LTTE Terrorism in its Final Role in History-Wimal Weerawansa

Terrorism on last legs: Colombo

A day after the bus explosion in Anuradhapura district in the North Central Province in which 16 civilians were killed and 23 others injured, Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake told Parliament that the country is at a critical juncture now that “terrorism is on its last legs and, therefore, the LTTE is showing increasing signs of desperation”.

Introducing a motion to extend the Emergency, Mr. Wickramanayake urged everyone to join hands with the government “at this important moment to wipe out terrorism” from the island.

The island nation has been in a state of Emergency since the assassination of the then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005 and under the Constitution of Sri Lanka, it comes up for review every month.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/07/stories/2007120754191700.htm

Malaysia's ethnic Indian activists accused of terror links

Malaysian authorities have accused ethnic Indian activists of having links with Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, a charge the campaigners said could see them detained under internal security laws.

Leaders of ethnic rights group Hindraf, which last month organised mass anti-discrimination protests that were broken up with tear gas and water cannons, have already been slapped with sedition charges.

Police Inspector-General Musa Hassan accused them of seeking support from terrorists, smearing Malaysia's reputation, and inciting racial hatred -- a serious charge in the multicultural country dominated by Muslim Malays.

"Of late there have been indications that Hindraf is trying to seek support and help from terrorist groups," Musa said in a statement carried by the official Bernama news agency late Thursday, without giving any details.

However, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail said Hindraf was suspected of involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) whose campaign for an independent homeland has left tens of thousands dead since 1972.

Read more,
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZzIoyl_pZcoVOMd8tDCIR8Y_nVw

UNICEF armour plating vehicles a violation of local laws - FM

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama yesterday stated in Parliament that the Ministry informed the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Sri Lanka that fixing bullet proof plates to a vehicle without approval from the Ministry and Motor Traffic Department is a breach of relevant regulations.

He made this statement in response to the statement made by JVP Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa on the activities of the UNICEF in Sri Lanka.

He also said it constitutes a significant alteration to the vehicle permissible under the Motor Traffic laws of the country. Bogollagama further said: "I have given due consideration to the statements made by Wimal Weerawansa, M.P. in this House over the past few weeks concerning activities of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Sri Lanka.

"I wish to inform this House that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already brought these allegations to the attention of the UN and taken necessary action."

Read more,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/12/07/pol03.asp

Tharanga to open for Sri Lanka in second test

Sri Lanka have not called up an extra batsman following the retirement of Sanath Jayasuriya for the second test against England starting on Sunday.

"We have not added any additional players and Upul (Tharanga) will now open the batting with Michael Vandort," captain Mahela Jayawardene told Reuters on Friday.

There had been speculation that Jehan Mubarak's place in the middle order was under threat after he contributed only nine runs to Sri Lanka's victory in the first test.

"The middle order is a bit of concern but we have to be fair to the youngsters we have identified and give them a decent run," Jayawardene added.

Sri Lanka are unlikely to make changes to their bowling attack.

Read more,
http://uk.reuters.com/article/cricketNews/

S.Lanka Mobitel invests $200 mln in network upgrade

The wireless arm of leading fixed-line telephone operator Sri Lanka Telecom SLTL.CM said on Wednesday it hopes to hike its subscriber base by 17 percent by early next year after investing $200 million to upgrade networks.

Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom, said the investment would enable it to provide superfast 3.5G data services, and China's Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] had been awarded a contract.

"Our funding came partly from a Sri Lanka Telecom bond issue, partly self-generated investment and two loans," said Suren Amarasekera, chief executive officer of Mobitel.

Read more,
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/

Sri Lanka stars top ICC rankings

Sri Lanka's prolific Kumar Sangakkara took over as the No.1 Test batsman after his record-breaking feats in the first Test against England, according to official new rankings.

Sangakkara's teammate Muttiah Muralidaran, who this week overtook retired Shane Warne as the leading wicket-taker, already tops the Test rankings for bowlers on International Cricket Council rankings.

Left-handed Sangakkara, 30, continued his brilliant recent form by making 92 and a match-winning 152 to help Sri Lanka defeat England by 88 runs in the Kandy Test.

Read more,
http://foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22884286-23212,00.html

South Asian Blood, Sweat, and Tears In The Middle East

Just consider the words of Kumari Indunil, age 23, a former domestic worker in Kuwait:

‘Even if I went to bed at 3:30 a.m., I had to get up by 5:30 a.m… I had continuous work until 1:00 a.m., sometimes 3:00 a.m.... Once I told the employer, “I am a human like you and I need an hour to rest.” She told me, “You have come to work; you are like my shoes, and you have to work tirelessly.”

‘The conditions were getting worse. I told the employer that I wanted to leave but she would not take me to the agency…. [Her husband] would say, “You want to go, you want to go?” and he would pull my hair and beat me with his hands.

He went to the kitchen and took a knife and told me he would kill me, cut me up into little pieces, and put the little pieces of me in the cupboard… By this time they owed me four months’ salary….There are more and more innocent women going abroad, and planning to go.

