Jan 30 (CI) Australia's depth is being closely analysed in the wake of another international retirement and the next tier did not do much to ease the immediate worries as the Sri Lankans defeated the Prime Minister's XI by four wickets. The visiting bowlers floored some of Australia's best emerging talent for 152 in 38 overs on a springy pitch before Tillakaratne Dilshan guided them past a handful of mid-innings setbacks. more..

Jan 30 (IFJ) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) warns that the safety of journalists in Sri Lanka is in serious jeopardy as several serious attacks and anti-media statements by government officials demonstrate a lack of respect for the value of media freedom in the country. The IFJ joins the Free Media Movement (FMM), the Sri Lankan Working Journalists� Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), more..

Jan 30 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels blamed troops for a roadside bomb that killed 17 people, most of them children, on a school bus on Tuesday, but a military spokesman denied the accusation. The Tigers, fighting for an independent state for minority Tamils, said the blast occurred in the northwestern district of Mannar where heavy clashes between soldiers and rebels have been reported since a six-year truce was scrapped on Jan. 16. more..

Jan 30 (SV) A CREDIT card scam at a Crossens garage could be linked to a Sri Lankan terrorist group. Shouel Miah, 24, of Cobden Road, High Park, was jailed for eight months in October for his part in the crime and police are still hunting another two men. The two fraudsters, who have been linked to Sri Lankan terrorist group the Tamil Tigers, are wanted by eight forces across England. more..

Jan 30 (IANS) Sri Lanka has formally proposed that the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) be held here from July 27 to Aug 3. But independent political observers wonder if the political and security situation in the island will be conducive to holding the summit as proposed. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced in Kandy earlier this week that the meeting of the South Asian heads of government would be held between July 27 and Aug 3. more..

Jan 30 (IANS) Sri Lankan journalists are going through a trying period. Government leaders are taking a hard line on media freedom, with even senior media persons facing death threats and murderous assaults. Media watchdogs, both national and international, have publicised serious incidents of intimidation by the state and other agencies directed against media organisations. But President Mahinda Rajapaksa denies any repression. more..

Jan 30 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels said they have beaten back a major offensive by government forces on the northern Jaffna peninsula. The LTTE said they resisted a pre-dawn three-pronged assault in the area, one of several areas from where government troops are trying to push into the rebels' northern mini-state. "A Sri Lankan attempt to attack the LTTE forward defence lines along Kilali, Muhamalai and Nagarkovil in Jaffna... has been thwarted by LTTE defenders," more..

Jan 30 (PTI) Sri Lankan security forces have been put on alert here over the possibility of bomb attacks by the LTTE following recovery of five kilogram of explosives from a vehicle bound for the capital from a rebel-dominated area. As the army is engaged in intense clashes with the Tamil Tigers in the embattled northern region, it is highly possible that the LTTE might try to carry out explosions in Colombo, defence officials said on wednesday. more..

Jan 30 (AP) Tamil Tiger fighters and government troops fought a fierce battle with tanks, mortars and artillery in northern Sri Lanka early Wednesday, hours after the guerrillas accused undercover government forces of killing 18 civilians in a roadside bombing. The fighting was the latest eruption of violence since the government announced it was pulling out of a 2002 cease-fire - long ignored by both sides - earlier this month. more..

Jan 31 (UPI) The prospect of escalated war in Sri Lanka looms larger than ever on the horizon. The expectations of a breakthrough by the All Party Representatives Committee in the near future have all but ended. This committee was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa a year and a half ago to find a consensual political solution to the ethnic conflict. It held out a measure of hope for a more peaceful alternative, but such hopes have come to an end, at least in the present phase. more..

Jan 31 (M&C) Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the United Nations about a roadside bomb attack on a school bus allegedly carried out by the army in the north-western part of the country. The attack killed 20 people - 12 of them children. The head of the rebel movement's political wing, B Nadesan, in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said civilians were being deliberately targeted. more..

Jan 31 (SLW) The first wave of Muslims to arrive in Sri Lanka came from West Asia. Therefore let us briefly look at the Muslim achievements in West Asia. Islam originated in the Arab Peninsula, where the Prophet Mohammed preached in 622 AD. Islamic religious teachings are held in the Koran and the Islamic social life is guided by the Islamic Sharia Law. The Arabs, once converted to Islam, went on an expansionist spree which eventually swallowed up Egypt, Syria, Persia, Iraq and finally, in 711 AD, Spain. more..

Jan 31 (SLW) Fifteen years ago, a notorious Thai Buddhist monk told the Bangkok press that "it is not sinful to kill a Communist." He later modified his statement, saying, "to kill communism or communist ideology is not a sin." He claimed that he did not encourage people to kill others. Nevertheless, he confessed that his nationalist feelings were more important than his Buddhist practice. more..

