Benazir Bhutto dies in suspected suicide attack in Rawalpindi

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan and opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto died this evening in a bomb explosion.

According to reports, Ms. Bhutto was the victim of a suspected suicide attack during a rally of her Pakistan People’s Party.

The attack has left at least 15 people dead, according to police.

Ms. Bhutto had just addressed the rally in the town of Rawalpindi when an explosion occurred at one of the entrance gates to the Liaqat Ali park.

Apparently she had been just 50 m away at the time.

When she returned to the country after many years in exile in October an attack on Ms. Bhutto’s cavalcade took the lives of some 130 people in one of the worse incidents of violence in Pakistan.

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http://www.news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4405&Itemid=44

Sri Lankan minister hospitalized after clash at state television

A Sri Lankan minister was hospitalized on Thursday following a clash with the employees of the state television Rupavahini, hospital officials said.

Labor Minister Mervyn Silva was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital after being rescued by the police from the enraged Rupavahini employees, officials of the hospital said.

Silva stormed the television station around 10:00 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) to protest Rupavahini's ignoring of a speech made by him on Wednesday in the southern town of Matara in the presence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.

The station's News Director T. M. G. Chandrasekera was assaulted by the minister and his guards, Rupavahini employees charged.

Silva was kept hostage by employees over three hours demanding an apology from the minister.

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LTTE sneaking into Tamilnadu?

Former Congress Legislature Party leader S R Balasubramoniyan has pressed the alarm button by stating that there is a possibility of LTTE sneaking into Tamilnadu under the guise of refugees.

Speaking to reporters the Congress leader said that with the LTTE losing ground in Lanka and the worsening situation had forced scores of extremists to head towards Tamilnadu as refugees.

‘This would spell doom to the security of our country and hence the State government should take steps to check infiltration,’ he said.

Referring to propaganda that there was no ban on LTTE in Lanka, he said that it is nothing but a ‘mischief’ played by some political parties to scuttle the peace and sovereignty of the nation.

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http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=3530%20&%20section=6

Congress seeks ban on pro-LTTE meetings

Congress on Thursday demanded that the Tamil Nadu government should take stern action against the supporters of outlawed LTTE and ban the meetings held in support of the organisation.

The LTTE continued to be a banned organisation and the supporters of the outfit should be dealt firmly by the government, senior party leader and former Union Minister S R Balasubramaniam told reporters here.

He also wanted the political parties to refrain from supporting the LTTE.

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http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200712271541.htm

Sri Lanka tested satellite disaster warning system to be used in India

A digital satellite radio disaster alert system that can be remotely activated which was field tested in Sri Lanka is now ready for use in the region to give early warning of tsunamis, officials said.

The Addressable Radio for Emergency Alert (AREA) system can send disaster alerts within seconds of its transmission by government authorities and also has the advantage of activating a siren.

The system is also expected to be adopted in India, which along with Sri Lanka, was among several countries that suffered from the 2004 tsunami.

The system, which has early-warning emergency messages, audio and visual alarms, was tested in a study conducted by LIRNEasia, a regional policy think tank, and Sarvodaya, a charity, in 32 Sri Lankan coastal villages.

"The product is digital satellite radio – it means there's no ground infrastructure at all," said Rohan Samarajeeva of LIRNEasia.

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Navy foils LTTE bid to smuggle warlike materials: 11 LTTE boats destroyed - Delft

Eleven LTTE attack boats were destroyed including two suicide craft during a heavy sea battle erupted this morning (December 26), in seas south off Delft, Naval sources say.

According to latest information, Navy fast attack craft triumphed destroying eleven LTTE boats, while unconfirmed sources reveal at least 40 terrorists were killed during the hours long sea confrontation.

Naval task units including fast attack craft engaged decisive strikes at an LTTE boat cluster consisting 16 boats, Naval sources said.

Elite Naval sea units detected a suspicious boat cluster in seas south west off Delft, today at around 7.30a.m. Clashes erupted and turned into a fierce sea battle when Naval task units took initiative to cut off the suspicious boat movement, at 11.30a.m, defence sources say. According to Naval sources, LTTE elements were engaged in a clandestine sea movement smuggling warlike material towards the non-liberated Nachchikudha coast when detected by the Naval patrol units.

Naval fast attack craft responded effectively towards the LTTE cluster with heavy gunfire and evasive battle manoeuvres, forcing terrorist boats to flee further southwards. According to information received, SLAF MI-24 gunships also engaged aerial strikes at the fleeing LTTE boats.

Meanwhile, defence sources said LTTE communication has gone silent since the break-off of fighting in the waters off Delft. Further information said, a dockyard built naval craft was damaged when two suicide LTTE boats exploded in the Naval retaliatory attacks. The damaged boat is now been towed towards the Kankesanthurai harbour, by Naval sea units security sources said.

According to latest reports, slain body of a naval officer was recovered by naval units during search operations conducted. Two naval personnel were also rescued during the salvage operations, sources reveal.

Meanwhile, eleven other naval personnel were reported missing following the confrontation, Naval sources said.

Extracted from,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071226_07

SL prez Rajapaksa vows to crush terrorism

Vowing to crush terrorism in Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa today said the Tamil Tiger rebels should be defeated militarily before finding any political solution to the bloody ethnic conflict.

''No political solution is possible without crushing terrorism completely. Our military victories are clearing way for a lasting political solution,'' President Rajapaksa said while speaking at the national event to mark the third anniversary of the tsunami disaster in the Southern Matara district.

''The LTTE would be defeated militaraly and forced to accept a political solution after laying down weapons,'' President Rajapaksa said, minutes after ceremonially opening a Korean-funded bridge that was destroyed by the terror waves three years ago. ''I hope they (LTTE) understand this reality,'' President Rajapaksa, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, said.

