August 04th 2006

Hansen Coming
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Norwegian Peace Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka to start immediate talks with the Sri Lanka government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The meetings scheduled earlier than the current escalation of Mavil Aru dispute to discuss about the resconstruction of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) due to the withdrawal of European Union countries will also concentrate mainly on how to end the violence.


Tiger lose 50 in heavy fighting
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
At least 50 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam terrorists were killed and 80 others wounded when the terrorist group attacked Kattaparichchan, Selvanagar, Mahindapura, and Muttur army detachments simultaneously, the Sri Lanka Army said.

All four army detachments in Trincomalee were attacked in the morning hours of August 2. Independent reports said the strongly motivated army troops fought vigorously despite LTTE reports citing civilian sources said that Muttur detachment was overrun. Similar reports were also published about the other three army camps. Further reports said they have occupied one kilometer inside Muttur town. The army also reiterated that Thoppur and Gandhinagar were also under their control.


LTTE fires at hospital
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam terrorists(LTTE) fired mortar and artillery shells at the maternity and female wards of the Muttur hospital.

The firing of the artillery shells and mortars have injured 16 civilians including an infant in the maternity ward and one civilian at the female ward.


A reply to US embassy in Colombo
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The New York Society for United Sri Lankans in a letter addressed to Mr. Evans Owens of the US Embassy in Colombo said if the laws banning the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the US allow a front organization of the terrorists to teach Tamil students of New York such doctrines as ethnic cleansing as correct the proscribing law must be a real ass and a real hollow one.

The Society in a letter signed by its President Sumith DeSilva queried from Owens why the students in the sports meet were carrying the atrocious Tiger flag of the most vicious Prabhakaran instead of a Lion flag, a dharma charka of India or a Union Jack if the organizers did not represent the terrorists and asked whether US embassies would have tolerated if the flag of Al Queda was carried in front of the march past.


In Sri Lanka, families struggle to escape
They slipped out of the village and into the jungle after dark, whole families abandoning prized fishing boats and what little else they had to escape forced military training at the hands of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Dozens of others haven't across this seaside sliver of eastern Sri Lanka, where aid workers and villagers say the Tigers and a renegade rebel faction are abducting children and young men. The Tigers are also openly training civilians to fight. (Montreal Gazette)


Navy defeats effort to defeat passenger liner
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Sri Lanka Navy successfully defeated a major sea attack using suicide boats by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to sink an unarmed passenger liner carrying 854 army personnel.

No harm has been done to the Dora craft that was guarding the passenger liner as reported in the LTTE media, navy sources said.


Battle for waterway threatens to reignite Sri Lankan civil war
The battle between Sri Lankan forces and Tamil separatists for control of a waterway near the country's north-eastern coast threatened to escalate into a full-scale war as jets hit rebel positions and a fierce naval battle saw shells traded in the port of Trincomalee.

In some of the heaviest fighting since the Tamil Tigers surrounded the reservoir that supplies nearby villages with water for drinking and irrigation 12 days ago, the Sri Lankan forces launched an offensive with Israeli-built Kfir jets carrying out bombing sorties and soldiers advancing through minefields into rebel territory. (The Gurdian Intenational)


Consolidating power with the aim of opening and maintaining water supply in the future
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Sri Lanka Army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said that Sri Lankan army troops were consolidating its power around the closed irrigation sluice Mavil Aru in order to reach the closed sluice gates and open water for the aggrieved farmers who have been without water for the last 13 days.

The troops successfully moved forward amidst intense mortar fire of the enemy and lost one soldier in the effort he said.


Sri Lankan warplanes, artillery pound rebels after bus blast
Sri Lankan warplanes and artillery have pounded Tiger rebel positions after one of the bloodiest days in the island's recent history left 67 combatants dead and made a mockery of a ceasefire.

Official said Israeli-built Kfir jets carried out bombing sorties around dawn Tuesday near the Maavilaru irrigation canal in northeastern Trincomalee district which the rebels blocked 10 days ago, sparking bitter fighting. (Turkish Press)


Sweden Pulls Out of Sri Lanka
Sweden decided Tuesday to pull out its 15-strong cease-fire monitoring team from Sri Lanka, joining Finland and Denmark who last week announced similar moves.

Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson told Swedish Radio he saw no other option but for the Swedish observers to leave the island, where fighting between government troops and separatist Tamils has escalated. (Radio Sweden)


Tigers hit Sri lanka's main naval port as battle for canal heats up
Tiger rebels have shelled Sri Lanka's main navy base, killing four sailors and wounding 30, while warplanes bombed guerrilla positions as a bloody battle for a disputed waterway entered a seventh day.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) used 122-millimeter artillery to target the base at Trincomalee as a ferry carrying 854 troops was about to dock there, the military said Tuesday. (Turkish Press)


Tamil rebels target Sri Lankan troop ship, battle for rebel-held wWaterway continues
Sri Lanka's government says Tamil rebels have attacked a troop transport ship in the northeast, while the air force launched a new offensive to free a rebel-held waterway.

Reports from the region and a pro-rebel web site, Tamilnet.com, say at least four sailors were killed when the ship carrying more than 800 troops came under heavy mortar fire Tuesday. (Voice of America)


Sri Lanka vows to take control of rebel-held waterway
Sri Lanka vowed on Tuesday to militarily settle a water supply dispute the Tamil Tiger rebels say has reignited a civil war, hours after one of the deadliest ambushes since a 2002 truce killed 17 people.

Military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said troops, locked in a battle with the Tigers on Monday that killed seven soldiers and at least three guerrillas in the country's east, would seek to consolidate the area, despite rebel warnings of retaliation. (REUTERS)


LTTE kills 15 army soldiers one civilian driver
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam exploded a claymore mine targeting a Sri Lanka Army bus killing 18 soldiers.

The army said in a mid night news announcement that the bus was attacked about 10.45 at night, July 31 on Alla- kantale road close to Serunuwara in the Eastern Province where the terrorist group has stopped water to about 45,000 civilians and the government was attempting to open the closed sluice gates by military power.


Sections of the Sangha criticise JHU for their role at Mavil Aru
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
A section of the Maha Sangha has criticized the attempt of the Jathika Hela Urumaya Buddhist monks to have attempted to take the agitated farmers deprived of water to the closed sluice gates of Mavil Aru endangering their lives.

They said it was wrong on their part to have attempted to lead the angry farmers to an area previously laid down with mine fields by the terrorists who closed the sluice gates.


LTTE fights back to prevent opening of Mavil Aru Canal
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Sri Lankan troops were fighting their way through heavy resistance in their advance to open the closed sluice gates of the Mavil Aru irrigation canal that had been closed by the terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), both Sri Lanka government and terrorist sources said.

The Sri Lankan troops advancing clearly with the limited military goal of opening the closed irrigation canal had to kill 35 LTTE terrorists while losing five of their own men, in heavy resistance, Sri Lanka Army sources said.


Mavil Aru irrigation was blocked to protest EU ban against them, LTTE says
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Sri Lanka English daily, Island quoted a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokes man as saying that they closed the Mavil Aru irrigation channel depriving 35,000 acres of farmland water to protest against the ban against them as a terrorist group by the Eruopean Union.

The newspaper in their front page lead said the LTTE spokesman told their newspaper, "We closed the Mavil Aru anicut to show our disapproval of the European Union ban" Anicut is a sluice gate of an irrigation channel.


Army reaches to a spot 10 minutes away from blocked irrigation channel

The Sri Lanka Army’s second in command Major General Nanda Mallawaarchchi

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Thousands of ground troops with air cover have reached at a spot about ten minutes walk under normal circumstances away from the closed irrigation channel in Mavil Aru by the terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said Minister Keheliya Rambukwella ,July 30, in Colombo.

Rambukwella, the Defence spokesman of Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers said he could not assess how long it would take to go the short distance to the sluice gates of the irrigation channel since the LTTE could have buried land mines, booby traps and other explosive devices like claymore mines on the way to the destination.


SL moves troops, LTTE warns of fierce resistance
Hundreds of troops of the Sri Lankan Army moved on Sunday to capture the Mavil Aaru dam in Trincomalee district from the LTTE, even as the rebel group warned that it would offer "fierce resistance."

