vinayagam group in getting Excel In a severe blow to Vinayagam faction it is learnt that the Excel management has cancelled the booking&returned the 50,000 pounds advance The EXCEL(Exhibition Centre London)is located on the northern quay of the Royal Victoria Dock at London Docklands in the borough of Newham The Excel built by Sir Robert McAlpine is owned&managed by Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company&has won many awards for best event venue LTTE Vinayagam faction is frantically attempting to persuade EXCEL management to withdraw the cancellation&enable”Maaveerar Naal”to be held In a separate development,Sangeethan the Vinayagam group leader in Britain is being questioned”for reasons unknown” by the Police in London Like the Vinayagam group the LTTE Nediyavan faction also suffered a similiar blow in London as a venue booked by it in Harrow was cancelled Of 5 venues booked by the Nediyavan group for Nov 27th the Shree Kadwa Patidar Centre on Kenmore avenue in Harrow,Middlesex has cancelled it While the Vinayagam group had booked only 1 venue the Nediyavan faction had booked 5&is less likely to be affected by the Harrow cancelling It is however not known whether other venues booked for “Great heroes day” event on November 27th will also be cancelled at short notice Both the LTTE factions are now united in efforts to get the cancellations revoked or find alternate venues in a hurry before November 27th. Sri Lanka Police taking appropriate action to arrest ruling party MP following court order Sri Lanka Police say the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) that is carrying out the investigation into the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra was taking appropriate action with regard to the order to arrest governing party parliamentarian Duminda Silva.The Colombo Additional Magistrate last week ordered the CID to arrest Silva over Premachandra's murder. Silva was taken overseas by his family for medical treatment for injuries sustained during the shooting incident.Police Spokesperson SP Ajith Rohana said the CID was taking appropriate action according to the court order and has sought the advice of the Attorney General.Meanwhile, the lawyer appearing for the aggrieved party, President's Counsel Tirantha Wallaliyadde has said the CID would have to either present Silva before courts or give reasons for the failure to do so following the court order issued at the last hearing.However, he has noted that the police would have to arrest Silva since there is a warrant issued on him.The case is to be taken up for hearing on the 29th.In the event the CID is to arrest Silva, it would have to seek Interpol assistance since he is overseas. Yal Devi Express set to restore Jaffna-Colombo link in two years By the end of 2013, the Yal Devi (Goddess of Jaffna) Express will again run to Kankasanthurai (KKS) from Colombo.The express train, which was named in the 1950s (though services commenced much earlier), had to be curtailed in the early 1990s because of the war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan forces. During the war years, it operated between Colombo and Thandikulam, but now runs till Omanthai.On Friday, IRCON and Sri Lanka Railways signed a memorandum of understanding to construct the 56 km KKS-Pallai line at a cost of $149.3 million.Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha said that once the IRCON projects were completed, full connectivity would be restored till Thalaimannar. He said the wreck removal works at the KKS harbour were on schedule and the harbour would be operational by the middle of next year. Connectivity with India This would give a big fillip to connectivity with India since Nagapattinam was just over 60 miles away. The project in the northern province was not just about restoration of normality, it would signal full momentum to economic development, he said.Work on the three IRCON railway projects — Omanthai-Pallai, Medawachchiya-Madu and Madu-Talaimannar segments — were going smoothly and all three projects would be completed on schedule if not ahead (by the middle of 2013), he added. He expressed satisfaction that IRCON had successfully completed work on the Galle-Matara section of the coastal railway line in February this year and the ongoing work on the Galle-Kalutara segment was likely to be completed by March 2012, ahead of schedule.Railway Board (Member) A.P. Mishra said Indian Railways was always willing to help its Sri Lankan counterpart whenever a request was made.The agreement for restoration of the Pallai-Kankesanthurai Railway Line was signed on Friday between B.A.P. Ariyarathna, general manager, Sri Lanka Railways, and Mohan Tiwari, Managing Director, IRCON, in the presence of Kumara Welgama, Minister of Transport, Mr. Kantha, Dhammika Perera, Secretary, Ministry of Transport, and Mr. Mishra. Funding This project will be funded as a part of the Line of Credit of $800 million, which has been extended by the government of India at concessional terms, at an interest rate of LIBOR plus 0.5% (with LIBOR capped at 3%) and a repayment period of 20 years (with a five-year moratorium). The southern coastal railway line project is also being funded under an additional line of credit of $167.4 million provided by India. North children’s malnutrition declines Malnutrition among children in the North has seen a decline, according to the Medical Research Institute.MRI’s head of nutrition Dr. Renuka Jayatissa said the incidence of malnutrition among children below five years of age has decreased from 1.5 per cent to 1.3 pc.She attributed this to nutritional programmes being carried out by UNICEF and several other institutions. Former Sri Lanka presidential hopeful gets new prison term A Sri Lankan court on Friday convicted and sentenced a former army chief to three years in prison for making a false statement the country's defence secretary ordered surrendering separatist Tamil fighters killed in the last days of a 25-year civil war. General Sarath Fonseka, who lost to his former commander-in-chief President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2010 presidential election, is already serving a 30-month term after a court-martial convicted him of misappropriation in September.The three-member high court bench was divided in its ruling on the conviction, but unanimously dropped charges of printing a publishing a false rumour and exciting the public to disaffection toward the government."Jailing of the main opposition presidential candidate for an answer he gave to a question of a journalist is twisted and cannot be accepted in a democratic country. But it could happen, only in the country of a dictator," Fonseka told the court.Fonseka (60) is considered a national hero by many Sri Lankans for his role in winning the war. A suicide bomber nearly killed him in 2006, but three months after that he was back at his desk and launched the final campaign to wipe out the Tigers.The career infantry officer was prosecuted for an interview he gave to the Sunday Leader on December 13 2009, in which he said he was informed that Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered troops to kill surrendering Tiger leaders.The article was explosive, coming as it did in the middle of a nasty and personal presidential race, because it sketched out an incident that if true, could be construed as a war crime. Misquoted The defence secretary, who is the president's younger brother and a former infantry officer who fought alongside Fonseka, rejects the allegations as false.Fonseka later said he had been misquoted by the reporter and recanted. Sangaree’s ‘desperate plea of a patriot’ to president TULF leader V. Anandasangaree is advising president Mahinda Rajapaksa in good faith that no satisfactory permanent solution can ever be found to the national question under a unitary system of governance.In a letter to president Rajapaksa, the TULF leader says, “I had been repeatedly saying that only the Indian Model will be acceptable to the minorities as the only alternative to a “Federal Model” if the term “Federal” is allergic to some.”The letter, titled ‘desperate plea of a patriot for a permanent solution’, he pleads president Rajapaksa to consider the Indian Model as an alternative to a Federal Solution, if you still won’t support the Federal Model which was to your liking once. Full text of the letter: 2011-11-15 DESPERATE PLEA OF A PATRIOT FOR A PERMANENT SOLUTION Your Excellency, I am compelled to write this letter to you being very much worried and upset over the happenings in this Country, since the end of the war. My question is, when the bloodshed due to the war in the North has still not dried up and the wounds of the war not healed yet, why should the Government or any one representing the Government harass the people and wound their already wounded hearts, beyond their limits of toleration. They won’t dare to defy a soldier with arms. At the same time the setup that was there earlier, is still there keeping the people under their control by indirect threats. This is the situation prevailing in the North – Vanni in particular. You are not unaware that the worst affected of all the four districts of Vanni are the districts of Killinochchi and Mullaitheevu. The people of these districts got displaced several times and when they were resettled, they went back to their houses to find noting left. They found their houses either razed to the ground or found the roofs, windows, doors and all fittings removed. Their losses cannot be cited as parallel to any other loss due to any natural disaster, except perhaps the Tsunami which too cannot be compared to the losses sustained by the IDPs. In short after several displacements, at the final destination, they had only the clothes they were wearing and carrying with them.Added to this misery they lost many members of their families, some still missing, many seriously injured and without limbs, some both the limbs and their eye-sights. Many still carry within their bodies splinters of shells that cannot be removed. If the people in the South were permitted to help the refugees they would have looked after them well. Unfortunately even for many NGOs the IDP camps were out of bounds. But hundreds of hardcore LTTE Cadre managed to escape from the camps and fled to India, with the help of some outsiders. What I write here is just a fraction of the sufferings and losses sustained by the people. The resettled people undergo many hardships including starvation. If the resettlement and assistance to the refugees were left in the hands of the officials things would have been entirely different. The local politician’s interference had done enough damage to you and to your Government.The people did not get any compensation for their losses and are living in frustration. Frequent visits of ministers for ceremonial opening thamasas had not won their hearts. They are not interested in carpet roads. What they want is a house to live in, completely built or fully renovated at Government expense. Government has a moral duty to do so without giving loans for buildings or to renovate houses. This had been the practice in the past. They want their Gold back for which many people have receipts. They want back their lands and houses illegally retained by the Army. The lands and houses kept by the army were compulsorily taken away from the people or for, highly undervalued price, by the LTTE. Their problems are many and should be solved with the sympathy, they deserve. They have suffered enough and subjecting them for any more sufferings, physically or mentally, will end up in great tragedy, bringing disrepute to the Government. The curse of the people will follow those who harass the people, for several generations to come. ANCESTRAL RELATIONSHIP OF SINHALESE AND TAMILS Your Excellency, we can’t go on like this for ever. A solution to the ethnic problem should be found without any more delay. The various communities in Sri Lanka should shed all their suspicions against one another and get together to find a solution for our problem, once and for all. I am of the opinion that lack of knowledge of certain events in the history of our country, is the main reason for the distrust that had developed between the two major communities in Sri Lanka, over a period of time. It had resulted in one group looking upon the other with suspicion. What percentage of the country’s population know of the ancestral relationship the Sinhalese and the Tamils have.The history of our country, as known to most of us is that Prince Vijaya took the Pandiyan Princess, from Madurai in Tamil Naad, as his wife. So were the 700 followers of Vijaya for whom King Pandiyan sent suitable maids. I quote below the following paragraph from the Mahawamsa “When he had thus obtained many maidens and had given compensation to their families, he sent his daughter, bedecked with all her ornaments, and all that was needful for the journey, and all the maidens whom he had fitted out, according to their rank, elephants withal and horses and wagons, worthy of a King, and craftsmen and a thousand families of the eighteen guilds, entrusted with a letter to the conqueror Vijaya (Chapter 7 -55 to 58 ).” Like the Tamils in Sri Lanka who boast of Umbilical relationship with Tamil Naad, the Sinhalese too have similar Umbilical relationship with the Tamils of Madurai which is still a part of Tamil Naad. In short whether one is a Tamil or a Sinhalese, it is very clear that we all had Tamil mothers. No one can deny this if we have faith in Mahawamsa. If this position is accepted, not because I am saying so but because it is a part of the recorded history of Sri Lanka, why should we fight among over selves?, should be the question that we should ask ourselves and every other person in Sri Lanka, over and over again.To strengthen my claim I wish to quote from an article published in “The Island” of February 1st 2009 captioned “A draft manifesto for a Sri Lankan Obama” authored by a much reputed retired public servant who once served in Jaffna as a righteous Government Agent Mr. Neville Jeyaweera. This is what he says “However, when we talk of the Sinhala-Buddhist tradition as constituting the central zone of the Sri Lankan identity, we must also not forget that genetically, the Sinhala are as much Dhamila as they are Sinhala. If we are to believe our great chronicle the Mahavamsa, which many Sinhala do, our archetypal ancestors, Prince Vjaya and his seven hundred comrades, from whom the Sinhala claim descent, took Pandyan wives, which means that through our maternal line, 50% of the Sinhala DNA is Dhamila and our genetic pool is therefore equally Dhamila as Sinhala. The point I am trying to make is that genetically, the Dhamilas are not an alien people but are of the same flesh and blood as the Sinhala. Therefore, integrating them into our nation as equal partners is at least expedient, if not mandatory, and it is our failure to do so that caused them to want to set up on their own and go their own way, setting off a bloody civil war as a consequence. Recognition of that fundamental truth, and raising a national consciousness and an environment appropriate to it, will be the first task that awaits a Sri Lankan Obama.” ETHNIC ISSUE IS A NATIONAL PROBLEM I had been right throughout viewing the country’s problems as those common to all and not to one particular community or race or to a particular group of persons. I always felt that the genuine participation of everyone in this country is indispensable, to solve the country’s problems and that it will not be difficult, if only we will concede, as you had been often saying, that everyone in this country has a right to live here and to enjoy equal rights and privileges like the others. First of all we should learn to live with the others with a common identity as Sri Lankans, in addition to being Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or one belonging to any other group. A true patriot should, love not only his or her country but should also love all those who live in it, treating all of them as equals. I have lived up to these ideals and will continue to do so until I breath my last. I will without any hesitation, lay down my life too for the sake of my country. That is what our country expects from every one of us. My concerns for my country had always been my first priority, throughout my life. I hope that you are also aware of that.I am not unaware of the love and respect you have for our country and of your efforts to develop the same. But I will not applaud you like several others merely to please you for all your decisions and actions. I defer with you in many matters, most of which are related to the North and the East and of the people of the North and the East. I have even said that “Chinthanaya” of some others is now smuggled into those of yours and passed on as a part of the “Mahinda Chinthanaya”. A lot of changes had taken place in the “Mahinda Chinthanaya” and at this rate very soon it will lose its originality and identity. This is where you have erred. I had been writing to you off and on and my letters carried a lot of valuable suggestions and advice many of which, if taken seriously, would have saved you from a lot of embarrassments, you are facing today. Although both of us entered Parliament together in 1970, I am more senior to you in age and in politics. Hence I have a moral duty to tell you frankly what I feel about every one of your actions and decision.Your Excellency, I am one who is not communal and had been always saying that I wish to have a Sinhalese family as my neighbor on one side and a Muslim family on the other. I have still not changed my views in this matter. I want anyone to read and respond to this appeal whether positively or adversely but guided by their own conscience and not by sentiments. As for me, like many others, finding a permanent solution should be the Government’s top priority which is not at all difficult. I am yearning to see the dawn of peace in its true form in this beautiful Island of ours, in which from time immemorial the Tamils and the Sinhalese had lived in peace and harmony along with Muslims and many other ethnic groups, before the country gained its independence. What was going on in this country since independence in 1948 is not fully known to the present generation. They hardly know what a peaceful country Ceylon was in the good old days. I am one who had lived throughout this period and had witnessed and experienced all good events and bad events that took place in our country. The turning point was the passage of the Citizenship Acts and the situation got aggravated with the passage of the Act making Sinhala as the only official language of the state in 1956. Since then for more than half a century no one could live peacefully in any part of the Country whether one is the Head of the state like you or an ordinary citizen of Sri Lanka like me. BUILDING A NEW SRI LANAKA Peace knocked at our door a number of times. It is we who shut it out. If your Excellency continue to maintain that a solution to the ethnic problem can be found only on the basis of consensus reached among all sections of the people, I bet you will never solve it. You are aware what problems the Tamils and other minorities face. You are also not unaware as to what solution that will be acceptable to the minorities, for which you do not need any select committee of Parliament, or so many meetings with others or any more All Party meetings. If you persist in finding a solution under a Unitary System, you will never solve the ethnic problem even if your party wins all Tamil majority seats in the North and the East. A unitary system will not be acceptable to the minorities, the Tamils in particular. It will never serve as a permanent solution, since it can be meddled with, by some others when you and I are no more. I had been repeatedly saying that only the Indian Model will be acceptable to the minorities as the only alternative to a “Federal Model” if the term “Federal” is allergic to some. Otherwise it would be the best and the most acceptable one. The term “Unitary” is equally allergic to some others. You can rest assured that if certain doubts are cleared in the minds of the section of the people who think that the country may get divided someday, they are bound to accept a Federal Solution. For your part make ample provisions in the constitution deterring everyone from making any attempt to divide the country and also make everyone to feel that we are all equals and will be treated as such and will never be allowed to be subjected to any form of discrimination, imposing severe penalties for violations by any official. I am sure that finding a solution on this basis is achievable, if you are determined to do so. The proposal could be prepared by you in consultation with leaders of all parties and other dignitaries in whom you have confidence and placed before the country for anyone to suggest any amendments that should appear to be reasonable and acceptable.At this juncture I wish to refer to my common letter dated 02-10-2005 sent to you and to Hon. Ranil Wickramasinghe during the Presidential Election of Nov 2005 at which both of you were candidates.In this letter (copy attached) apart from many others, I have pointed out the need for an early settlement of the Ethnic Problem, -- The need to keep it out of the presidential campaign -- Failure of politicians to keep up promises made during election campaigns, -- Allaying the fears of the people with regard to - Federal form of government. -- The demerits of the unitary system in relation to Sri Lankan ethnic problem -- The merits of the Indian Model of devolution and wound up by saying:- “Thousands of Sri Lankan Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims and other ethnic groups visit India every day. They are full of admiration for its liberal democratic ideals. A majority Hindu country has a great Muslim Scientist as Head of the State and treat him with due honour. Another highly respected leader is the Prime Minister of India from an ethnic group that forms only 2% of its population and the leader of the ruling Party who is a very highly respected lady is one, not born in India. This great neighbor of ours has found unity in diversity; why can't we have powers devolved to our regions on the Indian pattern? ““I strongly urge that both the candidates should declare that a solution to the ethnic problem will be found jointly, by both agreeing to take it up soon after the election, irrespective of who wins. I am positively sure that this is the only way to bring back peace to our suffering masses. With the attention of the entire international community focused on Sri Lanka, I believe this is the best time too.”After the Presidential Election at which you won, you made your policy statement in Parliament on 25-11-2005. I wrote to you another letter on 28-11-2005 captioned “Policy Statement and the Peace Process” (Copy attached) of which a selected paragraph is quoted here: - “As usual like your predecessors, you too have sought the co-operation of everyone to help you to build a New Sri Lanka. Without a contended minority support, it is difficult to achieve it. Even the full co-operation of the majority Sinhalese may be available to you because the main concern of the people of Sri Lanka today is achieving Peace and to achieve it, an acceptable solution is a pre- requisite. Peace is knocking at our door. Whether we are going to let it in or shut our doors, is in your hands. Having found a reasonable solution, within the frame- work of a United Sri Lanka, acceptable to the International Community, which will never support separation, you can then proceed to muster support for the creation of a New Sri Lanka. Until then the minorities are not at all interested in anything, even if you give them everything free. To put it better the LTTE won’t allow them to do anything. With no satisfactory response from your side, they have no alternative other than submitting themselves to the LTTE’s pressure for everything. “ WHAT IS REASONABLE AND HONEST I now come to your 2nd Independence Day message to the Nation, after you got elected as the President of the Democratic Social Republic of Sri Lanka, delivered at the 59th Independence Day Ceremony held at the Galle Face Green on the 4th of Feb 2007. I was moved to tears for not participating in that ceremony not because anyone prevented me from doing so, but because I felt that the Tamils have lost their right to rejoice at the Independence Day ceremony as one belonging to a subservient community or race. It was too much for me to bear, being one who is very patriotic and had actively taken part in the Independence Day ceremony on the 4th February 1948. I had lived in this country for 78 years and I hardly remember when I last celebrated the Independence Day Ceremony. Permit me to quote an extract of your speech at that ceremony:- “It is this massive commitment to peace that led our Security Forces to liberate the innocent Tamil people who were taken hostage and used as a human shield by the terrorists, to win their savage demands. For this valiant effort our heroic security forces deserve the salute of the Sri Lankan people on this honoured day. Similarly, we should now take speedy action to establish democratic governance in areas liberated from the clutches of the terrorists in the East and the North. It is our duty to protect the lives and property of the Tamil and Muslim people, and bring sanctity to the future world of their children. As I stated at the inauguration of the Moragahakanda Maha Samudra, I wish to re-emphasize that the most reliable weapon against terrorism is to do justice by the innocent Tamil people. I know that the Sinhala people in the South are ready for this. We are not ready to give into the blood-thirsty demands of the LTTE. However, at the minimum we should be reasonable and honest enough to agree with Mr. Anadasangaree or the Hon. Douglas Devananda.” INDIAN MODEL ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION Your Excellency, this was a part of your message to the Nation at a time when the country did not have much hopes of defeating the LTTE. Yet since you had said so, it came as a guarantee that you were giving to the Nation. You said, “However at the minimum we should be reasonable and honest enough to agree with Mr. Anadasangaree or Hon Douglas Devananda”, Even at that time he was a minister of your cabinet. But I was not even a Member of Parliament or a member of any local body. Long before you contested the Presidential election in Nov 2005 for the 1st time, I had started my campaign for an Indian Model of devolution and even suggested during the Presidential Election campaign of 2005 to leave the ethnic issue out of the campaign and to take it up with the defeated candidate to agree on a consensus. Hence mentioning my name, at the 59th Independence Day speech, and saying that at the minimum you should be reasonable and honest enough to agree with me or with Douglas Devananda, gave me hopes that you were considering the Indian Model as a solution to our problem. My hopes got strengthened when one day you asked me not to use the term “Federal” in any of my articles and statements but to use the term “Indian Model” liberally, in all my writings. I also remember your asking me to discuss this matter with the J.V.P too. Your Excellency, in conclusion I plead with you to consider the Indian Model as an alternative to a Federal Solution, if you still won’t support the Federal Model which was to your liking once. The SLFP convention also once approved it. Our people should be told that “Democracy” is not merely the rule of the majority. But Democracy is rule of the majority with the consent of the minority. At the 2005 Presidential Election the UNP offered a Federal Solution and obtained 49% of the votes. Out of the votes you obtained, the leftist votes you got could be taken as votes cast for a Federal Solution. Although my suggestion looks ridiculous it has some moral values since one percent of the votes cast at an election should not obstruct the finding of a reasonable solution for a 55 year old problem that had brought destruction to the country, which would have been otherwise peaceful and prosperous. If a solution based on the Federal or Indian model is found several thousand souls from all ethnic groups in Sri Lanka will rest in peace. To achieve it, assurance from several countries can be obtained, to get their full co-operation in curtailing the activities of all, who are opposed to peace in Our Country. As for you, you will go down in history as the single person who brought peace and prosperity to an ailing nation. I am advising you in good faith that no satisfactory permanent solution can ever be found under a unitary system of Government. Thanking You Yours Sincerely, 18 November 2011 British PM expresses concern over the Bill British Prime Minister David Cameron and several other Commonwealth leaders had expressed concern over the controversial Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Unutilized Assets Bill that was passed in Parliament recently. Mr. Wickremesighe who was speaking to the journalists just after his arrival in Katunayake International Airport last morning said both IDU and the CPA had assured their support to the Sri Lankan opposition in its struggle to safeguard the rights of local businessmen. They have stated that Sri Lankan businessmen would have been a leading entrepreneurs in the globe had the pre 1977 government refrained from nationalizing their assets. He therefore stressed the need for safeguarding the rights of local businessmen including Daya Gamage and Harry Jayawardene Lanka govt offers "structured dialogue" to TNA Sri Lankan government has offered a "structured dialogue" to the country''s main Tamil party TNA to find a solution to the political aspirations of the minority ethnic community.Rajiva Wijesingha, a government legislator who was part of the talks, said that talks would be carried forward during three separate days in December.Commenting on the latest round of talks held yesterday, Suresh Premachandran, the senior TNA legislator said, "We have to take forward a structured dialogue"."We have identified several areas - devolution to provinces, powers of the centre, legislative, executive, judicial and powers of the Governor. We discussed these issues," Premachandran said the talks would continue next month.Since the end to the war with the LTTE in May 2009, the government came under increasing pressure from India and the international community to work towards finding a credible devolution of power.The TNA-govt talks resumed in September after TNA walked out of talks early August, claiming that the talks were not leading anywhere.The TNA looks for meaningful implementation of the thirteenth amendment to the constitution adopted with Indian backing in 1987.However President Mahinda Rajapaksa''s government is averse to conferring land and police powers to the provincial councils.The government has mooted the idea of a parliamentary select committee to include all political parties in finding a political solution running parallel with its direct talks with TNA. Websites blocked 'without a court order' Sri Lankan government has confirmed that it has taken down several websites without a court order.Speaking to journalists in Colombo on Tuesday, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that government took the decision to ban websites without legal recourse.According to the minister, the government is unable to find who is behind the several websites that operate with pornographic, false and malicious contents.