Japan not to suspend aid to Sri Lanka

Japan has told Sri Lanka that it has no plans to suspend development aid to the island nation as reported in the international media.

Japan's special envoy Yasushi Akashi told Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona over the phone Friday that his country had not changed its aid policy vis-a-vis Sri Lanka and it would stick to the commitments it had made.

Akashi said that Japan welcomed the proposals made by the Sri Lankan all party panel on devolution of power and commended President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict.

The international media had reported from Tokyo Thursday that Akashi had warned that Japan would cut off aid to Sri Lanka if the latter continued with its military operations against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

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http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/

Tamil Nadu Assembly Ends With Row Over LTTE

The last day of the Tamil Nadu assembly session ended Friday as it had begun - with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) topping the agenda of all parties in the house.

The ruling DMK headed by M. Karunanidhi was asked by both the opposition AIADMK and ally Congress to crack down on 'supporters of terrorism'.

Making a rare appearance in the house, Leader of Opposition J. Jayalalitha blasted the DMK government on law and order and alleged that the state was 'becoming a haven for anti-social elements and extremists'.

She added that Tamil Nadu was becoming 'an LTTE base' and an 'arms den'. The government, she said, was unable to protect even leaders of friendly parties - a reference to the recent attack on Tamil Nadu Congress president M. Krishnaswamy by an armed gang while he was on a visit to the southern districts.

In a vitriolic speech, the former chief minister said that allies of the government were taking inspiration from Karunanidhi in expressing support for outfits like the LTTE, banned in India.

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http://newspostindia.com/report-34638

Sri Lanka desires enhanced trade with Pakistan: Rohitha Bogollagama

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Thursday said his country wants to expand bilateral trade with Pakistan from the existing $ 385 million to $ one billion.

Addressing a press conference here this evening, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister said during his talks with the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan the two sides expressed the desire to forge a comprehensive economic partnership for mutual benefit.

He said in this backdrop, the two countries discussed how to make the Joint Economic Commission and the Joint Council more effective to give boost to trade and economic cooperation.

He said the two countries are discussing issuance of multiple visa for business travels to facilitate businessmen of the two countries to have more interaction.

Rohitha Bogollagama said there is great potential for cooperation in shipping and Sri Lanka was interested in utilization of Pakistani tankers for transportation of crude oil from the Middle East.

He said Sri Lanka was shortly announcing blocks for oil exploration and wants to utilize the Pakistani expertise for this purpose.

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http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_conten

Instead of punishing Mervyn, SLRC workers being harassed - JVP

Though SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena and other senior Ministers promised to take disciplinary action against Minister Mervyn Silva, who along with some thugs entered the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and assaulted the News Director, so far nothing positive has happened. Instead, investigations were being made to victimise the workers of the Rupavahini Corporation, JVP trade union leader, Parliamentarian K. D. Lalkantha told The Island yesterday (31).

The entire country knew what had happened at the SLRC but now there were investigations taking place against the employees who are being questioned as to who authorised the use of cameras, air time and so forth, he said.

"This procedure is totally wrong. People who entered the SLRC with goons were not punished, but the workers have been threatened, stabbed and intimidated during the last few days. All trade unions of the SLRC, irrespective of their party allegiance, gathered recently to discuss the situation," he said.

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http://www.island.lk/2008/02/01/news3.html

Third undersea cable reportedly cut between Sri Lanka, Suez

A third undersea fibre optic cable running through the Suez to Sri Lanka was cut Friday, said a Flag official.

Two other fiber optic cables owned by Flag Telecom and consortium SEA-ME-WE 4 located near Alexandria, Egypt, were damaged Wednesday leading to a slowdown in Internet and telephone services in the Middle East and South Asia.

"We had another cut today between Dubai and Muscat three hours back. The cable was about 80G capacity, it had telephone, Internet data, everything," one Flag official, who declined to be named, told Zawya Dow Jones.
The cable, known as Falcon, delivers services to countries in the Mediterranean and Gulf region, he added.

"It may take sometime to fix the cut but we are rerouting the traffic to another cable in the U.K. and U.S., the bandwidth utilization will go down," the official said.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/third-undersea-cable-reportedly-cut/

India trying to stop Sri Lanka from defeating LTTE: JVP

A radical Sri Lankan nationalist party leader has accused India of trying to stop the Sri Lankan Army from defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels militarily.

India was forcing Sri Lanka to accept a political power-sharing arrangement with the minority Tamils now only to thwart the Sri Lankan Army's successful campaign to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), charged K.D. Lalkantha, member of the Sri Lankan parliament representing the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

'India is once again trying to stop the victories of the Sri Lankan armed forces as it did when president J.R. Jayawardene was in power in 1987. At that time, it made him sign the India-Sri Lanka Accord and accept the provincial councils system,' Lalkantha told a public meeting here Wednesday.

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http://www.indiaenews.com/srilanka/20080131/94929.htm

Akashi wants military action to cease to give aid!

Yasushi Akashi, Japan's special peace envoy has warned that Japan would cut off aid if military action against tiger terrorists continued.