The army action, preceded by aerial bombing of the dam area on Saturday, was meant to open the sluice gates of the dam and resume the supply of water to about 15, 000 families, cultivating 30,000 acres of land in that area. (Hindustan Times)


Colonel Banu is till alive, proxy party says
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The man called Colonel Banu , speculated by some as seriously injured or dead by the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing of the Thenham Conference and Military training center off Batticaloa is not dead or injured after all, according to a news broadcast by the Sinhala Service of the BBC, Sandeshaya.

The July 30 broadcast said, at a funeral of seven LTTE cadres at Tharawai and Kandiyadi Colonel Banu who is hated by the Sinhalese as the butcher of Kebithigollewa- the man who planned the double claymore bomb attack on a civilian bus killing 65 passengers mostly of women and children- was present to pay his last respects to seven LTTE cadres who died of an air raid.


Sri Lanka troops advance on Tigers
Sri Lankan troops launched their first deliberate advance on Tamil Tiger rebels since a 2002 ceasefire on Sunday, moving to secure a rebel-held water supply as government jets bombed suspected groups of Tiger fighters.

More than 800 people have been killed so far this year, with the closing of a water channel from an eastern rebel-held area to government-held farms prompting a surge in violence in recent days including air and artillery strikes. (REUTERS)


Thenham Center in Batticaloa destroyed and 50 Tigers killed

LTTE"s Thenaham conference Hall

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Ministry of Defense web site claimed more than 50 cadres of the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were killed and a similar number injured when the Sri Lanka Air Force Kfir jets bombed a Tamil Tiger military Training Center that has also been used as a conference hall at Thenaham, North West of Batticaloa.

The Defense website said civilians were forced to take military training at the center and many LTTE leaders were present at the center to discuss about the planned event immediately after when the jets bombed the center.


Thousands of troops arrive at Kallar to open the closed canal
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Thousands of Sri Lanka troops arrived at Kallar junction and Sri Lanka Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Nanda Mallawaarachchi was visiting the area instructing last minute preparations while the Sri Lanka Air force jets pounded LTTE camps around Mavil Aru preparing an offensive to open an Irrigation canal that had been closed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE).

To prepare the ground for the troops to enter the closed sluice gates Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jets July 29 flew three bombing sorties over the Mavilaru area south of Trincomalee district.


Tamil tigers bury Kathirveli camp air raid victims
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The funeral of seven LTTE cadres who were killed by Sri Lanka Air Force jets at Kathirveli was held at the LTTE cemetery at Alalakulam, reported the Tamil Net, the news website controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The report said LTTE’s Trincomalee commander Vasanthan Trincomale Political head of the LTTE S. Elilan led the funeral procession.


Denmark and Finland intimidated by terrorists is unacceptable

Head of Sri Lanka’s Peace Secretariat Dr. Palitha Cohona

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
For a sovereign nation to be intimidated by a recognized terrorist group and withdraw is something which is unacceptable said Dr. Palitha Cohona , head of Sri Lanka’s Peace Secretariat commenting on the withdrawal of Finland and Denmark from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

He was being interviewed by the BBC’s Sinhala service Sandeshaya on the withdrawal of the two European Union members from the monitoring mission. Cohona said he could not comment in detail since the decision of these European Union nations have not been conveyed officially.


Sri Lanka pair break world record
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene fell for 374, 26 short of Brian Lara's Test record but did share in a new landmark on an amazing day in Colombo.

Jayawardene set a new partnership record of 624 with Kumar Sangakkara, who hit 35 fours in 287.The skipper continued, but one short of Lara's second highest score of 375 and six behind Matthew Hayden's 380, he was bowled by one that kept a touch low.(BBC)


Sri Lankan air force kills eight Tamil rebels in bombing attack
Sri Lankan rebels say government air force jets have carried out deadly bombing raids against Tamil Tiger positions for a fourth day in a battle over water supplies.

A pro-rebel Web site said the Tamil rebels have reported eight dead and four wounded in the bombing Saturday. (Voice of America)


Summary justice of a Sun God!
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The two little daughters of Mrs. Sundaralingam Pooneshwari were tiny trots. They went for a bath with their mother, as they always loved to go, to Kalapa Ela, a cool stream of water, to have little fun by playing and cool them off in this hot weather in Bharathi Puram in Trincomalee.

Their fun did not last long. Two great warriors of Velupillai Prabhakaran, known as the LTTE’s pistol gang suddenly emerged from the nearby thicket well armed with their great weapons, the loaded pistols. They were wearing face masks too.


Sri Lanka truce dead in all but name: chief monitor
A four-year ceasefire between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tiger rebels is dead in all but name and a low intensity war continues to rage, the head of the Nordic mission that oversees the truce said on Saturday.

Neither the government nor the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are willing to compromise to try to halt violence that has killed more than 800 people this year, and the military is being heavy-handed, said retired Swedish Major General Ulf Henricsson, who heads the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. (REUTERS)


LTTE kill 3 police officers in the East
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorists intensified its activities in the troubled Eastern Province and killed three police officers in two separate incidents. Among the victims were two Tamil police officers.

Police Constable Jayarasa Jayabala Rajendran was abducted while he was going to work at Thirukkovil Police station from his home on a bicycle.


Finland, Denmark to withdraw Sri Lanka observers
Finland and Denmark say they will recall their cease-fire monitors from Sri Lanka, sparking fears of increased violence between the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The announcements comes in response to the rebels' demand that monitors from European Union member states Sweden, Denmark and Finland leave the country after the 25-nation bloc added the LTTE to its list of "terrorist" organisations in May. (ABC News)


Tamil Tigers kill 3 more at Kebithigollewa
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Once again the , the terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam diverted their attention to Kebithigollewa and killed three home guards returning from work not very far away from the spot they killed 65 innocent civilians recently.

Military sources said B. Thilakertane(37) of Dutuwewa, and G. Sunil Gunawardena (28) and Sarath Kumara Dissanayaka (30) of Kele Puliyankulama were killed by the detonation of a deadly claymore mine when all three were returning home by one motor bicycle after work.


Thousands converge on kallar and LTTE starts firing mortars
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerillas fired mortar shells to Kallar village , Kallar school and Sri Lanka Army camp close to Kallar Junction where about thousand angry farmers have converged to protest against the rebel group closing the sluice gates of an irrigation canal that supply water to about 35,000 acres of farm land.

The restive farmers have come from many villages to protest against the action of the LTTE who are depriving them of water for the eighth consecutive day pushing most of their rice fields to the verge of ruination. Many use the irrigation water for drinking purposes too.


Suicide bomb attack against Tamil Tigers in Eastern Province
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Suicide bomb attack against Tamil Tigers in Eastern Province.

The suspected suicide attack had occurred inside the LTTE controlled territory, Eastern military sources said.


Finland to pull out Sri Lanka observers
Finland said it would recall its ceasefire monitors from Sri Lanka, sparking fears of increased violence between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels on the wartorn island.

The Finnish foreign ministry announced it would withdraw its 10 observers on security grounds before a September 1 deadline set by the rebels for all European Union ceasefire monitors to leave. (Yahoo News/AFP)


Sri Lanka water dispute rages
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers fired mortars at army positions in the island's restive east on Friday, officials said, as the military again warned it would send in ground troops to take control of a rebel-held reservoir.

Mortars fell near an army camp and a school in the district of Trincomalee near the site of the disputed water tank, but no-one was injured, Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. (Scotsman/REUTERS)


Security forces are ready to take all necessary action
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Defense spokesman of the cabinet Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the nation’s security forces will take all necessary steps to supply water to the 15,000 people who have been deprived of water by the closing of an irrigation canal by the liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Interviwed by the BBC Sinhala Service the Minister refused to elaborate the necessary steps.


Air force destroys Tigers second air strip in Mulathivu and kills six
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Sri Lanka Air force fighter jets in a second round of an attack bombed the new airstrip the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is alleged to be building in the East of Mullaithivu near the port town of Trincomalee.

The Sri Lanka Army said its fighter craft, July 27, struck selected Tamil Tiger targets in the East of Mullaithivu, in the troubled Eastern Province of the country where the LTTE was constructing another illegal airstrip, in a surprise attack.


