UNP parliamentarian T. Maheswaran shot dead- Colombo

UNP parliamentarian T. Maheswaran was shot this morning (January 01) by unknown gunmen, news sources report. According to Colombo national hospital sources, Mr. Maheswaran has received serious gunshot injuries.

Speaking exclusively to defence.lk, Director of Nation Hospital - Colombo, Dr. Hector Weerasinghe said, the medical staff is at full thrust attending to save the parliamentarian. Two other people also injured during the incident were admitted along with the Mr. Maheswaran, hospital sources reveal.

Latest information revealed that Mr. Maheswaran has succumbed to wounds while undergoing intensive medial treatment few minutes ago, at around 10.35a.m.

According to available information, unknown gunmen have shot Mr. Maheswaran inside the Kotehena Sivam Kovil.

Mr. Maheswaran is a former Minister and a UNP parliamentarian.

Extracted from,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080101_02
Photo,
http://www.lankaenews.com/Sinhala/files/2080Maheshwaran_J.jpg

Sri Lanka rebel chief could be dead in 6 months - army

Sri Lanka's army chief said the leader of the country's Tamil Tiger rebels could be dead within six months and the military's aim is to kill 10 rebels a day, a newspaper report said on Sunday.

Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka was quoted by the state-run weekend paper Sunday Observer as saying the security forces have occupied Tamil Tiger forward defence lines and surrounded the northern rebel held Wanni rebel base.

"The LTTE could not prevent losing their remaining 3,000 cadres and there is no assurance that the LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran would survive for the next six months as the Sri Lanka Air Force plans to attack all the LTTE bases," Fonseka said.

The full name for the rebels is Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Our daily target is to kill at least 10 LTTE terrorists and for the last few months over 500 LTTE ... have been killed by the armed forces," Fonseka said.

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http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-31173820071230

India a major factor in Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa

India is 'a major factor' in any resolution of the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict and Sri Lankans must realise this, says Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Asked about India's role in finding a solution to the dragging conflict, Rajapaksa told the state-run Sunday Observer: 'India is a major factor and we have recognised it from the very beginning.

'Lots of people talk about the international community but we believe that India is the major factor in our problem.

'We have to realise the importance of India because it is becoming a superpower,' he added.

Read more,
http://www.indiaenews.com/srilanka/20071230/88808.htm

33 terrorists killed, 38 wounded: SLA overruns LTTE stronghold- Mannar

Latest reports state, at least 33 terrorists were killed and 38 wounded yesterday (December 29) when security forces made decisive in-routes towards non-liberated Parappakandal area.

"Troops advanced into Parappakandal West in the non-liberated areas of Mannar, 800 metres forward and took control over a total area of one square kilometre at the moment," Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara was cited speaking to media.

According to military, six soldiers who sustained injuries during the confrontations were admitted to general hospital at Mannar, for further medical attention.

Meanwhile, reports on pro-LTTE news portals monotonously lamented that only three LTTE terrorists were killed in their consecutive defeat within a week at Wanni defences. Earlier, security forces overran Uyilankulama and Thampanai LTTE defences on 22nd December, added defence sources.

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http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071230_02

Berghof chief asked to leave

Hot on the heels of SriLankan Airlines CEO Peter Hill being sent packing, the head of the controversial Swiss and German funded NGO, the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies, had been asked to leave Sri Lanka by tomorrow, an immigration official said. He said Berghof director Norbert Ropers had been given about 20 days notice that his visa would not be renewed on security grounds.

Recently, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna had made some critical statements against Berghof Foundation, the German based NGO, that came into the country to promote "good governance". The Sunday Times contacted the Defence Ministry several times to ask why Dr. Ropers was being asked to leave the country, but no clear answer was given.

Lakshman Hulugalla, chief of the Media Centre for National Security was contacted by us on Friday and he promised to explain the position yesterday but did not do so. Like the Foundation he headed, Dr. Ropers also had courted controversy. In May this year he was pulled up by the Parliamentary Select Committee probing activities of NGOs for failing to appear before the Committee despite having received three letters to do so.

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http://www.sundaytimes.lk/071230/News/news0001.html

Ban LTTE, end truce

The Government can make a fresh start to address Tamil grievances once it officially bans the LTTE and abolishes the Ceasefire Agreement signed with the LTTE, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said yesterday.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said the Ceasefire Agreement has become a joke in the eyes of the people with so many violations.

“The Ceasefire Agreement exists only on paper. Obviously we can see that there is no Ceasefire. It has become a joke,” the Defence Secretary said.

He said so many Governments have signed a number of Ceasefire Agreements in the past since the Thimpu Agreement.

“Once you sign a Peace Agreement and then you come to the next Ceasefire Agreement or whatever agreement, you must abolish the other [previous] one. It had never happened. From the Thimpu Agreement there are so many peace agreements including the Indo Lanka Agreement,” Rajapaksa added.

Read more,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/12/29/sec01.asp

Cops comb TN coast for LTTE men

Tamil Nadu police and its intelligence wing ‘Q Branch’ have launched a combing operation following reports that a group of LTTE militants had sneaked into the coastal areas of Ramanathapuram district.

