“Col” Karuna may face deportation

Rebel LTTE leader “Col” Karuna Amman, who was serving a jail sentence here after being found guilty of travelling to the U.K. on an allegedly forged Sri Lankan passport, was on Friday released and transferred to an immigration detention centre pending a decision on whether he should be deported back to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan High Commission sources said they had not received any request to issue travel documents that would enable it to deport ``Col” Karuna. Human rights groups want him to be tried for war crimes following allegations that his Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) which he formed after breaking away from LTTE in 2004 was involved in murders, torture and abductions.

The BBC quoted the Crown Prosecution Service, responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in England and Wales, as saying that according to the police there was “insufficient evidence” to provide a realistic prospect of his conviction.

Extracted from,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/10/stories/2008051055031800.htm

Is president Rajapaksa a terrorist?

President Mahinda Rajapakse stands out as the only president in Sri Lanka who has to face an avalanche of acrimony hatred, demonisation and insult. He is blamed for every trouble that occurs in our strife-torn island for some of which he is not responsible at all.

The J.V.P in their May Day rally referred to Mahinda Rajapakse as the terrorist in the south while Vellupillai Prabakaran was the terrorist in the north. J.V.P’s trade-union leader Parliamentarian K.D. Lalkantha said that the J.V.P. trade unions had a big responsibility at hand in the near future to carry out two general strikes against these two destructive elements.

"The working class of the country has to launch trade union actions against the Eelam terrorist who is hell-bent on snatching away a part of our mother land. We also have to defeat the financial terrorist who was elected to power by the people and plundering public funds. The J.V.P. gave them a chance to correct themselves by exposing various corruptions, financial irregularities and embezzlements.

But they failed to use the chance. Hence it is time to defeat both terrorists, Vellupillai Prabakaran and Mahinda Rajapakse"

Of all the acrimonious charges leveled against president Rajapakse, the one by parliamentarian Lalkantha of the J.V.P was perhaps the worst. Some of the other charges leveled against Rajapakse is the inability of his government to control the cost of living and the galloping rate of inflation, the charges of corruption nepotism wastage, the abuse of human-rights, abductions internal and external displacements and killing of civilians in the on going war.

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http://www.island.lk/2008/05/10/features3.html

Woman and child wounded in LTTE mortar attack- Bakmitiyawa

LTTE terrorists mounted an indiscriminate 81 mm mortar shell attack at a civilian settlement at Pannalgama general area in Bakmitiyawa, Damana today(may 10), injuring 4 people including a woman and a child, at around 7.15a.m., sources reveal.

According to latest reports received, terrorists have fired 7 mortar bombs at the Pannalgama civilian settlement, what was said to be another attempt of LTTE to flush the settlers from their native lands. The injured child was said to be a 10-year old, informed sources said.

According to Damana Police, an injured civilian was rushed to the Tottama rural hospital. Security has been tightened in the area as combined Army and Police search teams were dispatched to the scene.

Pannalgama is located approximately 25km South East of Damana

Read more,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080510_05

Cargo Vessel sinks due to underwater Explosion at Trincomalee Harbour

A cargo vessel (A 520/ex-MV Invincible) was damaged and sank in an underwater explosion which occurred at the Trincomalee Harbour today (10th May 2008) around 2.15 a.m.

The vessel was berthed at the Ashroff Jetty at the time of the incident and had a skeleton crew on board for routine operational purposes. The crew suffered no casualties and no other properties were damaged due to the explosion.

The old vessel built in 1971 was known as MV Invincible. It was handed over to the Navy by a court order after it had been apprehended and retained by the authorities while it was engaged in smuggling migrants.

News from,
http://www.navy.lk/index.php?id=798
Photo,
http://www.navy.lk/slideshow/gallery/2005/2005_09_25/2.jpg

Congress demands extension of ban on LTTE

The Congress, a key constituent of the DMK-led DPA in Tamil Nadu, today demanded extension of the ban on outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Speaking on the demand for grants for Home Department in the State Assembly, Mr K R Ramasamy of Congress said the ban on LTTE, imposed in the aftermath of the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991, was scheduled to expire soon.