LTTE kills 2 and injures 3 in morning attacks in Jaffna
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during morning attacks intended mostly for the security forces by claymore mines and fire attacks in Jaffna killed at least two civilians, injured two civilians and one soldier, the Sri Lanka Army said.

Among those injured during this morning mayhem, July 27, was the Vice Principal of the town’s leading educational institute, the Jaffna Hindu College, Mr. Krishnakumar who was on his way to the school about 7.25 a.m. the sources said.


Norwegian envoy to visit Sri Lanka in attempt to revive peace monitoring
A Norwegian envoy will visit Sri Lanka next week in an attempt to resuscitate peace monitoring efforts after Tamil Tiger rebels demanded the withdrawal of European Union members, an official said on Wednesday.

Jon Hannsen-Bauer will try to persuade Tamil guerrillas to drop demands for the withdrawal of EU officials who are part of a five-nation Nordic truce monitoring mission overseeing a shaky cease-fire between the rebels and the Government, said Erik Ivo Nurnberg, spokesman for the Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka. (The Hindu)


Sri Lanka Air Force Bombs Verugal Aru terrorist Camps
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Immediately after the government promised protesting Eastern farmers that it would intervene in getting water for them that had been closed forcibly by the terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the Sri Lanka Air force bombed limited areas targeting Verugal Aru to clear the area for irrigation engineers to reopen the closed sluice gates.

A tension filled atmosphere was created since July 20 when the terrorists of the LTTE forcibly closed the gates of the anicut that takes water from a tributary of Sri Lanka’s biggest river, Mahaveli to about 35,000 acres of rice fields and other seasonal crops.



Rally the Nation to defeat terrorism! – Sri Lankans in USA writes to President

Representatives from Sri Lankan Patriots of U.S.A hand over the petition to President Mahinda Rajapaksha at the Presidential Palace. The petition was signed by thousands of Sri Lankans living in the USA. Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara also in the picture.

Sri Lankan Patriots, an organization of Sri Lankans in the USA has sent a letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse appealing him to be dedicated for the sovereignty and protection of the Motherland.

The letter calls upon the President to take measures to investigate regarding the local and foreign organizations that directly and indirectly sustain tiger terrorism and to take necessary steps to curb their actions.(LankaTruth)


How Sabaratnam and 150 other TELO fighters were burnt alive by the LTTE
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP and the current leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) a constituent party of the TNA that has now become subservient to the LTTE Addressed a well attended “Black July” commermorative rally in London’s Hyde Park. In his speech he described how two previous leaders of TELO Kuttimani and Thangathurai were killed in a Welikada Prison riot by his fellow inmates in 1983.

But he miserably failed to mention how the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran with his cousin the late Kittu burned alive TELO’s former leader “Tall” Sri Sabaratnam and 150 TELO fighters who surrendered to them after a fight. Indian newspapers like Times of India very reliably recorded this event describing how Sabaratnam and his fighters were tied to trees , firewood placed around them and burnt to death alive.



SLAF conduct air raids in east
The Sri Lankan Air Force carried out air raids on Tamil Tiger rebel held area in the east.

Planning and Implementation Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the attacks were "intended to help irrigation engineers gain access to the Maavil Aru canal". (BBC Sinhala)


Govt.-JVP discuss forming broad front
The JVP has come forward to form a broad front to confront the present situation the country has come up with as a result of the national question. Already the JVP has begun talks with President Mahnda Rajapakse and the SLFP regarding this

This was revealed at the media meeting held by the JVP today. JVP Leader Mr. Somawansa Amarasinghe, General Secretary Mr. Tilvin Silva, Information Secretary Mr. Wimal Weerawansa and Members of Political Bureau Messrs Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Lal Kanthe were present at the meeting. (LankaTruth)


International efforts to revive Sri Lanka-rebel talks underway
A flurry of international activity was underway in order to revive Sri Lanka's stalled peace bid with the Tamil Tiger rebels, a government minister said here Wednesday.

Keheliya Rambukwella, the Minister of Policy Planning and the government's defense spokesman said that the Norwegian special peace envoy was due in the island later this week. (People's Daily)


UNHCR head in Vanni
The UN high commissioner for refugees met the Tamil Tiger leadership to assess the needs of the growing number of internally displaced people.

"We need to ensure human rights of the internally displaced people," the high commissioner said after discussions with LTTE political chief SP Tamilselvan in rebel held Kilinochchi. (BBC Sinhala)


Two terrorists get killed in jaffna
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Two suspected LTTE terrorists missed their target of a deadly grenade and got killed by two alert army soldiers, police reports from Jaffna said.

The unlucky rebels were riding a red colored Bajaj motor bicycle at Urimpipar junction in Jaffna and swooped past the soldiers throwing the deadly grenade.



Civil commotion at irrigation canal closure
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Venerable Seruwila Saranakitti, the Chief Sangha nayaka of the Eastern and Thamnkadu areas said he will not be holding the fast in protest against the LTTE stopping irrigation water to thousands of acres of rice fields and other crops since government has promised to intervene and open up the irrigation sluices at the anicut.

Depriving water to thousands of farmers from July 20 2006 the terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam closed the sluice gates.



EPDP local govt member killed by LTTE
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam shot dead another person linked with their main opposition Tamil party the Eelam People’s Democratic Party(EPDP), barely 12 hours before they gunned down the party leaders coordinating secretary.

The Tamil Tigers gunned down an elected member of a local government body in the Jaffna District belonging to the party headed by Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda.



Long wait for thousands still stranded in Lebanon
"One at a time, one at a time," screamed the guards at Sri Lanka's embassy in Beirut, shoving back crowds of people waving passports, desperate to get inside.

There are some 80,000 Sri Lankans working in Lebanon and thousands have descended on the small embassy a 20 minute drive from downtown Beirut, seeking help to flee Israel's bombs. (ABC News/REUTERS)


Sri Lankans to 'stay in Lebanon'
Sri Lanka is advising its citizens trapped in Lebanon by Israel's military assault to stay where they are.

Labour relations minister Athauda Senevirathne said most Sri Lankans in Lebanon wanted to remain, and urged relatives not to press them to leave. (BBC)


Protection of children in war must be strengthened
With over 250,000 boys currently exploited as child soldiers and tens of thousands of girls subject to sexual violence, it was time for the United Nations Security Council to step up its efforts to protect such children by acting against their violators, UN officials told the 15-member body today.

“The initial phase of the monitoring and reporting mechanisms is now over,” Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan for children and armed conflict, said, referring to measures put in place, through a landmark 2005 Council resolution, to report on violations of children’s rights by either Government or rebel forces during conflicts. (Scoop)


Seargent killed and two more injured in a claymore attack
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Staff Sergeant P. K. D. Alwis was killed and two other soldiers were severely injured in a LTTE claymore blast in Vavuniya.

The army said suspected LTTE terrorists waiting in ambush activated the claymore explosion against a moving tractor in which Alwis and two more colleagues were traveling for administrative duties.



Tsunami shows need for complete warning system
Following last week’s tsunami that killed hundreds of people on the south-central coast of the Indonesian island of Java, the head of a United Nations regional development commission called today for more comprehensive coverage from the warning systems now being developed in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the devastating waves it created.

It is expected that the early warning towers and control system planned for the project would be put into operation on 26 December to commemorate the second anniversary of the tsunami in Sri Lanka. (Scoop)


Tamil Tigers cut a head of a home guard and runs away with it
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Waiting terrorists of the LTTE in the dark caught and dragged a home guard attached to a police post, severed his head with a sharp knife and took the head away in Trincomalee said Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe the Sri Lanka Army spokesman.

He said the victim in the ghastly act of the Tamil Tigers was a 27 year old home guard named Nissanka Rajith Bandara who walked away from his police post about 100 yards away for a call of nature at night when he met his killers.



President Rajapaksa seeks Indian help to solve Sri Lankan problem
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that India is the only country that could pursue Velupillai Prabhakaran , the elusive Tamil Tiger leader to sit down at a negotiating table to solve Sri Lanka’s national problem.