“We have asked all the lodges and hotels to be checked,” a police official said here today.

The search was launched following intelligence reports that the Tamil Tigers had entered through the coastal areas after a pitched battle erupted between the ‘Sea Tigers’, the naval wing of the LTTE, and the Sri Lankan Navy in the sea off Katchathivu and Nedunthivu.

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http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?

Gayoom in Sri Lanka in January

Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, his wife Nasreena M.A. Gayoom and a delegation will arrive in Sri Lanka on a State visit from January 16 to 19, said M.M. Jaffeer, Chief Protocol for Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The main highlight of the programme would be the meeting of President Gayoom and President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The two Heads of State will sign an agreement on 'Transfer of Prisoners' at a special meeting. President Gayoom and his delegation are expected to visit Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Sigiriya, sources added.

Extracted from,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/12/28/news15.asp

Airtel to launch $ 200 mn operation in Sri Lanka

Indian Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is looking to establish itself as a major player in the Island nation's mobile telephony space as it prepares to launch its USD 200 million operation here early next year.

Mobile penetration in Sri Lanka is pegged at around 30 per cent, with approximately 2 million mobile users being added each year.

"The Airtel philosophy is to stay beside the consumer and strive to find fresh and innovative ways to add value to their lives", CEO of Airtel Sri Lanka Amali Nanayakkara said in a statement.

Bharti Airtel Lanka Private Limited, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited, has already announced plans to launch 2G and 3G services in Sri Lanka by the end of the current financial year (2007-08).

Read more,
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Telecom/

Improved Train Services from next year

The Railway Services have substantially grown during the last three quarters of this year when compared with the same period of last year says the general manager of railways, Dr. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan. The general manager revealed this information during a news conference held yesterday.

20 billion rupees has been allocated from the next year budget for the development of railways, and by the utilisation of these funds 15 locomotives and 15 DMUs will be imported by the department next year.

Services at railway stations and the punctuality of train services have improved this year, and the department will address the grievances faced by the railway staff.

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http://www.slr.sharinfo.net/improved-train-services-from-next-month

Benazir stood up for democracy, says Sri Lanka

Slain former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto "successfully stood up for democracy", the Sri Lankan government has said describing her assassination as "brutal".

A late night official statement Thursday, hours after she was killed, said the "ugly head of terrorism" had raised itself once again in claiming Bhutto's life.

"This brutal assassination underlines the need for an absolute commitment to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations in order to make it unacceptable in civilized society," it said.

In an interview to the BBC's Sinhalese language service, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said that Sri Lanka would extend support to Pakistan in its efforts to eradicate terrorism.

Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga described Bhutto as a "symbol of democracy and secularism".

"Bhutto was eliminated from the political scene by those who always benefit from war, racism, arms deals, and those who wish to rule by military power," she said.

"May this not happen to anyone else in other countries of the region."

Read more,
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/dec/27/

Benazir Bhutto dies in suspected suicide attack in Rawalpindi

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan and opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto died this evening in a bomb explosion.

According to reports, Ms. Bhutto was the victim of a suspected suicide attack during a rally of her Pakistan People’s Party.

The attack has left at least 15 people dead, according to police.

Ms. Bhutto had just addressed the rally in the town of Rawalpindi when an explosion occurred at one of the entrance gates to the Liaqat Ali park.

Apparently she had been just 50 m away at the time.

When she returned to the country after many years in exile in October an attack on Ms. Bhutto’s cavalcade took the lives of some 130 people in one of the worse incidents of violence in Pakistan.

News and photo,
http://www.news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4405&Itemid=44

Sri Lankan minister hospitalized after clash at state television

A Sri Lankan minister was hospitalized on Thursday following a clash with the employees of the state television Rupavahini, hospital officials said.

Labor Minister Mervyn Silva was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital after being rescued by the police from the enraged Rupavahini employees, officials of the hospital said.

Silva stormed the television station around 10:00 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) to protest Rupavahini's ignoring of a speech made by him on Wednesday in the southern town of Matara in the presence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.

The station's News Director T. M. G. Chandrasekera was assaulted by the minister and his guards, Rupavahini employees charged.

Silva was kept hostage by employees over three hours demanding an apology from the minister.

Read more,
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/27/content_7325517.htm
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LTTE sneaking into Tamilnadu?

Former Congress Legislature Party leader S R Balasubramoniyan has pressed the alarm button by stating that there is a possibility of LTTE sneaking into Tamilnadu under the guise of refugees.

Speaking to reporters the Congress leader said that with the LTTE losing ground in Lanka and the worsening situation had forced scores of extremists to head towards Tamilnadu as refugees.

‘This would spell doom to the security of our country and hence the State government should take steps to check infiltration,’ he said.

Referring to propaganda that there was no ban on LTTE in Lanka, he said that it is nothing but a ‘mischief’ played by some political parties to scuttle the peace and sovereignty of the nation.

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http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=3530%20&%20section=6