Mar 30 (TN) The Sri Lanka Navy Monday denied its involvement in the intimidation of LTTE political activists recently in the Puliyankoodal area in Kayts division in the Jaffna district. more..

Mar 30 (TN) The Jaffna Magistrate Mr.R.T.Viknarajah Monday imposed a fine of one thousand rupees on a Tamil youth and ordered him to pay another one thousand rupees for charity when he pleaded guilty to the charge of violating election laws by pasting posters in public place, more..

Mar 30 (TN) Posters criticising the Karuna Group appeared in many parts of Batticaloa Monday. Several leaflets urging people in the troubled eastern district not to provide any form of assistance to the group led by Karuna, were also distributed in Batticaloa town and its outskirts Sunday night. more..

Mar 30 (TN) A shadow edition of Tamil Alai, a newspaper controlled by the renegade Karuna group in Kokkadichcholai in Batticaloa, appeared on the internet on Monday with the name �Thamil Alai,� competing with the Karuna group�s internet edition and signaling growing disenchantment in the East with the renegade group, sources said. more..

Mar 30 (TN) "The ban on the LTTE is still in force in some countries. The verdict of the Tamil people in the northeast province in the poll should tell these countries that time has come for them to lift the ban on the LTTE as they have been fully backing the LTTE and its Interim Self-Governing Authority proposal," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, more..

Mar 30 (IL) In a bizarre incident last evening, the Air force helicopter Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Rauff Hakeem travelled in abruptly landed thrice repeatedly after brief take offs at the Zahira College ground in Kalmunai, resulting in a tensed situation, with some even fearing the worst. more..

Mar 30 (IL) JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe yesterday denied reports that he was planning to leave the country. Referring to media reports that he was scheduled to leave Sri Lanka on March 31, Mr. Amarasinghe claimed the UNF has begun to spread false rumours about their opponents, more..

Mar 30 (BS) Private airlines flying to Sri Lanka could not have asked for more. The island nation has decided to offer special concessions to airlines flying into the country by slashing the landing charges for the flights arriving at the non-peak hours. more..

Mar 30 (UL) JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe's fugacious attitude after he booked three air tickets to fly out on March 31, has come under heavy attack. UNP stalwarts are of the view that the writing is now on the wall that the UNF would return to power with a majority after April 2. more..

Mar 30 (LBO) The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought extra time to hear the fundamental rights application filed by state electronic media organisations against the Elections Commissioner. The matter was put off for Wednesday March 31, as one of the judges, Justice Shirani Bandaranayake declined to hear the case for personal reasons. more..

Mar 30 (LBO) Sri Lanka Telecom said Tuesday that it is joining 16 global telecom carriers to build a new US$ 500 mn submarine cable network. The submarine cable will span 20,000 km (12,400 miles), connecting 14 countries and will boost high-tech communications between South East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. more..

Mar 30 (LBO) The sweep for funding sources to back the proposed South Harbour project will be six months late on account of the ongoing political row. A market survey to identify potential investors to raise an estimated US$ 600 million for the initial work was due to set sail around November 2003. more..

Mar 30 (SLA) An unidentified man shot dead a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate contesting the BATTICALOA district in the forthcoming General Election this morning (30 March 2004) around 8.00 a.m. at his residence in BATTICALOA along with his brother-in -law. more..

Mar 30 (SLA) A civilian from the general area of THANDAVANVELI in BATTICALOA has been hacked to death by an unidentified man during early morning on 29 March 2004 while the victim was inside his boutique. The reason for this assassination is yet to be ascertained. more..

Mar 30 (SLA) Security Forces were compelled to stop a planned onward passage of 85 LTTE men beyond the KATTAPARICHCHAN roadblock on 28 March 2004 around 7.30 p.m. since no prior notice regarding this movement has been given to the Security Forces by authorities in the SLMM. more..

Mar 30 (SLA) An LTTE video film on its attacks against Security Forces has been screened in the general area of NAVANTHURAI, about 2.5 km north of JAFFNA town on 28 March 2004 around 8.00 p.m. Screening of films against Security Forces amounts to a violation of the ceasefire agreement now in effect. more..