But he said it was an extremely difficult task to bring a man hiding in a jungle and not believing in democracy over to a negotiating table .



Sri Lanka seeks help for tens of thousands in Lebanon
Sri Lanka has sought help in evacuating thousands of workers trapped in Lebanon, amid claims by some housemaids their employers tried to stop them leaving by holding on to passports and wages.

Government officials Monday said most of the 80,000 Sri Lankans working in the Middle Eastern country -- mainly as housemaids, truck drivers and child-minders -- had opted to remain behind (Yahoo News/AFP)


Sri Lanka Muslims want early resumption of peace negotiation
The main political party for the minority Muslim community Sunday called for an early resumption of peace negotiations between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government.

Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), told reporters that his party was seriously concerned about the stalled nature of the Norwegian backed process aimed at ending the long drawn out separatist armed conflict. (People's Daily)


Devananda's Public relations man assassinated in Colombo
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
A Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam terrorist shot and killed the public relations man of Minister Douglas Devananda , EPDP sources said in Colombo.

Tamil Tiger assassin in the early hours of July 24 shot Maha Kanapathi Pillai, the public relations man of Social services and Social Welfare Minister of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government , police sources said.



LTTE closes down irrigation scheme
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have closed the Verugal irrigation anicut depriving thousands of Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim farmers water for their crops, reported the Sri Lanka Army.

The Verugal irrigation anicut , in Trincomalee District, in the strife torn Eastern Province in the country takes water from the river called Mavil Aru and supplies water to thousands of farmers in the district , the announcement said.



Despatching of refugees home breaks down in Lebanon
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Sri Lanka’s Lebanon ambassador M.A. Farrok admitted in a BBC’s Sinhala language service interview that the steady dispatch of war refugees to Sri Lanka has broken down after the first batch has been flown home.

He said after sending nearly 300 people home monetary difficulties faced by an international organization in sending them home, prior engagements of Sri Lankan Airline planes for different jobs and difficulty of reaching Southern areas of Lebanon have all contributed to the break down of dispatching refugees to Sri Lanka.



Jayalath Jayawardena grilled for visiting Daya Master
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, a close ally of party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was grilled by other UNP parliamentarians with heated accusations for visiting Daya Master , the Tamil Tiger propaganda man at the Apollo hospital when he made a controversial trip to Colombo to take treatment and obtain a true diagnosis of his heart following a massive stroke.

The widely circulated Sunday weekly “Irida Divaina” reported that the issue was raised by the UNP Members of Parliament Mano Wijeratne and Bandula Gunawardena and asked him why the UNP MP was visiting for hours with a well known terrorist leader of the country. When Jayalath Jayawardena was trying to reply there was a heated exchange of words between the Jayawardena and Wijeratna and Gunawardena. The leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was trying to settle the dispute and kept mysteriously silent about the issue.



LTTE arms surrender a ‘gigantic farce’
HL: North-east merger an ‘illegal by-pass’
President’s Counsel H.L. de Silva on Friday obtained leave from the Supreme Court to proceed with a fundamental rights action relating to the north east merger. In his opening submissions on Friday he said that the LTTE’s surrender of weapons under the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987 was "in reality a gigantic farce.’’

"It was manifest that there was no real or effective surrender of arms except for the token display of some rusty unserviceable weapons in the presence of then Defence Secretary General Sepala Atygalle,’’ he said. (The Sunday Island)


Srilanka refugees return from Lebanon penniless

Sri Lankan women, who were evacuated from Lebanon arrive at the airport in Colombo July 22 (photo by:Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi)

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The first 217 people arrived at Colombo’s International Airport escaping from Lebanon’s war were handed over five thousand Rupees (50 US Dollars) per adult and two thousand five hundred Rupees per child as pocket money to go home by the International Migrants Organization representatives.

The International Migrant’s Organization which has been coordinating with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Beirut and Caritas organization to bring home at least some of the stranded Sri Lankan citizens from Lebanon said they were expecting about 400 more people in the next flight at Katunayaka.



Sri Lankans demonstrate against US

Sri Lankan Muslim protesters burn mock Israeli and U.S. flags during a protest against the Israeli attacks in Lebanon, in Colombo July 21 (photo by:Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi)

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Hundreds of people shouting anti-American and Israeli slogans protesting against the innocent civilians being killed by the Israel bombing marched from Bambalapitiya mosque to the US Embassy in kollupitiya but was stopped by the police using barricades at the Kollupitiya junction, eye witnesses said.

The protesters organized by the Muslim United Liberation Front started their demonstration after finishing the Friday services at the mosque and began their march but stopped from proceeding at a spot few yards away from the embassy by the police who had erected iron barricades closing the Galled Road reaching Colombo from the south.



Sri Lanka keen to know truth about Mahabodhi tree
The Sri Lankan government is keen to learn the truth about a branch being cut off from a Buddhist holy tree in Bodh Gaya and has sent its ambassador to the Bihar town to taker a close look at the 110-year-old tree, an official said Saturday.

Ambassador to India C.R. Jayasinghe visited Bodh Gaya town, around 100 km from here Friday. He said he would submit a report to his government on what he had seen. (India eNews)


One dead, 3 hurt in roadside blast
A roadside bomb on Saturday killed a Sri Lankan soldier and wounded three others in northern Jaffna, in the latest attack blamed by the military on separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

The victims were on a road-clearing patrol when the bomb exploded. (The Times of India)


North and East demerger to be heard
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The fundamental rights petition filed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) requesting the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces was allowed by the Supreme Court to be heard before a bench of five judges.

The petition submitted by three parliamentarians of the Eastern Province said that the voters of the Eastern Province have been deprived of having a provincial council and they have been prevented from casting their votes at an election.



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

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


More than 3000 Sri Lankans stranded in Southern Lebanon
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
More than 3000 Sri Lankans are believed to be stranded in Sourthern Lebanon that is taking the main onslaught of Israeli bombing unable to reach their embassy in Beirut as the country’s roads and bridges have been devastated by the war.

Sri Lanka ambassador M. A. Farook in Beirut said only a handful of them were able to contact the embassy by phone and the embassy or organizations like Caritas the local Red Cross or the International Red Cross were not able to send vehicles to the heavily bombed areas to pick up the stranded Sri Lankans.



Tigers reject Swedish call to reconsider kicking out EU monitors
Tamil Tiger rebels have rejected a call from Sweden to reconsider a September 1 deadline for truce monitors from European Union member states to quit, a pro-rebel website said.

The Tamilnet.com website said Tigers told a visiting Swedish envoy that ceasefire monitors from EU member states Denmark, Finland and Sweden, which in May outlawed the Tigers, will have to quit by the deadline set by the rebels. (Turkish Press)


A dose of their own medicine for Tigers
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The LTTE controlled Tamil Net said the recent claymore explosion inside their territory near Mannar was an attack by the Sri Lanka Army’s Deep Penetration Unit.

According to them, the explosion has been targeted at a NGO vehicle and only the officials of the organization got minor injuries. The news items failed to explain why anybody would waste its precious resources and time and taking life threatening risks to target a NGO vehicle and inflict minor injuries!



Ranatunga quits ministry for cricket administration
Sri Lanka's World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga resigned as junior minister for tourism to devote time to the island nation's cricket administration.

Officials said Ranatunga, 42, sent his letter of resignation to President Mahinda Rajapakse giving up his political office to enter Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the main body governing the sport in the country. (Cricmania)


UN to hold 'beauty contest' to pick new Secretary General
The United Nations Security Council will hold a straw poll next week on the four Asian candidates who are bidding to replace Kofi Annan, in the first decisive step towards picking the UN's next secretary general.

The 15-nation council will hold a secret ballot on the four official candidates on Monday, unless the session is delayed by the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah, UN diplomats said. (The Independent)


First batch of Sri Lankans to be flown home sent to Syria
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The first batch of 112 migrant Sri Lankan workers was dispatched in three buses through Syria to be flown home to Colombo, the Sri Lanka Embassy in Beirut said.

The buses were supplied through the courtesy of the International Organization of Migrants (IOM) whose help the Sri Lanka government sought in bringing home part of the 80,000 Sri Lankans working legally and illegally in the country ravaged by incessant bombing by the Israeli fighter jets. Already, at least two Sri Lankans have been killed by the Israeli bombing, according to sources in Lebanon.



