Basil swears in amidst opposition chaos

Basil Rajapakse took oaths as a MP before the Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara amidst protests and chaos of the opposition MPs. It was the first time in the history that a MP assumed duty in such context.

The tradition of the parliament is to stay calm until the new MP takes oath and to welcome him with applause. Instead, the UNP MPs today displayed placards mentioned '10%' in protest of the appointment of Basil Rajapakse as a MP.

The chaos due to the display of such placards in front of the Speaker's chair led to the adjournment of the meeting for ten minutes.

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http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=4695

Times of India says LTTE is divided now

Quoting tha Singapore based Counter terrorism think tank and other sources New Delhi’s Times of India said there is a rift in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leadership ranks due to its leader trying to make his son Charles Anthony his successor.

“Sources say LTTE is witnessing an ugly power struggle that is beginning to undermine Prabhakaran's leadership which was undisputed so far.

In fact, the Singapore-based counter-terrorism think-tank, International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, in its recent country report, says a major rift within LTTE is a distinct possibility,” the newspaper said .

The newspaper said the 52 year old Supremo of the LTTE is trying to groom his son as his health is afflicted with hypertension and diabetes. The following is the full story published by the newspaper on its front page:

“Tamil Nadu's Dravidian leaders seem to have left an indelible mark on LTTE chief V Prabhakaran. So it comes as no surprise that dynastic politics is catching up within the LTTE too, with Prabhakaran eager to hand over the reins of the terror outfit to his son Charles Anthony Seelan, an aeronautical engineer...

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http://www.go2lanka.com/stories/091907_2.html

Ricky Ponting out of World Twenty20

Ricky Ponting has been ruled out of the rest of the World Twenty20 because of injury.

The Australia captain pulled a hamstring muscle during yesterday's match with Pakistan and according to Australian media reports the skipper will be out of action for at least two weeks.

Ponting's absence will be a significant blow to Australia, whose last Group F match with Sri Lanka is effectively a quarter-final. That match is a rematch of this year's World Cup final in the Caribbean.

It remains to be seen if Ponting will be fit for Australia's forthcoming one-day tour of India.

Extracted from,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article2488681.ece

Bombs found in Sri Lankan capital

Sri Lankan police said Wednesday that they had found a dozen bombs hidden in a building in the capital Colombo and arrested two people in connection with the incident.

"We did a search operation in Kotahena Jampettah Street Tuesday night and found the bombs hidden in a building," a police spokesman said.

The police said that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels may have transported the bombs to the capital.

The police in the capital carry out sudden security operations in the city to ban suspected accomplices of LTTE rebels arriving from north and east.

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http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6266380.html