“We have a right to intervene on behalf of the country, people and national security” Minister added. Website registration The move follows the Sri Lankan government’s announcement on the 5th November demanding to register all websites reporting on Sri Lanka with the country’s media ministry.Google said it has fully acceded to the Sri Lankan government's requests for removal of content from Google services.According to Google this is the first time that it received 'one or more content removal requests' from Sri Lanka.However, Google declined to give details of the content removed.“We don't go into the details of the content we are requested to take down by the executive or judiciary” Public Relations Manager of the Google’s United Kingdom office, Steven Rosenthal told BBC World Service Serious threat to online freedom International and Sri Lankan media watchdogs accused the government of curtailing the freedom of expression and suppression of free media in Sri Lanka by blocking websites.Deploring the government measures Reporters without Borders said “several news sites had already been blocked by the government, and now this requirement to register with the information ministry poses an additional serious threat to the already limited online freedom of expression”."Blocking online media is another step in the Sri Lankan government's plan to silence any media critical of its policies or personnel," said Committee to Protect Journalists.Tamilnet has been blocked almost continuously since 2007, followed by Lankanewsweb and LankaeNews.Several other sites critical of the government including Lankawaynews, Sri Lanka Guardian, Paparacinews and Gossip9 and Sri Lanka Mirror have been banned since the day government call for the registration of sites. Foreign ministry could not counter the misinformation and false propaganda made by the LTTE internationally : Rohan Gunaratne Terrorism expert Prof. Rohan Gunaratne yesterday said that the government should have invited the Darusman panel to visit the country, without which they had produced a report based on information and propaganda gathered from the front organizations of the LTTE.Professor Gunaratne further pointed out that this is an immediate requirement in order to restore good relations with the countries in the West where the image of the country had been tarnished due to LTTE propaganda.He was speaking at a forum held at the British Council on the topic “Future of Sri Lanka’s Security-Countering the LTTE on the Western Soil.”“The foreign ministry could not counter the misinformation and false propaganda made by the LTTE internationally, which was one of the biggest mistakes we made he said.“There were three centers of gravity of the LTTE. The first one was Prabhakaran, the second was its state of the art international network with a huge capacity to lobby, capacity to raise funds, procurement of weapons and state of the art shipping network. The third gravity was their specialist capability to fight,” he said.People like Nediyavan, Father Emmanuel and Rudrakumaran are very much active in spreading false information through their front organizations and propaganda networks he said.He also told the government to restore democracy in the Northern and Eastern Provinces by protecting peace achieved and move towards reconciliation.Prof. Gunaratne said that more and more social programmes should be carried out by the government to prevent another conflict and protect the peace achieved after decades of war. Dematagoda Chaminda says Eknaligoda’s body was dumped in the sea Underworld leader Dematagoda Chaminda has told the CID recently that a group of persons led by him had dumped the body of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda in the sea off the Negombo lagoon.Demtagoda Chaminda was arrested on suspicion over the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and four others and is currently in the custody of the CID.He is a trusted lackey of parliamentarian Kudu Duminda. Chaminda had said that he was not aware of whose body he had dumped in the sea until that evening when the boss (Duminda) had said it was a web journalist during a party at Jaic Hilton and that he had later found out that the dead person was Prageeth Eknaligoda.Dematagoda Chaminda had observed that several bodies had been dumped in the sea on the boss’ orders. The bodies had been wrapped in gunny bags and tied to heavy granite stones.He had added that on every occasion when the bodies were dumped, the boss had told him that they were orders by the big boss (Defence Secretary).“Sir, these people are going to kill me anyway. It is true that we have killed and transported drugs, but none of these were done for personal reasons. They were done because boss asked us to do so. Please sir, go out and reveal these details. These details will be buried forever if they kill me in a few days,” Dematagoda Chaminda has told the police officers.While Dematagoda Chaminda made such a statement, the former Attorney General Mohanm Peiris speaking during the Convention Against Torture in Geneva said that information has been received that Prageeth Eknaligoda was living in a foreign country after receiving political asylum. Death threats to Yohindra Premachandra Sumana Premachandra the wife of the slain former parliamentarian and presidential advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra lodged a complaint with the Cinnamon Garden police regarding anonymous calls she has being receiving threatening her son, Yohindra with death.Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana confirmed that she had lodged a complaint this evening in this regard. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Mrs. Premachandra said that she has being receiving number of calls to her land line upon the death of her husband.“They say that they will kill my son Yohindra and he will have to face the same fate his father faced. They do not give any reasons,” she said.“But this morning I received a call to my mobile phone and that person made the same threats. Therefore I had to lodge a complaint with the police,” she said. “The police officers told me that they will look into the complaint and take necessary action. They also told me to inform them immediately if I receive any more calls with the phone details,” she added. Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra was killed along with three others following a shootout in Mulleriyawa on October 8. Murdered Sri Lanka politician's family hail MP warrant The daughter of a Sri Lankan politician shot dead last month has welcomed a court move to arrest an MP in connection with his killing.Speaking to the BBC from an undisclosed location outside Sri Lanka, Hirunika Premachandra said that the news had restored her faith in the judiciary.Her father Bharatha Lakshman was killed during a shoot-out in Colombo.The court issued a warrant for the arrest of Duminda Silva MP who was present during the incident.Mr Silva was injured when shooting broke out in the capital between rival members of the governing party.On Tuesday a court said that Mr Silva should be arrested and produced before a court even though his name is not among the list of 15 police suspects wanted in connection with the violence.He is currently believed to be receiving medical treatment for severe injuries in a hospital in Singapore. Gun culture "I think this is the first time I felt happy since my father passed away," Ms Premachandra told the BBC Sinhala service."It is not because somebody is being sent to prison but because we can still trust the judicial system in Sri Lanka."I salute the judge for making us still believe in the judiciary."Presidential adviser Mr Lakshman was among four people killed when shooting broke out within the governing United People's Front Alliance as local elections were being held in a suburb of Colombo on 8 October.Police said on Tuesday that there was not enough evidence to arrest Mr Silva and that he was "not of sound mind".However, considering the evidence, the magistrate ordered the MP's immediate arrest.Police quoting Mr Lakshman's driver said that Mr Silva blocked Mr Lakshman's vehicle and shot him. But, the officer said, other eyewitnesses had contradicted this.The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says that several other people have been detained in connection with the violence, including Mr Silva's bodyguard and a man widely described as an "underworld figure" who was with Mr Silva at the time.Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa countered widespread allegations against Mr Silva by saying he was "not a known underworld king pin or some drug dealer - he's an elected MP".But Mr Rajapaksa admitted that politicians in the area where the gunfight took place had connections with the underworld and its gun culture. UNP parliamentarian to be appoint as Deputy Education Minister According to the Sinhala news paper report post of Deputy Education Minister will be given to a UNP member.Changes would be take place in January said the reports.Government request the particulate UNP parliamentarian to join with the government, sources said.However it was revealed end of the budget debate respective UNP parliamentarian will join the government.Political sources revealed in order to avoid the political intervenes in his personal business respective parliamentarian will join the government. All is not well for Tamils in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka High Commissioner Chitranganee Wagiswara tries to justify the war crimes by the government against Tamil civilians by asserting that Tamil Tigers were terrorists. She is by implication accepting that war crimes were committed by both Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers. Terrorism by a rebel group cannot justify war crimes by Sri Lankan government on her civilians.Ms Wagiswara’s description of the Sri Lankan communities as “peace loving” is a cruel joke. The Tamil majority areas of Sri Lanka (Eelam) are under a massive Sinhalese army of occupation, who are harassing and trampling on the rights of the Tamils after the surrender of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.Even the provincial governors of the two Tamil provinces are army generals accused of war crimes. Tamil government agents are being replaced by Sinhalese and the government is colonizing Tamil lands by bringing in Sinhalese from the south with army patronage.Some 300,000 Tamils were forcibly kept like cattle in detention camps and many are still languishing in camps. Mahinda Rajapakse recently passed a law demanding title deeds from the one million Tamils who fled the country. Foreign reporters are not allowed freely into Tamil provinces, to hide the facts, and only selected writers are allowed. The Sri Lankan government is spending large sums of money to convince the international community that everything is “peaceful” in Sri Lanka. Since independence in 1948, several laws have been enacted by the Sinhalese majority to deny the Tamils voting rights, citizenship rights, language rights, equal education and employment rights.Sinhalese thugs, police and army organized the slaughter of Tamils and destruction, rape and plunder of Tamil properties all over the island, in 1956, 1958, 1971, 1977, culminating in 1983, forcing mass exodus of Tamils from Sinhalese areas and out of the country. The Tamil youth in desperation took up arms and one such group was LTTE (Tamil Tigers).Absence of war is not peace for Tamils, who are kidnapped, tortured, humiliated and treated as third-class citizens. We Tamils thank our Prime Minister Stephen Harper for putting his foot down against human rights violations by the Rajapakse government. An injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. 17 November 2011 Tamil Nadu CM asks Indian PM to control 'rogue elements' in Sri Lankan Navy The Chief Minister of Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Ms. J. Jayalalithaa today blamed the 'rogue elements' in the Sri Lankan Navy for continued attacks on Indian fishermen and urged the central government to take action to prevent such attacks.In her fifth letter to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ms. Jayalalithaa expressed serious concern over the recent attacks allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel on the fishermen who intrude in to the Sri Lankan territorial waters, PTI reported."I strongly feel that the Government of India should assert itself with the Sri Lankan Government to control the rogue elements in the Sri Lankan Navy who continue to indulge in acts of physical assault on our innocent fishermen," she said.The Chief Minister has said that the attacks on the fishermen from Tamil Nadu had caused great unrest," among the people.Sri Lanka Navy's alleged attacks should be considered as attacks on India and treated as a national issue, she has urged.In her letter to the PM, the Chief Minister, citing an alleged attack that seriously injured an Indian fisherman yesterday, said such continued incidents create insecurity among the fishermen community and despair over the government's inaction to stop them.Indian fisheries officials have said that Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly pelted stones at three fishing boats in the Palk straits yesterday injuring a fisherman and damaging the boats.The Chief Minister has said that she had already expressed her apprehension of the "double-standards," adopted by Sri Lanka which, while issuing statements on the need for treating the straying fishermen on a humanitarian basis, "continues to be silent on the attacks launched by its own Navy.""Despite my letters to you and despite your taking up the issue with the Government of Sri Lanka and their stated assurances in this regard, the attacks on our fishermen continue unabated and the situation is worsening day by day," she has written to the Prime Minister.However, the Sri Lankan Navy denies any attacks by its personnel on Indian fishermen. Sri Lanka Tamil party leader resigns from Colombo Municipal Council Leader of Sri Lanka's Democratic People's Front (DPF) Mano Ganeshan announced that he would resign from the membership of Colombo Municipal Council.He said that the next in the line of preferential votes of his party nomination will be appointed as a member of the Colombo Municipal Council.Ganeshan says he resigns to focus on the party activities as the leader of DPF. The party holds six seats in the Colombo Municipal Council.However, recent reports said that he would be appointed to parliament as a national list MP of the opposition United National Party (UNP) but the DPF is yet to confirm it. Former Sri Lankan President Talks Peace Chandrika Kumaratunga, the former president of Sri Lanka, painted a sobering picture of an island nation recovering from civil war during a talk at CGIS yesterday.Kumaratunga, who led Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2005, described her administration’s unsuccessful attempts to resolve through peaceful negotiations the long-standing conflict between Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil populations.Sri Lanka’s first female president attributed the challenge in part to a “mentality of siege” that has become entrenched in the psyche of the Sri Lankan people.“For 2000 years we were a very strong nation ... but we underwent nearly 500 years of Western colonial rule and were completely subjugated for 450 years,” she said.This, she argued, helps explain why war, not peace, has held the day.Identity politics has long been the bedrock of political conflict in Sri Lanka, a nation of 20 million located in the waters off India’s southeastern coast.Confronting this identity crisis “would require that we manage existing diversity,” Kumaratunga said, “and redirect the richness of that diversity towards positive change.”Kumaratunga also addressed the failures of previous Sri Lankan administrations.One “major mistake” that exacerbated identity politics was the now-defunct Sinhala Only Act, which recognized the Sinhalese tongue as the country’s sole official language.This created a major setback for Tamils and other minority groups seeking equal opportunity in jobs and education, she said.“We brought all kinds of rules that made it more difficult for the Tamils to get into schools,” said Kumaratunga.She concluded her talk by discussing the challenges faced by the Sri Lankan people since their civil war ended in 2009.“The people are fatigués, as they say in French ... fatigued,” she explained.“The leadership will have to come from fresh, new people.”At the end of her talk, one audience member asked what American students can learn from Sri Lanka’s history of political conflict.“They can learn how paradise was lost,” Kumaratunga lamented.The former president’s lecture was sponsored by the Harvard International Negotiation Program, the Global Institute of Health, the South Asian Initiative, and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. ‘Che Guevara would have supported Eelam’ 16 November 2011 U.S. official raises Sri Lankan human rights issue Hardly a week before a Sri Lankan government report on its war with the Tamil Tigers is to be handed over to its President, a senior U.S. official brought up the question of human rights at a maritime conference here.“Another important part of U.S. foreign policy is engagement in support of human rights,” said Robert M. Scher, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asian affairs, at the Galle Dialogue, a maritime security conference organised by Sri Lanka here. “The Obama administration has made it clear that it will pursue policies that include both engagement with those with whom we share interests and on behalf of improvements in human rights. These two approaches are not in competition, but must, by necessity, be pursued in conjunction with each other,” he added.Mr. Scher also met Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the sidelines of the conference. He was clear what he wanted to convey: “In my meetings here, I will discuss areas of mutual interest and security cooperation, such as maritime security, and I will make it clear that the United States needs to see continued progress in promoting the rights of all Sri Lankans and in taking concrete steps to bring about reconciliation with the Tamil population. Further, we believe that a serious effort by the Sri Lankan government to ensure accountability for serious violations of human rights during the war is critically important, and the only way to truly solidify the peace you and your people worked so hard to achieve.”The conference, attended by about 20 of the 25 invited nations, witnessed presentation by a Chinese too. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Maldives — the Indian Ocean littoral states — are also participating in the two-day conference, inaugurated on Monday by Mr. Rajapaksa.On the region itself, Mr. Scher said that over the next 15-20 years most of the growth in Indian Ocean trade flows would be the result of increased trade among Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The U.S. was concerned that the Ocean will provide an easy transit route for clandestine material bound for North Korea, especially nuclear material.“I would like to applaud the Indian Navy for its successful interdiction in August this year of a ship suspected of transporting weapons to terrorist groups in the Middle East. Additionally, piracy emanating from Somalia is growing due in large part to that country's lack of capacity to counter it. These are just two examples of a threat that affects not just the countries in the region, but U.S. interests as well,” he added. Verdict on white flag case against Sri Lanka's former Army Commander on Friday The Colombo High Court of Sri Lanka is to deliver the verdict on the controversial "White Flag" case against former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka on Friday (18).Meanwhile the court has postponed hearing of another case against Fonseka for next year.The Court has postponed the case, filed against Fonseka and his aide Senaka de Silva for allegedly conspiring against the government and harbouring army deserters, for January 23rd.Fonseka and de Silva were indicted last year for harboring army deserters and conspiring to topple the government.The case was the first to be filed in a civil court against the former Army Commander after two courts martial against him.The "White Flag" case involves an alleged comment made to a weekly national newspaper by Fonseka during last year's Presidential election campaign where he had said the Defence Secretary had ordered the shooting of LTTE leaders who were trying to surrender during the final stages of the war in 2009. Sri Lanka at 'critical point' post-LTTE, says politician A prominent Sri Lankan politician who played a key role in the peace process says his country stands at 'a critical point' when decision makers need to make choices to help heal the wounds of a war that ended two years ago.'We stand at a critical point. We have an opportunity to make our future,' Milinda Moragoda, who has held many cabinet posts in the past, said on the sidelines of an event here.Sri Lankans could 'either lay the foundation for a prosperous Sri Lanka or potentially sow the seeds for another conflict', said the 49-year-old, who in December 2009 founded the Sri Lanka National Congress with a view to promoting national unity, inclusiveness and political reforms.Moragoda was one of the key speakers at the release of a Norwegian government-sponsored but independent study on the reasons Oslo's role as a facilitator failed to bring peace to Sri Lanka. Formerly of the United National Party, he played a vital role in events that led to the 2002 ceasefire agreement between Colombo and the Tamil Tigers.The truce later collapsed, sparking off fresh war that led to the decimation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009, formally ending a conflict that had ignited a quarter century ago.Moragoda said Sri Lanka remained a divided country, the most visible and major factors factored around religion and ethnicity.'Political parties have become tribal, there is too much patronage system,' said the former MP who is now considered close to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. 'A lot of this,' he added, 'is because of the corrosive impact of the war.'Sharing his insights on Sri Lanka, he said the conflict, which claimed tens of thousands of lives between 1983 and 2009, had destroyed many core values and caused cracks in society.'We need to come together as a society. We need to feel less insecure.'Our post-independent politics divided rather than united us, demonising one group or the other. Post-war (2009), we need to be less parochial, more visionary.'Moragoda argued that contrary to what many outside Sri Lanka may think, the average Sinhalese was not racist.'There is nothing wrong with Tamil or Sinhalese nationalism per se. But they should not get destructive.'He said 'moderate politicians' like him got ambushed from both sides. 'The middle ground has become weaker.'Buddhism is about the middle path. If we lead the life of Lord Buddha, we would not be having this debate at all.'Moragoda also called for much stronger relations between India and Sri Lanka, which are set apart physically by a strip of sea. 'India is the great opportunity for Sri Lanka, economically, culturally and politically,' he said, taking a line shared by many in his country.'We have to integrate with India economically, like Hong Kong has done with China. India can also be a (political) model for us.'He admitted that many Sri Lankans saw India as a threat. 'It is very easy to demonise if you are living near a giant.'But he underlined that India also needed to reach out to Sri Lanka, a country which no Indian prime minister has visited for years bilaterally. This rankles many Sri Lankans. COURT ORDERS DUMINDA SILVA’S ARREST Colombo Magistrate’s Court today ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) that MP Duminda Silva be arrested and produced before court, over the killing of former MP Baratha Lakshman Premachandra in the Mulleriyawa shooting incident. Attorney-at-Law Ajith Pathirana, who is appearing on behalf of Premachandra’s relatives, said that Duminda Silva was named as a suspect in the incident as requested from court. The list of suspects had been submitted today, when the case was taken up, after the report on evidence was presented to court. R. Duminda Silva had not been included in the list which contained the names of fifteen (15) suspects, Ajith Pathirana stated.The Colombo Magistrate’s Court which then obliged to the request that Duminda Silva is named as a suspect, had ordered his arrest and that he be produced before court.Four individuals, including the Presidential Adviser Lakshman Premachandra, were killed while Duminda Silva was also critically wounded and hospitalized following the shooting incident on Election Day (Oct. 8) at Mulleriyawa. Silva was discharged from the Sri Jayawardenapura hospital and taken to Singapore for further medical treatment on September 31 while his doctors had stated that the Parliamentarian’s condition has greatly improved.A Police Constable who was serving as a security officer for MP Duminda Silva had been arrested and remanded after being identified as the person who shot former MP Premachandra.The investigation into the shooting had been handed over to the CID. Chandrika to deliver speech at Harvard Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga will deliver a speech titled, ‘Negotiating Identities and Emotions: Ethno-political Conflict in Sri Lanka’ at the Harvard University today (Nov. 15), US Lanka Online reports.President Kumaratunga will be this week’s guest speaker at the lecture series organized by the Harvard International Negotiation Project, co-sponsored by the South Asia Initiative.Amidst waves of violence, she sought a political solution through negotiation and ceasefire agreements to the Sri Lankan conflict during her tenure.The organizers expect to hear firsthand how President Kumaratunga navigated the emotional and identity-based complexities of the conflict, as well as the interplay of religion, culture, and ethnicity. Judge recuses from bench hearing petition against Douglas A judge of the Madras High Court recused himself from hearing a petition seeking the arrest of Sri Lankan Minister for Traditional Industries Douglas Devananda.When the matter came up, Justice T Sudanthiram, one of the judges hearing the petition, said he did not want to adjudicate the petition. He directed the court’s registry to place it before the Chief Justice for posting before another bench.Justices C Nagappan and Sudanthiram were the other judges hearing the petition yesterday (14).In his petition seeking the arrest of Devananda, P Pugalenthi, an advocate and Tamil Nadu Peoples’ Rights Forum Secretary, submitted that Devananda was involved in three criminal cases, including a murder case, which was pending before city courts.He submitted that a murder case had been registered against Devananda by city police and a court in June 1994 had issued a Proclamation Warrant treating him as an absconding accused. 