UN targets Lanka child sex trade
The UN children's Fund (Unicef) says its two-year campaign with the Sri Lankan tourist board against child sex tourism is being intensified.

Unicef officials say that the campaign will now be extended to include TV, radio and newspaper announcements. (BBC)


India to help sri lankans in Lebanon come home
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
India has agreed to help Sri Lanka evacuate the country’s stranded citizens from Lebanon ravaged by Israrael’s relentless bombing.

Indian ships will be docking at the Beirut harbor to evacuate more than thousand Indians who have expressed their desire to leave.



Red Cross and SLMM meet Lance Corporal Karunaratna
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The International Red Cross representatives joined Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission members in visiting Lance Corporal R. M. Karunaratne who was captured when 12 other soldiers were killed at Valkerni by the terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The red cross was not allowed to take their own doctor to examine Karunaratne but the red cross representative Sukumar Rockwood said Karunaratne had only a minor bullet wound on his back.



Second death of a Sri Lankan reported in Lebanon
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
As the second death of a Sri Lankan was reported in the Lebanon bombing by Israeli jets many more among the 80,000 Sri lankans living in that country are feared dead.

A Lebanese news website quoting the local police in the Central town of Nabatiyeh said among the dead was a Sri Lankan in that town.



Two Sri Lankans in custody at N.Y. airport after Canada-bound plane is turned back
Two Sri Lankans carrying suspected false passports were taken into custody and a commuter plane they had tried to board was sent back to Rochester's airport Wednesday morning because one of their bags was aboard, authorities said.

The Toronto-bound Air Canada plane was directed back to Rochester by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and all 11 passengers were removed, said Monroe County sheriff's spokesman John Helfer. (Fox News)


3 army officers killed 11 others injured in claymore attack
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Captain E.R.S.H.P.A. SIRIWARDENE, Lieutenant P.G.S.G. KUMARA and Lance Corporal U.S. THILAKARATHNE died at Palaly military hospital succumbing to injuries in a LTTE claymore bomb attack at Maradana Madam in Jaffna.

The troops returning home on leave were injured in the deadly attack along with nine other soldiers and two police constables, July 19, the Sri Lanka Army said.



One Sri Lankan killed in Lebanon : 80,000 others stranded
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
As the seventh day of the Israeli bombing raids continued devastating Lebanon at least killing one Sri Lankan domestic aid the majority of the 80,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers were stranded in the country since they could not reach their country’s embassy for help or find a way out to a safer haven.

The Lebanese news website Nahrnet said, “In the early hours of Tuesday, a woman, her two daughters and Sri Lankan maid were killed and four others wounded in an air strike on their villa in the coastal city of Tyre.”



European Union Ambassador to visit Sri Lanka Tiger rebels
A special European Union (EU) Ambassador is to visit the Tamil Tiger territory in Sri Lanka's north later this week to have talks on the Tamil Tiger demand to exclude truce monitors representing EU nations from the international truce monitoring mission, the Sri Lankan government said in Colombo Wednesday.

Keheliya Rambukwella, minister of policy planning and the government's defense spokesman, said that Andres Oljelund, a Swedish national and an ambassador at large, had arrived in Colombo on Monday. (People's Daily)


LTTE claymore devices kill innocent Tamil civilians
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
One Tamil civilian died and scores of other civilians were injured when high explosive claymore mines targeting security forces were detonated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the country’s Northern and Eastern provinces, the Sri Lanka Army said.

All devices were exploded July 18 in two incidents full of gory in crowded places in Jaffna and a Trincomalee suburb where in the latter incident all injured were Tamil women taking part in a shramadana work to cleanup their town. In the third incident, the claymore mine was detected by a Tamil civilian and the message was conveyed to the army after which it was diffused. The third claymore although targeting security forces if exploded as designed also would have injured hundreds of students at the Eastern University Hostel where it was picked up by the army Engineers.



UNP is divided admits Tissa
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The United National Party’s Deputy General Secretary admiited in Colombo that the main opposition party in Sri Lanka is divided with factional infighting.

He admitted that a senior leader of the party M. H. Mohamed is having arguments with the leader’s main political ally Milinda Moragoda with whom Ranil Wickremesinghe was touring India, last week.



Ranil's organ attacks G.L, S.B.,and Wijesekera
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The pro-Ranil Wickremesinghe Sunday Leader of Colombo attacked UNP party seniors like Professor G.L. Peiris, Mahinda Wijesekera and S. B. Dissanayka as members who present proposals for party reforms very insincerely, with ulterior motives.

The pro-Wickremesinghe organ said they were not proposals for the betterment of the United National Party but proposals with personal agendas for them to grab power.



Lanka wants to move 80,000 out of danger in Lebanon
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Sri Lanka Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon is handling a gigantic effort of moving nearly 80,000 migrant workers employed in that country to safer places, Sri Lanka foreign Ministry sources said.

The Sri Lanka Embassy was engaged in a massive operation in moving the Sri Lankan migrant workers out of the endangered areas now being bombed for the sixth day by Israeli jets the sources said.



LTTE refuses to return goodwill for Daya Master
LTTE breaks promise and detains Bandujeewa until July 31
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Breaking all promises that as a goodwill gesture for allowing Daya Master to receive treatment in the Apollo hospital in Colombo Sub Inspector Bandujeewa Bopitigoda will be released from their detention the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) further jailed him.

The terrorist group informed his brother who visited him in Kilinochchi that he would be further detained until July 31.



Claymore mines kill 2 and injures 11
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in a deadly wave of claymore mine explosions killed two government troops and injured 11 others seriously.

All claymore mines were detonated inside areas in the Northern and Eastern provinces as demarcated as Government of Sri Lanka territory in violation of the ceasefire agreement both sides have vowed to protect.



China tells Mangala Samaraweera it would help Lanka defeat terrorism
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The government of the People’s Republic of China told visiting foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera that it would help Sri Lanka defeat terrorism. The Chinese government told Samaraweera that it was totally against “separatism and extremism” now harming the people of Sri Lanka in reference to the extremist separatist war carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

It further said , the Chinese government was opposed to “ to the three evil forces of Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism and discussed measures to increase their consultation and coordination in regional and international anti-terrorism activities.” between the two countries.



Pro-UNP TV stations fight for imported melodramasa
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The pro-UNP television stations went on strike to protest against the government’s new taxation policy of foreign films and soap operas, which are dubbed in Sinhalese and shown on their television channels.

The strike went on at prime time news periods to tell viewers that the government’s new move was wrong, since the stations depend on imported films to maintain their advertising income to maintain their stations.



84 Sri Lankans released from Beirut detention but some run away
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
As Beirut was ravaged by Israeli bombs 84 Sri Lankans detained in a detention center were released to go to safer places for protection.

As they were being transported in two buses 24 detainess under the mistaken belief that they were being taken to other detention places became boisterous and escaped in search of friends a BBC news items said.



SB lashes at UNP position holders
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
S. B. Dissanayaka censored self-seeking individuals in the United National Party whose political future depended on personal favours in the party rather than voter support for their existence.

Dissanayaka, released by President Rajapaksa from jail on a pardon said individuals who feared their positions in the party would be lost if urgently needed reorganization measures were implemented, purposely delayed such measures and created the present sorry plight of the party.



Rebels hand slain soldiers to S.Lanka, keep one captive
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers on Saturday handed over the corpses of 12 soldiers they killed during one of the worst military clashes since a 2002 ceasefire, but said another they captured would be tried in their courts.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) handed the dead from Friday's clash to Red Cross officials, who took them from rebel territory in eastern Sri Lanka across a heavily defended border to government territory. (REUTERS)


Highest recognition for Malik Peiris
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The distinguished Sri Lankan medical research scientist, Professor Malik Peiris was formally admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Science , July 14, at a ceremony in London, the institute said.

Joseph Srial Malik Peiris, an old boy of St. Anthony’s College Katugastota and a medical graduate of the Peradeniya University and now teaching at the University of Kong Kong became the first Sri Lankan scientist to be honoured with this rare fellowship considered one of the highest in the Commonwealth of Nations.



