Prabhakaran 'hale and hearty', says Tamil MP

Tamil Tigers chief V Prabhakaran is "hale and hearty and ruling skillfully", a lawmaker of pro-LTTE party has said, rejecting claims that the elusive rebel leader was injured.

"Incorrect statements are being made saying Prabhakaran is injured in an air-attack," MP Selvarajah Gajendran of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the LTTE proxies in parliament, said.

"He (Prabhakaran) is quite healthy and ruling skillfully," the lawmaker from strife-torn Jaffna told the House earlier this week while speaking on a motion to extend emergency in Sri Lanka by one month.

The Sri Lankan military had earlier claimed that Prabhakaran may have been injured in a November air raid. The military has intensified its offensive against the rebels after scrapping a tattered 2002 ceasefire in January.

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http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200803081656.htm

62 Indian fishermen detained by Sri Lankan Navy

As many as 62 fishermen were taken into custody by Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing in the sea off Kanyakumari on Friday, police said.

The fishermen, all from Chinnathurai village near Thoothur in Kanyakumari district, were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel at 10 am, they said.

This was the first time that such a large number of fishermen from Kanyakumari had been taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy, though similar arrests had been made in small numbers earlier, a Fisheries Department official said.

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Sri Lanka, India Strengthen Military Links

India and Sri Lanka agreed to strengthen military ties in a joint effort to fight the separatist group Tamil Eelam Liberation Tigers (TLET), the LankaNews information agency reported.

The Indian Army chief, general Deepak Kapoor, and the commander of Sri Lanka armed forces, lieutenant general Sarta Fonseca, agreed to strengthen links in the current operations against the Tamil Tigers, noted the source, which echoed a Defense Ministry's note.

The Sri Lankan authority pointed out that over 30 countries considered terrorist the group that has been fighting since 25 years ago for a Tamil separate state in Sri Lanka north and east.

The government successfully managed to remove separatist rebels from the Eastern Province so far in 2007 and presently registers substantial advances of the military front in the northern region.

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Foreign Ministry slams AI report

The recent Amnesty International report fails to acknowledge the many positive steps taken by the Government to promote freedom of expression which is enshrined in the Constitution, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

It fails to acknowledge any positive steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to enhance protection in an environment of combating terrorism and shadowy killers, the Ministry said.

The Ministry said: “The attention of the Government of Sri Lanka has been drawn to a recent report issued by Amnesty International titled “Sri Lanka-Silencing Dissent” on alleged threats to media and media freedom.

The Report is totally misplaced - a contradiction between the title ‘silencing dissent’ and Government’s sustained policy of open and constructive engagement with the international community and international human rights mechanisms.

In 2007 the Government extended invitations to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, and in early 2008, to a delegation from the Inter Parliamentary Union and Ms Angela Kane, the UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs.

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http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/03/08/news03.asp

One soldier killed in claymore mine explosion at Galge

A claymore mine was triggered off targeting a troops carrying tractor at Galge along the Buttala old road this morning (March 8), defence sources report.

According to defence sources, the mine explosion was triggered in a jungle patch at Galge general area, around 9.45.a.m. Three soldiers have received injuries due to the explosion, sources said. Meanwhile, a soldier has succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment, according to latest reports received.

SLA and Police are now conducting extensive search operations in the area, defence sources further reported.

Extracted from,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080308_04