Japan not to suspend aid to Sri Lanka

Japan has told Sri Lanka that it has no plans to suspend development aid to the island nation as reported in the international media.

Japan's special envoy Yasushi Akashi told Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona over the phone Friday that his country had not changed its aid policy vis-a-vis Sri Lanka and it would stick to the commitments it had made.

Akashi said that Japan welcomed the proposals made by the Sri Lankan all party panel on devolution of power and commended President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict.

The international media had reported from Tokyo Thursday that Akashi had warned that Japan would cut off aid to Sri Lanka if the latter continued with its military operations against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

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http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/

Tamil Nadu Assembly Ends With Row Over LTTE

The last day of the Tamil Nadu assembly session ended Friday as it had begun - with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) topping the agenda of all parties in the house.

The ruling DMK headed by M. Karunanidhi was asked by both the opposition AIADMK and ally Congress to crack down on 'supporters of terrorism'.

Making a rare appearance in the house, Leader of Opposition J. Jayalalitha blasted the DMK government on law and order and alleged that the state was 'becoming a haven for anti-social elements and extremists'.

She added that Tamil Nadu was becoming 'an LTTE base' and an 'arms den'. The government, she said, was unable to protect even leaders of friendly parties - a reference to the recent attack on Tamil Nadu Congress president M. Krishnaswamy by an armed gang while he was on a visit to the southern districts.

In a vitriolic speech, the former chief minister said that allies of the government were taking inspiration from Karunanidhi in expressing support for outfits like the LTTE, banned in India.

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http://newspostindia.com/report-34638

Sri Lanka desires enhanced trade with Pakistan: Rohitha Bogollagama

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Thursday said his country wants to expand bilateral trade with Pakistan from the existing $ 385 million to $ one billion.

Addressing a press conference here this evening, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister said during his talks with the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan the two sides expressed the desire to forge a comprehensive economic partnership for mutual benefit.

He said in this backdrop, the two countries discussed how to make the Joint Economic Commission and the Joint Council more effective to give boost to trade and economic cooperation.

He said the two countries are discussing issuance of multiple visa for business travels to facilitate businessmen of the two countries to have more interaction.

Rohitha Bogollagama said there is great potential for cooperation in shipping and Sri Lanka was interested in utilization of Pakistani tankers for transportation of crude oil from the Middle East.

He said Sri Lanka was shortly announcing blocks for oil exploration and wants to utilize the Pakistani expertise for this purpose.

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http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_conten

Instead of punishing Mervyn, SLRC workers being harassed - JVP

Though SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena and other senior Ministers promised to take disciplinary action against Minister Mervyn Silva, who along with some thugs entered the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and assaulted the News Director, so far nothing positive has happened. Instead, investigations were being made to victimise the workers of the Rupavahini Corporation, JVP trade union leader, Parliamentarian K. D. Lalkantha told The Island yesterday (31).

The entire country knew what had happened at the SLRC but now there were investigations taking place against the employees who are being questioned as to who authorised the use of cameras, air time and so forth, he said.

"This procedure is totally wrong. People who entered the SLRC with goons were not punished, but the workers have been threatened, stabbed and intimidated during the last few days. All trade unions of the SLRC, irrespective of their party allegiance, gathered recently to discuss the situation," he said.

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http://www.island.lk/2008/02/01/news3.html

Third undersea cable reportedly cut between Sri Lanka, Suez

A third undersea fibre optic cable running through the Suez to Sri Lanka was cut Friday, said a Flag official.

Two other fiber optic cables owned by Flag Telecom and consortium SEA-ME-WE 4 located near Alexandria, Egypt, were damaged Wednesday leading to a slowdown in Internet and telephone services in the Middle East and South Asia.

"We had another cut today between Dubai and Muscat three hours back. The cable was about 80G capacity, it had telephone, Internet data, everything," one Flag official, who declined to be named, told Zawya Dow Jones.
The cable, known as Falcon, delivers services to countries in the Mediterranean and Gulf region, he added.

"It may take sometime to fix the cut but we are rerouting the traffic to another cable in the U.K. and U.S., the bandwidth utilization will go down," the official said.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/third-undersea-cable-reportedly-cut/