Jan 31 (LG) These letters recovered from female Tigers died recently in Mannar and Welioya. One Daya Nagainila, an LTTE woman wrote to her mother, father and the family while she was on the LTTE frontline at Uyilankulam, Mannar on 9th January 2008, just a few days before her death. Two of these letters written in Tamil, translated into English. "Mummy, I write this to tell you I am well with the blessings of the God. Mamma, Papa, don't worry about me. Mamma, don't miss your meals. more..

Jan 31 (LG) Sixty years is a little more than three generations from the time Sri Lanka became an �independent� Dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations. It is also 35 years since we became a republic within that Commonwealth. It is time for us to take stock of what we, as a Nation, have done with that �independence� that we gained from our former colonial overlord, especially in comparison with other colonial territories that gained independence after World War II ended in 1945. more..

Jan 31 (LG) The LTTE Political Wing head B. Nadesan has called on the international community, particularly the UN, to recognise areas under rebel control as a separate state, the LTTE Peace Secretariat said in a statement. According to the statement, �Just three weeks ago on 4 January, in an aerial bombing of Uppupukulam village in the Mullaithivu district, seven children ranging in age from 3 to 16 were among those injured. more..

Jan 31 (LD) The President has decided to effect a minor cabinet reshuffle before the January 04th Independence Day celebrations, a spokesman for Temple Trees said. A discussion regarding the composition of the new cabinet is presently under way at Temple Trees. The president has already chosen his brother and National List MP Basil Rajapaksa to be the Highways Minister. If that is done so, Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle has demanded that he be given the Port and Aviation portfolio. more..

Jan 31 (LD) The top management of Wijaya Newspapers Ltd. has decided not to publish the �Guruda Vigrahaya� weekly political column in its �Lankadeepa� newspaper today following pressure from the Presidential Secretariat. Written by popular political analyst Upul Joseph Fernando, �Guruda Vigrahaya� has been a well-read article among political enthusiasts. According to reports reaching �Lankadissent�, tomorrow�s article was to elaborate on certain actions of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. more..

Jan 31 (AFP) A Thai fabric designer has unveiled a new line of saffron-coloured robes infused with bug repellent to keep mosquitoes from biting Buddhist monks, a company announced. Wisan Wanasaksrisakul, managing director of Thai Covenant Co Ltd said the robes, which have been soaked with a herbal bug repellent, will eventually be sold for export to other Buddhist countries around Asia. more..

Jan 31 (IANS) Sri Lanka Wednesday denied responsibility for a bus blast in the island's rebel-held north that killed 18 civilians including 12 children. But the Tamil Tigers have told the UN that the army committed the outrage. 'The blast took place in an area controlled by the LTTE terrorists. Our troops do not operate there,' the government's defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said here. more..

Jan 31 (NPI) Tamil Nadu Wednesday announced stern measures against political outfits openly expressing support to the banned Tamil Tigers group of Sri Lanka, virtually banning all such activity. The government, however, did not name any political party or organisation backing the cause of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been banned in India since 1992. more..

Jan 31 (NPI) A Central Institute of Classical Tamil is to come up in Chennai to preserve and develop one of the world's oldest and most widely spoken languages. A cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday gave its approval to a proposal by Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters here. more..

Jan 31 (GV) The huge, busy conurbation of Anudharapura�once a sacred city�has become the major transit centre for military forces en route to and from the current war zones. The ancient archeologically important ruins for which Anudharapura is famous are dwarfed by the sprawling modern developments. An informal economy has grown up in which small traders sell the debris of militarism: single T56 bullets for 15 rupees each. more..

Jan 31 (LG) The cyclical politics of Sri Lanka are again at cross roads. The choice before the Sri Lankan Central Government is between expediency and statesmanship. The majoritarian complexes, as in the past, stand like an immovable rock limiting the options before the Government. Like President Premdasa earlier, the Central leadership is again seeking the company of a strange bed fellow, the JVP this time. more..

Jan 31 (PTI) Twelve Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy last week for entering the country's territorial waters, were ordered to be released by a court in the island nation today, officials here said. The fishermen, hailing from this island, would be released from a Jaffna prison and brought here tomorrow. Following the development, local fishermen, who have been boycotting fishing activities since last week demanding the release of their colleagues, decided to withdraw their agitation. more..

Jan 31 (AT) Head of the LTTE Political Wing, B Nadesan in a letter written yesterday to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, has urged to consider recognizing Tamil sovereignty as a constructive approach to end the unending five decades long, large scale, and serious rights violations against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Nadesan also in the letter called UN Secretary General�s attention to the massacre of eighteen Tamils including twelve children traveling in a bus. more..

