Last Updated:06.02.2012

US to table motion against Lanka at Geneva

Secretary of state Hillary Clinton has written to external affairs minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, informing him that the US would table a motion against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Radio Netherlands has reported.The UNHRC sessions are due to begin in March this year.According to our correspondent in France, Rohan Rambukwella, the two officials are due to meet in Washington next month.Washington has asked Lankan authorities to conduct a proper investigation into allegations of civilian deaths during the final phase of the war against the LTTE.Meanwhile,Read More

3 US officials visits SriLanka

The United States is sending three top officials to Colombo ahead of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva where Washington is proposing to move a resolution on Sri Lanka.US official Steven Rapp, whose new designation is Ambassador at large for Global Criminal Justice. He will arrive in Sri Lanka tomorrow and leave on February 11.He is expected to meet several government officials including Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.The two officials are Marie Otero, Under Secretary for Civilian Security,Read More

Implementation of 13plus would not solve problems of people in North and East: Diplomats

Religious leaders and diplomats of this country revealed it’s difficult to solve problems of people in the North and East by implementing the 13th or 13th plus amendment in this country , Divaina news paper reports.It was easy to establish peace and solve problems faced by the people of this country by providing equal rights for Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim people of this country.Professor of the Jayawardenepura University Most.Ven. Pelanwila Vimalatharana thera stated Read More

Sri Lanka may drop dollar to meet Iran oil sanctions

Sri Lanka may avoid a costly squeeze by the United States sanctions on Iranian crude by purchasing it in a currency other than dollars, following India's lead, officials said on Sunday.The Indian Ocean island nation is facing the most potential collateral damage from the sanctions, which are meant to cut off the dollars Washington believes are being used to fund Iran's nuclear ambitions.Sri Lanka imports 93 percent of its oil from Iran, OPEC's second biggest producer, and its sole refinery,Read More

Hirunika to join politics

Hirunika, the daughter of late Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra has announced she will join active politics from the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party.She came into the spotlight in the aftermath of the killing of her father during a shootout in Mulleriyawa on October 8 last year. During the shootout three others were killed while serious head injuries were cause to parliamentarian Duminda Silva. The Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP) is a political party founded in 1984 by actor turned politician the late Vijaya Kumaranatunga, Read More

LTTE Leader Pirapaharan postal stamp released in Norway

Eezham Tamil activists in Norway on Saturday released stamps featuring LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan, the map of Tamil Eelam and some of the LTTE declared national symbols of the de-facto state of Tamil Eelam, including the Tamil Eelam national flag. The stamps were released in front of the Norwegian Parliament by Jeyasri Balasubramaniam, a candidate elected to represent the Eezham Tamils in two elections held in that country. Read More

Will not ‘stop’ till Katchchatheevu is retrieved: Jayalalithaa

Maintaining that she was working towards protecting the livelihood of fishermen, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Friday said she would not ‘stop’ till Katchchatheevu, an islet in the Palk straits now under the control of Sri Lanka, is retrieved. "The attacks on Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy can be stopped only by retrieving Kachchatheevu," she said in the state assembly. Replying to CPI member Arumugam, Jayalalithaa said her case on getting back Kachchatheevu from Sri Lanka Read More

WikiLeaks: “Looked Like” EPDP And SL Navy Burnt The Uthayan – Basil To US

“He added that it ‘looked like’ EPDP cadres, along with the SLN, had perpetrated the mid-August burning of the pro-LTTE Uthayan newspaper office in Jaffna”, the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and recounts details of a meeting US Ambassador to Colombo had with the President’s advisor and brother Basil Rajapaksa on October 4, 2006. The cable was written by the US Ambassador to Colombo,Read More

Independent international investigations against SriLanka : British parliamentary group

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) in collaboration with the British Tamils Forum (BTF) held an exhibition on 31st January 2012, at the UK Parliament building. The exhibition highlighted the current situation of the Tamils in Sri Lanka; and why,.the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report recently published by the Sri Lankan Government will not deliver justice to the Tamil civilians for the crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces during the final stages of the war in 2009.Read More

MR want to brief US

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has stressed the need to send a delegation to the United States of America ahead of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, to brief the leaders of that country on the measures taken by him to improve the human rights situation here, sources said today. The US government has already announced that they will support a motion against Sri Lanka at the next session of the UN Human Rights Commission scheduled for next month. Also, State Secretary Hilary Clinton recently invited her Sri Lankan counterpart to visit the US and counter the allegations made against Sri Lanka.Read More

Tamil Nadu boycott: Sri Lankan exporters remain unruffled ‘ONLYA TEMPORARY SETBACK

The government yesterday expressed confidence that the boycott imposed by the Tamil Nadu state on Sri Lankan exports of confectionery products such as biscuits and chocolates was only a temporary setback and that the matters would be ironed out before long.Director General of Commerce P. G. Fernando told The Island that he was in touch with both the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi and the Deputy HC in Chennai and was confident that matters Read More

UNP will support govt. to overcome international pressure

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said today it was prepared to support the government to overcome any pressure from the international community in the future. But the government should establish an independent Attorney General’s Department, an independent Judiciary and an independent Police Commission as soon as possible. UNP Senior Vice President and parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella told a news conference that the United People’s Freedom Alliance Read More

TNA hopes to create separation through land and police powers : Vinayamoorthi Muralitharan

The Deputy Minister of Resettlement Vinayamoorthi Muralitharan blames by asking land and police powers Tamil National Alliance hopes to create separation in this country.Speaking at a media briefing held at the Ministry Minister stated I agree to grant land power towards provinces but by granting police powers what are the benefits would be achieve by TNA and also questioned what are the benefits they will hand over towards Tamil people of this country.Read More

All party conference will only delay solution to Tamil problem : Ganesan

The President calling for an all party conference, to discuss the implementation of the devolution of power to the provinces, would not result in achieving any gain for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, since it would only cause further delay in providing a solution to the existing ethnic issue, leader of the Democratic Peoples Front Mano Ganesan said.The President had decided to hold an all party conference due to the delay by the opposition political parties to nominate representativesRead More

Sri Lanka- Jaffna gets a 15 storied Star Class hotel

The rapidly developing Northern Province following the defeat of terrorism has become a springboard for local and foreign investors seeking investment opportunities in Sri Lanka. Construction of a 70-room, 15 storied star class hotel in the heart of Jaffna will be launched tomorrow.  Mercantile Merchant Bank Ltd,  and the Jetwing Group through an equally-owned joint venture will invest Rs. 700 million on this hotel project.Launching of the construction will be jointly officiated by Prime Minister D.M JayaratneRead More

The Fog of an Uncivil War in Sri Lanka

It has been nearly three years since Sri Lankan government troops crushed the separatist Tamil Tigers in a gory, scorched-earth campaign that brought an end to three decades of civil war. The final battles — with some 300,000 civilians caught in the crossfire — were fought on the northern beaches and in the impoverished hamlets of the island nation.But the fog of war still has not lifted in Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka said Tuesday that it would not be sending a review of alleged war crimes to the United Nations Read More