SLAF pounds LTTE covert base in Mullaittivu

Air Force fighter jets pounded on an LTTE base located in the general area Teravilkulam ,North West of Puthukudiyirippu in Mullaittivu district this evening today(April 1). The LTTE camp that has been handling covert operations of the outfit was attacked based on real-time ground information indicating 'Intensified terrorist activates " on it around 4.30 p.m.

According to the Air force spokesperson Wing Commander Andrew Wijesooriya the target has been positively identified through human intelligence and verified through continuous air surveillances conducted by the SLAF. He said the target was accurately hit, citing the fighter pilots.

A senior defence official speaking to defence.lk said the targeted LTTE base was one of the nerve centers of the outfit's covert operations. He said that the target was of high value that no further comments can be made on it due to security reasons.

Asked how that the information had reached to the defence intelligence agencies he said that the LTTE hierarchy has lost control over its ranks that information comes from "inside" to security forces. He added that clashes among senior LTTE cadres and continuous harassment suffered by junior LTTE cadres have facilitated the information flow.

Extracted from,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080401_06

LTTE shells Murunkan Government hospital - Mannar

Tension prevailed in Murunkan area, Mannar as LTTE launched heavy artillery shells were reported to have damaged the Murunkan government hospital today (April 01) at around 6.10 a.m.

According to available reports, a hospital building was partially damaged during the indiscriminate LTTE shell attack.

Details of damages caused to civilian and properties are yet to be estimated.

It was reported that the sudden shell attack by LTTE from the un-cleared area fell, mounting tension and fear among the folks. According to defence sources in the area the explosions had caused panic and trauma among patient and civilians who were immediately evacuated by troops into safer shelters. Meanwhile, few shells have also fallen in proximity of the Murunkan government school, sources further reported.

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http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080401_02

Voters will reject LTTE: Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said he had no doubt voters in the east were not “shortsighted” to give the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam an opportunity to make a comeback.

Addressing members and officials of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) at its annual convention here on Sunday, Mr. Rajapaksa “challenged” the opposition United National Party (UNP) to win the coming Eastern Provincial Council election “even with the assistance of the LTTE,” the local media reported.

Election to the Eastern Provincial Council is scheduled for May. Several mainstream parties including the UNP and the JVP are taking part. Nominations for the election close on April 3.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/01/stories/2008040155811300.htm

Sri Lanka has no plan to put off election in Eastern province

The Sri Lankan government on Monday denied a claim by the main minority Muslim party leader of a government plan to postpone the May 10 election for the Eastern Province.

"There is absolutely no plan to postpone the election," Keheliya Rambukwella, the government's defense spokesman and the Minister of Foreign Employment told reporters.

Rauff Hakeem, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC)had accused the government of contemplating postponement of the poll claiming security issue as an excuse if the situation became unfavorable to it.

Rambukwella stressed that the government was determined to give the eastern people the political freedom of appointing their own leaders after its success of liberating the east from the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

read more,
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/31/content_7893152.htm

Sri Lanka seeks one lakh tonnes of rice from India

The recent rains not only smashed Indian farm land but also in Sri Lanka, where the unexpected rains have ransacked the entire food grain fields.

Sri Lankan government has sought one lakh tonnes of rice from India to meet the requirements and controlling the inflation.

Recently, Indian government has imposed restrictions on exports of non basmati rice, thus may become a hurdle in exporting of foodgrain that Sri Lanka demands.

India, confronted with one of the highest rates of inflation, wants to ensure adequate supplies of essential commodities including non-basmati rice and has raised its minimum export price of non-basmati rice to 1000 dollars a tonne from 650 dollars a tonne.

Meanwhile Lankan importers urged the country's President Mahinda Rajapaksa to ask New Delhi to ease the restrictions for importing rice from India.

Read more,
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/

Lankan boat intercepted

Indian Navy on Monday intercepted a Sri Lankan boat and arrested two persons off Uchipuli coast. The boat was seized after being alerted by a naval patrol helicopter, police said.

Two persons identified as Anran (40) and Valentine (29) were taken into custody.

The boatmen were arrested when they were returning after dropping off a woman from Trincomallee and her three children at Arichalmunai. The woman, Nakuleswari, had paid Rs 50000 to the boatmen for ferrying them.

Police said Nakuleswari had come in search of her husband Srikandan, who had left the family in Sri Lanka and fled to India earlier.

Extracted from,
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200803311441.htm

SLAF raids LTTE 'runway' in Mullaittivu

SLAF fighter jets made two air sorties today (March 31) at 9.45a.m., and 10.30a.m, respectively at an LTTE 'runway' located 10km West of Mullaittivu town.

According to Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Andrew Wijesooriya, pilots confirmed to have taken the target successfully.

Extracted from,
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080331_02

A clear message on rights, says Colombo

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has said the Constitution and the Supreme Court rulings give “adequate recognition to the provisions contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

In a ruling made on the basis of the opinion sought by President Rajapaksa, the apex court held that the citizens could derive the “benefit guaranteed by the Covenant.”

It is immediately not clear what prompted the President to seek the court’s opinion. A few months ago, the apex court in another case observed that the United Nations and other international conventions were not binding on the country unless ratified by Parliament.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/31/stories/2008033155771600.htm

Chandrika and Ranil try to stop aid says President

In an obvious reference to former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and United National Party leader Ranil Wickramasinghe President Mahinda Rajapaksa said they are conspiring to stop foreign aid to Sri Lanka in a way injurious to the common masses of the country to spite him.

Addressing the 18th Annual Convention of the ruling Sri lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) President Mahinda Rajapaksa accused not only the United National Party leadership but some past leaders of his own party of conspiring to stop foreign aid to the country to spite him in an obvious reference to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

He said certain leaders have tried to stop the GSP plus concessions granted by the European Union on purported charges of violation of human rights in the country by secretly conspiring against the people.

Before the President leveled these accusations Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade has admitted that the government was in the know that former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has had talks with some European Union leaders.

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http://www.sinhalaya.com/news/english/wmview.php?ArtID=15052

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.

Read more,
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.

Read more,
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

UNICEF terminates official in Sri Lanka after drug offense

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today terminated the service of Lisa Woods, a communication consultant, who was fined by the local courts for being in possession of 80 mg of heroin.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the UNICEF country office has informed it of the termination. Ms. Woods left the country today.

Ms. Woods, a United States national, had arrived in Sri Lanka on March 5 this year to work with UNICEF on a 4-month assignment to assist in updating the UNICEF website and to write donor reports.

Ms. Wood was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of a private hospital in Colombo on March 12 after being found unconscious in her hotel. She was placed under arrest by the police for the possession of heroin and produced before the Colombo Magistrate on March 25.

“The Government appreciates the cooperation extended by UNICEF to the law enforcement authorities and for the immediate administrative measures taken against the officer,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_08/March28170054JV.html

Sri Lanka scraps bid for $400m terminal at Colombo port

Sri Lanka, aiming to increase cargo capacity at Colombo port by half, scrapped bids for a $400 million terminal, a ministry official said.

New terms will be added and fresh bids will be called in three months, Tilak Collure, a ports ministry secretary, said in a phone interview from capital Colombo. He declined to elaborate.

Hutchison Port Holdings and PSA International, which were among five companies that bid for the 2.4 million-containers-a-year facility at Colombo's south harbour, will have to resubmit their offers, Collure said.

The companies are known to be the world's biggest port operators.

Read more,
http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Shipping/10201264.html