Jan 31 (AT) Sri Lanka Army strongly denied that it did not have any hand in the alleged assassination of eleven school children and twenty civilians in Periyamadhu area, close to the holy Madhu shrine in an explosion triggered by the troops on last Tuesday. According to a press release, Army said that the latest LTTE transmissions, closely monitored and transcribed by members of the Security Forces, now consolidating in and around Mannar areas bringing humiliating defeats to the terrorists, more..

Jan 31 (AT) Those governing a country must adhere to a set of rules that govern their own conduct in public affairs; governance however is bound to be criticized by those politically opposed to the party in power. Hence is the necessity for a national policy to be continued from government to government. A national policy has to be made by like minded politicians and in a parliament where there are differing political ideologies it makes this task difficult; this is not impossible in Sri Lanka where the two major democratic parties do not diverge to a great extent. more..

Jan 31 (AT) Photographer Rena Bass Forman describes her work as an attempt �to illuminate, in a poetic manner, the inner landscape of Sri Lanka as seen through its temples, trees, flowers, stone and water�. She speaks of her photographs as her �offerings for peace to the beautiful people of Sri Lanka�. John Beebe, who has spent a year in Sri Lanka, brings out the theme of religious tolerance through his photographs � �spiritual life, in all its diverse forms, hums in Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 31 (UCAN) While Tamil tsunami survivors on the Jaffna peninsula thank the Church for newly built houses, they fear being caught between rebel and government forces if fighting resumes. "Thank God we escaped the tsunami, but we are scared about a different tsunami, a civil war," one resident of a fishing village told UCA News. The villager belongs to one of 153 tsunami-affected families who recently received newly built Caritas homes in the Point Pedro area but are afraid to live in the homes due to the military presence nearby. more..

Jan 31 (AHRC) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the alleged assault of three men after illegal arrest by Galgamuwa police on 25 November 2007 in Sri Lanka. Police allegedly asked them to pay a bribe for release. One was released after paying whereas others refused. Others were forced to sign a statement and charged, which they were not aware. more..

Jan 31 (AHRC) A Sri Lankan police witness who went back on previous evidence given in court concerning the killing of a torture victim in Colombo was on Friday himself put in custody. Under cross-examination, T A L Jayashantha, a police officer, admitted that he had earlier given false evidence in court, contrary to a previous statement he had made identifying a vehicle that was related to the murder of Gerald Perera on 21 November 2004. more..

Jan 31 (AHRC) Today the ravages of the ethnic conflict are taking centre stage in the country, and the absence of good governance in general is marked. In this context, the agreement among the three relevant smaller political parties, the JVP, TNA and JHU, to fill the vacancy in the Constitutional Council is a positive development. The Organization of Professional Associations had recently recommended the retired Auditor General Mr S C Mayadunne as the nominee since more..

Jan 31 (TC) Sri Lanka turns sixty this Monday, February 4th. It has been in a single stage (albeit with many phases) of history from the year it turned 35, in 1983. For the past quarter century its destiny has been determined by the secessionist war. Now at sixty, the long war approaches its decisive peak, a highest stage of intensity which therefore also marks its last stage. The war has been a protracted one; a war of attrition. What is expected to be short by comparison, is its last stage. more..

Jan 31 (MB) A Joint-Statement titled �Abrogation of Ceasefire Agreement Will Escalate Spiral of Violence� has been published in the English & Sinhala newspapers on 28th & 29th January 2008. �The government�s decision to abrogate the Norwegian-facilitated Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed with the LTTE in 2002 is a matter of grave concern to the undersigned civil society organizations.� more..

Jan 31 (LT) Security Forces have been able to unearth210 more bullet proof kits from the ware house of the Anuradhapura branch of �People�s Aid�, the Norwegian INGO which was caught attempting to transport 68 such kits to be handed over to tiger organization. The information regarding the kits in the warehouse was revealed by the arrested members of the INGO apprehended with the 68 kits yesterday. Accordingly, the total number of bullet proof kits seized by the police is 278. more..

Jan 31 (SLW) Dilan Perera, Minister of Justice categorically rejected his own Govt.�s Defence Secretary�s statement which called for an imposition of state censorship on news and re-introduction of the draconian criminal defamation law which was earlier repealed by the UNP Govt. The Minister expressed this view when he addressed the Media at the Rupavahini Corp. on 28th Jan. more..