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http://news.oneindia.in/2007/12/26/rajapaksa-vows-to-crush-terrorism-1198663542.html

Sri Lankan military detains Indonesian ship to investigate any links to Tamil rebels

The navy detained an Indonesian-registered ship off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka to investigate any possible ties with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels as fighting across the embattled north killed 15 guerrillas, the military said Wednesday.

The ship was drifting when it was detected about 160 kilometers off the island's eastern coast Tuesday morning and navy troops boarded the ship for an investigation, a defense ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The navy is questioning the 12-member Indonesian crew, the official said, adding that it will conduct a full investigation to check if the ship had any links with the Tamil Tigers.

The official said the ship's captain told the navy that his vessel was sailing from the Indian city of Mumbai to Thailand and that the vessel started drifting when it ran out of fuel. The official declined to give further details.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20071226150047&irec=7

Terrorism expert names 8 countries suppling weapons to Tamil Tigers

A terrorism expert recently listed eight sources of arms procurement for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Peter Leitner, president of the Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center and professor at the National Center for Biodefense at George Mason University, said clandestine arms dealers in Tamil Nadu, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Cyprus, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma and Croatia supply explosives, weapons and other supplies to the group.

While most armaments are obtained by forged or adapted end-user certificates, the LTTE arms transport is the “largest quantity of armaments ever transported by a non-state armed group,” Leitner pointed out.

The LTTE has been listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

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54 killed in Sri Lanka, army captures part of Thampane

At least 52 LTTE militants have been killed in gunbattles between security forces and the rebels in Sri Lanka's embattled north, where the army captured a portion of the rebel-held Thampane area.

Elsewhere two civilians also lost their lives in attacks by suspected Tiger rebels, the army said on Tuesday.

"We on Monday night moved in about one km inside Thampane and one of the camps — which was taken control of — could accommodate 300 LTTE militants," a ministry spokesman said.

In two other areas of Thampane, the troops moved in about 300 metres and 500 metres respectively, the spokesman said, adding this was the fourth major success for army during the last few days.

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http://www.ibnlive.com/news/54-killed-in-sri-lanka-army-capt

Sri Lankan maids to get a pay hike from Jan.

Sri Lankan housemaids in the UAE will have to be paid a minimum salary of Dh825 per month from January 1, 2008.

Officials from the Sri Lankan Consulate in Dubai yesterday told Khaleej Times that the Sri Lankan missions have notified recruiting agents of the revised minimum wages.

The Sri Lankan government has revised the minimum wages of housemaids in the entire Gulf. While Dh825 has been set for the UAE, the wages in other countries in the Middle East have been set according to their respective per capita income.

Sri Lankan Consul-General Wasantha Senanayake said, “We have sent a circular to all the agents this week stating that any new contract drawn for housemaids from January 1 will have a minimum wage of Dh825 vis-a-vis the existing Dh600. All employers will have to pay Sri Lankan housemaids this revised amount.”

This decision comes in the wake of the visit by Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, Dr Keheliya Rambukwella, to Dubai in October, when he told reporters that the government was considering increasing the wages.

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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2007/

Gnanakone rubs shoulders with UNP MPs at party inaugural meeting in LA

Jayantha (Donald) Gnanakone, the controversial Tamil activist, with alleged connections with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rubbing shoulders with Dr. Jayalath Jayewardena, the UNP stalwart at the inaugural Los Angeles meeting of the United National Party became the cynosure of the gathering when Pro-Ranil Wickremesinghe leaders converged on the metropolis for the historical event .

"I may be supporting Mano Ganeshan in Colombo ( a pro-LTTE politician) or anybody else and it's none of the f..... business of anybody or RAW or any one of its agents," he said when asked whether he has joined the UNP. RAW is the Indian intelligence service and currently dreaded by the LTTE since the assassination of the former Indian Prime Minister by a LTTE suicide killer. Formerly RAW funded, armed and trained the LTTE in South Indian military camps when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India.

Jayantha Gnanakone is the brother of the now acquitted alleged participant of the assassination of the former Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

At the inauguration of new branch of the UNP in LA delirium reind supreme when two UNP stalwarts mingled with a bother of a well-known LTTE financier cloistered inside the Hyatt Summerfield Hotel in El Segundo on Sunday and sang the praises of Ranil Wickremesinghe to their hearts content.

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http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071225_06

LTTE terrorism must be wiped out, says Nepal’s Prachanda

Maoist leader Prachanda has said that all South Asian and Asian countries must help to Sri Lanka to wipe out the LTTE terrorism.

Prachanda conveyed this view during a meeting with Sri Lanka’s visiting Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

The meeting, which took place on Sunday at the Maoist office in Katmandu, also focussed on the LTTE’s lack of success in realising its dream of a separate Tamil nation in Sri Lanka.

Prachanda urged LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran to stop his suicide bomb attacks on politicians and members of civil society.

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http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/

French journalists arrested in Sri Lanka

At least two French journalists have been arrested in Sri Lanka's south for filming a detention camp without permission, police said Tuesday.

The police at Ratgama, about 104 km south of Colombo said that the two French men belonging to "France 24 TV" were arrested Monday evening for filming the area surrounding the Boossa detention camp.

Police spokesman Jayantha Wickramarathne confirmed the arrest of two French men, but said the authorities are not sure whether they are journalists or not.

"They were arrested by the Army because they didn't get permission to film the area," said Wickramarathne, adding that they are still under custody.

The Boossa camp, just 4 km away from the Ratgama police station, drew attention late November when a large number of Tamil minority were rounded up in Colombo and its suburbs on suspicion of links with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

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