Sri Lanka Latest News: 06/02/07

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Sri Lanka bans heavy vehicles traveling southward from the northern Vavuniya town

Following the seizure of a truck carrying over 1,000 kg of C-4 explosives Sri Lanka has temporarily banned heavy vehicles traveling from Northern Province Vavuniya to the southern areas of the country.

Vavuniya Senior Superintendent of Police Sisira Mendis said that the decision was taken due to security reasons.

Any heavy vehicle which wants to travel to south will have to obtain a special permit to proceed beyond the Irattaperiyakulam checkpoint south of Vavuniya. However, the new law is not applied for light vehicles and the buses.

The Police yesterday arrested a truck with 1,052 kilograms of C-4 explosives carefully hidden in the truck under a pile of coconuts at the Palugashandiya checkpoint. Palugashandiya is located in the Kotawehera Police division, six miles northwest of Nikaweratiya.

India agrees to coordinated patrolling of the palk straits

Indian Defence Minister AK Anthony today (2 June 2007) assured Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, that the Indian Government was agreeable to conduct coordinated patrols of the maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka in the Palk Straits.

Modalities for this deployment will be worked out between the two sides. In March 2007, in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister of India, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had proposed such a mechanism in order to prevent attacks on fisherman by the LTTE in the area and the transporting of material supplies to the LTTE.

The matter was also taken up during Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's visit to New Delhi last week.

India can force Lanka to buy its garbage: media

The Sri Lankan media has lambasted India's National Security Advisor MK Narayanan for saying that Sri Lanka should not buy arms from China or Pakistan and that it should come to India for its military requirements even though New Delhi will not supply offensive weapons.

Daily Mirror carried a cartoon by Gihan Chickera on Saturday, which showed Narayanan standing near an overflowing garbage bin with the caption saying: "India can force Sri Lanka to buy its garbage."

In its editorial The Island daily said that Narayanan's statement that India was a "big power" which could not allow China and Pakistan to enter its sphere of influence showed "arrogance, callousness and coercion that characterised the Nazi regime of Hitler."

On Narayanan's saying that India would not supply offensive weapons to Sri Lanka, the editorial asked: "Is he of the opinion that terrorism could be countered with broomsticks and brickbats?"...

..Daily Mirror said in its editorial that India's bid to play "policeman" of the region was "objectionable" and hoped that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, known for his commitment to democracy and respect for the independence of nations "will not permit India to commit itself to the adoption of the attitude advocated by Narayanan."

No room for LTTE in Singapore

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was assured yesterday by the Singapore Government that it will work closely with the Sri Lankan authorities to curb any possible use of Singaporean territory by the LTTE for its operations.

The Minister received this assurance when he met with the Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean in separate meetings yesterday. The Minister was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona.

Bogollagama and the Foreign Secretary are in Singapore to attend the Sixth Annual Asian Security Summit - the Shangri-La Dialogue, which commenced its sessions yesterday night in Singapore.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is a forum organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IUISS) and brings together 25 official government delegations led mainly by Defence Ministers, Foreign Ministers, Chiefs of Defence Staff and other senior officials, who will deliberate on security-related issues with legislators, experts, academics and business people from Asia-Pacific region and key outside powers.

President makes surprise visit to Katunayake air base

President Mahinda Rajapaksa made a surprise visit to the Katunayake Air Base adjoining the Bandaranaike International Airport on Thursday night, to inspect the security situation and radar systems there, sources said.

“The President and senior defence officials visited the Air Force base and held talks with senior officers there about the current situation in the backdrop of the LTTE’s air attack a few weeks ago,” a senior defence ministry official said.

The President later inspected how the radar system of the air port was working and instructed the officials to maintain security at the highest level at the country’s only international airport.

India has not right to determine whom we buy arms from- JHU

JHU national organizer Udaya Gammanpila says India has no right to dictate Sri Lanka where to purchase arms from as Sri Lanka is a sovereign state.

He made this statement reacting on a statement made by Indian National Advisor M.K. Narayanan asking the government not to purchase arms from Pakistan of China.

"We actually don't believe a country like India made such a statement. But if they did, this is direct intervention to Sri Lanka's Sovereignty. As an independent country we have the right to purchase arms from where ever we want," he said.

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Police seize biggest explosive stock in Kurunegala

Police seized 940 kg of C 4 explosives from a lorry at the Palugas handiya (junction) road block at Kotawehera, Nikaweratiya, Kurunegala around 3.30 p.m. today (01). The explosives had been stocked in 47 boxes each carrying 20 kg, the Police said.

Latest information reveals that the explosives had been carefully concealed underneath a stockpile of coconuts.

The Police also arrested the driver and his assistant believed to be from the Chavakachcheri area in the North.

Today's seizure is reportedly the biggest explosives haul recovered in Sri Lanka.

C-4 or Composition C -4 is a common type of plastic explosive used by the LTTE in bomb attacks in Sri Lanka. It can be easily molded into any shape or stuffed into gaps in buildings, equipment or machinery.

The LTTE had used 50 kg of C-4 explosives in the Central Bank attack which killed 55 people and injured over 1000.

Security Forces believe that the massive stock of C-4 explosives would have been transported to Colombo by the LTTE for a major attack. Due to a thorough security check by the police at the Palugas handiya road block another possible terrorist attack was prevented.

Extracted from,
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I am ready to resume talks with LTTE: Rajapaksa

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today said he is ready to resume peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels even as heavy fighting raged in the island's embattled north-east.

Rajapaksa will enter into negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) provided the guerrillas agree to resume from where they left off in October 2006, his spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage said.

"I am ready to talk even today in the present circumstances," the President was quoted as saying. "I am a total democrat and I believe in a peaceful negotiated settlement."

Rajapaksa said controversial proposals unveiled by his party earlier last month were not the final solution to the drawn out ethnic conflict and expressed his willingness to go along with a consensus in the country.

Sri Lanka media rights body slam opposition leader over attempts to intimidate media

The Free Media Movement has slammed the opposition United National Party over its continued attempts to intimidate newspaper editors using parliamentary privilege.

A call by Sri Lanka's opposition leader to summon newspaper editors to parliament which drew fire from the Free Media Movement was followed by another statement from the UNP the FMM said.

"FMM is of the view that the UNP’s position is only tenable through a perverse distortion of logic, democratic norms and modern international best practice and law relating to freedom of expression, parliamentary privilege and contempt," the rights body said in a statement.

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