Jayalath Jayawardena spends hours with Daya Master

The National Movement Against Terrorism held a demonstration in front of the Apollo Hospital where Daya Master is admitted. They shouted slogans demanding his arrest

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
While the Jathika Hela Urumaya vehemently protested and condemned President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s act of providing facilities and security for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman Daya Master at a private hospital in Colombo, United National Party strongman Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena reportedly spent hours with the ailing man.

Dr. Jayawardena even at the height of the LTTE- Sri Lanka war had been a volunteer medical specialist to treat the injured guerillas in the war against his own country in the past.



Sri Lanka rebels may postpone April crunch talks
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels will view any further attacks by renegades they say are military-backed as an act of war and may postpone crunch talks unless the state disarms them, their chief negotiator has warned.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are due to attend a second round of peace talks with Sri Lankan officials in Geneva in April, and say the island's fragile peace process could grind to a halt if the government fails to honour a pledge to rein in armed groups. (REUTERS)


Seperate East and North says, JVP
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in a case filed in the Supreme Court has requested to declare the gazette notification issued by the government of former President Junius Richard Jayewardene merging the Eastern and Northern Provinces null and void.

The JVP has argued that by merging the two administrative provinces which were administered as two separate administrative areas for hundreds of years the former United National Party government has done grave injustice to the Muslim and Sinhalese people living in those areas.



12 SLA soldiers die in one hour Welikanda battle
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) claimed that 12 Sri Lanka army soldiers were killed and one Lance Corporal captured in one of the biggest confrontations since the military terrorist group signed a ceasefire agreement with the Sri Lanka government.

A Sri Lanka army spokesman admitted thirteen of their men were missing but delayed the confirmation of the deaths until the bodies are handed over through the Red Cross, July 15.



Did a deep penetration unit kill 4 terrorists?
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) charged that Sri Lanka Army troop has penetrated deeply into their territory and killed a Lt. Colonel, two captains and a private of their guerilla army in ambush at night.

The Sri Lanka Army has denied any of their troops had penetrated into the LTTE territory to kill, as alleged.



Rebels say kill 22 soldiers in firefight
Tamil Tiger rebels said on Friday they killed 22 soldiers in a firefight in potentially the worst military clash since a 2002 truce, but the army said the number of fatalities would be far lower.

Kayal Viliyan, a senior rebel in the Tigers' eastern political office in the district of Batticaloa, told Reuters around 60 troops entered Tiger territory in an area the military say is government-held, and were surrounded by about 200 rebels. "We have found 22 bodies, and we are still searching". (REUTERS)


Two Claymore mines in Kandy
The Police recovered two claymore mines in Kandy on Thursday the 13th, July.

The Army bomb disposal squad rushed to the scene and later defused it. (Ministry of Defence)


Suspected rebels kill another rival - police
Police found the corpse of a political rival of the Tamil Tigers dumped in northcentral Sri Lanka on Thursday, officials said, the second such killing in as many days as violence raises civil war fears

The body of R. Skandarajah Dhavan, a leader of minority Tamil party PLOTE -- which fought the state alongside the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) before turning to the political mainstream in the late 1980s -- was found in the district of Vavuniya. He had been kidnapped late on Wednesday. (REUTERS)


Sri Lanka awards contract to UAE firm to build oil refinery
Eight months after serving as President, Mahinda Rajapakse is a desperate man. All his recent attempts to seek direct contact with the LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran and the LTTE leadership having failed, Rajapakse’s one hope now is for his latest peace bid to work.

With each passing day recording an average of two killings in the volatile north and east, President Mahinda Rajapakse on Tuesday kick-started deliberations on constitutional reforms but with no guarantee from the Tiger guerillas that they would support him. (L.B.O.)


1000 soldiers to protect Colombo
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Sri Lanka Army is going to beef up its volunteer force with one thousand privates exclusively for the security of the city of Colombo, the military announced.

The government under its security plan has decided the protection of the nation’s capital is imperative in the midst of the current terrorist threats.



Rajapakse’s desperate attempts for peace
Eight months after serving as President, Mahinda Rajapakse is a desperate man. All his recent attempts to seek direct contact with the LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran and the LTTE leadership having failed, Rajapakse’s one hope now is for his latest peace bid to work.

With each passing day recording an average of two killings in the volatile north and east, President Mahinda Rajapakse on Tuesday kick-started deliberations on constitutional reforms but with no guarantee from the Tiger guerillas that they would support him. (Dawn)


4 killed and 10 injured in fresh violence in Jaffna
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed two policemen and severely injured seven others including a civilian in one of their latest beefed up wave of claymore bomb attacks in and around Jaffna peninsula.

In this latest attack in Nallur, the terrorist group also known as Tamil Tigers killed two police constables, PC 37096 Rohana and PC 29409 Shanmugan, defense ministry sources said.



Daya Master is rushed to Colombo
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
LTTE propagandist and public relations man Daya Master was rushed to a Colombo private hospital with the permission of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Government spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

He said that he was taken to Colombo for medical treatment. The Minister said the family of Daya Master and the LTTE made a request to the president to allow him to take treatment for a heart ailment.



Sri Lanka condemns terrorist attack in Mumbai
President Mahinda Rajapakse and the Government of Sri Lanka vehemently condemn the brutal terrorist attack on the Indian rail network in Mumbai which claimed the lives of innocent commuters yesterday.

This terrorist act was conducted during the rush hour with the intent of causing maximum casualties to the civilian population. The attack claimed the lives of over 174 innocent people and injuring over 485 others. (Media Center for N.S.)


Ranil is in a real political soup
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The impending political crisis in the United National Party (UNP) has brought ominous signs for the future of party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, the opposition party insiders said.

Wickremesinghe was hit where it hurts most when the UNP parliamentarians have started defecting one by one to the government at a time he was attempting to cling on to the party leadership despite his many a electoral defeats. Already five of his Members of Parliament have joined government ranks and more are to follow suit.



At least 174 killed in Indian train blasts
A series of seven explosions killed at least 174 people on crowded commuter trains and stations Tuesday evening in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, police said.

Officials said more than 380 people were injured in the blasts in the city's western suburbs as commuters made their way home. All seven blasts came within an 11-minute span, between 6:24 and 6:35 p.m. (8:54 and 9:05 a.m. ET). (CNN)


LTTE men get invite to talk reforms in constitution
Sri Lanka's president on Tuesday invited Tamil Tiger rebels to participate in reforming the country's constitution - a key demand of the insurgents _ saying it was the only way to achieve the aspirations of ethnic minority Tamils.

President Mahinda Rajapakse extended the invitation during a meeting with a committee appointed by the government to suggest ways to grant more autonomy to Tamil areas, where rebels have pushed for a separate homeland. (Times of India)


Sri Lanka offers cash, devolution to end ethnic bloodshed
Sri Lanka's president has offered 1.25 billion dollars to rebuild embattled regions and asked his advisors to come up with a power-sharing plan to end decades of ethnic bloodshed.

President Mahinda Rajapakse told a 15-member multi-ethnic panel appointed by him last week to come up with a formula that could lead to a new constitution that will grant extensive devolution of power to minority Tamils. (Yahoo News/AFP)


LTTE is seeking a Sudan like separation for Sri lanka
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The legal advisor to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the the terrorist outfit’s New York activist VishvanAdan Rudrakumar said said that partial blame for the impasse in Sri Lanka's peace process rests with the international community.

Accusing the international community for imposing limitations the banned terrorist group representative said, “The most damaging aspect of the international community's action was its insistence that a solution should be found within a unified Sri Lanka.”




Army kills 2 LTTE terrorists
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerillas were killed when they clashed with route clearing Sri Lanka Army troops in Mannar, June 10 the military sources said.

The clash occurred at SURIYAKATTAKADU lake, NANATANN, Mannar around 8.00 a.m when the LTTE terrorists mingled with local fishermen and fired at the troops, the army said.



Tamil Tigers shot at Somawathie monks
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorists fired at Buddhist monks who went to the Mahaveli Ganga with an army and police escort, July 9 about 4.30 p.m., the Sri Lanka Army said.