14 November 2011 Solheim says LTTE chief Prabhakaran was an ‘absolute amateur’ in international politics Indian officials met in ‘secret’ with the LTTE ahead of Sri Lanka’s 2002 truce although New Delhi considered the Tamil Tigers a terrorist group, Norwegian cabinet minister Erik Solheim has revealed.The former envoy to Sri Lanka also said – confirming for the first time ever an IANS report of 2008 – that India played a covert role in events that led to the Tamil Tigers and Colombo signing a ceasefire agreement (CFA) nine years ago.The repository of tremendous information related to the Tamil Tigers, Solheim spoke at length to IANS at his office here after addressing a meeting over the weekend where a report was released on Norway’s role in Sri Lanka’s peace process.According to Solheim, the minister for environment and international development, Indian officials held a ‘secret meeting’ with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) before the CFA was signed in February 2002.Solheim declined to say where the meeting took place or who participated in the meeting from the two sides.If true, this would be the first known meeting between Indian officials and the LTTE since New Delhi banned it in 1992 for assassinating former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi a year earlier.Solheim also added that contrary to public knowledge, the Indian government, then led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), played a key behind-the-scenes role in the framing of the Norwegian-sponsored CFA.He said he himself held several meetings with India’s national security adviser and officials of the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) as Colombo and the LTTE inched towards the CFA.He said some meetings with RAW officials took place at the New Delhi airport.IANS had reported the Indian covert role but without naming RAW due to a request from sources who gave details of the intelligence agency’s involvement in the CFA – which until then was seen as an exclusive Norwegian baby.The CFA ushered in months of peace in Sri Lanka before falling apart. The LTTE and the Sri Lankan regime went to war again in 2006, leading to the decimation of the Tigers in May 2009.Solheim told IANS that as Sri Lanka’s and LTTE leaders quietly discussed the CFA in 2001-02, New Delhi was kept informed of each and every development. India, he said, gave ‘sound advice’ and ‘constantly good and refreshing inputs’.He said India did not want any ‘major international player’ to get involved in the peace process and even suggested which countries should be part of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), a Nordic body meant to oversee the CFA.Indian officials made it clear to Solheim, he said, that they were bitterly opposed to any break up of Sri Lanka and that ‘Tamil Eelam would never be acceptable’.Solheim added that LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham, who died of cancer in 2006, understood India’s importance in the region and maintained that ‘nothing done contrary to Indian interests will ever work’.But LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, who met Solheim about 10 times in all, starting in 2001, was an ‘absolute amateur’ in international politics even though he was a ‘military genius’, the minister said.Balasingham also complained to Solheim that both Prabhakaran and LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman insisted for months that their group had no role to play in Rajiv Gandhi’s killing.‘They tried to convince Balasingham that they had nothing to do with it,’ Solheim recalled. He quoted Balasingham as saying: ‘I did not believe the story, and they eventually stopped lying to me.’ Rs. 46,000 worth heroin sold every 2 hrs. in Jaffna town Jaffna town’s heroin business earns Rs. 46,000 per every two hours a peddler, police say.A man arrested in connection with peddling heroin has given the figure to police. SSP Jaffna T. Indran says a crackdown on heroin peddling is underway.Four students of a leading Jaffna school were arrested recently for using heroin.They were freed after they apologized to their parents in the court. will take action if report endorses human rights violations in war against LTTE Excerpts of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s interview to NDTV’s Maya Mirchandani, while in Addu City in the Maldives to attend SAARC summit: Mahinda Rajapakse: I explained to your PM (Prime Minister) about the fishermen issue. For the last one year, we have fought more than 40000 boats that have come to Lanka shores and fishing in Lanka. So it’s a problem for us but we have never taken them into custody because of the PM’s request. We allow them. Earlier navy was handling it, but now we have said even the navy has been stopped from doing so. Now we allow them. NDTV: Because this is a huge political issue in India. Mahinda Rajapakse: Yes, because they are asking me weather ‘Jaffna Tamils’ have been resettled and whether their living conditions are good or bad and whether we are helping them. So why not help the fishermen? They are deprived of their own rights. So this is an unfortunate thing. So they must understand that too. NDTV: So you are saying this for Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen to fish in? Mahinda Rajapakse: No, we are saying give and take policy. So we are discussing it. Then I said the best thing is to meet the Tamil fishermen. Get the Tamil fishermen from Sri Lanka and the Indian side and they can discuss and settle this problem. I don’t want the government to come in. NDTV: Sir, what about the reconciliation process. Things are moving very slowly? Mahinda Rajapakse: No, it’s moving very fast for the last two years we have resettled about 95 per cent. NDTV: I am talking about political reconciliation. Mahinda Rajapakse: Politically we have already started dialogue with the TNA. For the last 1.5 months they have been busy, traveling to USA, UK etc and canvassing themselves. I don’t know what they are canvassing for because these are internal matters they must discuss with us, the Lankan government, because finally it’s the government that matters, because we have appointed the committee and they have not sent the names yet. We have 23 political parties in Parliament. So we want to appoint a Parliament select committee. The best place to settle this. Let the government and opposition get together and give me a solution. Then certainly. NDTV: Since the war ended in 2009 there have been many allegations of human rights violations. Mahinda Rajapakse: Have you seen the response? NDTV: Yes we have. But the lessons learnt and reconciliation commission is meant to give you its report any time now. Will you make it public? Mahinda Rajapakse: Yes on the 19th. But I will have to get it, study it. It’s not a public document. To make it (public) I want to table it in Parliament. Then only it becomes a public document. NDTV: Are you afraid it might endorse some of those charges of human rights violations? Mahinda Rajapakse: If they endorse it, we will have to take action. I am not going to shield anyone. I don’t want to shield anyone. NDTV: So it’s a long process? Mahinda Rajapakse: Yes, everyone talks of the last 10 days, but last 30 years no one talks. How many people have died? How many Tamil political leaders have died? Even your PM (Prime Minister) was killed. So these things cannot be just … you know. courtesy: NDTV LLRC witness rattled by CID summon A widow who gave evidence to the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) is now rattled by the summon given by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).CID has asked Ratnam Poongothai, a forty five year old widow of four children from Kalmunai to give detailed explanation on what she said to the government appointed war panel, LLRC.Initially Poongothai was asked to attend the Fourth Floor of the CID head quarters but later rearranged the interview to take place in Kalmunei police station.The message was conveyed by Kalmunai police and LLRC has informed the Divisional Secretariat about the investigation.“LLRC told me to attend the interview. I am afraid to attend it alone as I am fear of my security, people who gave me a hard time after testifying in front of LLRC are there” She said.Poongodathi prefers to have human rights activists or lawyer present when she attends the interview.In 2007, Ratnam Poongothai was unlawfully arrested by police. Same year Iniabarathi, a leader of breakaway group of LTTE, abducted and tortured her for two weeks. Unlawful detention Again in 2009 Police arrested Poongothai when she was at the Batticaloa Hospital and handed over to the CID after two months. In April same year Poongothai’s sister, a widow and a mother of three, was arrested by police and disappeared.“My husband was killed, two brothers disappeared, a sister gang raped but these things happened before 1990’s. I only seek justice for the events that took place after 2007, my abduction and disappearance of my sister” Poongothai added.According to Poongothai her family was not involved with Tamil Tigers or politics.“People who had personal grudges against us destroy my family for personal gains” she said. Online visa fee reduced The Government Information department said today (Nov. 13) the online visa fee to Sri Lanka has been revised as US$ 10 for SAARC countries and US$ 20 for other countries effective from next year.A processing fee of US$ 50 was earlier proposed to be charged per person when obtaining visa for Sri Lanka under the new Electronic Travel Authorization system.The move was met with opposition from India.The Electronic Travel Authorization was introduced on September 30, in order to grant prior approval for visa online for foreign nationals instead of the ‘on arrival visa’ system. 13 November 2011 TNA-Government dialogue restarts on Nov. 16 Following their return to the country on Thursday the TNA delegation headed by its leader parliamentarian R. Sampanthan would hold the next round of talks with the Government on Wednesday 16, TNA sources said.A TNA delegation comprising of its leader Sampanthan, General Secretary Mavai Senathirajah and spokesman Suresh Premachandran would form the TNA delegation at the talks with the Government. Senior ministers Prof. G.L. Peiris, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Dinesh Gunawardena would comprise the government delegation.At this meeting ways and means would be explored on reaching agreements on suggestions made during the last round of talks, TNA sources said.Words exchanged regarding their 10-day tour of the USA, Canada and Britain, would not be an impediment for future talks with that party, Senior Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said on the return of the delegation to the country. TNA visited USA on invitation - Sumanthiran The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) recently went to the United States and met with several US State Department officials and the UN Under Secretary General, Political Affairs, Lynn Pascoe.TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran, a member of the delegation, speaks to The Nation on their visit and the displeasure expressed by the members of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) over their exclusion from the US visit and the talks with the government Q. A delegation of the TNA recently concluded its visit to the US and Canada. What was the reason behind your visit? What were the outcomes of this visit, if there were any? Q. What were their concerns with regard to the political situation in Sri Lanka? Q. There are some who are of the view that your visit to the US was not successful owing to the fact that you could not meet with dignitaries including the UN Secretary General. What do you have to say about it? Q. But have you requested for another meeting with the SG sometime in the future? Q. Your visit to the US had created some friction within the TNA. The TELO had expressed their displeasure over not being included in the delegation. What do you have to say about that? Q. But, Shivajilingam did express his displeasure over this issue. Q. Do you think that this issue would be a problem for the TNA in the long -run? Q. They had also expressed their dissatisfaction since they were not included in the team that holds talks with the government. Your response? Q. But now this same committee is looking into the day-to-day affairs of the war affected people, right? Q. What is the state of the talks between the government and the TNA after its recommencement? Q. The TNA is still looked upon as a party that continues to carry forward the political views of the LTTE. How do you respond to that? Q. How do you look at the development process that takes place in the north and east? Q. But, don’t you think that this issue is not confined to the North and East alone, it applies to all places in the country? LTTE leaders tried to surrender through Basil, says Norway An evaluation report by Norway of its peace efforts in Sri Lanka between 1997 and 2009 has named presidential advisor and Minister Basil Rajapaksa as the person through whom the LTTE leadership tried to negotiate a last-minute surrender deal before the entire hierarchy of the group was killed in May, 2009.“In the night between May 17 and 18, Nadesan (head of the LTTE Political Wing) and Pulidevan (head of the LTTE Peace Secretariat) contacted the Norwegians as well as the UK and US embassies, the ICRC, and Chandra Nehru (a Tamil politician in Colombo) indicating their last-minute willingness to surrender. Following hasty negotiations with presidential advisor and Minister Basil Rajapaksa, they were told to walk across the frontline with a white flag. The last phone conversation was held shortly before their departure. Hours later they were reported shot. Government troops moved into the last LTTE stronghold and killed LTTE chief Prabhakaran and the remaining LTTE leaders including Soosai (Sea Tigers) and Pottu Amman (intelligence),” the report says.The 208-page report was released on Friday at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a ceremony attended by Norway’s Environment and International Development Minister Erik Solheim who played a major role in the peace process, former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and former Minister Milinda Moragoda.The report discloses hitherto unknown details on the backroom negotiations that took place as the noose tightened around the LTTE during the last days of the war.The report says that in January 2009, Government forces captured Kilinochchi and in view of the rapid offensive, the Norwegians had concluded in August 2008 that the Army would probably capture the Vanni sometime in 2009, but it could not rule out that this was a tactical LTTE retreat. The Norwegian team had concluded that it was very likely that the LTTE would disappear as a dominant power in any geographic area during 2009 and that the government would start a rehabilitation process in the north like the one in the east. They expect, however, that the insurgents would flee to the jungle and continue guerrilla-style warfare and would not fully disappear as long as Prabhakaran was alive.The Norwegains said it became clear that the endgame had started when the army capturedKilinochchi -- the symbolic rebel headquarters in the Vanni – on January 2, 2009. “The remaining LTTE territory around Puthukuduyiripu and Mullaitivu shrinks quickly. The LTTE’s human shield of hundreds of thousands of civilians who are not allowed to escape, form a crucial part of the insurgent’s defence. The civilian presence slows down the army offensive, but the government is determined not to let casualties change the course of events.”The report adds that while Norway and the US made several diplomatic attempts to avoid the bloodshed of a final onslaught and while the co-chairs agreed to work towards some form of LTTE surrender, Japan and the EU were not engaged directly in subsequent negotiations. India was not involved in these efforts either, but made some parallel pleas for limiting civilian casualties. The Indian government also made it very clear that it supported a continuation of the offensive and the defeat of the LTTE.The report says that in close dialogue with the US, Norway continued its efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis through some form of surrender. The ideas circulated consisted of four main components: 1) a government guaranteed amnesty for LTTE cadres other than the top leadership; Preparations were made for an international presence in the war zone – by the UN Resident Representative or in another way – and made sure both India and the US stood witness to the implementation of whatever arrangement emerged.The Norwegian team received signals that the Sri Lankan government might accept LTTE surrender at this point, though they were resistant to the idea of a UN envoy and the Norwegians were not sure the military could be convinced either. The Norwegian team hoped the ‘face saving measures’ would make it easier for the LTTE to accept, the report adds.Interviews and archives suggested the plan for LTTE leaders was to transfer them to Colombo and provide international guarantees for their well-being, but according to testimony from former LTTE operator ‘KP’ (with whom the Norwegians had a meeting in Malaysia on February 26), the LTTE expected the evacuation of 25 to 50 LTTE leaders and their families to a foreign country to be a possibility. Prabhakaran, however, rejected the proposal out of hand as ‘unacceptable’. The LTTE leadership was living in a ‘dream world’, the diplomats involved concluded. The LTTE seemed to believe in ‘miracles’; ‘Prabhakaran had survived on numerous previous occasions by a miracle and perhaps believed he would do it again,’ according to one of the Norwegians.As the net around the insurgents closed, LTTE surrender became a less and less attractive option for Colombo. It is also doubtful India had any interest in the LTTE surviving the end of the war. Non-Western countries told the Sri Lankan government to ignore Western pressure and ‘get it over with,’ according to the testimony of a Sri Lankan diplomat.Another former government official added, the government had ‘hardly any reason to let the LTTE surrender or escape’, ‘to think twice before grabbing the cobra by its head, and maybe have trouble again for another twenty years.’ It is in this period that the Sri Lankan government terminated Norway's facilitator role in Sri Lanka, the report adds. Army to quit houses in Jaffna before New Year Around 50 houses occupied by the military in the Jaffna peninsula are to be handed over to their owners at the end of this year. Jaffna Security Forces Commander, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe told The Nation that over 200 houses that were occupied by the military had already been given back to its owners. Concerns are raised by various political parties and organisations over the continuous military occupation of private properties.Hathurusinghe said the military had been in the process of vacating the houses and handing them back their owners since the end of the war, which resulted in the relaxation of security measures in the peninsula. “We will be handing over around 50 houses to the owners by the end of this year and continuing to do so in the next few months,” he said. He however said that military would continue to occupy a few houses in areas that are considered vital in view of security concerns. Colombo fails bid to host 2018 Commonwealth games Gold Coast, located in the eastern shores of Southern Queensland, Australia, a popular tourist destination, leveraging its experience in hosting large-scale sporting events and the well-developed infrastructure facilities, beat Sri Lanka to host the 2018 Commonwealth games Friday. Colombo furiously pursuing its goal of erasing memory of the massacre of 40,000 Tamil civilians in 2009, went after the bid to transform Sri Lankan President's home electorate, Hambantota, as a "sports city," but was voted down 27 to 43 by the voting members of the Commonwealth, according to reports. The 71 members of the Commonwealth Games Federation met in the Caribbean nation of Basseterre, St. Kitts, on Friday and voted. Commonwealth Games President Michael Fennell of Jamaica was not required to exercise his casting vote. Sri Lanka sent a team of 60, including cricket legend Muralitharan, in a last minute effort to lobby the voting nations in St Kitts.The Gold Coast's bid was built around the tagline 'It's our time to shine' and the hope of being 'the greenest games ever held'. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke, a former Olympian and Commonwealth Games athlete, played major parts in the campaign to bring the game to Gold Coast."We are thrilled that our adopted home has won the bid. The Gold Coast has always stood out as the better venue for many reasons but it is also likely that the war crimes past of Sri Lanka would have played on the conscience of the Commonwealth Federation. Given the overwhelming margin of victory we are grateful that the more deserving city was recognized in this instance," Dr Sam Pari, spokesperson for Australian Tamil Congress, commented on Gold Coast win.The Gold Coast will be the fifth Australian city and the first of Australia's regional cities to host the games. Sydney was the first to have that honour, hosting the then British Empire Games in 1938, followed by Perth (in 1962), Brisbane (1982) and Melbourne (2006).The only consolation for Colombo arises from the questions being asked in Australia on the economic benefits such large-scale games are to bring to the local economy.Sports economist at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Mark Stewart, said extensive research on major sporting events, including the Sydney Olympics, showed such spectacles "very rarely" reaped economic benefits across a whole economy, The Australian reported."So why do cities bid for them? There is research that shows major events result in a great amount of happiness, so politicians are probably seizing on this potential for their political ends," the paper added quoting Prof Stewart.The Commonwealth Games primarily features nations that were formerly part of the British Empire and is held every four years. 12 November 2011 India wanted LTTE 'put in its place': Norway report OSLO: Even as it publicly advocated peace when the Sri Lankan conflict was raging, India quietly informed Norway that the LTTE must be "put in its place", reveals a Norwegian government sponsored study on why the peace process failed in the island nation. The exhaustive document, released here Friday, shows that New Delhi's sympathy lay with Colombo vis-a-vis the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as the peace process began to slowly unravel from 2003-04. After the Congress returned to power in 2004, New Delhi kept calling for the accommodation of "Tamil aspirations" but did not apply any pressure on the Mahinda Rajapaksa government over its military option, it said. "India criticizes Norway in private meetings for being too 'LTTE friendly' and underlines the need to 'put the LTTE in its place'," said the 202-page report, based on archival material in the Norwegian foreign ministry as well as interviews with key players and personalities. "India provides radar and intelligence information to the Sri Lankan forces. Delhi maintains it will not provide offensive military assets but it does not object to Sri Lanka purchasing weaponry elsewhere... "Most importantly, Indian opposition to the LTTE starts to translate into firmer backing for the Sri Lankan government." India outlawed the LTTE in 1992, a year after a Tiger suicide bomber assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. In a dramatic turn of events, his widow Sonia became India's most powerful figure when the Congress returned to power in 2004. Although the document, titled "Pawns of Peace", is an evaluation of the Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka from 1997 to 2009, when the LTTE was vanquished, there are repeated references to India, which many viewed as the most important foreign player in Sri Lanka. Norway helped the LTTE - which was fighting for a Tamil homeland - and the Sri Lankan government to sign a ceasefire agreement (CFA) in February 2002 with a view to ending the country's protracted ethnic conflict. But after a limited period of peace, the situation slowly returned to square one, particularly after the LTTE split in April 2004 and President Rajapaksa took power in November 2005 promising to tame the Tigers. In May 2009, Colombo militarily crushed the LTTE, the last stages of the war leaving thousands of combatants and civilians dead. By then, Sri Lanka had terminated Norway's role as facilitator in the peace process. The reports says that even as New Delhi made "some pleas for limiting civilian casualties (towards the end of 2008), the Indian government makes it very clear that it supports a continuation of the (military) offensive and the defeat of the LTTE". Referring to the LTTE's last days, the report said: "As the net around the insurgents closes, LTTE surrender becomes a less and less attractive option for Colombo. It is also doubtful (if) India has any interest in the LTTE surviving the end of the war." May 2009, when the entire LTTE leadership including its founder chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was wiped out, also coincided with the last round of Indian elections that saw the Congress retain power. The report says that Sri Lanka was worried that if the Congress was voted out, "someone will come to the insurgents' aid". The report says that Indian cabinet minister P. Chidambaram contacted Prabhakaran towards the end of the conflict -- it does not say how -- and suggested that "the LTTE agree to a pre-drafted statement that they will lay down their weapons". But this move, it says, leaked to pro-LTTE Tamil Nadu politician Vaiko "who rejects it as a Congress trick and assures the LTTE that the BJP ( Bharatiya Janata Party) will win the elections and come to the Tigers' rescue". That never happened, and Prabhakaran was killed just when the Lok Sabha election results were announced in India. Two Sri Lankans arrested for false visa applications to UK Two Sri Lankan visa applicants have been arrested this week for using deception and false identities to apply for UK visas, the British High Commission in Colombo reported.The UK Border Agency has referred the two visa applicants, who were applying for were applying for Family visit and Tier 1 dependent visas, to CID police in Colombo.Two visa applicants have been arrested previously in August for similar offences.The two visa applications have been refused and the applicants will have a 10 year ban on travel to the UK. In addition they now face prosecution for their actions. UK Border Agency Entry Clearance Manager, Claire Murray, has said that the agency will not tolerate abuse of the UK's immigration rules."Where we see abuse, we will take action against those involved. I would strongly advise visa applicants not to submit false documents and not to use false identities or other forms of deception," she said.The UK Border Agency uncovered this deception because it takes biometric data from customers as an integral part of the visa application process. An exclusive Interview with TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran TamilCanadian had an exclusive interview with TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran. The interview was conducted recently in Toronto, Canada by Sarujan Kanapathipillai.Sarujan: Today, we have Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, M.A. Sumanthiran here to speak to Tamilcanadian.com. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us. Since the end of May 2009, this is the first TNA has come to North America in a formal capacity. What brings TNA to North America, who do you plan to meet, where do you plan to stop and what do you expect to accomplish? M.A. Sumanthiran: Well, this visit is as a result of Assistant Secretary of State of US State Department, Robert Blake extending an invitation to us that we come to the US State Department and hold some discussion with them. We have been talking to several high officials in the US State Department for three days in Washington. We also made use of the time that we were to meet with various congressmen and senators. We are also due to meet with some officials in the United Nations in New York. So in between the two, we thought of coming to Canada as well. Tomorrow, in Ottawa, we have some meetings in the foreign ministry and also an open forum for parliamentarians in which we will explain the situation back home.Sarujan: Since the end of the war, especially in the beginning, there were perceptions that there were divisions in the TNA. If we look at where we are two years later, TNA is stronger than ever before; did very well in the elections especially in the municipal election. Could you give us a brief insight into what has happened in TNA in the last two years? Is it a united political organization now? M.A. Sumanthiran: The TNA is not a political party. It is an alliance of few political parties in Sri Lanka. As you would expect with any alliance, there will be always bound to be differences in opinion, more than in a single political party. Even within a single party, there would be diverse views. The TNA I must say with regard to our particular objective at this for Tamil people, has been united. Even amongst the different political parties, there is no difference in opinion as such. It is focused as to what we are ought to accomplish. That is finding an acceptable political solution by way of arrangement where the Tamil people in the northern district have greater autonomy and where we are working towards an end. Our continued electoral success and better performances increasingly due to the people reposing confidence in the way that we have been working since the general election in 2010. Sarujan: In that regard, we hear the word colonization thrown around here and there. Could you give us a better insight into the ground situation in Sri Lanka. We hear about Buddhist temples being put in places that traditionally have had Hindu temples and other scenarios of militarization. M.A. Sumanthiran: This problem of colonization has been there since Independence. The population in the Eastern provinces has changed drastically in character. The demography was forced to change by successive governments. Now after the military victory, the government has decided that they could use this opportunity to accelerate the process. Now there are programs in place that which in certain cases, changes overnight the demography composition of our areas. Naturally, when there is a military victory, the government is in a very strong position because there is no resistance as it were on the ground for them to implement anything . When they take over territory not available to them, it is the military that takes over the territory. There will be a transitional phase before the civil government functions can start.So the government has utilized that space and delayed the transfer of governmental politics of civilian authorities, and kept it within the control of the military and used that time make changes on the ground. So cultural places have been destroyed, many of our places of worship have been destroyed. Buddhist places of worship, Buddhist statues have come up in areas where we don’t even have a single Buddhist civilian living. Showing that there is a heavy military presence to and that they might want to worship in a Buddhist temple. But there is no reason why they should establish those places of worship where there are civilians.There is a program of work that the government is carrying on while they talk to the TNA and while they project talks with the TNA and various other superficial activity to the international community to convince them showing that there is a serious process of reconciliation that is going on and therefore, the international community should not disturb that by interfering in our affairs while they are held back on the ground, they are changing the ground situation. So that in a couple of years, they will present us with a fait accompli which can’t be reversed. This is a matter that we have constantly complained about. On Friday October 21, we called for an urgent debate in parliament and at that in my speech, I tabled a comprehensive document detailing all of the activities that the government is doing. Once that is placed in the parliament, we have now distributed it all over world with pictures and other various evidence to show what the government is actually doing. While telling the world that there is a process of reconciliation going on, they are doing everything that is in the opposite direction. Sarujan: Does this situation differ in the different regions of Sri Lanka? So say, in rural areas like in Mallavi or in a more populated region like Jaffna town, do the Tamil people in different regions face different issues or are some of these common issues that you spoke of earlier? M.A. Sumanthiran: There are common issues and also there are different issues related to the different regions. Particularly in the coastal areas, there are huge issues of migrant fishermen from the South and West being brought and settled in areas that our people lived and carried on with their work. Now these people who are brought are being given licenses to fish in certain areas, even exclusive licenses while those who have carried their work in that area for 40, 50 years are unable to get even close to the coast. In other areas, they have brought people who do some diving work. All diving equipment is given freely and they live in houses and places where our people lived. The Tamil people have been reduced to the status of displaced persons. Even there, in one particular area, one side of the road between the coast and the place is where they lived and now even that area has been fully taken over by p9oeple from outside given . Now the original house owners and landowners have been sent to the other side of the road in detention centres. This kind of thing is going on in other places like maybe in England, the military decides that there is a particular area that is strategically important to them, and they just take it over. The people who live there are not permitted to get back to those places. Sometimes, they are offered alternate places to live in if they have been resisting. In recent times, the last 7000 odd people who have been left in the camps, they have been asked to go to different places like jungle places; not the places that they have used to live in. Those people have agreed to go as life in the camps is worse to live in. This kind of thing is still going on. Sarujan: With people coming out of the camps, there has been stories that ex-cadres, especially women cadres are not being reintegrated into society and some are rejected from society. Do you have any insight into that? M.A. Sumanthiran: This rehabilitation process of the ex-cadres is two-faced. One is the work that they have been doing with them in the rehabilitation camps. Although their detention in the camps were illegal, there was no formal detention orders or anything like that. Yet the program of work that was implemented in the rehabilitation camps were exemplary. So I have spoken about that in the parliament and commended the commissioner general for the rehabilitation work that they have done without taking away from the fact that it was illegal detention. Nevertheless, the components of the rehabilitation program were very good. But then beyond that, when they are supposedly reintegrated into society, we have also heard about lots of mishaps and problems that I think due to previous tensions surfacing and so on. But a lot of these people who have been released from their rehabilitation camps and been sent back to their villages want to get out of the country. They think their stay is temporary because they don't want to stay there and later be picked up again. There have been some instances where they’ve been rearrested. That’s a concern that needs to be looked at fairly carefully. If the rehabilitation process is to end properly or to succeed, we need to be involved in the process a little more.Sarujan: in recent times, the international community has been fairly vocal about not being satisfied with what the Sri Lankan government has been doing, and Canada included. Looking back, there is UN reports, there is documentaries by Channel 4, human rights watch, Amnesty International and the likes that have indicated that gross human rights violations occurred in the last phases of the war and that up to 40,000 people may have been killed. With regards to war crimes, where does TNA see this going? What would it like to do and what is on the agenda for TNA-run programs? M.A. Sumanthiran: With the report by the expert panel appointed by the UN secretary that came out in March of this year, we were the only political party in Sri Lanka that welcomed it. We welcomed the report and we explained that many of the matters that they have described as scheduled allegations were in fact spoken by ourselves contemptuously in parliament as they happened. So it was not something new. We know that those things were actually true. We welcomed the recommendations which included various accountability processes including propane investigation and time has not changed that. Sarujan: With regards to Diaspora, what do you think the Diaspora’s contribution has been in the past and what role do you think the Diaspora should it take? M.A. Sumanthiran: The Diaspora has a very constructive role to play in the future and well-being of our people in Sri Lanka because of the numerical strength and also due to the commitment that the people in the Diaspora have demonstrated. Some years ago, there was a religious dignitary who came to Sri Lanka from Rwanda and after all the terrible things that had happened in Rwanda, he had a message that he gave to the Sinhalese people. He said well if you want to live peacefully in your country, you better treat your brothers, the Tamils, as equals. Because if you don’t do that, their brothers who have gone abroad will make sure you never live in peace here. I thought that it was very good advice that was given. Sarujan: With the Diaspora, especially the second generation, does TNA see any plans or does TNA have plans to get the second generation to get them more engaged or keeping them engaged for years to come? M.A. Sumanthiran: the TNA has a vision to engage the youth in SL and harness their energies, mobilize them into a very responsible, non-violent movement to impact the rights of the Tamil people there. In that effort, we do look, towards the Diaspora second generation to also contribute to what they can particularly in the areas of expertise that they have and if the second generation Tamil Diaspora, many people can come and live for in Sri Lanka for certain periods of time in SL, we can organize certain programs that they can empower youth in SL so that we become a vibrant, responsible and a force to reckon with in terms of our people’s political rights. Sarujan: Some people are scared about that. There are lot of people, young and old, to come back to SL because they have been vocal in speaking out against the SL government. Do you think there is validity in being careful about returning to SL? M.A. Sumanthiran: There may be justifiable fears in that. Each one must decide for himself or herself. They must decide that in the background of their involvement in matters here. But if all were to be scared and not be ready to do this, then we will fail. That is again, a test of their commitment. Of course, they may not be foolish and act wisely and it may be different for each person. Sarujan: In recent times, there have been more organizations among the youth where they have been encouraging dialogue between Tamil and Sinhalese people. There have been organizations that have brought together young Sinhalese and young Tamil and have created dialogue. What do you think about that? M.A. Sumanthiran: I would strongly support that kind of effort because that’s the kind of thing we are trying to do in Sri Lankan as well even as a political party. One of the biggest weaknesses of the Tamil political parties in the past has been that we have never spoke to the Sinhalese people directly. My sense is that if we have done that, we would’ve had a lot more Sinhalese people on our side. As it is, what happened is that their leaders who told them what the Tamil leaders stood for and it was not always accurate. We are now trying to create a situation in which we talk to Sinhalese people directly and try to convince them that we are not asking for anything outrageous. What we are asking for is just and reasonable and which is something that you find in most of the parts of the world. And that they must also support that cause if they also believe in justice and equality and all of those principles. I think that it’s a very good move to have that kind of dialogue because we believe that our demand for political autonomy is based on truth and justice and reasonableness. Sarujan: What do you hope to see happen in the next year, next 5 years, and next 10 years? What is the vision of TNA? M.A. Sumanthiran: The vision of the TNA is to become a potent political force that will have the confidence of our people; that will function in a very responsible manner and take forward this 60-year struggle to a point where we win back the rights of our people in terms of political autonomy, degree of self-rule in our areas. Sarujan : Thank you for your time. Praba Ganeshan strikes an independent line UNP Parliamentarian Praba Ganeshan, who crossed over to the government ranks after the April 2010 general election, has said that economic development and infrastructure projects alone would not satisfy the political aspirations of the Tamils in the North and Eastern Provinces as well as other Tamils of Indian origin and that the only way to tackle the issue was by devolving power to the provinces.Ganeshan made the comment at a discussion held on Wednesday (9) with the Political Officer of the US Embassy in Sri Lanka Jacob Chriqui."Every effort had to be made to strengthen the Provincial Councils by increasing their powers and every citizen should enjoy equal rights. The 1.6 million Tamils of Indian origin constituted an important component in the Multi Ethnic society and a final solution to the ethnic problem had to take into account the political aspirations of those people", he said.Ganeshan emphasized that he told Jacob Chrique that the Tamils of Sri Lanka are not only represented by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), but also by other political parties based in the North and East and other Up-Country political parties.He said that the Government should also initiate negotiations with the Tamils of Indian origin. One of the most important grievances of the plantation community, which did not come under the purview of the Provincial Councils, was that welfare measures do not reach them.Ganeshan said that the TNA could not represent the entire Tamil population in Sri Lanka. The aspirations of the Muslim community and their grievances too must be discussed and negotiated by the Government.The Indian Tamils are the most deprived community in terms of income, education, employment, housing and other socio economic conditions, he noted.The MP said that he spends his allocations as a Parliamentarian to improve the conditions of the Indian Tamils in the plantations who need State assistance, intervention and support and requested US support to solve the ethnic problem to the satisfaction of all ethnic groups through the government. Jaffna principal hacked to death inside his own house Principal of the Kodikamam Karanakuri College in Jaffna, Subramanium Dayabaran (45) has been hacked to death inside his house in Jaffna.The body of the slain principal has been found by the Jaffna Police only on Wednesday night at around 10 pm. The assassination had taken place on the upper floor of a two storey house the principal owned near Kandamadu railway station in Jaffna.Investigations have revealed that his wife had been living in a house in Kodikamam area and that he had also been in the habit of living in the Jaffna house for two or three days as well.While the lower floor of the Principal’s house had been rented to a few university students, around three bed rooms on the upper floor had been reserved for him.The Principal, on the day of his killing had come home in the night with presents for his wife comprising jewellery worth around Rs. 200,000. However, the assassin has not stolen any of the jewellery or other valuables.The wife had been agitated following the husband not answering his mobile phone despite her repeated calls. One of the brothers of the wife had visited the principal in his house and found him dead, sprawled on his bed.Investigations have revealed that the victim had been cut with a sharp device.No arrests had been made in this regard upto yesterday. 11 November 2011 Mahinda sends Milinda to Norway Milinda Moragoda is to represent Sri Lanka in Oslo on the panel of an international seminar on the failed Norwegian brokered peace process in Sri Lanka.The Seminar, organised by The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) will begin on Friday 11th November 2011. The release of a report that evaluates the Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka during the civil war is believed to be the highlight of the event.The report is prepared by the Christian Michelsen Institute, who has conducted the evaluation of four separate peace efforts by Norway from 1997 to 2009, together with the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. US, UN snub Tamil National Alliance delegation By Wije Dias The trip by a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation from Sri Lanka to the US late last month was hailed by Tamil parties and media as a decisive step forward in the recognition of the rights of the Tamil people. It ended ignominiously, however, with diplomatic snubs by senior American and UN officials, demonstrating once again the futility of the TNA’s appeals to the major powers to force the Sri Lankan government to make concessions.On October 23, the TamilNet website reported the comments of the Tamil National People’s Front, a rival coalition, which enthusiastically congratulated the TNA on its forthcoming visit to the US. The Front declared the visit to be “a significant historic first” that had the “potential for improving the political status of the Tamil people who have suffered within a majoritarian democracy for several decades.”The TNA delegation was never aimed at securing US and UN support for the democratic rights of ordinary Tamils. Rather it was a continuation of the grovelling pleas of the Tamil elites for assistance in elevating their political status in Sri Lanka. The TNA, which functioned as the parliamentary mouthpiece for the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has been desperately attempting to reintegrate itself into the Colombo political establishment following the LTTE’s military defeat in May 2009.The visit did not turn out as expected. The TNA did not meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, nor was Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert O’ Blake available. Blake had issued a pro-forma invitation to the TNA to visit the State Department during his visit to the island in September. But only a relatively junior official, Wendy Sherman, who has served as Under Secretary for Political Affairs since September, was assigned to speak to the delegation.After the debacle at the State Department, the TNA delegation attempted to meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, but suffered another snub. The scheduled appointment was cancelled at the last moment without any explanation, and one of Ban’s under secretaries, Lynn Pascoe, was wheeled out to speak to the TNA delegation.No official statements were released either by the TNA, the US State Department or the UN. However, a revealing reference was made last Friday by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. In the course of a routine media briefing, she reported that Wendy Sherman had met with the TNA delegates in order to emphasise that the US had “high expectations for the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission report which is due later in the month—not only that the report will be of highest quality, but that the Sri Lankan Government will take steps to implement it.”Sherman’s comments would have made immediately clear to the TNA delegation that Washington had not the slightest intention of providing any, even nominal, assistance. The Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission is a crude attempt by the Sri Lankan government to cover up the atrocities carried out by the military in the course of its war against the LTTE. The fact that the US is treating such a sham as legitimate signals a shift away from its previous calls for an international inquiry into Sri Lankan war crimes.Washington and its allies raised limited criticisms of the Sri Lankan military’s actions not out of concern for the Tamil minority but because it was a useful means for putting pressure on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and his government. In the final months of the war, the US was worried about the growing influence of China, which had provided significant financial and military support to the Rajapakse government during the war. The Obama administration used the implied threat of a war crimes trial to warn Rajapakse against getting too close to Beijing.The failure of the TNA’s diplomatic mission has led to smug crowing in the Colombo media. Prior to the trip, the Sri Lankan government and media warned the US and UN against any high-level meeting with the TNA. An editorial in the October 30 Sunday Times bitterly declared: “The US government’s involvement in talks with the TNA in Washington may border on interference in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs.” In the wake of the visit, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris warned that the TNA would pay a price, saying: “The TNA going and talking to other governments is going to harden public opinion in this country.”A November 7 editorial in the Daily Mirror with the headline, “TNA’s Tour De West and the plight of the Tamils”, mocked the TNA. It claimed that the US had fobbed the Tamil delegates off with the suggestion that they “seek a feasible solution to the issues of the Tamils with the support of India” and advised them to “bury the war crime charges against the Sri Lankan armed forces”.If it turned to India, the TNA would receive a similarly cool reception. Its visit to Washington coincided with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, Australia, where India played the leading role in deflecting criticism of Sri Lanka’s record on human rights. The meeting unanimously agreed that the next CHOGM gathering in 2013 would be hosted in Colombo by President Rajapakse, scotching any suggestion that the venue would be changed. The decision was hailed in Colombo as a diplomatic triumph for the government.The US decision to snub the TNA indicates that it has buried the issue of war crimes charges against the Sri Lankan military. The shift was first signalled in December 2009, when a report to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee concluded that the “US cannot afford to lose Sri Lanka.” It recommended “a broader and more robust approach to Sri Lanka that appreciates new political and economic realities in Sri Lanka and U.S. geo-strategic interests.” That would involve “a multidimensional approach” that was “not driven solely by short-term humanitarian concerns.”None of this has changed the TNA’s orientation. Despite the sleights, snubs and broken promises, the TNA continues to look for the support in the “international community” as it pleads with the Rajapakse government for a “political solution.” Such a deal would give the island’s Tamil elite a limited role in conjunction with their Sinhala counterpart in policing Tamils as part of their joint exploitation of the working class.The TNA’s cowardly subservience flows directly from its role as the political representative of the Tamil bourgeoisie. Like the LTTE, it is organically incapable of making any appeal to the working class, which is the only social force capable of mounting a consistent struggle for the democratic rights of working people. Terrified of the threat posed to its privileged position by any mass movement, the TNA continues to make futile appeals to the Colombo government and the major powers for a small share of political power.The Socialist Equality Party calls on Tamil workers and youth to draw the necessary political lessons. Successive Colombo governments, with their promotion of Sinhala chauvinism and anti-Tamil discrimination, were responsible for the protracted civil war that devastated the island. However, the communal politics of the LTTE and TNA directly contributed to the catastrophe by keeping the working class divided and blocking a challenge to bourgeois rule.Basic democratic rights can only be defended as part of the struggle to unify and mobilise workers and behind them the oppressed rural masses in the fight for a workers’ and peasants’ government. That is the basis of the SEP’s call for a socialist republic of Sri Lanka and Eelam, which is an integral part of the broader struggle for the Socialist United States of South Asia. 10 November 2011 'Secret detention centres' in Sri Lanka The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) quoting human rights organisations says that secret detention centres are in existence in Sri Lanka.The 47th Session of the CAT met in Geneva on Tuesday with the Sri Lankan Delegation where Sri Lanka's commitment to upholding rights was severely questioned.Several committee members accused the Sri Lankan government of not providing detailed information requested in advance.The vice chair said that the allegation on 'secret detention centres' suggests the need for an independent investigation."Sri Lanka Army and affiliated Para military groups have run and made possible to run secret facilities which torture and extra judicial killings, have it is claimed, perpetrated" she said Seven centres She said that Amnesty International had cited 7 torture detention sites in northern Sri Lanka; five in Vavuniya and two in Mullaitivu.Poonthottam Maha Vidyalaya, 211 Brigade headquarters, Vallikulam Maha Vidyalaya, the PLOTE paramilitary detention centre and Dharmapuram as five camps in Vavuniya while two camps were named from Mullaitheevu.Miss Gaer said that there are allegedly five compounds in Dharmapuram detaining more than 700 men and women in abandoned buildings and houses, holding 80 top levels LTTE people and 300 civilian supporters.The UN Working Group on Disappearances has identified Sri Lanka as having the second largest most number of disappearance cases in the world, she informed the session."While many of these cases have been clarified there are more than 5,000 that haven't been" states Miss Felice Gaer. Zero Tolerance Committee Member Alessio Bruni said, "zero tolerance policy for torture in Sri Lanka is not achieved and more effective measures have to be taken".However, Senior Legal Advisor to the Sri Lanka Cabinet former Attorney General Mohan Peiris told the Committee that "There will be no tolerance of torture, no exception to that rule".He said that Sri Lanka is committed to upholding the rule of law."We are committed to a world in which we can live in peace and dignity and you can be sure that we would do our utmost in the compliance of the convention provisions so that Sri Lanka will be an ideal place on this planet in which that everyone who lives there can live as brothers and sisters of the same family" Advisor Peiris added.The Chairman of the Committee who summed up Tuesday's sessions and said that Sri Lanka would answer to the question put before them on Wednesday. Norway peace evaluation comes ahead of LLRC report The long awaited evaluation of the Norwegian peace process in Sri Lanka will be presented at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandssalen tomorrow (11), with the participation of one-time US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Lee Armitage, the then peace negotiator, Milinda Moragoda and top Indian journalist, M. R. Narayan Swamy. Moragoda’s negotiating team included, Prof. G. L. Peiris, present External Affairs Minister and Rauf Hakeem, currently the Justice Minister.The Norwegian report comes ahead of the scheduled release of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) findings scheduled to be handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa next week.Moragoda, now the Opposition Leader of the Colombo Municipal Council, will represent Sri Lanka as one of the those officials, who had been deeply involved in the last of the Oslo-led peace efforts, which collapsed in April 2003, when the LTTE quit the negotiating table during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the Premier.Authoritative sources told The Island that the Sri Lankan government wouldn’t be represented at the presentation.The then Norwegian peace envoy, Erik Solheim, the current minister for environment and development will address the gathering.Armitage played a key role in the Norwegian-led peace process during the Feb 2002-2005 period, though the US failed to persuade the LTTE to return to the negotiating table.Norway initially planned to unveil the final report in the first week of April 2011, ahead of UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s unsubstantiated ‘war crimes’ report.Government sources told The Island that in view of a spate of revelations made by WikiLeaks with regard to the Norwegian-led peace process since February 2002 those still supportive of the LTTE’s eelam project would not be able to manipulate the Norwegian evaluation.July massacre carried out by 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, son of a retired Norwegian diplomat couldn’t have come at a worse time for those behind the peace evaluation. International news agencies quoted Norwegian authorities as having said that the assassin’s primary grouse had been the failure on the part of Europe to tackle illegal migration.Norway in supporting the LTTE went to the extent of providing secret passage to wanted Sri Lankans to reach Norway.The Norwegian report is expected to shed light on some key issues, including the LTTE walking away from the negotiating table during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the Prime Minister, assassination of the then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and an attempt to save the lives of top LTTE commanders and their families.Discrepancies between the Norwegian report and the UNSG’s panel on the final phase of the war on the Vanni east front could place those targeting Sri Lanka on the human rights front in an embarrassing position, sources said. Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI) based in Bergen, a major recipient of Norwegian funds, led the evaluation of four separate peace efforts by Norway from 1997 to 2009. A nine-member evaluation team comprised CMI’s Gunnar Sorbo, Jonathan Goodhand of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London and seven others, including four Sri Lankans. The identities of all members are not yet known. SOAS is part of London University (UK).The joint bid by the CMI and SOAS was chosen out of six international ones.The CMI receives funding through Research Council of Norway (NFR), which in turn is funded by the Norwegian Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.Gunnar M. Sorbo, who had held several positions in several Norwegian institutions, including NFR and the Agency for International Development now heads the CMI.The evaluating team interviewed European, US and Indian officials and Sri Lankans. Although the Sri Lankan government declined to assist in the Norwegian inquiry, the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met Sorbo in Oslo several months ago.As much as all four Norwegian attempts were inter-connected, the focus of the evaluation was on the third bid (2002 to 2006) supported by the "Tokyo Co-Chairs", comprising the US, EU, Japan and Norway.According to the tender document calling for the evaluation of the Norwegian role, the total Norwegian development cooperation with Sri Lanka amounted to approximately NOK 2.5 billion from 1997 – 2009. Out of this, approximately NOK 100 million was allocated to activities aimed at directly supporting the peace process, including the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the peace secretariats of the parties, meaning the LTTE received a substantial amount of funds.The Norwegians have divided their engagement here into four phases: 1997-1999, 1999-2002, 2002- 2006 and 2006-2009. According to the Norwegian tender document, in the first phase, from 1997 to 1999, an agreement was made between the Norwegian and the Sri Lankan government that Norwegian development cooperation should support a negotiated solution to the conflict. Norway had quiet contact with the parties to the conflict.In the second phase, from 1999 to 2002, the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government requested Norway to be the facilitator. A ceasefire agreement was negotiated. The Nordic civilian monitoring group, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), was established under Norwegian leadership.In the third phase, from 2002 to 2006, Norway was the facilitator between the parties in six rounds of negotiations, which among others resulted in the parties agreeing to explore a federal solution within a united Sri Lanka. In the fourth phase, from 2006 to 2009, the escalation of the war put an end to an active Norwegian facilitator role. Sri Lanka tourist arrivals hit new record high in 2011 Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of the year has surpassed 2010's record as visitors to the island nation has continued to rise every month on a year-on-year basis since a 25-year civil war ended in May 2009.Tourist arrivals in the first ten months of 2011 jumped 34.2 percent to 667,569 from a year earlier, higher than Sri Lanka's record annual tourist arrivals of 654,476 reached last year.The arrivals rose 32.8 percent in October from a year earlier to 69,563.The government is targeting annual revenue of $2.75 billion by 2016 from 2.5 million expected visitors attracted by Sri Lanka's beaches, hills and religious and historic sites, while aiming for $3 billion in foreign direct investment.Sri Lanka has forecast 20 percent growth in visitor arrivals this year to more than 780,000 people. Last year, the industry grew at 46 percent. The island's tourism industry drew $1.2 billion for investment in the first half of 2011.Tourism revenue, which jumped 64.8 percent in 2010 to a record $575.9 million, has risen 48.1 percent in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier to $580.1 million, central bank data shows. The following table shows tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka: 2011 2010 Change (in %) October 69,563 52,370 32.8 Jan-Oct 667,569 497,598 34.2 * Sri Lanka aims to attract $2.7 billion in investment to upgrade its post-war tourism capacity. * The hotel and travel index on the Colombo Stock Exchange has risen nearly fourfold since the end of the war. * Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka's $50 billion economy along with remittances from expatriate workers, garments and tea. ($1=110.20 Sri Lankan rupee) WikiLeaks: The war had “not been clean” Gota to US Senate Foreign Relations staff “Rajapaksa noted that in defeating the LTTE terrorists the war had ‘not been clean,’ but was still a success.” the US Ambassador to Colombo wrote to Washington.A leaked US unclassified, but “SENSITIVE” diplomatic cable, recounts details of meetings the US Senate Foreign Relations staff members has had with the senior government officials, international organizations, political leaders, civil-society activists, and journalists between November 2-8, 2009. The Colombo Telegraph found the cable from WikiLeaks database. The cable was written on December 1, 2009 by the US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia A. Butenis.The US Ambassador wrote “Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa expressed frustration that the U.S. and international community had not recognized the government’s progressive transition to democracy, ethnic reconciliation, disarmament and demobilization of paramilitary groups, rehabilitation of child soldiers, and economic development. He repeatedly used the Eastern Province as an example of the government’s demonstrated performance record and as a model for plans in the North.” “ He regretted that SL was ‘poor at propaganda’ and had done a poor job communicating its actions and intent to the international community, especially the U.S. and the West. While quick to criticize, the U.S. had been slow to acknowledge SL’s achievements.” she further wrote.The Ambassador Butenis wrote “Rajapaksa believed strongly in the value of repairing SL’s relations with the U.S. and recommended that the U.S. should focus its attention to the future and not the past, judging the GSL on its record of performance in the Eastern Province, and not on the agendas of its critics.”In the meeting Gotabhya Rajapaksa also discussed the issues related to military. The US Ambassador wrote “ The Defense Secretary ruled out expansion of the military – dismissing it as ‘only the Army talking’ – and said he hoped to increase SL military’s involvement in future UN peacekeeping operations. According to Rajapksa, the increases in the defense budget were meant to meet payment schedules for acquisitions during the war from China, Pakistan and Israel.”“The Defence Secretary tool the opportunity to apologize to the staffers for involving them in a security incident at their hotel room the night before. The incident occurred when they received a surprise visit to one of their rooms by Sri Lankan plain clothes police. The police , acting on orders to investigate an anonymous tip that room 1603 (staffer’s room) was harbouring a terrorist, reacted by going directly to the room (not alerting the hotel) to investigate. The Defense Secretary explained that he had personally received this tip; had he known that the staffers were the occupants of the room 1603, he would have prevented the incident.” The Ambassador Butenis wrote. She further wrote “While the Defense Secretary apologized for the incident, it demonstrated heightened security concerns and lack of an adequate information – screening process by the police and the Defense Secretary” 09 November 2011 North-eastern parts, as the Tamils’ traditional land. Both Mr. Bandaranaike and Dudley Senanayake recognized this aspiration R. Sampanthan ‘In Canada, the people who speak different languages, English and French, have the right to rule themselves in their areas. They have the opportunity to get political, economic, social and cultural rights. This is what we are also asking,’ said Mr. R. Sampanthan, while addressing a large gathering at the Sri Iyappan Temple auditorium in Toronto on October 30, 2011. He was accompanied by two other Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Members of Parliament, namely Mr. Sumanthiran and Mr. Mavai Senathiraja. They were on a North American visit to meet the government officials and the Tamil Diaspora. Here is the full speech of Mr. Sampanthan: “Tamils are a national ethnic people. They have their own language, arts, culture, customs and heritage. They have been living in the Northeast historically. They are entitled for a reasonable political, economic, cultural and social rights. In order to get these rights they should have political power. Tamils have been struggling to obtain these rights.You are here in large numbers and we would like to thank you for that. In Canada, two major ethnic groups, who speak different languages have been living in different parts of the country. These are people who speak English and French languages. They have self- rule in their respective areas where they live.If you take a look at the Canadian Constitution you can see English language in one side and French language on the other side. These people who speak different languages are able to rule themselves. They are able to use their political rights to get political, economic, social and cultural entitlements. This is what we are also asking.We have been struggling for this right for a long period of time. No one can deny this. However, so far, the Sri Lankan government has not come forward or agreed to grant these rights to us.The Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam agreement was signed in 1957 to obtain these rights. In 1965, Dudley-Chelvanayakam agreement was signed. These agreements were signed especially to protect and to preserve the northeastern parts, as the Tamils’ traditional land. Both Mr. Bandaranaike and Dudley Senanayake recognized this aspiration.They agreed that Tamils in the Northeast have been living as a majority in these areas for a long period of time and this fact must be respected. However, the present leaders of the country think other wise. They think that there is only one solution to overcome this issue. That is that Tamil’s identity should not be accepted. Their claim that historically they have been living in these areas should not be accepted. They think that if this situation is changed, these claims would be washed away.Now, almost one million Tamils are living out side of Sri Lanka. They live in India, Europe, North America, Australia and various other countries. Same way, they think, if the rest of the Tamils in Sri Lanka can be sent out or if the peaceful co-existence in Sri Lanka can be denied, then their demands will disappear. That’s why Sri Lankan government is accelerating its efforts to change the demography in Tamil’s traditional lands.After the war, they are not allowing the Tamils to resettle in their own lands. The majority community is being settled in the Tamils’ lands through direct and indirect way. Military camps are being built. Military’s strength is being increased in the North-east areas. Lands are being given to the majority community under the guise of development. Religious and cultural centers are being destroyed.Prominence is being given to the majority language and religion and appearances of these places are being changed, although they (Sinhalese) are not living in these areas. By rapidly changing the appearance of Northeast, they are trying to prove that there is no ethnic problem in Sri Lanka and therefore there is no need for any talks. This is the current situation there.It took 60 years for them to change the eastern province’s ethnic composition. However, they think they can achieve their goal in the northern province in 15 to 20 years time. Recent War We talk broadly about the recently ended war in May 19, 2009. In fact, the violence against the Tamils started in the year of 1956. It continued in the years of 1958, 1961, 1977, 1981 and 1983. After that only the war was (waged) continuously. There was no organization called Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam when the violence against the Tamils started. It was only formed at the latter part of the 1970’s or early 1980s.So, what was the reason for the violence against the Tamils then. It was to defeat the Tamil People’s reasonable political demands and aspirations. The violence against the Tamils was to destroy the will of the Tamil people’s demand for self rule in their traditional lands. Tamils were affected and started to leave Sri Lanka and it continues to date.Although the war was ended in May 19, 2009, the manner and the way in which the war was conducted was a continuation of the 1956 violence against the Tamils. The war was conducted not only to defeat and destroy the LTTE but also to subjugate the Tamil people and to force them not to put forward such claims. If our claims continue, the violence against our people will also continue.As such, what happened to the ordinary Tamil civilians when the war ended in May 19, 2011 should be revealed. The world should come to know the truth. Because, the violence started not in 2007, 2008 or 2009 but in 1956. If the Tamil people want to live in peace, the truth has to come out or the violence may continue. Therefore, it’s not only the right and the duty of Sri Lankan government, but also the duty of the International community, to bring out the facts about what happened to the Tamil civilians in the last days of the war. Human Rights are not only confined to a country. No rulers or leaders should breach the Human Rights. It’s the duty of the International community to safeguard Human Rights, not only to defend the sovereignty of a particular country, but also to uphold Human Rights.Therefore, we would like to stress that it’s not only the duty of the Sri Lankan government, but also of the International Community to find out whether the International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law were breached. U.S. Visit During our visit, we met many at the U.S. State Department. We met the members of congress, senators and people in Charge of Human Rights. We have explained these facts to them clearly. If our rights are not protected, definitely the Tamil ethnicity will be wiped out. There is no doubt about that.If we observe the happenings after the war, they (GOSL) are talking about humanitarianism, peace and political solution, but the government has done nothing constructively on these matters.We are not only clearly informing about this to the International Community, but also providing them documentary evidence to validate our arguments. All that happened during the war, such as, how our people got killed, how they got injured, how hundreds of thousands of Tamil people got uprooted, places where milk powder was stored were attacked and how hospitals got attacked and people got killed, and how people died of starvation without medicine, have been already recorded in Parliament. We have got all of them recorded in the parliament proceedings and at that time none of the members of Parliament nor ministers ever denied our accusations. Now, how can they say that they are not true? We are putting these questions to the International Community.Why we are saying this is, we are not against peace. Thanthai Chelva was never against peace. He always stood for a just, lasting and implementable political solution. He would have accepted any such solution. Even today that is our stand. We are ready for peace.We consider Sinhalese as our brothers and sisters. Many are ready for a just solution. A just, implementable and lasting solution should be found. But, I would like to make it clear that if such a solution was not put forwarded, we will not accept any other mirage of a solution.Therefore, it’s the responsibility of the government to make a decision about these matters. We also would like the Diaspora Tamils to understand this situation. If our struggle for our rights is to continue, if we are to reach our goal, International community’s support is needed.India is asking the Sri Lankan government to talk to TNA and bring about a solution. We have met Bharatha leaders, senior ministers and officials and all of them have said the same thing. U.S. is also saying, talk with TNA and they will accept whatever solution that may be arrived at.There is a reason for this. It should be noted that for the first time, U.S. has invited a Tamil political party and its State Department has had talks with them. It is our duty to understand this and to act with caution. We also implore with affection, to understand this situation and to offer your support.We are aware that we cannot trust the government of Sri Lanka. However, we realize that they would be pressured to find a solution within a certain period of time. We will do all that we can to create that situation. If that agreement is reached, we will request for the International recognition. Therefore, you would understand that we need the support of the International community.We are a people with a separate language, culture and heritage. We could claim that we have been living in Sri Lanka even before the arrival of others. We are not saying that Northeast belongs to us. However, we have concerns in preserving and protecting the language based heritage in that land. We are saying that the Sri Lankan government should not alter that situation.We also feel that the political solution should be acceptable to our Muslim brethren as well.We have lost many opportunities before. There were many opportunities for a political solution. However, they did not materialize. We realize that and acting according to the situation. If we had acted with caution, we could have achieved it earlier. We should not forget that. We have another chance now. In the mass destruction of our people, we have another chance. We should not miss this opportunity to arrive at an appropriate solution.We firmly believe that our people, specially the Diaspora Tamils will offer their support to our efforts. Your large gathering here shows one thing, that although you are living abroad, you haven’t forgotten your land of origin and your villages. You haven’t forgotten your brethren. You should never forget them. You should come back. You should help the people living there at the right time. You should try to uplift them.The government not only refuses to give the political rights, but also denies help to our people. They did not do much for these people. They did not build houses the people needed, neither they created any job opportunities for them. They did not allow our people to live in peace.The purpose of not helping our people is the fear that if they do all these, our people will live there permanently. If they don’t attend to their needs, people will get frustrated and won’t live in peace. Through this they think they can uproot our people, change the ethnic composition and proceed accordingly. This is the truth. This is the reason why they don’t have the will to bring about a political solution and time to time perpetrate violence against them. So, without solving the problem, if they can change the demography of the region and make them (Sinhalese) the majority community in our region, then there will be no issues.In these circumstances, we are trying to solve the problem with care and caution, without giving in, but at the same time without stubbornness, to find a political solution. It is all our duty. We therefore request the full cooperation of all of you.” Targeting heads of State:UN warned Amidst LTTE-led moves overseas to prosecute President Mahinda Rajapaksa and several other senior officials over unsubstantiated war crimes allegations, Sri Lanka on Tuesday warned the international community of serious conflicts among member States of the UN due to politically motivated criminal prosecutions.Addressing the Sixth (legal) Committee of the 66th Session of the UNGA in New York, SLMC leader and Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem said that immunity of state officials couldn’t be jeopardized. "In addressing the issue of immunity of State officials we must bear in mind the fact that the risk of politically motivated criminal prosecutions could very well lead to serious frictions in inter-state relations. There is therefore a clear need to strike a careful balance between the contending policy considerations involved – (i) of preserving the well-established principle of immunity of State officials and (ii) of addressing the issue of exceptions to this rule. The challenge before the Commission is to preserve such balance, without tilting too much one way or the other," he said."On the scope of persons covered by immunity, Sri Lanka is of the view that Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the well-known "Troika" enjoy by virtue of their office, full immunity ratione personae. This position is well entrenched in customary International Law and clearly recognized by the International Court of Justice."Minister Hakeem is also the current chair of the AALCO, (Asian African Legal Consultative Organization). Sri Lanka is now fighting for a slot in the International Law Commission.Minister Hakeem was commenting on second and third reports by Special Rapporteur on "Immunity of State officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction.""The topic is a difficult and challenging one, involving obvious political sensitivities. Nevertheless, it is a topic of extreme contemporary relevance. Given the complexities involved, there is a clear need to agree on matters of principle and on the general orientation of the topic, before proceeding to formulate draft Articles." The principle of sovereign immunity is well established in customary international law and continues to play a vital role in assuring the stability of international relations and in the effective discharge of the functions of the State."In addition, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and related Conventions in this field guarantees the immunity of DPL agents and other representatives of States such as those on special Missions so that they could discharge their functions on behalf of the State they represent, unhindered by the jurisdiction of the host State."We also need to take into account in this regard, the current realities in the conduct of international relations and the fact that the nature of representation in international relations has changed. Consequently, there is a need to examine other possible categories of state officials beyond the ‘Troika’ who by virtue of their functions may be entitled to immunity ratione personae.We would therefore agree with the Special Rapporteur that there might be a need to establish criteria to determine such categories. The close involvement of an official in the conduct of international relations could be one such criterion.The issues pertaining to possible exceptions to immunity require deeper analysis bearing in mind, inter-alia, earlier work of the Commission, such as the Code of Offences against Peace and Security and established state practice, having regard to the distinction between Lex Lata and possible developments, de lege ferenda.Sri Lanka supported a proposal to constitute a Working Group at the next session of the Commission, to further consider and analyze these difficult issues, before proceeding to the stage of preparing draft articles.Commenting on ‘Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties’ by Prof. Lucius, Minister Hakeem said:"Sri Lanka continues to entertain reservations on the definition of the term "Armed Conflict" in Article 2(b) which seeks to cover internal armed conflicts between government authorities and organized armed groups, in addition to Inter State conflicts. The crucial issue which arises is the question in what circumstances would an internal conflict impact on a Treaty between States. We note the fact that draft Article 2(b) now contains the phrase "protracted resort to armed force" and certain clarifications have been provided in the Commentary regarding possible external involvement in an internal conflict. Despite these positive developments, our concerns remain regarding the possible impact this definition could have on the stability of Treaty relations between States." Government is still torturing Tamil prisoners : Channel-4 Sri Lanka's civil war ended with "credible" evidence that war crimes were committed. Now Channel 4 News can reveal mounting evidence that the government is still torturing Tamil prisoners.The UN has already found that evidence of the killing of up to 40,000 civilians amid allegations of serious human rights abuses amounted to "credible allegations" that war crimes had been committed during the last days of the civil war in 2009.Now ahead of a United Nations meeting tomorrow, human rights groups are calling for an urgent investigation into the allegations that human rights abuses are still rife in Sri Lanka.President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government dismisses all that as "preposterous". He has embarked on a charm offensive to help repair his island nation's tarnished reputation.But Channel 4 News has spoken to two men who say that behind the smiles, there still lies a vengeful, sadistic regime.The Tamil Tigers stand accused of war crimes too. Suspected fighters were rounded up at the end of the war, but it is claimed suspects are still being detained - and tortured - today.'It felt like I was breathing fire' "Nimal", whose identity we have concealed, claims he was tortured by Sri Lankan security forces in June this year because of his association with the Tamil Tigers."They used to beat me with a steel cable. It would peel away my skin. The pain would be simply unbearable. They would hang me upside down and dunk my head into water. They covered my head with a polythene bag soaked in petrol and tied it tightly round my neck. When I tried to breathe in it felt like I was breathing in fire," Nimal tells me."I had no medical treatment. I couldn't sleep because I had to lie face down so I wasn't laying on my wounds. You can't sleep in that much pain. They would tie me upside down and dip me into a barrel of water."My wounds would feel like they were burning as soon as they touched the water. When I screamed in pain they would come back with the confession and try again to make me sign it," he continues."Maaran" says his treatment at the hands of the government made him want to die."They hung me upside down and shoved my head in a barrel of water. They laid me face down on a table and hammered me with wires, poles and rods. They burned me with cigarette butts and when I asked for water to drink they gave me urine. I thought it would have been better if I died at the end of the war rather than to have survived to face this."The men I met have now been granted asylum in the UK. Both had past associations with the outlawed Tamil Tigers. Both were tortured in Sri Lanka this summer.It can take years to be granted asylum. The two men I met were approved within weeks because the government accepted their stories. Both had past associations with the outlawed Tamil Tigers. Sri Lanka's asset acquisition act constitutional - court Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has decided that proposed legislation to acquire underperforming enterprises and underutilised assets is consistent with the country's constitution, parliament was told on Tuesday, despite some concerns it amounts to nationalisation.The government's 'revival of underperforming enterprises and underutilised act' which was presented to the legislature on Tuesday, will see the state acquiring 37 private businesses it has defined as underperforming.The bill is expected to be passed on Wednesday in parliament, where the government has a two-third's majority.President Mahinda Rajapaksa referred the proposed act to the Supreme Court last week to see if it was consistent with the constitution, a procedure followed by the government before when introducing a new act in an urgent manner."The Supreme Court has informed its decision that, subject to the drafting of errors, the bill has not been found inconsistent with the constitution," Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody told parliament, relaying the court's decision.Weerakkody did not elaborate on what the court had referred as 'errors', but the leader of the house Nimal Siripala de Silva said the bill will be presented to the parliament on Wednesday with relevant corrections.The government has said the new legislation was in the national interest and would provide effective management for listed one underperforming enterprise and 36 underutilised assets.The properties include listed Hotel Developers Lanka Plc, which owns five-star Hilton Colombo hotel building in the main commercial heart of Colombo, a 6,300-hactare land owned by listed Pelwatte Sugar Industries Plc.Since the end of its 25-year civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka has been working to improve the investment climate, including fiscal and tax reforms under the guidance of International Monetary Fund.Though Rajapaksa has assured the bill will be a 'one off' act to acquire the specified properties, economists, investors, state officials and opposition have raised concerns over it, saying it could damage business confidence. ANTI-INVESTMENT POLICIES "These kind of adhoc and anti-investment policies are going to drive away potential investors coming to Sri Lanka," a top state official who has been dealing with foreign investors told Reuters on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the topic.The government's acquisition effort comes after it annulled a $500 million hotel deal with a Chinese firm over a land dispute and transferred a top Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official on complaints from politically-connected investors."All these give a negative perception on Sri Lanka's investment climate and the government should realise that this is not the only country in Asia to invest. Investors have a lot of choices," the official said.Sirimal Abeyratne, a professor in economics at University of Colombo, said the move was similar to destroying a whole tree instead of getting rid of some rotten fruit.Sri Lanka's foreign direct investment doubled in the first half of 2011 to $413 million year-on-year, mainly from Honk Kong based Shangri La Asia for a luxury hotel in Colombo."This government has a split personality. It is trying to sell the people one story and sell the investors another story," Harsha de Silva, a main opposition UNP legislator and an economic expert said."They themselves are stopping the investors. When you do things like these, who would willing to invest? Even Shangri-La could be nationalised if they don't perform well."However, junior economic development minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said there will not be a problem for any investors and the government might consider better investor who can perform efficient and use the lands for optimum utilisation. EU expresses concern over Sri Lanka blocking websites The European Union Heads of Mission in Colombo Tuesday expressed their concern over the Sri Lankan government's move to block news websites that are critical of the government.In a statement the EU Heads of Mission in Colombo today said it views with concern the recent blocking of various news websites in Sri Lanka."The EU considers that freedom of press forms an integral part of any democratic system. The EU therefore believes that the media should be allowed to operate independently."The government said the move was due to unethical reporting and followed complaints that defamatory articles were being published against the President and other government officials.The EU said it also believes that "citizens have the right to access all information provided by the media and to make their own judgments and to formulate opinions independently."The EU Heads of Mission called on the Sri Lankan authorities to 'ensure that the rights of the free media are respected.' Sri Lanka Tells UN It Is Acting to Curb Torture Sri Lankan officials have told a U.N. human rights panel that the country's government is taking measures to curb acts of torture by security forces.A delegation led by Sri Lanka government legal adviser Mohan Pieris has told the U.N. Committee Against Torture that the South Asian nation struggled with decades of terrorism at the hands of the now defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.But Pieris told the Geneva-based panel Tuesday that the Sri Lanka's government agrees "110 percent" that there must be no tolerance for torture. The U.N. panel grilled Sri Lanka over allegations of ill treatment by police, harassment of lawyers and journalists, secret detention centers, deaths in custody and the disappearance of 5,000 people in the country. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake, Jr. to Lead American Delegation to SAARC Summit in Republic of Maldives Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake, Jr. will travel to the Republic of Maldives from November 8-13 to attend the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit. Assistant Secretary Blake, U.S. Ambassador to Nepal and lead U.S. official accredited to SAARC Scott H. DeLisi, and U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Patricia Butenis will represent the United States at the SAARC Summit in Addu City, Republic of Maldives. While in the Maldives, Assistant Secretary Blake will also hold bilateral meetings with a broad cross-section of government officials from South Asia and fellow observer nations.The theme of the 2011 SAARC Summit, “Building Bridges,” reflects the opportunity for the United States to reaffirm its commitment to engaging with South Asia on our shared interests and challenges, including regional economic cooperation and integration along the New Silk Road, breaking down barriers to trade and travel, and improving people-to-people linkages.The United States has enjoyed observer nation status at SAARC since 2007. Sri Lanka sees "war tourism" as survivors struggle ELEPHANT PASS, Sri Lanka (AlertNet) - The packed buses hurtle along the once forbidden, dusty A9 highway from the Sri Lankan capital across the former frontline to the "liberated" north – a region held by the defeated Tamil Tiger separatists for the best part of a quarter of a century.Along the way, the buses stop and passengers descend into the hot afternoon sun, taking out their phones to photograph displays of blown-up water tanks, captured boats, armoured vehicles and monuments dedicated to the army. In some places, they buy a cool refreshment and a souvenir t-shirt.More than two years after the Indian Ocean island's 25-year-old civil war ended, an entire generation of Sri Lankans is finally getting the opportunity to see a part of their country which was off limits. A place they had heard about, but never imagined visiting. A place now healing from the ravages of war."It’s really interesting to see all this," says accountant Gayan, 33, from the capital Colombo, as he holds up his BlackBerry to snap a picture of his brother and father posing in front of a captured truck. It’s on display at an army-run roadside "tourist spot" at Elephant Pass, a strategic military base fought over repeatedly during the 25-year civil war."Growing up, we would hear about the Tigers and were scared of attacks in Colombo, so it’s good to have peace and see the north," he said, sipping some ice-cold Coke at the cafe and examining the other war relics on display – a tractor and wooden boat once owned by the Tigers.Sri Lanka’s army retook Elephant Pass, under Tiger control since 2000, as part of its 34-month offensive to end one of Asia’s longest modern conflicts once and for all – retaking nearly a third of the island’s land mass which the Tigers controlled, until a cataclysmic final battle defeated the separatists in May 2009.In the nation’s south, including Colombo, the victory brought an end to the constant fear of suicide bombings and other attacks that killed thousands of civilians – a hallmark of the Tigers, who were on the terrorism lists of more than 30 nations.Now, as communities return to find their homes destroyed, possessions lost and little means of making an income, some aid workers and residents question this “war tourism” in an environment where survivors worry about their next meal and are still haunted by their violent past."It’s wonderful that the war has ended," said a foreign aid worker based in the northern Kilinochchi district, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of upsetting the government."But given it was a horrible finish and that war-affected people are still struggling financially and emotionally to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives, it’s too soon and insensitive to be making even a small business out of it or erecting memorials to those partly responsible for civilian deaths."The government rejects allegations that it intentionally killed civilians during the final offensive, when some 300,000 were held hostage by the retreating Tigers.It has ratcheted down the presence of foreign aid workers, especially in the north, where by necessity they worked with the separatists and often had their organisations infiltrated by Tiger operatives. T-SHIRTS AND ARMY NOTEBOOKS Most of the Tamil civilians were forced to flee with the Tigers, until army operations allowed hundreds of thousands of them to pour out. They were sent to crowded displacement camps lacking proper sanitation.There is no conclusive figure on how many civilians were killed in the fighting in the final months.A U.N.-sponsored report, criticised by the government as being filled with unfounded accusations that initially emerged from Tiger propaganda outlets, says there was "credible evidence" thousands and perhaps tens of thousands killed in shelling and fighting.Yet no one who gets off the buses mentions the bloody end of the war or the struggle survivors are going through, despite the pick-up trucks laden with World Food Programme sacks of grain and large white lorries with the familiar blue "U.N." lettering – a telling sign that aid is still needed here.Along the A9 Highway, which runs through the centre of Kilinochchi town, a massive concrete water tank lies fallen on its side, blown up by Tigers retreating from a place they unilaterally declared the capital of Tamil Eelam, the country they wanted to carve out as a Tamil-only preserve.The destroyed tank is enclosed within a wall, together with a plaque and a "Souvenir Galore" shop run by the army. Visitors take a few snaps, have a cold drink and buy a black t-shirt or baseball cap with "Kilinochochi Re-awakening" emblazoned across it, or opt for the smart Sri Lanka military field notebooks on offer for a just few hundred Sri Lankan rupees."During the week, there are many buses and people stopping. At weekends, we get the most amount of visitors – around 600 or so," says Nalaka Vijaypala, 24, a Sri Lankan army soldier in civilian clothes, the left side of his head scarred from sniper fire during the war. "The army runs this place ... It’s popular."Other monuments are also on display along the route – a giant cuboid with a bullet lodged inside it and a lotus flower and the gold, red and green Sri Lanka flag emerging from the top of it – in memory of the Sri Lankan army “in the gallant operation to annihilate savage and brutal terrorism which has terrified this land," reads the plaque.The government has quickly repurposed its military assets and personnel for civilian purposes, in part to help President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s post-war development drive and also to keep the roughly 100,000 troops in the north gainfully engaged after the war.But for some war survivors, it is just too early.A few hundred metres down from the imposing cuboid, 35-year-old war widow Subendine, who sells vegetables by the roadside, says the visitors bring discomfort."They come and go ... they take their pictures. They don’t ask us or even want to know what happened," she said. Remember that powers need Tamils too: Gajendrakumar Just as Eezham Tamils need international recognition for their cause, the powers that make moves in the island for a world order also need Tamils. What the Tamil politicians should keep in mind is that there is no reason for them to compromise on the fundamentals of the cause upheld by the people, said Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam of the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) in writing to Colombo-based Tamil Daily, Thinakkural, Sunday. In the changing current context, even if one of the competing powers take up the national question of Eezham Tamils as means for its leverage, the others can’t refuse it but have to follow suit. Tamil leadership shouldn’t miss the opportunity by abandoning the cause to pre-emptive tactics of any single power and thus excluding other international possibilities, he further said. Summary of Gajendrakumar’s article translated from Tamil: In the island and in the diaspora all over the world, severe dejection of Tamils continue over the destruction of their long struggle by forces operating from superior most planes.When there was a need in the international community to eliminate the LTTE to facilitate its geopolitical paradigms, the SL government made use of it to destroy the armed struggle of the Tamil people. Tamils should realise that there is a changed geopolitical reality today.Even though the IC has supported SL in the name of ‘war against terrorism’, the actual reason was that they thought it was beneficial to their interests at that time.Even though the Tamil people were fully behind the liberation struggle, the IC had the excuse of rejecting the LTTE, as it was not in electoral politics. In other words, when the LTTE claimed that Tamil people back nationhood, sovereignty and the right to self-determination, the IC rejected the claim citing LTTE's orientation as non-democratic.The IC didn’t reject the fundamentals of the cause. It can never reject the freedom of expressing those fundamentals. But it can always slander a movement by saying that people don’t support the cause upheld by the movement. This is what happened to our struggle.The hopelessness arising in many quarters is whether any democratic movement could now be successful in spearheading the cause.But, the IC will have no excuse now if we democratically stand firm in our cause. No one could slander the cause if people vote for a polity that is true to the national cause in words and deeds. The international orientation of our struggle has changed today. During the war the IC was projecting the Tamil side as ‘terrorists’ and the Sinhalese as victims of terrorism. But in a changed vantage the IC has now started looking at the former as victims and the latter as responsible for war crimes as well as violators of the rights of the former.The US, India and China largely have competitive interests even though there are a few areas of consensus. All sides are keen in guiding SL government to suit their interests.We are aware that all three of them deploy various strategies and tactics in handling SL government. Apart from economy, human rights, rule of law, media freedom, corruption-free governance etc., the ethnic question is a powerful issue to exert leverage. The West is largely dissatisfied with Sri Lanka in the areas coming under its purview. The competing powers may sabotage one another’s pressures in areas such as economic sanctions. But, if seriously taken up, the national question cannot find a match from the competitors.Even if one of the competing powers take up the issue for its leverage, the others cannot find a match and they have to follow suit.Tamils get the best of their opportunity today.But, the danger is infirmity of Tamil polity allowing a power to pre-empt the question through wanting solutions that suits only its interests.If one power is allowed to pre-empt the cause by a few concessions then the others will be forced to follow suit.This is why we insist that the Tamil National Alliance should be firm and should not compromise on the fundamentals such as nation, homeland and the right to self-determination.Tamils as a people are an important party to the international community today. It is on that basis the TNA that was elected by the Tamil people receives recognition.Just as Tamils need international recognition to their cause, the powers engaged in the island too inevitably need Tamils. Compared to earlier situations, politically we are at our strength. This is time for us to be firm on the fundamentals of our cause. People need not feel depressed. 08 November 2011 Tamil Nadu CM calls for strong action against Sri Lanka for fishermen attacks The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jeyalalithaa on Monday has said that the issue of safety of the state's fishermen has fallen into 'deaf ears of Sri Lanka' and urged the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take a 'strong stand' against island nation for its alleged attacks on the fishermen.Ms. Jeyalalithaa in a letter to the PM had asked the Centre to take a "strong stand" against Colombo and "convey its serious apprehension through tough words and action", Indian media reported."I request you to kindly take a strong stand against the government of Sri Lanka with regard to such attacks on our fishermen and convey your serious apprehension through tough words and action," she has said.The CM in her letter has said that the attacks should be viewed as a national issue and not as an isolated problem of the Tamil Nadu state.Ms. Jayalalithaa has observed that there is a 'definite pattern' of attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy or some other party s to create a "fear psychosis" among the state's fishermen to prevent them from making a living from their traditional resources in the Palk Bay."There is a deep feeling of unrest and concern among the fishermen community in particular and the entire state in general due to such incidents that have not stopped despite our repeated appeals to the government of India and diplomatic efforts of the government of India," the Chief Minister has said.She has noted that there had been over 22 incidents of attacks of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Lankan authorities since May this year and six major ones during the past one month.Ms. Jeyalalithaa has said that although the Sri Lankan government has promised to investigate the fishermen's claims, the concerns have not been addressed yet by the Sri Lankan authorities.The Tamil Nadu fishermen have alleged on several occasions that the Sri Lankan naval personnel have attacked them when they were fishing in their waters.However, the Sri Lankan Navy denies any attacks by its personnel on Indian fishermen.India's Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai who visited Sri Lanka last month sought a solution to the constantly nagging issue of fishermen from both countries crossing each other's territorial waters.Sri Lankan fishermen accuse Indian fishermen of crossing into Sri Lankan waters and stealing their livelihood. TNA travel to the USA viewed with hostility by the Mahinda Administration This government is going along the path of destruction; that is looking from the side of the poor and the proletariat. Prices are rising, while incomes of workers are not rising to compensate for inflation. In reality, people have become poorer, as their buying power is becoming less and less.Art, music, drama and culture in general, has lost support as the people are unable to stretch beyond their day to day needs. Writers write because there is so much to write about. They have to intervene to bring out the suffering and the intricate emotional problems that go with it Writers, dramatists and other artistes have to depend on sponsors for survival. Jayathilaka Kammellaweera, the famous writer, told me recently “I keep on writing as it gives me pleasure and joy. Apart from the joy of creation, there is very little response to the artistic appeal we make to the masses.” I believe the majority of creative artistes will agree with him. While the government claims that weare marching forward in the path of development, the masses are loosing faith in the government.It is true that a minority is happy about the achievements of the government, they should be, as they have every thing. When people are struggling to balance the home budget in the context of the rising cost of living, the rich are crowded with every luxury possible. Thus the typical stage for a mass uprising is developing, unnoticed and unattended. While the Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his diplomatic corps tried to put water on fires at the Perth Commonwealth summit, the Tamil National Alliance leaders were in the United States, meeting leaders in the Obama administration and the United Nations, to press for an amicable political solution. Mahinda held a series of bilateral meetings with leaders, to impress on them, the ‘progress’ he had achieved since the conclusion of the bloody war against the Tamil uprising, in 2009. He was well guarded by the Indians, even as the Tamil diaspora tried to approach the courts to bring him to justice over alleged war crimes.While the efforts of the diaspora were not successful, except for the publicity, the decision of the TNA to travel to the US to engage the State Department, and the UN has been viewed with hostility by the Mahinda administration. The TNA, however, had the support of the radical democratic opposition and to some extent that of the United National Party. The NSSP took the position that though the global powers could not be trusted, it is very important to make the masses the world over aware about the miserable condition of the Tamil people.The UNP has held that there was nothing wrong in the TNA meeting the UN Secretary-General and others to help speed up a political solution.According to TNA leader M.A. Sumanthiran, after May 2009, the defence forces have occupied more than 7,000 sq km of land owned by Tamil people.There is one member of the armed forces for approximately every 10 civilians in the Jaffna peninsula. The heavy presence of the military continues to be the most serious concern in the North and East. More than two years since the conclusion of the war, the government has failed to facilitate the proper transition of these areas, from a situation of conflict to a ‘normal’ environment. Progress in the resettlement of Tamil communities displaced due to the war has been extremely slow. This is a fact that has been independently verified and reported on by the UNHCR too.Sumanthiran has stated further “According to the government’s own figures as at 1st July 2011, 258,446 had been ‘returned’ or ‘resettled’ from welfare camps, leaving 12,661 in the Kadirgamar, Ananda Kumaraswami (Zone 1), Arunachalam (Zone III) IDP camps. The most current figures suggest that only 7,440 persons remain in these camps, insinuating that all others have returned or been resettled.What the statistics do not reveal is that over 200,000 persons in the North and East have not returned to their places of origin. These persons either continue to be confined in transit camps or have been compelled to take shelter with host families. Such persons include those displaced from Valikamam North in the Jaffna peninsula, Sampur in the Trincomalee district, and several other areas in the Wanni.”Agitation for justice to the Tamil people should be tied to the anger of the people to the economic misery. It is time a powerful democratic movement, is formed to bring out the power of all oppressed communities. Commonwealth told of 'political revenge' Sarath Fonseka The letter, handed over to Mr Shija by Jayalath Jayawardene, MP, in London alleges that the government move is a violation of her fundamental rights.Noting that her company is a profitable enterprise, Mrs Gamage says that the move is also a violation of Commonwealth principals."This action of the government is act of crass intimidation aimed at stifling our political activities. It is nothing but an act of political revenge," the letter said.Dr Jayawardene told BBC Sandeshaya that the failure of the Commonwealth to appoint human rights envoy at CHOGM in Australia might lead to more such incidents."Human rights abuses such as this case would not have occurred had the Commonwealth leaders appointed the rights envoy at Perth summit," the UNP deputy general secretary said.He is on a European tour highlighting Sri Lanka’s human rights situation with the EU and international leaders.He has handed over an appeal to Pope Benedict XVI, in late October, on behalf of former parliamentarian Gen Sarath Fonseka, who is serving a prison sentence. Sri Lanka blocks 5 news websites over 'insults' Sri Lanka has blocked five news websites because they committed character assassination and insulted people including key political leaders, officials said Monday.Media groups criticized the moves as undemocratic, and the U.S. Embassy recently raised concerns about press freedom in Sri Lanka.Sri Lankan laws do not restrict the press from criticizing leaders, but media can be charged for defamation.The five sites blocked since Saturday were publishing reports that amount to "character assassination and violating individual privacy," Information and Media Ministry Secretary W.B. Ganegala said Monday.Many complaints were made against the sites, and the ministry collected their published reports for some time and decided to block them, he said.The government did not describe what content it opposed, but the five sites have published material critical of the government and have raised allegations of corruption and malfeasance against politicians. No information was given on how the sites can challenge the action or if or when they will be unblocked. Sri Lanka Army to de-list 55,000 army deserters Sri Lanka Army plans to de-list around 55,000 army deserters under a special program initiated by the Army to de-list deserters who had no connection to crimes, Military spokesman, Brigadier Nihal Hapuarachchi has said.The Army will be sending notices soon to those deserters informing that they have been de-listed from the service.Meanwhile, the Army with the corporation of police has taken measures to arrest around 450 deserters who have been involved in crimes, the spokesman said.Sri Lanka has decided to be stern on the Army deserters following several investigations that showed the involvement of a number of Army deserters in the recent wave of serious crimes. Families search for thousands of missing victims from brutal war-Source:UK The Independent His name was Abi, he was six, and the last his family glimpsed of him was in the frenzied moments after deadly shells struck close to the bunker where they had been sheltering. His sisters were gravely injured, his mother too, and the young boy put his arm around her. "Mother," he sobbed three times.That scene played out in May 2009, on a patch of blood-soaked sand in northern Sri Lanka where Tamil rebels made a last stand against the advancing forces of the Sri Lankan army. With them were up to 300,000 civilians. Since then, Abi's family has searched for him without reward, turning to the army, charities even Hindu priests. "I don't know what happened to him. All I know is that he put his arms around my neck," said the boy's mother, Getharagowri Mahendiran.The family is not alone. Two-and-a-half years after the end of the military operation that destroyed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), many hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of people remain missing and unaccounted for. Campaigners say the uncertainty and trauma for their families is creating a stumbling block to the government's efforts to work towards reconciliation in a country scarred by decades of violence.Figures made available by a project set up by the Sri Lankan authorities in conjunction with UNICEF to trace missing children, suggest 2,592 people, including around 700 youngsters, have been officially registered as unaccounted for. The Family Tracing Unit (FTU), based in Vavuniya, is only mandated with looking for children, and passes details of missing adults to other government officials.Around 30 children have been traced and reunited since the unit started its work at the end of 2009. Another 20 are in process. In 64 further cases, the names of missing children have been matched to those on the unit's database. Around 65 per cent of the children's cases, relate to forced recruitment by the LTTE."It is not an easy process. It is very difficult," said Brig JB Galgamuwa, a retired army officer who heads a team of three female probation officers that scours police and army records, hospitals and children's homes, for information about the missing. There are suspicions some children's homes may have engaged in child trafficking. "We are doing our best to help [the families]," he added."We are all parents, or else good sons or daughters, and that is why we realise the importance of this issue."The uncertainty for people such as the family of Abi, the missing six-year-old whose family is now being assisted by the FTU, adds to the misery of a community still reeling from the war and who may only recently have been released from refugee camps. Yet the work of the unit is highly sensitive, given the intense dispute over the number of civilians killed in the final stages of the military and that both government forces and the LTTE have been accused of war crimes.Officials say that given the unit's limited resources and that for someone to be officially counted as missing requires there to be a living relative in a position to register the case, it is likely the FTU's figures only represent a portion of the total of those people unaccounted for."Many people are coming to us, saying can you confirm whether the child is dead or alive, even if you cannot reunite us," said one official linked to the project who asked not to be named. "With that uncertainty they don't want to be resettled to their original districts because they feel they should stay here. They also feel unable to go back to work or to return to their fields until they recover their child."The majority of cases relate to the period between January-May 2009 when the once powerful LTTE retreated north and eastwards as the Sri Lankan army advanced. As they did so, around 300,000 civilians were caught up with them, the LTTE's leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, intending to use them as both a buffer and a bargaining chip.Witnesses have reported that LTTE cadres subsequently shot dead a number of civilians who tried to escape to government-controlled territory.After the LTTE's headquarters of Killinochi fell in early January 2009, crowds of civilians flooded east along the A35, heading towards Mullaitivu, close to where the last fighting took place and which remains off-limits to journalists. Today, both in Killinochi and along this rutted road, where the monsoon rains have left it sticky with crimson mud, it seems as if almost everyone either lost a friend or relative, or else is searching for someone unaccounted for.In a barber's shop in Killinochi, Ponnathurai Suriyakumar wept uncontrollably as he recalled being forced eastwards with his family until they reached the so-called "no fire zone" established by the government. Numerous eyewitnesses have told how both the government and the LTTE continued to fire on and out of this patch of land, with devastating impact on civilians. On May 8, a single shell claimed the lives of 13 people taking shelter with him, said Mr Suriyakumar, including his eight-year-old son, Sakinder. Mr Suriyakumar, himself badly injured, said his 23-year-old cousin had been missing since that day. "We have no information about her," he said. "You cannot imagine [the situation there]. Everything was destroyed. It was chaotic."A farmer called Bala Singham, who lives close to the A35, said his family fled until they reached the village of Pokkanai, which was seized by government troops. It was there that his brother went missing. "All the people ran towards the army. He was not there. We ran over bodies," said Mr Singham, who was released from a government camp in May of this year. "We have searched everywhere. We have gone to the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), the police, NGOs. I am still searching."In the absence of hard information, many families are turning to priests and astrologers, hoping they can offer insight. Officials say relatives are torn between accepting a family member is dead, grieving and moving on with their lives, and continuing to believe that person is alive. Young women whose husbands are missing are particularly vulnerable. Officials suspect not all astrologers - paid a fee for their services - act responsibly.In Jaffna, heartland of the Tamil community and a place that has seen intense violence and conflict, a Hindu priest called Sivashanmuga Nandakurkal, said people had long come to him for information about loved ones who had "disappeared". Yet the numbers had increased since 2006, after a peace-deal with the LTTE broke down and President Mahinda Rajapaksa took the decision to renewed military operations to end to a separatist insurgency that had left up to 100,000 people dead."They come with the missing person's horoscope. Through the horoscope we can tell whether the person is alive or not," said the priest. "If you are talking recent history, most people are not alive. Only in a few cases is that person alive."The priest, who claimed an accuracy rate of 95 per cent, said he would not mislead a relative as to the fate of their loved one. Yet he said in an attempt to cushion their pain, he never directly told someone their relative had died. "In those cases, we say 'It will be very difficult to find them'," he explained.A farmer called K Sathyanantharaja, who grows rice in flooded fields next to the A35, said his father-in-law and sister-in-law had been killed in the fighting, while his 21-year-old nephew was still missing. Having contacted the ICRC but with no results, the family had instead contacted a priest. "We don't know whether he was taken by the LTTE or the army," he said. "We approached the astrologers. They said he was still alive. They said he could not come at the moment but that he will return in three or four months."The government of Mr Rajapaksa has spent millions of pounds on post-war projects in the north, improving roads and infrastructure, providing emergency shelter, food and financial support, as well establishing large numbers of military bases in territory formerly held by the LTTE. Yet campaigners and Tamil politicians say the issue of the missing remains a source of ongoing trauma. Nuwan Bopege, president of Students for Human Rights, called on the government to release the names and details of captured and suspected former LLTE members still being held.The circumstances in which the last weeks of the war were fought remains deeply controversial. Earlier this year, a panel established by UN Secretary General Ban Ki -moon found there were "credible allegations" both the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE committed war crimes in the final stages. It said tens of thousands of civilians may have been killed and called for an independent international probe. Among the most serious allegation was that the army shelled hospitals in the no fire zone.The Sri Lankan authorities have rejected the panel's findings. Its own commission of inquiry on the conflict is due to report to the government later this month. Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, an MP with the ruling coalition and an adviser to the president on reconciliation, said almost all the 11,000 former LTTE fighters held by the government had now been released and that about 200 were to be charged. "The names [of those being held] are with the National Human Rights Commission… The names are available to the next of kin," he said.On the issue on civilian casualties, Mr Wijesinha said he believed a total of around 5,000 people may have died, including those killed by the LTTE, as well as those who died as a result of "collateral damage". He said the government had taken a number of steps towards reconciliation, including economic and social development, but said there was more to be done. He added: "We have to persuade people to work towards a pluralistic society."Meanwhile, for people such as the family of Abi, who would now be nine years old, there is little they can do but wait, and hope. His mother said: "I strongly believe he is somewhere." Aftermath: Truth and recrimination After the 2009 operation to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), there were widespread calls for an independent investigation into claims that war crimes may have been committed, but Sri Lanka rejected the demands.In the spring of 2010, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would appoint a panel of experts to advise him. At the same time, President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced his own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to examine the events between 2002 to 2009. It is believed the LLRC will report later this month, but many have already accused the commission of pro-government bias and of failing to protect witnesses. "Sri Lanka's LLRC is not a credible accountability mechanism. Its mandate is seriously flawed and in practice it falls far short of international standards on national commissions of inquiry," said Amnesty International.The UN report, meanwhile, found "credible allegations" that both government troops and the Tamils committed war crimes. Among the most serious claims aimed at Sri Lanka's army was that it fought in a "no-fire zone" and "systematically" shelled clinics. It accused the LTTE of forced recruitment, of using civilians as human shields, and of preventing people from making their way to government-held areas. It said tens of thousands of civilians may have died, most killed by government forces. The government dismissed the allegations. 07 November 2011 Pro-Rajapaksa stand reason for ill-treatment of Tamils:CPI CPI today alleged that the Centre's pro-Rajapaksa stand was the main reason for Sri Lanka's "continued ill-treatment" of Tamils in that country.Instead of standing behind the Tamils and making efforts to find a lasting solution, the Government, for reasons best known to it, continue to support Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, CPI National Secretary D Raja charged at a press conference at Coimbatore. Reiterating the CPI's stand that there was the need to find a political solution to the problem of Lankan Tamils,he said: "Tamils there do not want sympathy or money from the Government for their rehablitation, but to establish their right to live with dignity as a citizen." Raja alleged that fishermen from Tamil Nadu were continuously being attacked by Sri Lankan Naval force and UPA government was still remaining as "mute spectator". He claimed that the state government had taken a conflicting stand in connection with commuting the death sentence of three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Though ruling AIADMK was a party to the unanimous resolution passed in the state assembly to reconsider the mercy petitions, Government supported the death sentence in the High Court, he said, adding, "Tamil Nadu Chief Minister should reply to this". However, CPI wanted the Centre to take note of the assembly resolution and act immediately, he said. In a separate affidavit, the government had said the State governor had rejected the mercy petitions "as there are no extenuating circumstances warranting mercy". On the AIADMK government's performance, Raja said "it is only six months..we are assessing the performance." On the failure of the AIADMK combine (CPI was a partner during April 13 assembly polls) to fight together in the recent local body elections, he admitted that it was not an healthy sign and stressed the need to come together. Supporting Mahinda or Fonseka 'wrong' A former political ally of Sri Lanka president has admitted it was wrong to support either Mahinda Rajapaksa or former military leader Sarath Fonseka in consecutive presidential elections.The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) that made this admission for the first time on Sunday added that the national issue was overlooked by the party due to its strong pro-war stand against the Tamil Tigers.The JVP that campaigned for Rajapaksa presidency in 2005 presidential elections supported his main rival, Gen Fonseka, in 2010.Both candidates were claiming the credit for defeating the LTTE by war in May 2009.Anura Kumara Dissanayake, MP, told the journalists in Colombo that the party has taken a new policy decision not to enter into electoral pact with any political party in the future."We need a different social system against this failed capitalist system," he said.Mr Dissanayake is currently the parliamentary group leader of Fonseka-led Democratic National Alliance (DNA).The JVP's "probationary" agreement with former President Chandrika Kumaratunga to save her government in 2001 was also a mistake, according to the JVP parliamentarian.The JVP quit the ruling coalition led by President Kumaratunga in 2005 in protest at government plans for a tsunami aid deal with the Tamil Tiger rebels.Stopping short of apologising for mistakes, the MP added that the "balance" towards the national issue in Sri Lanka has been lost among the public as a result of the party's strong backing for Rajapaksa administration's war against the LTTE.The party now understands that it was a mistake to believe, said Mr Dissanayake, that the country could be built through "small reforms," instead of a proper change towards socialism.JVP leader Somawansa Amerasinghe earlier admitted that there is an internal conflict in the party as reported by the media.The conflict arose following three senior members Varuna Deepthi Rajapaksa, Pubudu Jagoda and Dimuthu Atigala leaving the central committee without informed the leadership about their departure, Mr Amerasinghe told BBC Sinhala service.Dissidents deny they have left the party claiming that the leadership plan to oust them when calling for reform.The latest retraction announced on Sunday by Mr Dissanayake was seen as an attempt by the JVP to address concerns raised by the dissident group. Sri Lanka targets dissident websites Sri Lanka on Saturday warned websites to register with the authorities after the United States expressed deep concern over Colombo’s blocking of a popular Internet-based dissident publication.The Ministry of Mass Media and Information said many reports posted on dissident websites amounted to character assassination of President Mahinda Rajapakse, his ministers and top officials.“This ministry believes that those who are operating and maintaining these clandestine websites have been doing so to discredit the government, the head of state,” the ministry said in a statement.“Such slanderous publications should not only be discouraged but also acts of this nature would have to be effectively prevented in the interest of the general public.”It said the websites should register with the ministry at the earliest, but did not say which laws were being used against dissident websites. It did not specify penalties for those who fail to comply.However, the statement came four days after the US embassy in Colombo said that freedom of expression, including unfettered access to Internet news websites, was a basic right which must be respected by Sri Lankan authorities.“We... call on the Sri Lankan authorities and the managements of Sri Lankan telecommunications firms to stop activities aimed at blocking free access in Sri Lanka to all legitimate media websites,” the embassy said.Sri Lanka began web censorship in June 2007 with the blocking of the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website at a time when security forces stepped up their attacks against the rebels who were eventually defeated by May 2009.However, since then many website which are openly anti-government have been blocked by Sri Lankan authorities.Rights groups have repeatedly accused the government of stifling media freedoms, a charge denied by the authorities. Court criticised for backing Tamil deportations Refugee agencies have blasted a ruling by a Swiss federal court backing the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers to post-civil-war Sri Lanka.The Federal Administrative Court said despite existing human rights concerns it was still safe to send asylum seekers back to all but one area of Sri Lanka - thereby upholding a decision made by Swiss migration officials at the start of the year.The ruling has already made waves, with the Swiss Refugee Council calling it “premature”, saying that the situation on the ground in Sri Lanka is still unstable.The Swiss-based non-governmental Society for Threatened Peoples also came out against the move, citing what it said were known cases of arrests, intimidation and even torture of repatriated Tamils who the government accuses of being opposition supporters.The Society for Threatened Peoples went so far as to call the court’s decision “dangerous”, given the court acknowledged at the same time that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka was worsening, particularly when it came to freedom of speech and the media.Opponents of the government are considered enemies of the state and people suspected of political opposition, as well as journalists, human rights activists and NGOs critical of the regime are at risk of persecution, the court noted.Likewise anyone repatriated from Switzerland who is suspected of being connected to the militant separatist Tamil Tigers organisation.“It’s really a bit shocking saying there is a risk for these people, even those coming from Switzerland, but then they accept that they have to be sent back. I really don’t understand that,” Christoph Wiedmer, director of the Society for Threatened Peoples, told swissinfo.ch. Loophole Sri Lankans are one of the biggest migrant groups in Switzerland. Around 2,100 Sri Lankans had asylum applications pending in Switzerland at the end of last year.Sri Lanka’s quarter-century civil war with the Tamil Tigers ended in May 2009 with a government victory. A United Nations report published in 2011 said both sides of the conflict committed war crimes against civilians.According to the Swiss Federal Administrative Court, where most civil cases are heard, internal safety has improved over the past three years in Sri Lanka, with the exception of the northern province of Vanni, which has been devastated by the conflict.Under the court’s ruling of October 27, people from Vanni can only be repatriated if they have other places in Sri Lanka to go to. Only special circumstances would prevent the deportation of people from other Tamil-dominated northern parts of the country.Migration officials will need to take into consideration when the asylum seeker left Sri Lanka, their living conditions and current accommodation, as well as the time spent in Switzerland.The Federal Migration Office told to swissinfo.ch that allowing for an exception for Sri Lankans from Vanni could open the system up to abuse. But it stressed that each potential repatriation would be examined “individually and in detail”.It is now looking closer at the ruling, it added. “A lot of cases” Back in April, hundreds of Tamils protested in front of the Swiss parliament against the Federal Migration Office’s earlier stance on the issue, saying repatriated Tamils risked arrest and torture on their return. “We hope the Federal Migration Office will handle this very carefully, [and is] aware that every single person is really threatened,” said Wiedmer.His organisation plans to keep the pressure on the government department, but conceded they did not think there was a way of reversing the tribunal decision.He said there were “a lot, a lot” of cases of repatriated Tamils being interrogated when they returned to their homeland. Recently Tamils deported from Australia disappeared and claimed to be tortured. Just two months ago a Swiss Tamil asylum seeker returned to visit his sick mother but disappeared and was interrogated, Wiedmer said.The Sri Lankan government has denied intimidating Tamils. Precarious situation According to the Swiss Refugee Council the humanitarian situation in the north and east of Sri Lanka is still precarious. Living conditions are currently very difficult for anyone being deported back, with infrastructure and many houses not rebuilt since the conflict. Tamils coming back from abroad are likely to be put under surveillance and even jailed, the Council also agreed.“Considering the circumstances, the Swiss Refugee Council sees the court’s change in practice to be premature. As long as the situation is not continuously stable and there are still risks posed to deported asylum seekers, no asylum seeker should be sent back against his will to the north or east of Sri Lanka,” it said in a statement. The Council also called on the Federal Migration Office to examine carefully and on a case-by-case basis the reasons for deportations. SEEMAN DENIED ENTRY INTO US OVER LTTE TIES Authorities in the US today denied permission to Indian director and Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam chief Seeman to enter the country when he landed at New York airport to attend a conclave organised by the World Tamil Forum.A press release from Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam condemned the act of US authorities stating ‘this is a blow to individual freedom and freedom of thought’.The release added that Seeman was invited to attend the Tamil conference and that he obtained prior permission from the US government for his travel. However when he landed at the airport in the wee hours of today (Nov. 5), the authorities at the airport denied him permission to enter the country, Indian media reported. They informed that he is known for his proximity to the banned LTTE terrorist organisation and allowing him inside the country would be detrimental to the peace of the land, the release said. Gota doesn’t want Ranil’s advice on post-war military strategy Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says he doesn’t need UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s advise on post-war military strategy.An irate Defence Secretary says the Opposition leader cannot expected to be taken seriously regarding military and foreign policy issues due to the UNP’s pathetic handling of the war effort and so-called Ceasefire Agreement brokered by Norway.The tough-talking war veteran was responding to Wickremesinghe’s demand that the Rajapaksa administration should confiscate the entire range of LTTE assets and utilize them for the benefit of the people.Attacking the government for trying to rush through a Bill titled ‘Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Assets’ , Wickremesinghe said that the UPFA should recover money and property belonging to Kumaran Pathmanathan alias ‘KP’ and the LTTE.Rajapaksa alleged that Wickremesinghe was obviously blind to post-war accelerated development programmes, booming tourism, foreign investment etc. which had brought tangible changes to the lives of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims who lived in constant fear of terrorist attacks.In a hard-hitting letter to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga, MP, alleged that some provisions of the Bill would have an adverse impact on the national economy.In a brief interview with The Sunday Island, President Rajapaksa’s brother alleged that the UNP had conveniently forgotten that in spite of it being the main Opposition party, it never supported Sri Lanka’s war effort.In fact, the UNP never believed the LTTE could be brought to its knees through military means, he said, challenging Wickremesinghe to produce a statement issued by him or his party during the Eelam War IV (July 2006-May 2009) or in the post-war era supportive of the military.The Defence Secretary challenged the UNP to make its position on the accountability issues known without playing politics with what he called national security issues. Rajapaksa alleged that Wickremesinghe feared to take on the LTTE, which exploited the UNP’s weakness to further strengthen its conventional military capability."Where were Wickremesinghe and his advisors when the LTTE brought in ship loads of arms, ammunition and equipment," Rajapaksa said."Nothing can be as stupid as UNP’s guidance on military issues. Those silent on such matters, during war can remain silent. We finished off terrorist leader Prabhakaran on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon, captured almost 12,000 LTTE cadres, recovered a massive stock of arms, ammunition and equipment and secured Prabhakaran’s successor, Kumaran Pathmanathan and seized one of the LTTE’s ships.``What we have achieved is tremendous and unthinkable in spite of a section of the international community throwing its weight behind the LTTE. Wickremesinghe and his party never supported the war effort. Instead, they always undermined our efforts and went to the extent of ridiculing the military."A few months before the liberation of Kilinochchi on Jan. 1, 2009, the UNP declared that the army was marching towards Medawachchiya, while the Defence Ministry predicted fall of the LTTE stronghold, he said. The UNP also asserted any fool could wage war and compared the military with the Salvation Army. The Defence Secretary said that Sri Lanka continued to battle the LTTE rump abroad, though the likes of Wickremesinghe acted as if they were not aware what was going on. The recent ‘confrontations’ during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth highlighted the threat posed by the LTTE and those supportive of its operations.The first indication of an LTTE-spearheaded move came to light in the pre-CHOGM process with Canada, wanting to change the wording in the original draft communiqué on the issue of the venue for 2013. At the COW (Committee of the Whole) meeting, the Canadian delegate proposed to change the word ‘reaffirming’ the decision of Colombo hosting 2013 to ‘recalling’.The Senior Additional Secretary, External Affairs Ministry, Ms Kshenuka Senewiratne intervened on the basis that accepted language in past has been the reaffirmation of similar decisions. Hence, the original position in the draft communiqué was maintained.In spite of that at the pre-CHOGM Foreign Ministers’ meeting, Canada yet again sought to raise the human rights issues in Sri Lanka, by seeking to criticize the country on its human rights record. A protest was recorded by External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris that the Commonwealth being an inappropriate forum for a discussion of this nature, and those domestic issues couldn’t be taken up in this manner.Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said that the UNP should reveal the total amount of funds successive UNP administrations had made available to the LTTE directly beginning with the transactions carried in the run-up to the Eelam War II in June 1990.Rajapaksa alleged that the government had documentary evidence of some of the transactions, including payment of duty on behalf of the LTTE for state-of-the-art radio equipment procured by the group with the help of Norway and the then Peace Secretariat, which facilitated their operations.The UNP, the Gajaba veteran said had lost its right to advise the government on issues relating to national security due to its conduct during the war. Whatever the experts and analysts had said, the UNP’s miserable electoral performances since the conclusion of the war in May 2009 could be attributed to failure on its part to support Sri Lanka’s successful war effort, he said.The Defence Secretary said that he was contemplating a cohesive examination of all financial transactions involving successive governments and the LTTE. The recent revelation that the LTTE had invested its ill-gotten money through global financier, Raj Rajaratnam was nothing but what was going on since the signing of the CFA in Feb. 2002, he said.The amount of money received by the LTTE from several countries and international organizations during the CFA, too, should be scrutinized, Rajapaksa said, adding that those who silently extended their support to the LTTE was today shedding crocodile tears for Tamil speaking people and question government military strategy."We went after LTTE ships and targeted them on the high seas without anyone’s support. A section of the UNP ridiculed that too. Some claimed that the SLN blew up abandoned ships for propaganda purposes. Let politicians fight over issues affecting the national economy or any other subject. But they shouldn’t play politics at the expense of national security, thereby strengthening the hands of those waiting to undermine us." Nalini meets her husband Murugan at Vellore prison Nalini who has spent 20 years in prison for her role in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, met her husband Murugan at the Vellore jail today.The main suspects of the Rajiv killing Murugan Santhan and Perarivalan arecurrently detained in the Vellore central prison.However the Madras High Court suspended their execution by eight weeks.In such situation Nalini was permitted to meet her husband Murugan at Vellore prison this morning (7.30am). 04 November 2011 Sri Lanka army to run cricket stadiums The armed forces in Sri Lanka are to take over maintenance of the country's most prestigious cricket stadiums. The country's heavily indebted cricket board says it can no longer afford to carry out the task. The sports ministry has announced that the army, navy and air force will each look after one stadium. However, some Sri Lankans expressed concern at the move, with one opposition MP saying that the military was "taking over everything". Deep in debt When it jointly hosted the Cricket World Cup this year, Sri Lanka built two shiny new stadiums - one of them in the president's home district - and completely renovated another. The expense was huge - some of the loans haven't yet been repaid - and the cricket board is now deep in debt. The sports ministry said the army, navy and air force would do the maintenance work - and probably the security on match days as well - at one stadium each. A member of the cricket board and former national player, Sidath Wettimuny, told the BBC this was because the board's finances were so depleted. But opposition MP Harin Fernando said he was "utterly shocked" by the forces' involvement. Noting that the army was also selling vegetables and building city infrastructure, he commented that the military was "taking over everything" according to the whims of the country's defence secretary. Mr Fernando said the trend was harming civilians' jobs and salaries and that the armed forces' morale was also suffering. The cricket board has failed to pay players' salaries for several months. Its new chairman has criticised his predecessors for spending so much money on stadiums, and fans say other well-established grounds are now being neglected. 