''The State Government should recommend to the Centre and ensure that the ban on the LTTE is extended,'' he added. Earlier, initiating the debate, P K Sekar Babu of the main Opposition AIADMK recalled the recent incidents and alleged that the law and order had deteriorated in the state.

Recalling how the previous AIADMK regime headed by Ms J Jayalalithaa had dealt with extremism with iron hand and rooted out LTTE activities and other Tamil extremist outfits in the state, he said incidents of violence, mercenary killings, burglaries and dacoities were on the rise.

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http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?

11 innocent civilians killed, over 25 wounded in LTTE bomb explosion - Ampara

Eleven innocent civilians were killed while over 25 injured when the LTTE terrorists exploded a bomb inside the "New City Cafe" hotel in Ampara town this evening, May 09.

The explosion took place around 5.45 p.m and the victims who received injuries were rushed to the Ampara hospital, sources said.

This is another cowardly attempt of the LTTE terrorists to disrupt the normalcy in the area as the government scheduled to head the provincial council election tomorrow to establish the democracy in the eastern province.

News and Photos from,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080509_07

Sri Lanka to hunt for oil onshore after gas find

Sri Lanka is to start searching for oil onshore after the accidental discovery of gas seeping from the ground, government officials said.
Petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said Friday the government has received technical support from Egypt to start the initial exploration work.

The accidental discovery of signs of gas were near the Munneswaram Kovil, a famous Hindu temple, in the northwestern Chilaw area, adjacent to the waters of the Mannar Basin, where offshore exploration blocks have been offered.

"We have learned that there are signs of petroleum reserves in the onshore areas in Chilaw," Fowzie told a news conference.

"We have asked for and received assistance from Egypt after my talks there in April to do the initial surveys."

Egypt has sent three technical experts from the Egyptian oil ministry who visited the Chilaw area and studied data on previous oil exploration work.

Read more,
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=1089866813

Armed group releases underage recruits as vital election nears

The Karuna faction, the Tamil Tiger breakaway group, which has been transforming itself from an armed military group into a political party, released 39 underage recruits in April 2008.

The group, officially known as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), released 28 children on 24 April after 11 were let go on 11 April.

The TMVP was formed by the former eastern military commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, alias Karuna, after he broke away from the Tigers in April 2004. It now controls all nine local governing divisions in its native Batticaloa District in eastern Sri Lanka following a clean sweep in elections on 10 March, and is contesting the Eastern Provincial Council election on 10 May as a coalition partner of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance.

The TMVP is now led by Karuna’s chief lieutenant Sivasuntharai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the party’s candidate for the chief minister of the province, who has taken pains to rehabilitate the party's image.

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http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78120

Suspected terrorists held, ammunition seized in Tamil Nadu

Increased surveillance of Tamil Nadu's southeastern coast have resulted in the arrest of two suspected terrorists and the seizure early Friday of a boat laden with contraband ammunition bound for northern Sri Lanka, police said.

The consignment recovered off the coast of Rameshwaram, about 600 km from state capital Chennai, consisted of explosives, batteries and camouflage attire.

'The operation began Thursday evening and lasted till well past midnight. To our knowledge, the arrests were made and ammunition seized, a very common occurrence here. However, we did not seek further details,' said a coast guard official.

Officials said this was a consequence of the central government's beefing up of coastal security.

'The centre has created the Coastal Security Scheme (CSS) to stop intrusions and other nefarious activities. Seven marine police stations, built at a cost of Rs.30.92 million in the first phase out of a total outlay of Rs.440.08 million meant for Tamil Nadu, will keep watch over our 12 nautical mile territorial waters,' Additional Director General of Police (CSS) Jagan Sheshadhri told IANS.

Read more,
http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20080509/116914.htm