This is the second time the LTTE terrorists were involved in a shooting incident connected with this ancient Buddhist temple on the scenic edge of the Mahaveli Ganga, close to the ancient capital of Polonnaruwa during the last 20 days.



Sri Lanka to talk constitution change, Tigers out
Sri Lanka said on Monday it was aiming to push through constitutional reform to bring an end to two decades of civil war, but analysts said it would probably not be enough to bring Tamil Tiger rebels to talks.

More than 700 people have died so far this year, some 280 in June alone, raising fears a 2002 ceasefire could collapse, restarting two decades of civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels who want a separate ethnic Tamil homeland in the north and east. (ABC News)


LTTE to harm civilians with claymore mines

The LTTE claymore mines have been improvised from these US claymore mines mostly used in Vietnam

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The discovery of deadly claymore mines ready to be exploded at places in the North and C-4 plastic explosives and ball bearings in other places confirm the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are continually planning to detonate claymore devices to inflict maximum number of deaths to civilians and the army, security sources said.

The mines, unlike landmines which are hidden underneath the ground and triggered accidentally by the enemy or innocent civilians, are kept above the ground and therefore could be easier to detect military sources said. A claymore mine most recently discovered at Jaffna weighed 20 kilograms and could have inflicted heavy damages to human life, the sources said.



S.Lanka govt still committed to peace -- minister
Sri Lanka's government is still committed to a 2002 peace process with Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebels despite an increasingly shaky ceasefire, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said on Monday.

Peace mediator Norway wrote to both sides last week asking for confirmation they were committed to the process after talks in Oslo on the safety of Nordic ceasefire monitors collapsed last week without the two sides ever meeting. (REUTERS)


Attacks to intensify, S.Lanka rebel front warns
A suspected Tamil Tiger front organisation vowed on Saturday to intensify attacks against Sri Lanka's military as mounting violence stokes fears that the island is sliding back into civil war.

The Tamil Resurgence Force, which emerged in December and is one of a clutch of groups the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) say have rallied to their cause, said it would also attack Tamil government allies. (REUTERS)


Many more UNP MP's to leave UNP
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Political circles in Colombo predicted that many more parliamentarians in defiance of their party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe are planning to leave the opposition and join the Mahinda Rajapaksa government.

This was confirmed by Ratnapura District parliamentarian Susantha Punchinilame who said many more Members of Parliament of the UNP were willing to join the government.



Sri Lanka appoints temporary army chief
Sri Lanka has appointed a temporary army chief to fill in for Sarath Fonseka who is in Singapore for medical treatment after surviving a suicide bomb attack in April, the army said.

Fonseka's deputy, Major General Nanda Mallawarachchi, was named the acting army head on Friday, an army spokesman said. (Yahoo News/AFP)


Another UNP MP to cross over
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Bandula Gunawardena attacked President Rajapaksa’s government for recruiting United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians and called it back stabbing.

He said while expecting the help of the UNP for the country’s internal strife caused by the separatist activities of the LTTE on one hand the government was back stabbing the party by accepting UNP parliamentarians to the folds of the government. He was being interviewed by the Sinhala service of the BBC, the Sandeshaya.



Lankan diplomat uses shared cultures to promote ties
Sumith Nakandala, former Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Chennai and now Ambassador-designate to Nepal, is an out-of-the-ordinary diplomat.

For this 46 year old career foreign service officer, the aim of diplomacy is not to gain partisan advantage for his country through intrigue, secrecy and glib talk, but to build longstanding bridges across national frontiers using shared interests, shared values and shared cultures as the foundation. (Hindustan Times)


Bipartisan peace bid fails, opposition says
A fresh attempt to hammer out a bipartisan approach to Sri Lanka's drawn out Tamil separatist conflict ended abruptly with the defection of an opposition legislator, officials said.

President Mahinda Rajapakse met with United National Party opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Thursday evening to agree on a common approach to the festering conflict, but the initiative failed, an opposition spokesman said. (Yahoo News/AFP)


S.Lanka extends emergency, opposition abstains
Sri Lanka's parliament extended a year-old state of emergency on Thursday but for the first time the main opposition party abstained, saying the bill was doing nothing to halt a rising tide of killings.

The emergency was first declared last August after a suspected rebel Tamil Tiger assassin shot dead Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. It was then extended for a presidential election and then as violence soared in the north and east. (REUTERS)


Slmm visits refugees who fled from LTTE terror
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission members visited the make shift refugee camps made at the Mankerni Catholic Church and the government school at Mankerni for Tamil refugees who are escaping from LTTE occupied Vakarai area in fear of forced military training and conscription of children as child soldiers., military sources said.

Sri Lanka Army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said the Monitoring Mission members met the people at both centers and interviewed the refugees who had left their villages in fear of the LTTE recruiters.



Sri Lanka slaps tax on Hollywood, Bollywood programming
Sri Lanka's government has begun imposing taxes on television stations broadcasting foreign movies, sitcoms and dramas in a bid to boost its own fledgling industry, the finance ministry has said.

An existing media tax will be extended to commercials made abroad for local companies which have been outsourcing some of their promotional work to Indian advertising firms. (Yahoo News/AFP)


UNP MP crosses over lacking confidence in Ranil
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Another United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian joined the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa indicating the increasing disillusionment in the opposition party’s leadership among the parliamentarians.

Ratnapura District Member of Parliament of the UNP, Susantha Punchinilame joined the government and was given the Deputy Minister ship of rural economic development. Punchinilame is the fourth UNP Member of Parliament to join the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, “lacking confidence in the leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe.”



Tigers say suicide bombing is indispensable for them

A jacket containing plastic explosives with two pull cords - one to arm the device, the other to detonate it ( photo by: R Gunaratna )

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, (LTTE) that has been proscribed as a terrorist group in all major countries in the world today defied the ban by declaring that "Black Tigers are a indispensable arsenal” of them by assuring suicide bombing would continue to be their method of destruction both against civilian and military targets in the time to come.

The assuarance came from S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) addressing a Black Tigers Day celebrations held June 5, in Kathiraveli in Vaharai division, in the Eastern Province of the island, LTTE sources said.



LTTE gang who plotted to kill Sarath Fonseka arrested
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Police said the Tamil couple and a man that facilitated the suicide bomber who unsuccessfully attempted to kill Sri Lanka’s Army Commander Sarath Fonseka was arrested at Rambukkana in a LTTE safe house and are being currently interrogated by a special team of detectives.

The island nation’s chief of the law enforcement force , the Inspector General of Police, Chandra Fernando said important information regarding the LTTE’s killer machine of suicide bombers are being revealed by them.



No military solution in Sri Lanka: outgoing US ambassador
Sri Lanka's president said on Tuesday he wanted to discuss a solution to the island's ethnic conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels, but again denied that renegade ex-Tigers were operating in army-held territory.

Lunstead, who is leaving the country after three years, also said in a statement released Wednesday that a solution to Sri Lanka's civil strife would require "radical changes in the way the entire nation is governed". (Yahoo News/AFP)


Iranamadu was bombed as it was a threat to India says Kohona
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
In an exclusive interview with India’s leading news magazine the Frontline the head of Sri Lanka’s Peace Secretariat Dr. Palitha T.B.Kohona revealed one of the recent targets of the government bombing was the illegal airstrip at Iranamadu.

He said the government had to damage it and take it out since it had been built against the international aviation rules and because it was a threat to the regional stability and security of countries like India.



President wants Tigers to discuss demands
Sri Lanka's president said on Tuesday he wanted to discuss a solution to the island's ethnic conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels, but again denied that renegade ex-Tigers were operating in army-held territory.

Attacks on mainstream Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by ex-rebels known as the Karuna group are seen helping push Sri Lanka toward renewed civil war. More than 700 people have been killed so far this year and suspected Tiger attacks are rising. (Washingtonpost)

Conspirators to steal our oil wealth, says JVP
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Nefarious international powers are working overtime to steal Sri Lanka’s oil deposits making use of the Tamil separatists and the United National Party charged the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa.