Mar 30 (TN) The final election rallies of major political parties are to be held Tuesday evening in various parts of the country bringing the one and a half months old bitter election campaign to an end two days before the April 2nd poll, political sources said. more..

Mar 30 (TN) Six observers of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) have been posted to Trincomalee electoral district to monitor the election activities on the polling day, said EU Chief Observer Chief Observer, Mr.John Cushnahan, Monday, more..

Mar 30 (TN) The Jaffna University created history last weekend by conferring Honorary Doctorates of Philosophy posthumously on two world-renowned artistes, Nathaswaram Vidwan Mr. N.K.Pathmanathan of Alaveddy and Dramatist K.K.Vairamuthu of Kankesanthurai. more..

Mar 30 (TN) The Free Media Movement (FMM) Monday condemned the bomb attack Sunday night on the residence of the Managing Director of the Asia Broadcasting Corporation Mr. Raynor Silva as an undemocratic act to muzzle the independence of the free media. more..

Mar 30 (TN) Nearly six hundred displaced voters of Thennamaravadi, a traditional Tamil village on the northern border of the Trincomalee district located about 73 km from the east port town wiil be voting for the first time after they fled from the village in 1987 due to military operation by the Sri Lanka Army, more..

Mar 30 (TN) The Liberation Tigers Tuesday said they strongly condemn the killing of Mr. Rajan Sathiyamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance candidate for Batticaloa. �The people of Batticaloa should not to be perturbed by such incidents of violence in the district that create fear. more..

Mar 30 (wsws) The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) strongly condemns the decision by the Sri Lankan election commissioner not to establish polling booths for the voters living in areas of the North and East under the control of the LTTE. more..

Mar 30 (AFP) Sri Lanka's former captain Arjuna Ranatunga has lashed out at the ICC for bringing Muttiah Muralitharan's action under scrutiny once again. Ranatunga felt the prolific off-spinner was being put under pressure just when he was set to become the highest wicket-taker in Test history. more..

Mar 30 (PRIU) The Ambassador of Switzerland Bernardino Regazzoni and the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka Radhika Coomaraswamy March 26 signed an Agreement providing Rs. 3.8 million to support a programme to combat torture through monitoring places of detention in Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 30 (AP) A 10-member Japanese election observer team arrived today in Colombo to help monitor this week's Sri Lanka's parliamentary elections, which have been marked by violence and fears of vote-rigging. more..

Mar 30 (FA) Sri Lanka secured their place in the semi-finals of the ninth South Asian Federation (SAF) Games football competition with a 1-0 win over Nepal on Monday. Sri Lanka's Mohammad Azmeer Lathif breached Nepal's strong defence to score the only goal in the second half more..

Mar 30 (Bloomberg) Sri Lankan voters will vote this Friday to end an impasse that was thrust upon them when the nation's president pulled the plug on her archrival, the prime minister. more..

Mar 30 (Gulf) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has declared that she would try to convince the Tamil guerrillas to agree to accommodate other political parties during proposed negotiations aimed at ending the Tamil minority ethnic conflict. more..

Mar 30 (Hindu) The first phase of campaigning for the April 2 parliamentary election ended today, bringing the curtains down on a high-decibel electronic media offensive in which popular movie songs and images from the past were painted before Sri Lanka's 12 million-strong electorate. more..

Mar 30 (AP) Sri Lanka's political parties were making final attempts to woo voters ahead of Friday's parliamentary elections, following a campaign that has focused on who is best suited to bring an end to decades of civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

Mar 30 (Reuters) A splash of motor oil on a monument honouring a Tamil Tiger martyr is a rare sign of dissent in northern Sri Lanka, where the rebels have run things for two decades. The message is clear. Their strong-arm tactics are no longer welcome. more..

Mar 30 (Reuters) Final campaigning kicked off yesterday in Sri Lanka as the two main parties battled to avoid a possible hung parliament that could imperil efforts to end a 20-year civil war. more..

Mar 30 (DM) If the people vote the UNF to office at the upcoming general elections the executive powers of President Chandrika Kumaratunga will become invalid, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Daily Mirror. more..