Jan 31 (SLW) The German Ambassador Mr.Jurgen Weerth met the JHU leadership on the 28th. The Ambassador called on the JHU leadership and convey the best wishers to the Hon. Minister Champika Ranawaka on his assumption as the Minister in charge of Environment & Natural Resources. When asked about the future role of the Co-chairs the Minister clarified that the local people in general are suspisious of the role played by the Europeans and instead would prefer Asian countries like India, Pakistan, China,Japan & Iran or even Russia. more..

Jan 31 (SLW) The plight of our people has been steadily reaching newer levels. And, after being an observer with a hands-off approach, I decided to do something about it. I became proactive - in small ways. As a mother of two young children living in Ottawa, Canada and having many commitments, it was not easy to change my inaction - but I did. I firmly believe now, that if we all do our little part and started working towards a common vision, that vision will and must materialize. more..

Jan 31 (LG) A suicide bomber exploded himself in Thirunaweli, Jaffna killing four and injuring another two. According to reports, all casualties are civilians. The incident occurred in a marketplace along Thrirunaweli- Kalliyankadu road at 11.25AM toady (31at). Meanwhile four black tigers were arrested by Vavuniya police in Irattaperiyakulam on the 27th of this month. more..

Jan 31 (LG) Since the commencement of the year 2008, Sri Lanka has been actively engaged in a series of negotiations in trade and investment agreements with key countries from within and outside the region, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo. The 11th round of Technical Level Negotiations with India on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Sri Lanka and India was held from 2 � 4 January 2008 in Colombo. more..

Jan 31 (LG) Does any one really understand our President? Anyone who don�t we can make them really understand him. He is Hon. Mahendra Percy Rajapakse, who is best known as President Mahinda Rajapakse. He is a God given President of Sri Lanka destined to lead our nation on the path of decline. He is the head of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka! He is the head of nation�s defence service!! He is head of nations finance!!! He has powers to control the nation�s parliament. more..

Jan 31 (LG) Military theoreticians have long established some fundamental principles of war, which have remained unchanged for several thousand years. These principles are incorporated into modern warfare as the art of war became the science of war. The Principles of War (1) and the adherence to it by the Army and LTTE can be analyzed as follows; Objective- Direct every military operation toward a clearly defined, decisive, and attainable objective. more..

Jan 31 (LBO) Sri Lanka's inflation rose by 3.0 percent in January driving 12-month inflation to 20.8 percent on a revised index of consumer prices in Colombo, the government's statistics office said. Another index of Colombo prices which has a higher weight of food and is based on the consumption pattern of working class households showed a sharper 5.2 percent increase in inflation to 21.6 percent. more..

Jan 31 (LBO) Internet users in Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries may see their internet connections slowing, as a submarine cable in the Mediterranean sea has been damaged, a report said. "It is a problem off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt. For some reason ships were asked to anchor in a different place to normal - 8.3km from the beach," a spokesman for Flag Telecom, the owner of the cable was quoted by The Register as saying. more..

Jan 31 (LBO) Sri Lankan villagers are paying a high price for off-grid power while city folk are getting billions in power subsidies from a state power utility, an activist has charged. The activist also criticized a World Bank loan project � the only significant fund that has come forward to fund such rural initiatives � for charging high interest rates on loans given to village communities to develop their hydro-resources. more..

Jan 31 (LD) Two days ago, the government followed the footsteps of the Zimbabwean government when it cancelled the Consumer Price Index under soaring inflation conditions to conceal the skyrocketing consumer prices from the public, says UNP MP Kabeer Hashim. At a media briefing today (Jan. 31st), Hashim said that the Department of Census and Statistics cancelled the Sri Lanka Consumer Price Index that was introduced under the ruling UPFA government. more..

Jan 31 (LD) A group of thugs had stormed into the flat of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation employee, Duleep Dushyantha on Jan. 29th and threatened his mother at gunpoint, reports say. Two persons, who arrived at his apartment in the St. Anthony�s flats in Colpetty, has inquired as to whether the SLRC employee was home. On learning that he was not, they have verbally abused his mother, threatened her at gunpoint and searched his room. more..

Jan 31 (LD) Minister of Cultural Affairs Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has removed Dharmasena Pathiraja from the post of President of the Arts Council of Sri Lanka, and also from the membership of the institution. The minister has notified Pathiraja of his dismissal in a letter, thanking him for his service, but had not mentioned the reason for the removal. On January 25th, Vice President of the Arts Council Walter Marasinghe convened a meeting of the membership to discuss the matter, more..

Jan 31 (GDI) At a conference to review the Kandy Development Programme and arrangements being made for the SAARC leaders' summit in Kandy, President Mahinda Rajapaksa directed that the Mathata-Thitha programme (Full Stop to Aalcoholism) be strictly implemented in the country. President Rajapaksa was addressing the officials of the Excise Department and the Police who were present at the Conference. more..