Weerawansa who is also the leader of his parliamentary group said in an exclusive interview with the country’s leading Sunday newspaper Divaina Sunday edition that the international powers would try to do it by a de-facto division of the country using a United Nation’s Peace Keeping Force



Three murderers seek pardon from court
Three inmates, who have been serving life terms since 1994 for the premeditated murder of a guard, are seeking a court pardon after obtaining a waiver from the victim's parents.

The three convicts, Ahmad A. and Omar N., from Pakistan, and Edilla M., from Sri Lanka, who have each served about 12 of the 25 years of their terms, approached the Dubai Court of First Instance seeking a pardon. (Gulf News)


More than hundred escape forced military training on them
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Sri Lanka Army was compelled to open makeshift refugee centers at a Mankerni Church and the government school to house a steady flow of Tamil families reaching the military outpost for protection and escape from a rebel group who were forcing them to take up military training for the adults as well as children.

People were flowing into Mankerni from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) occupied areas in the Eastern province leaving all their belongings at home , the army quoted them of having said.


Saran, Rajapakse discuss Lanka devolution package
As the Sri Lanka government builds up a political consensus on devolution of power, while simultaneously dealing with the targeted violence by LTTE, foreign secretary Shyam Saran paid a visit to Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapakse in Colombo on Monday.

The conversation between the two focused on the devolution package that the Sri Lankan government intends to unveil. (The Times of India)


LTTE kills seven and injures 12 to mark the Indian Foreign Secretary's trip

A Sri Lankan soldier stands near the site of an explosion at any army checkpoint in Trincomalee, ( photo by: Mangalanath De Silva) )

Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Suspected rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed six people in a bomb blast at the Eastern Port town of Trincomalee to coincide with the Indian Foreign Secretary’s trip to Sri Lanka.

On the same day, LTTE allegedly carried out another claymore mine attack targeting army personnel on a patrol at Wadiri in Point Pedro killing a soldier.


Tigers set Sept 1 deadline for EU monitors to quit
Truce monitors in Sri Lanka from European Union (EU) member states Denmark, Finland and Sweden must leave the country by September 1, a top Tamil Tiger rebel leader told the agency on Monday.

Some 37 out of 57 Scandinavian monitors from the three states cannot be considered neutral, after the EU put the Tigers on its list of banned terrorist groups in May, Tiger political wing leader SP Tamilselvan said. (Hindustan Times)


An extremely low turn out at LTTE Rally in New York
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The waning popularity of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) among US Tamils was mirrored in the low turn out at the anti-Sri Lanka demonstration held in front of the United Nations building, June 30, eye witnesses said.
Photographs of the demonstration show that it was held with a placard, among others, that demanded a two state solution for Sri Lanka, which preaches separatism like the LTTE.


Parents flee with children while LTTE meets with UNICEF
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
While a United Nations Children’s Fund delegation was pleading with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at their headquarters in Kilinochchi to stop recruitment of children the rebels intensified its conscription of child soldiers in the Eastern province, forcing some families to flee out with their children, military sources said.

Military authorities said, nine families fled from Panichchankerni, in an LTTE occupied area June 28, Wednesday, the very day a three member United Nations Children’s Fund delegation was meeting LTTE leaders requesting them to stop recruiting under age children.


Sri Lanka allows duty free import of rice
The Sri Lankan government has allowed duty free import of 9,337 tons of rice from Pakistan under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which could be utilized till December 2006.

Under the FTA effective from June 12, 2005, Sri Lanka has given duty free access to Pakistan for long grain basmati rice up to 6,000 tons per annum. Pakistani exporters, however, were not able to utilize the full quantity for 2005. (Dawn)


Abdullah City to Be Built in Sri Lanka
Saudi Arabia will build a city named after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in a tsunami-affected area of Sri Lanka.

Mohammed Mahmud Al-Ali, Saudi ambassador in Colombo who is currently on a visit to the capital, told Arab News yesterday. “Dubbed King Abdullah Model City, the integrated facility will have 500 houses, a clinic, a mosque, a school. (Arab News)


Second attempt to attack a Naval base foiled
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Sea Tigers of the Liberation of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were approaching for a suspected attack on the Kankasanturai (KKS) Naval base and a Sea Tiger boat with three sailors in it were sunk , Naval sources said.

The Tiger boat was destroyed by a Sri Lanka Navy Patrol boat at 10.20 p.m. North of Thondamannaru , the same sources said.


Tamil Tigers exchange suicide jackets with Al Qaida
By a Special correspondent
The Daily Breeze, a Los Angeles suburb newspaper letter commenting on the assassination of Lt. General Parami Kulatunga said that the Sri Lankan terrorist group , the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has perfected the art of suicide bomb technology so well , some of the world’s top terrorist groups have copied its bomb technology for exchange of weapons with them.

The letter appearing on June 29 issue of the Daily Breeze published in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, from the city’s airport to the harbor for the last 112 years , said some of the world’s top terrorist groups like Al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade have been allowed to copy the design of the Tamil Tiger suicide jacket for friendly exchange of weapons by the group.


LTTE demand for EU countries to withdraw rejected
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Norway’s peace envoy Jon Hanssen- Bauer rejected the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) demand that the three European Union representatives Denmark, Sweden and Finland should withdraw from peace keeping duties in the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

The peace envoy, from Norway, that does not belong to the European Union, said the LTTE decision to demand the withdrawal of the three European Union countries is most regretted and the rebel outfit should reconsider its decision.


Youth abductions haunt Sri Lanka as violence rises
Dozens of young men have been rounded up and abducted in eastern Sri Lanka, the United Nations and residents say, probably to train as fighters for rival ethnic Tamil groups.
With violence between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at its highest level since a 2002 truce, the mainstream Tigers are also facing off against a breakaway faction known as the TMVP who analysts say may be army-backed. (REUTERS)


Interim injunction against Daya Sandagiri
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
The Supreme court today issued an interim injunction preventing former Navy Commander Daya Sandagiri functioning as a Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Defense in Sri Lanka.

The Supreme Court who investigated in to an application filed by an ordinary citizen of the country, Charles Peter, said that two presidential commissions are currently sitting investigating into corruption of the armed forces before which serious charges have been made against the former commander of the Navy.


UNP defends leader's boycot of All Party Conference
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Dr. Rajitha Senarate , a powerful member of Opposition Leader Ranil Wikcramesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) who is close to his leader attacked the Sri Lanka government leadership as “insane” for trying to seek a solution to Sri Lanka’s current war-like situation with the help of parties like Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Jathika Hela Urumaya(JHU).

Defending his leader Wickremesinghe’s decision to stay out of the country to avoid the All Party Conference to which the UNP was supportive when appointed but unofficially “boycotted” by the leader going out of the country to avoid its meetings Senaratne said only people whose mind is not working all right would work with such all party conferences.


Mine blast kills 3
A mine blast killed three civilians in a rebel-controlled village along the same stretch of the Sri Lankan coast where an earlier clash between rebels and the Navy left 17 dead, a pro-rebel report said today.

There was no independent confirmation of the explosion and Sri Lankan military officials could not be immediately reached for comments. (Zee News)


Tigers stand self-condemned: DR Kaarthikeyan
"I am not surprised at the confession of the LTTE. I know from the beginning that was the truth and that was the only truth"
It took 15 long years for one of the world's most dreaded terrorist groups -- the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- to come out with the truth on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991.

The LTTE's chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, told an Indian TV channel that his organisation "deeply regretted" the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and described it as a "monumental historical tragedy". (Hindustan Times)


Now LTTE says they did not own up to Rajiv killing
Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
Exhibiting the dubious and untrustworthy nature of the Tamil Tigers their spokesman called Daya Master told India’s Hindu newspaper that Balasingham did not own up to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi but only regretted the incident.

The LTTE was commenting on their negotiator Antonton Balasingham’s television interview by New Delhi’s private channel NDTV. Daya Master told Hindu, just one day after the television broadcast "The LTTE has not owned responsibility for the killing. Mr. Balasingham has only regretted the incident".


Breakaway ex-rebels vow to keep up attacks
While Sri Lanka's government and Tamil rebels teeter between war and peace, a deadly conflict is raging in the island's east, where renegade guerrillas are locked in a do-or-die battle with former comrades.
Blindfold