Two LTTE strongholds fall to troops - Vavuniya front

Security forces personnel engaged in counter terrorist offensives made another major breakthrough capturing two more LTTE strongholds in Vavuniya front this afternoon, July 11.

Despite the heavy resistance, the troops in 57 division approached towards LTTE territory and captured the Naddankandal area while the troops in Task Force 2 captured Navvi area in the same front, defence sources said.

Fierce gun battles between LTTE terrorists and security forces took place during past few days in these areas and the troops were fighting through the resistance to capture these LTTE strongholds, sources added.

The offensive operations to liberate Wanni continues.

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Weakened Sri Lankan rebels seeking Indian support

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels are seeking the support of neighboring South Indian state of Tamil Nadu for survival in the face of the present military onslaught, the state radio announced here Saturday.

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation said in its morning news bulletin that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) now hit by military campaign in the north is engaged in an attempt to drag Tamil Nadu to intervene on their behalf in order to see an end to military operations.

Tamil Nadu is home to some 65 million Tamils with close connections to the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government in the formative years of the LTTE's armed campaign in the early 1980s slammed India for harboring LTTE members and providing them training in Tamil Nadu.

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Delhi accused of pressuring Colombo to end offensive against LTTE

It is three weeks since a high-level Indian delegation arrived in the island for closed-door discussions with Sri Lanka’s leaders, but the reverberations from the visit still continue with Sri Lanka’s Marxist-cum-Nationalist party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) slamming India for ‘its invasive dictatorial foreign policy’. Indian diplomatic sources in Colombo have stated that the meeting focused ‘mainly’ on the security considerations of the upcoming Saarc summit to be held in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the government has staunchly denied that India’s three top most bureaucrats, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh who met President Rajapakse, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge had applied pressure to stop the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

The government denial of Indian pressure came as the JVP accused the Indian government of wanting the military campaign against the LTTE stopped at a time when the Tiger rebels were weakened and many key guerilla camps in the north taken over by government troops.

Sri Lankan officials have dismissed the unprecedented heights to which media speculations reached regarding the recent visit of the Indian delegates, with some reports stating that thousands of Indian troops will arrive in the country.

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State government to oppose Nalini’s premature release

The Tamil Nadu government will oppose the premature release of Nalini, a life convict in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the government submitted before the Madras High Court on Friday.

In its counter to a petition filed by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, who sought to implead himself in the writ petition filed by Nalini seeking premature release, the government submitted that it was not necessary for Dr.Swamy to implead himself as a party in the case.

After hearing arguments, Justice S.Nagamuthu reserved orders on Dr. Swamy’s petition. In the counter, the Joint Secretary, Home, A. Mani, submitted that the government had already rejected the premature release of Nalini based on the merits of the case. It would file a counter affidavit opposing such a release. Dr.Swamy’s apprehension that the Central and State Governments may collude with the life convict for the sake of her release was absolutely baseless and imaginary. Priyanka, daughter of Rajiv Gandhi, met Nalini in prison on March 19, but the meeting had nothing to do with the premature release of the convict.

As regards the allegation that the parties of the ruling coalition such as the DMK, PMK and Dalit Panthers were close to the LTTE, a banned terrorist organisation, and that the DMK government was dismissed in 1991 for supporting LTTE, the counter said that it was only a surmise to contend that the ruling party and its allies were supporting the LTTE. The government never had any soft corner for any act of terrorism.

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Rajapaksa worships Balaji at Tirumala

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa prayed in the temple of Lord Venkateswara on Tirumala tonight, seeking peace and prosperity for his country and the world.

Accompanied by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Executive Officer KV Ramanachary, Rajapaksa entered Srivari temple through the Vaikuntam Queue Complex-I around 8 pm.

He worshipped Venkateswara in the sanctum sanctorum, where priests gave ‘Harathi’ and offered ‘theertha prasadams’ to him and also narrated the temple’s legend in brief.

He also prayed in the sub-temples of Vakula Devi and Yogi Narasimha Swamy, had darshan of Vimana Venkateswara Swamy and deposited his offering in Hundi.

Later, he was given ‘Vedashirwadam’ at Ranganaykula Mandapam by the temple priests led by Chief Priest AV Ramana Deekshithulu. TTD Executive Officer KV Ramanachary presented him with Srivari Prasadam. He spent about 35 minutes in the temple.

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