11 Divisional Secretaries to be transferred in Jaffna district The Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration S.Abayakoon has send the transfer order letters to the relevant departments.Sources further said Divisional secretary of the Karawetti area S.Sathyaseelan was transferred to Jaffna Divisional Secretary. Divisional secretary of the Sanganai area P.Devanandini appointed as the Deputy Government Agent of Karainagar.Divisional secretary of the Point pedro R.Warathiswaran transferred to Karawetti Divisional Secretary. Deputy Divisional Secretary of the Nallur A.Sothinathan transferred to Sanganai Divisional Secretary. Deputy Government Agent of the Karainagar T.Jayaselan appointed has the Divisional Secretary of the Point pedro.Divisional Secretary of the Jaffna Mrs.T.Sugunarathi appointed as the Divisional secretary of Nallur area. Divisional secretary of the Uduvil Mrs. S.Manjuladevi appointed as the Divisional Secretary of Vellanai area. Divisional secretary of the Vellanai M.Nandagopalan appointed as the Divisional secretary of Uduvil area.Divisional Secretary of the Thelipalli S.Muralytharan appointed as the Divisonal Secretary of Sandalippai area. Divisional Secretary of the Sandalippai Mrs.Elizrasi Anton Yoganayagam appointed as the Deputy Government Agent of Kayts. Deputy Government Agent of Kayts K.Sri.Moganan appointed as the Divisional Secretary of Thellippali area. It was also announced apples regarding this transfer orders should be submitted before 15th of November. WikiLeaks: Sampanthan-Fonseka secret pact revealed A leaked US diplomatic cable recount details of a meeting the embassy had had with Tamil National Alliance Chairman R. Sampanthan and the political situation after Sampantha’s announcement to support General Fonseka in the presidential election 2010. The Colombo Telegraph found the cable from WikiLeaks database. The cable written on January 1, 2010, classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” by the US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia A. Butenis.The Fonseka signed program was also an addendum dealing with broader constitutional questions and the political devolution of power. The addendum was signed by General Fonseka and leader of the UNF Ranil Wickremesinghe but not Sampanthan. The addendum promised genuine power-sharing on a basis acceptable to Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, and Burger communities and noted that power-sharing would take place both at the center in the periphery. It noted that in the ‘North-East’ – - a term chosen to highlight the unification of the two regions, which have been de-linked under Rajapaksas – - local executive, legislative, and judicial bodies would share responsibilities with the center except in certain key areas, such as national defense, monetary policy, immigration, etc.The US ambassador Patricia A. Butenis wrote “ we saw Sampanthan several times in the period leading up to and following his announcement of support for Fonseka and know that the decision weighed greatly upon him. The stakes are very high for the Tamil community, which had gained new-found clout in the split in the Sinhala vote between Rajapaksa and Fonseka but also has much to lose. Sampanthan told Ambassador he agonized over the decision but ultimately had to face squarely the fact that Rajapaksa had done nothing for Tamil beyond releasing IDPs.” “ Sampanthan also told us he hoped his announcement would not only galvanize Tamil to vote Fonseka but also would convince others that Fonseka had a real chance of winning. While we will not know until election day wheather these hopes will be realized, indications are that a Fonseka victory appears more possible each day” Ambassador Butenis further wrote.Formally announcing Tamil National Alliance support for common opposition candidate Fonseka Sampanthan said that the TNA had consulted both candidates over the last several weeks and found that Fonseka responded to their concerns better than President Rajapaksa. Sampanthan said Rajapaksa holding office for another term would be in the interest of neither the country as whole nor Tamil-speaking people in the north east and enumerated a list of concerns. These included the government’s failure to promote reconciliation or to find an acceptable political solution to the national question, delays, Sampanthan argued, undertaken purposefully to enable the Rajapaksa government to implement a ‘hidden’ agenda to marginalize Tamils. He also called Rajapaksa’s performance on human rights and humanitarian issues “dismal,” noting that extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances had been common, mandatory constitutional provisions had been violated, and the enforcement of law and order had “collapsed.” Thus, “the rule of law and good governance have reached the nadir.” TNA also struck by the vindictive discriminatory politics contagion The destructive vindictive discriminatory politics that is plaguing Sri Lanka and has spread among the opposition parties has extended to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party as well , according to reports reaching Lanka e news.Along with the TNA , there are three other Tamil parties, Tamil Arasu Kachchi, EPRLF Suresh group and TELO Organization. As the TELO Organization is being meted out step motherly treatment allegedly , they are disappointed and disillusioned, reports say.The TELO Tamil group alleges that the TNA has held 12 rounds of talks with the Govt. But the TELO Organization had not been invited to participate in even a single discussion . Besides , when the TNA group of representatives toured America and Canada , the TELO representative was not included , the TELO accuses.Consequently , the TELO Organization is to take a crucial decision in this regard at its meeting of members of the TELO higher echelons at its Headquarters on the 6th . Duminda Silva is above the law - AHRC Duminda Silva is above the law, says the Asian Human Rights Commission.This is not due to any constitutional status that he has, as for example, the President of Sri Lanka who is by virtue of article 35 of the Constitution, above the law, the AHRC says in a statement.In the case of Duminda Silva he is above the law only because the president or his brother, the Secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapakse has placed him above the law.Duminda Silva is an alleged rapist and molester of women.He is also the alleged murderer of four persons.Besides this he is the owner of a vast network of criminal elements engaged in the trading of illicit drugs which is locally known as the 'kudu business'.These criminal elements have been engaged in a large amount of criminal activity in the country.Now, there is also the allegation of linkage between the Colombo stock market and the trade of illicit drugs.That the Colombo stock market has been used for money laundering and that Duminda Silva is a leading figure in money laundering in Sri Lanka is also publically discussed these days.He is also alleged to have made a fraudulent insurance claim for Rs. 17 million on a car which was not even insured at the time of the alleged accident. Duminda Silva, who was treated for a brain injury as a result of gunshot wounds sustained during his attack on Baratha Lakshman Premachandra and his entourage was yesterday (November 2, 1011) removed from the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital and was taken to Singapore for treatment.About three weeks have passed since the shooting incident which killed Baratha Lakshman Premachandra and three others.During this period he was not named as a suspect at the inquiry taking place before the magistrate despite being named as being present by witnesses.Under normal circumstances anyone who is suspected of having been part of the commission of a murder would have been placed under arrest, irrespective of his condition.As for taking treatment abroad, this would have been possible only with the permission of the magistrate and on the conditions that a magistrate would impose under these circumstances.However, the normal law that operates against all others in Sri Lanka does not apply to Duminda Silva as he has been placed above the law.The situation is one of no surprise.Today what becomes a matter for a court to deal with is decided, not according to the law, nor by the criminal justice authorities who are in charge of these matters.The political authorities have the first word in deciding whether someone should be arrested, prosecuted or otherwise dealt with according to the law.If the political authorities decide that some things have to be kept outside the law such things would be kept outside the law.This situation is a logical consequence of the 1978 Constitution which has placed the executive president and outside the jurisdiction of the courts.Nearly 33 years of practices under this constitution has brought about a new legal order, in fact, a new illegal order.The law has no ultimate significance in Sri Lanka anymore.The president or others acting on his authority can decide whether something is a crime or not and as to whether any legal consequences should follow.Besides this, the president also can pardon any criminal at any time if he so wishes.The criminal investigating authorities and the courts can do nothing when the executive, by their unofficial orders, make anything or anyone outside the law.The failure on the part of the civil society, the media and the intellectuals has prevented the development of a serious opposition to the utter illegality with which the country is run.The Duminda Silva incident is a glaring incident which makes visible the actual situation of Sri Lanka.However, the police authorities, the courts and the ordinary people of the country themselves know of thousands and thousands of occasions in which the law is being flouted.The first executive president, J.R. Jayewardene famously said that he can do anything except for turning a man into a woman.Experience has now proved that the executive in Sri Lanka does have the power to make a criminal into an innocent person and an innocent person into a criminal, the AHRC adds. TNA members fail to meet UN General Secretary: Shavindra Silva SriLankan Permanent Representative to the United States Maj.Gen Shavindra Silva said the members of the Tamil National Alliance fail to meet UN General Secretary BankiMoon at the UN Headquarters. This was the first step of defeat they face in the International said the War crime alligator Shavindra Silva.Earlier it wasannounced members of the Tamil National Alliance visited United States will hold discussions with UN General Secretary BankiMoon on 1st of November at the UN Headquarters. By releasing several statements in the country TNA members said that they will hold discussions with UN General Secretary but at present they fail to meet UN General Secretary this was the first defeat they faced in the international.TNA members met just a normal officer. This meeting won't make any cahanges in the current situation said Shavindra Silva. Sunday Leader editor threatened by ‘Sinha Regiment’ Reporters Without Borders have expressed concern after Frederica Jansz, the editor of The Sunday Leader received death threats from the “Sinha Regiment”.The handwritten letter in Sinhalese, was sent to the editor warning her over her involvement in the “White Flag” case, in which she is a key witness.In the case, Gen Fonseka is being tried over alleged “false statements” he gave in an interview to the Sunday Leader, where he claimed Defence Secretary Gothbaya Rajapakse gave the order to murder surrendering members of the LTTE.Sent to her home, the letter warns of extreme violence and sexual abuse if she were to give evidence in the case, threatening that she would “not be spared”. A verdict is expected on November the 18th. Jansz received similar threats in 2009, after publishing a story relating to the infamous Channel 4 execution video, reporting that the video was authentic. 03 November 2011 Canada Urges UN for an independent investigation in Sri Lanka As Canada continuously emphasizes its central pillar of the foreign policy, promote freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, in the international forums, one of the worst offenders of it, Sri Lanka continuously takes the centre stage of its criticism.Guillermo E. Rishchynski, Canada's Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, in a statement to the Third Committee on the promotion and protection of human rights at United Nations, on October 26, 2011, said, “Canada is also concerned that the underlying sources of conflict in Sri Lanka are not being addressed. As such, we encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to engage constructively on a process of political reconciliation and accountability.”“We also support calls for an independent investigation into credible allegations of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights committed by both parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka, as recommended by the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka.” He further said. "Thank you Mr. Chair, GL takes TNA to task The government yesterday insisted that Tamil National Alliance (TNA) should first discuss issues with the government instead of making representations to foreign countries. According to External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris, a solution can only be reached within the country and the TNA should first discuss issues with the government rather than making representations to foreign countries on internal matters.He said that discussions with foreign countries would not help solve problems. “It should directly discuss with the government,” he added. The External Affairs Minister said that the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to look into the cause of the conflict, its effects on the people and reconciliation will be made public after it was handed over to the President. Minister Prof Peiris stressed that the Commission will hand its report to the President. He said that the Commission does not have the right to print this report and it is the government that prints the Commission report.Minister Peiris said that countries in the region in one voice held the view that entire region is benefited by the eradication of terrorism by the government of Sri Lanka, headed by the President, at the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Perth.He said that the Foreign Ministers in the region reaffirmed that Sri Lanka’s victory over terrorism was an international achievement and it helped to strengthen peace in the region too. Addressing a press conference in Colombo, Minister Prof Peiris added that the attempts of Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird to raise human rights issues in Sri Lanka were effectively foiled by Sri Lanka with the support of 15-member countries. The minister added that raising such an issue at such a meeting is improper. The External Affairs Minister reiterated that Sri Lanka is ready to have bilateral meetings with any country at any time and discuss such issues. He stressed that Sri Lanka has nothing to hide in relation to the human rights issue and reiterated that this type of matter cannot be allowed to be politicized at a forum such as the CHOGM.The minister said the country achieved three major victories at the CHOGM, which, concluded in Perth last Saturday. He said the country succeeded in negating the forces that tried to leave the voice of President Mahinda Rajapaksa unheard by filing a case against him in an Australian Court.He said that the LTTE sympathizer who is afraid of the truth being divulged by Sri Lanka filed this action without success.The External Affairs Minister said that the Australian Attorney General and the government reaffirmed that this case cannot be proceeded with and that the Heads of State visiting Down Under enjoy diplomatic immunity. Hilary Clinton refused to meet TNA parliamentarians: Minister Champika Ranawaka Parliamentarian Champika Ranawaka said that he was proud to announce the Secretary of the United States Hilary Clinton refused to meet TNA parliamentarians who are currently engaged in a tour in United States.He also said we cannot accept TNA as the sole representatives of the Tamil people and also noted problems on ethnic issue need to be discuss with the government representatives.Minister also added when ever SriLankan government face international pressure India always support us in such situation it's difficult for Canadian and Australian governments to work against the country said the Minister. TNA leaders to visit United Kingdom The leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who are currently engaged in an overseas tour are scheduled to travel to the UK on November 5, party sources said.The TNA delegation including party leader R. Sampanthan, Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran and M.A. Sumanthiran will meet with TNA members based in London to discuss the current political situation in Sri Lanka and the party’s future steps.According to the sources TNA members will hold special meeting at “Clay Oven” Banquting Suite,197 Ealing Road, Alperton,Middx HA0 4LW.During the meeting TNA leaders will express their views on current situation of SriLanka and also they explain their future works carried out by their party.£50.00 would be charge as the entrance fees, sources said.Furthermore, the delegation is scheduled to meet with members of the UK government and opposition on November 7 at 10 a.m. to brief them on the current situation in the country.On the same day evening (5pm) delegates all address a special media briefing in London. Sri Lanka Marxist party factions fighting to hold founder's commemoration Sri Lanka Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) factions are readying to show their strength at the November Hero Commemoration that falls on November 13, JVP internal sources said.JVP Somawansa Amarasinghe faction has reserved the normal venue for this event, Vihara Maha Devi, Open Air Theater in Colombo.According to the sources the ambitious Premakumar Gunaratnam faction of the JVP that claims to be the majority has reserved Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium for the purpose.However, latest reports say that the administration of the Stadium have informed the organizers that it cannot be given to the ceremony since it is needed for an affair of the Ministry of Sports on that day.A spokesman of the faction told that they were now in difficulty to find a venue in Colombo that can accommodate a large crowd.November Heroes Day of JVP commemorates the fallen founder and leader of the Marxist movement Rohana Wijeweera and others who were killed in the 1989 rebellion. Norway contributes to rehabilitation of former LTTE cadres Norway has joined the international effort aimed at assisting reintegration and reconciliation of former LTTE cadres into society.The Norwegian Embassy in Colombo has contributed NOK 3 million (approximately Sri Lankan Rs. 57 million) to support the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) programme towards the purpose.Sri Lanka has released, in batches, most of the former LTTE cadre, barring the hardcore ones, charged with serious offences. The last batch of 400 former LTTE cadres was released last week.Rehabilitation and re-integration into society of the former LTTE cadre has been a difficult task. According to anecdotal accounts, while the society itself is not very welcoming of the LTTE cadre, many of those former LTTE cadres are not used to living in homes. Realising this, many countries, including India and Norway have contributed in diverse ways to help the war-torn society get back to normalcy. The Indian effort has focussed on creating self-sufficient women groups and setting up vocational training schools, where the local administration handles admission processes. Signs MoU On Wednesday, Norwegian Ambassador Hilde Haraldstad and IOM Chief of Mission Richard Danziger signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo.Announcing the contribution at the signing ceremony, Ms. Haraldstad emphasised the importance of social and economic reintegration of ex-cadres of LTTE. “It is important to assist them to return home and to start a new life. The IOM programme is geared to meet their urgent needs and will provide the ex-cadres with a foundation from which they can start a livelihood and rebuild their lives,” she said The IOM programme for reintegration of former cadres of LTTE has been implemented since 2009. It is designed to support longer term peace and human security needs both at the individual and community level by supporting the reintegration of former cadres both economically and socially. IOM has already provided direct assistance to more than 3000 former LTTE cadres, enabling them to start new livelihoods, by providing training, tools, small grants and job placement.Norway, like India, has been supporting rebuilding of the conflict-ridden areas in the North and East of Sri Lanka covering a wide range of activities which address humanitarian needs, recovery and development. The support promotes humanitarian demining, shelter, rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure, livelihood, food security, education and training. Indian military team visits Wanni in Sri Lanka An Indian Army team has undertaken a visit to Tamil dominated Wanni region in northern Sri Lanka, which was once a battlefront between the government forces and the rebel LTTE during the three decades ethnic conflict, the military said on Wednesday. The representative delegation of the Indian Army Higher Command Course-2011 is currently touring Sri Lanka, country's Army said today. The 16-member delegation is led by Air Commodore P R Navalkar of Indian Air Force.The delegation during their six-day tour visited Security Forces Headquarters, Wanni in the former LTTE region of the northern province, School of Artillery, Commissioner General of Rehabilitation and a number of other places of archaeological, religious, cultural and tourist interest. They paid a courtesy call on the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya today at Army Headquarters. Jayasuriya and the delegation exchanged views on bilateral matters of importance with special emphasis on training modules, related to both military services, the Army said. Later in the day the delegation was expected to call on the Navy and Air Force Commanders. Sri Lanka opposition leader cancels foreign tours fearing conspiracies - report Leader of Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremasinghe had cancelled a number of foreign tours in fear of conspiracies against him, the state-owned Sinhala daily The Dinamina reported today quoting party internal sources.The newspaper said that the cancellation is due to fear of conspiracy to capture the party leadership while he was abroad.The newspaper further said that the UNP leader has no trust in the co-deputy leaders Karu Jayasuriya and Sajith Premadasa to hand over the position of acting leader while he is away.The newspaper also reported that a conspiracy was being hatched in party to oust the leader while he was in a foreign tour.He faced a similar situation in 2003 when the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga took over three crucial ministries from the government of which he was the Prime Minister. 01 November 2011 Alleged land colonisation in east Friday Forum In a letter to Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, the councillor has urged the chief minister to take immediate action to stop the "colonisation.""When Tamil people trying to get a land, they are bound by the provincial land commissioner's regulations. But the provincial council was neither informed nor sought permission for this distribution," he added.Members of the civil defence force are among the beneficiaries of the scheme, according to the councillor.BBC Sandeshaya could not get the response of either of the land ministers in the government or the EPC despite repeated attempts.The Friday Forum, headed by former UN diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala, has raised serious concerns over the “ad hoc manner” the government is trying to deal with land ownership in the north and east.Releasing a discussion paper the Forum says the recent circular issued by the land ministry underlines “the importance of ensuring that property claims and access to land and housing in communities are accommodated with equity and fairness.” People’s Power would be used:Ranil Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremsighe today warned that the ‘People’s Power’ would have to be used if the central government ruled by the UPFA shackles the administration of the Colombo Municipal Council which his party had secured at the recently concluded local government election. Mr. Wickremesighe who was engaged in religious observances with the Colombo Mayor A. J. M. Muzammil at the Devatagaha Mosque today said the UNP should be allowed to administrate the whole Council with full powers as it had received a people’s mandate to govern it. It was reported earlier that several institutions that come under the CMC are to be put under the purview of the UDA which includes the Vihara Maha Devi Park. Pointing out that the UNP was given the mandate to safe guard the low income dwellings and the three wheelers, Mr. Wickremesinghe said his party would carry out this task as per the people’s wishes. “There are forces who support the demolishing of low income houses and abolishing the three wheelers in the city, but we will confront them,” he added. Parithy – Head of LTTE’s Nediyavan unit in France was attacked Latest news on the situation in Paris reveals that Parithy-Head of LTTE’s Nediyavan unit in France were allegedly attacked by LTTE’s Vinayakam unit yesterday. He was admitted to Paris hospital and under critical condition in intensive care unit.This is happened outside Tamil Coordinating Centre in Paris.Sources close to Nediyavan told Colombo Telegraph that Vinayakam is now closely working with Sri Lankan Government. Vinayakam group members were not available to comment on this matter. Nearly 13 members of Vinayakam faction is wanted by INTERPOL.French Police raid Tamil Tiger offices in Paris in 2007 where 17 Tiger suspects including Paris head Parithy arrested. U.S. expresses concern over Sri Lankan news site blockade The United States today expressed concerns over the continued blockade of internet news site in Sri Lanka and called on the authorities to stop such activities.In a press release the United States Embassy in Colombo said it is deeply concerned that the Internet news site Lanka-e-News has been blocked in Sri Lanka."While the Embassy does not endorse the views of any particular media outlet, the United States believes that a free and independent media is vital to ensuring the health and continuation of any democracy," the statement said."Freedom of expression, including unfettered access to Internet news websites, is a basic right which must be respected. We therefore call on the Sri Lankan authorities and the managements of Sri Lankan telecommunications firms to stop activities aimed at blocking free access in Sri Lanka to all legitimate media websites, including Lanka-e-News," the statement said further.The Lanka-e-News website critical of the government says it has been blocked to the viewers in Sri Lanka. However, the authorities have not officially admitted that the website has been blocked.The Secretary of Sri Lanka Ministry of Media and Information recently said that the government is seeking consultation from the Attorney General's Department regarding the actions to be initiated against websites that propagate false news and views against the country and the President. Sri Lanka - LTTE lives in distant Germany Berlin was the preferred destination of 'Jaffna Tamils' during the years when the LTTE was on the rampage and V Prabhakaran led a brutal campaign, testing the loyalty of his cadre by asking them to turn into human bombs. Once they landed in Berlin, or West Berlin in the pre-reunification days, they claimed "terrible persecution" at home and insisted they would be tortured and killed if forcibly repatriated. Liberal Berlin not only gave them shelter but turned a blind eye to their activities to raise funds for the LTTE, Mid Day.com, an Indian tabloid reported.The immigrant 'Tigers' indulged in ruthless extortion, forcing indigent fellow Tamils to part with their meagre earnings; ran a flourishing trade in human trafficking, extracting a hefty fee from those whom they helped enter Germany illegally; and, were involved in a variety of crimes ranging from peddling drugs to pimping for minor Tamil girls forced into prostitution. An apocryphal tale is still told of Berlin's 'Tigers' gifting a made-to-order Mercedes car to a certain mayor of the city.It's only after May 2006, when the European Union declared the LTTE a terrorist organization, that measures were adopted by German authorities to restrict the activities of the organization’s fund-raisers. Those measures could not have been strictly implemented or else the Tamil Coordination Committee, a LTTE front organization, would not have succeeded in 'collecting' a whopping 3 million euros between July 2007 and April 2009. The TCC men are now being prosecuted. But that's too little, too late.It's been two years since the Sri Lankan Army smashed the LTTE. Prabhakaran is dead, so are his lieutenants. But in Germany the LTTE lives, its slain leader lionised as 'National Hero' by Tamils who "thirst for a Tamil homeland". I picked up the accompanying poster from a Tamil-owned grocery store in the heart of Berlin. The poster bears testimony to Sri Lanka's separatist war still raging in distant Europe. Such are the wages of misplaced liberalism. A heated argument between Spokesperson of President Media Unit and Channel-4 journalist A heated argument was said to have taken place between the Director General of the Presidents Media Division and Spokesperson for the President Bandula Jayasekera, Sri Lankan journalists and the journalist of the Channel 4 Callum Macrae at the Media Centre used for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth, Australia.“Macrae was there lobbying against Sri Lanka. He was videotaping our materials such as the ‘Lies Agreed Upon’ documentary and other booklets that were distributed by our mission. I along with other local media confronted him,” Jayasekera said.During this confrontation Macrae’s camera crew had begun to film those in the media centre focusing on the Sri Lankan media personnel. Agitated by this the Sri Lankan media responded by video taping those individuals, who had been video taping at first.“Macrae’s people tried to stop us by complaining; however our media guys did not relent. Finally they had to stop videotaping us,” Jayasekera said. Govt. of Japan grants 650,000 US dollars for demining activities The Japanese Government has made a grant to a Sri Lankan NGO engaged in demining activities in order to expedite demining efforts in the north and east.The signing ceremony of Japan’s grant assistance of 650,000 US dollars for grassroots human security or GPP project took place at the Japanese Ambassador’s residence in Colombo yesterday.The agreement was signed between the Dash Demining Project Manager, Ananda Chandrasiri and the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Nobuhito Hobo.Speaking at the event, Ambassador Hobo noted that aid from Japan for the demining process had expedited the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons.The Director of the National Mine Action Centre at the Ministry of Economic Development, Monty Ranatunga who attended the signing ceremony said at least 100 million US dollars would be needed to complete the demining process.
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