Mar 30 (DN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga at a special news conference with the Rupavahini Corporation telecast last night claimed the Freedom Alliance was moving with satisfaction and it was in a winning mood as people appeared to have made their decision to bring the Alliance to power. more..

Mar 30 (NW) With just 48 hours to go for the general elections, the incidence of election violence yesterday rose to 1127 with 66 cases reported during the 24 hours ending last morning. Among the serious incidents reported on Sunday, 23 men suspected to be SLMC supporters were arrested at Addalachenai with petrol bombs, bicycle chains, swords and poles. more..

Mar 30 (NW) As general election draws closer, the LTTE is alleged to have intensified their intimidation campaign against all anti LTTE/TNA groups, who are reportedly carrying out their non-violent election propaganda in the North-East. more..

Mar 30 (NW) The Tamil United Liberation Front, which is the main constituent of the Tamil National Alliance has expressed support to any government that would find a lasting solution to the North East crisis. more..

Mar 30 (IL) The LTTE backed Tamil National Alliance members/supporters is alleged to have resorted to bygone issues, and are provoking the civilians with old communal issues, in their desperate bid to gain more votes at the April 2 polls. more..

Mar 30 (IL) Bishop Kingsley Swamipillai of Batticaloa-Trincomalee yesterday stressed the importance of avoiding war and destruction particularly in the East, irrespective of race. He stated this in a letter addressed to the media in the wake of an allegedly incorrect statement reported recently. more..

Mar 30 (IL) The decision by the Election Commissioner to appoint a competent authority for the SLBC and SLRC has come under condemnation from the Freedom Polls Watch (FPW). A media statement from the FPW stated yesterday that this was an attempt to stifle the freedom of expression under the cover of a statutory authority. more..

Mar 30 (BBC) A senior Tamil Tiger leader in Sri Lanka says 1,800 fighters have deserted from Colonel Karuna, the breakaway commander in the east. But a spokesman for the colonel rejected the claim and instead blamed the main faction of the Tigers for the killing of an election candidate. more..

Mar 30 (Reuters) Sri Lanka�s state-run media challenged election laws in court on Tuesday, a day after the Elections Commission took it over following charges it favoured the president�s party for general election. more..

Mar 30 (AFP) Gunmen have killed an ethnic Tamil candidate in Sri Lanka, marring the end of a lacklustre five-week vote campaign that pointed to a hung parliament and raised fears of factional war, officials said. more..

Mar 30 (Reuters) A Tamil candidate standing in Sri Lanka's parliamentary elections this week was shot and killed on Tuesday, apparently the victim of a split among the country's Tiger rebels. more..

Mar 31 (TN) EU EOM Chief Observer Mr.John Cushnahan accompanied by EU Sri Lankan delegation head Mr.Wouter Wilton arrived in Batticaloa Tuesday morning and visited the house where the Tamil National Alliance candidate Mr.Rajan Sathyamoorthy and his relative Mr.Kanthan Kanagasabai were killed. more..

Mar 31 (TN) The security of the Batticaloa district, which has witnessed four political murders since the filing of nominations for the forthcoming general election, has been strengthened following the killings of two persons including the TNA candidate Mr.Rajan Sathyamoorthy Tuesday. more..

Mar 31 (TN) The Kayts Police in Jaffna district Tuesday arrested the absconding suspect Mr.Kanthasamy Jegatheeswaran alias Jegan in the Journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan murder case. The Jaffna Magistrate Mr.R.T.Viknarajah last week issued open warrant on the suspect when he failed to appear in court, legal sources said. more..

Mar 31 (TN) �The Elections Commissioner has agreed that voters in LTTE held areas in the northeast would be given an opportunity to exercise their franchise. However, preventing them from voting on the polling day would pose serious problems,� said the EU EOM Chief Observer, Mr.John Cushnahan, more..

Mar 31 (TN) The Jaffna High Court Judge, Mr.K.P.S.Varatharajah, Tuesday imposed fine on 39 Indian boatmen who had been indicted for poaching in the Sri Lankan territorial waters. Each accused was ordered to pay a fine of fifty thousand rupees in default to serve five years rigorous imprisonment, which has been suspended for a period of ten years, more..