Viral flu hits Sri Lankan troops in northern war zone

A new crisis has erupted in Sri Lanka's northern war zone with a virtual epidemic of dengue and chikungunya viral fever among troops due to the heavy rains and resultant floods, said a leading local newspaper on Sunday.

The Sunday Times disclosed that about 500 troops affected by the viral flu were being treated at hospitals in the Anuradhapura district.

Health officials said the crisis had arisen one month ago and health education and viral flu prevention activities were conducted in the affected areas and mosquito nets being widely distributed.

Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital Director Sarath Weerabandara said the outbreak began when unexpected heavy rains hit the area including the war zones.

He said blood samples had confirmed that the virus was largely chikungunya.

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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/30/content_7883448.htm

TMVP to support Govt at Eastern PC polls

The nomination lists for the forthcoming Eastern Provincial Council elections are to be completed before April 3. It is reported that except the UNP, the other political parties have completed their nominees' list for the Eastern Provincial Council.

The rift between the UNP and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), according to informed sources, is due to the symbol, which the two parties have not agreed on so far, was the main reason for the delay.

The nomination committee comprising SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena, Leader of the House, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and the Senior Presidential Advisor MP Basil Rajapaksa will finalise its nomination list today.

The nomination list of the UNP will be finalised by the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who returned to the country today after a three-day Indian visit. According to party sources, the selection board which comprises its Leader Wickremesinghe, Party Chairman Rukman Senanayake, General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, Daya Palpola, Shibly Aziz and Joseph Michael Perera would arrive at a decision on the Alliance with the SLMC and other issues related to the polls.

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http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2008/03/30/pol02.asp

'Just a true Canadian': alleged Tiger bagman

Prapa Thambithurai lives in a suburban duplex north of Toronto, near the looping roller coaster tracks and fake theme park mountains of Canada's Wonderland.

"I'm just a true Canadian," is how he described himself.

But police allege the 45-year-old satellite dish installer, who emigrated from Sri Lanka two decades ago, is also a bagman for the Tamil Tigers, the guerrilla group that pioneered suicide bombings.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Thambithurai became the first person charged under Canada's terrorism financing law, which makes it a crime to collect money knowing it "will be used by or will benefit a terrorist group."

Part of the Anti-Terrorism Act brought in after 9/11, the law has been on the books for more than six years, but nobody had ever been charged until Mr. Thambithurai's car was pulled over in New Westminster, B.C. on the night of March 14.

Read more,
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=407533