It is up to the women to care of themselves. The [Sri Lankan] government gets a good profit from us; they must take care of us. They must do more to protect us.’

Read more,
http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=120607065031

EuroAsian satellite radio station planned, focusing on Sri Lanka

The World Institute of Asian Studies (WIAS) is planning a 24-hour radio station called EuroAsian Radio. The WIAS is a non-profit organisation registered in Sweden which publishes the Asian Tribune, aimed at the Sri Lankan diaspora.

According to the editor of Asian Tribune, K T Rajasingham, EuroAsian Radio will be the new live voice of the WIAS, broadcasting to Asia, Australasia, America, Africa and Europe simultaneously.

EuroAsian Radio will a 24-hour service. There will be a daily 12 hour English language broadcast with hourly news, sports, weather and background news, views, reviews, comments, discussions, interviews etc. The other 12 hours will be allotted to hourly programmes in the major Asian languages. Accordingly, there will be daily one hour Tamil language and one hour Sinhala language programmes. There will be special websites for the Tamil and Sinhala language services with 24 hour availability of the latest one hour programme.

Read more,
http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/euroasian-satellite-

LTTE terrorists attack civilian bus killing civilians - Kebethigollawa

LTTE terrorists carried out another cowardly attack at the civilians by targeting a civilian bus plying from Anuradhapura to Jankapura this evening. According to the available information the terrorists have detonated a roadside bomb around 8.15p.m at Abhimanpura, on the Kebithigollawa - Padaviya road. At 15 civilians have been killed and 23 others injured as the fully packed bus was deliberately targeted by the terrorists. Correct deaths and casualty figures are yet be known.

LTTE is a terrorist outfit fighting for a mono ethnic separate homeland for the Tamils in Sri Lanka since 1983. Engulfed with ideologies based on extreme tribalism, LTTE has carried out many civilian massacres against Sinhala and Muslim people living in the North and Eastern provinces. Since, beginning of its bloody terrorist campaign against Sri Lankan citizens LTTE has been able to turn the entire Northern Province into a mono ethnic province by killing tens and thousands of people in its ethnic cleansing raids at Sinhala and Muslim villages.

Extracted from,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071205_11

UNESCO's Matsuura -- latest broadcaster for Voice of Tigers

Before condemning the attack on the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio station – an instrument of glorifying terrorism which is forbidden under UN Security Council Resolution 1373 etc -- Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ), should have done his homework instead of being led by the nose of partisan NGOs in Colombo.

His staffers who drafted the statement too should have read the precedents set by UNESCO at the height of NATO bombing of Serbia.

Here are the precedents on which UNESCO was deaf, dumb and blind.

Report No:1 from CNN, May 12, 1999:

NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said Sunday that eight radio relay sites and more than a dozen road and rail bridges were hit....

Read full article here,
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/8579

Sinhalese recruited in LTTE: report

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have reportedly started recruiting Sinhalese as "sleeper" agents in the Sri Lankan capital and its suburbs taking advantage of the ceasefire with the government.

"It is obvious that many Tiger operatives have infiltrated Colombo and the suburbs under the cover of the ceasefire," the Daily News said adding these "sleepers" lead seemingly normal lives until they are given orders by leaders in Wanni, a Tiger-held northern area.

"Among them are suicide cadres who blow themselves up to take VIP and military targets," the newspaper said in an editorial titled "Security Imperatives" yesterday.

"On the other hand, the Tigers have succeeded in recruiting unpatriotic Sinhalese to their ranks, as proved by the arrests of Sinhala Tigers some time back. Thus ethnicity is no longer the only factor that security forces have to contend with," it said.

Read more,
http://news.indiainfo.com/2007/12/05/0712051553_lanka-ltte.html

Sri Lankan Muslim party under pressure on budget vote

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), an ally in the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse, has come under pressure from its membership not to support the government in the key vote to take place December 14, party officials said Sunday.

“A majority of our executive committee members feel that we should abstain from voting,” said a party official who wanted to remain unnamed.
He said the grassroot members, particularly from the troubled eastern province, thought that the Rajapakse government had failed to address the security issues of the Muslims and their land ownership in the east.

“A decision was taken at the executive committee meeting held Saturday night to leave it to the party leader Rauff Hakeem, the high command, to take a final decision on the matter,” he added.
Hakeem, who is the posts and telecommunications minister in the government, and his five other legislators voted in favour of the government Nov 19 on the second reading of the government’s 2008 budget.

Read more,
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=

LTTE asked to end suicide politics, killings

A Sri Lankan Tamil activist group has urged Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran to renounce the 'politics of suicide and political killings' to get on to the path of a negotiated end to the ethnic conflict.

In a trenchant criticism of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum (SLDF) has accused the Tigers of heaping misery on the island's Tamil community.

'The LTTE leader has to publicly renounce the movement's politics of suicide and political killings as a first and important step in establishing its serious intent towards a negotiated political solution,' said SLDF, which groups Tamil activists who seek a peaceful and negotiated end to the ethnic conflict.

Read more,
http://www.indiaenews.com/srilanka/20071205/84518.htm