"We could be forced to review our aid policy if military action keeps escalating, although Sri Lanka wants Japan to continue it," Yasushi Akashi had told the media in Tokyo.

He had said the S.L. Government and the LTTE should choose peace indicating that GoSL have talks with tiger terrorists. Yasushi Akashi was in Sri Lanka from the 13th to 15th of this month when he met several political leaders including the President, Ranil Wickremasinghe and JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe.

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http://www.lankatruth.com/full_story/2008/January/31/20080131_10.htm

Was scam linked to Tigers? 'They're obviously supporters'

Fraud investigators suspect a group of four who swiped account information from British bank cards of swindling victims out of about $250,000.

But Toronto Police are also trying to determine if there's a link between the international scam and the Tamil Tigers. Police found posters supporting the rebel group, which has been locked in a decades-old battle with Sri Lanka for independence.

"They're obviously supporters of the group," said Det. Scott Wittemore of 42 Division.

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http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/01/31/4803672-sun.html

Women militants forced to join LTTE in Sri Lanka

Women are being forced into joining the LTTE, and are homesick, according to letters purportedly recovered from slain woman militants in Sri Lanka.

"Every LTTE cadre is anxious to see his or her parents and I will come home for pongal (festival) though I do not know what my fate will be," said one letter recovered by security forces from a slain woman militant.

"Amma, what can I do? When all those at home in the area were taken away, I too had to go with them (LTTE)," said the letter, which was released by the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) to the media.

The letter, written in Tamil, with small portions in English, said "every fighter cries 'Amma' and 'Appa' at the time of their heroic death. They are all anxious to see their mothers."

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Rest_of_World/Women_militants_force

VCK leader justifies demand for lifting ban on LTTE

Thol Thirumavalavan, President of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), an ally of the ruling DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) in Tamil Nadu, today justified his demand for lifting the ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Defending his stand, the Dalit leader, talking to newspersons here, said his demand to seek lifting of the ban on LTTE and recognise the organisation as people's movement, was his individual freedom of expression and democratic right. "This is our stand. If the law seeks to punish us for taking the stand, we are prepared to face it," Mr Thirumavalavan said, even as the State Government announced that those who expressed support to banned organisations like the LTTE would be punished under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Flaying the Sri Lankan Navy for placing the sea mines on international waters, the VCK leader urged India to launch a war against Sri Lanka to protect Indian fishermen.

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

INGO/NGO BLOOD-SUCKERS & THEIR DILEMMA

A Joint-Statement titled " Abrogation of Ceasefire Agreement Will Escalate Spiral of Violence" has been published in the English & Sinhala newspapers on 28th & 29th January 2008.(quote): "The government's decision to abrogate the Norwegian-facilitated Ceasefire Agreement(CFA) signed with the LTTE in 2002 is a matter of grave concern to the undersigned civil society organizations."(end quote)

Who may these "civil society organizations" be? They are: Association of War Affected Women; Centre for Society and Religion; Centre for Human Rights and Development, Colombo; Centre for Women and Development-Jaffna; Christian Alliance for Social Action; Consortium for Humanitarian Agencies; Equal Grounds, Sri Lanka; INFORM; Home for Human Rights, Colombo; Human Development Organization, Kandy; International Centre for Ethnic Studies; International Movement Against Discrimination and Racism; Law & Society Trust; Mothers & Daughters of Lanka; Mannar Women for Human Rights and Democracy; Muslim Information Centre Sri Lanka; Muslim Women's Research and Action Forum; National Peace Council; Rights Now Collective for Democracy; SETIK, Kandy; Women and Media Collective.

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http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items08/310108-5.html

CIAL may bag deal to build Sri Lankan airport

The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) - country's first airport built with private-public sector participation - may bag a deal to build a greenfield airport in Sri Lanka, the company said Thursday in a statement here.

A seven-member CIAL delegation, headed by managing director S. Bharath, is at present in the island nation and has held several rounds of talks with government ministers. It has also met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

'On Jan 29, we (the delegation) were taken in a special Sri Lankan Air Force plane to the airport site at Weerawila in southern Sri Lanka for a visit and study,' the statement said.

'The proposed airport site is 15 km away from Hambanota in the southern province of Sri Lanka and around 300 km from Colombo. It is also the political constituency of Rajapaksa.'

Rajapaksa - on a visit to the famous Guruvayoor temple in Kerala two years ago - himself mooted the idea of CIAL building the airport in his country.

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http://www.indiaprwire.com/businessnews/20080131/27083.htm

Damaged Cable Cuts Internet Access to Middle East, Part of Asia

Much of the Middle East and part of Asia have lost Internet access due to damage to an undersea cable between Sicily and Egypt, reports The Guardian.

The story says most countries in the Middle East have completely lost access, while authorities in Mumbai say India has only about half its normal bandwidth.

A spokesman for the cable’s owner Flag Telecom, told The Register the anchor of a ship off the coast of Egypt cut the cable in multiple places and it could take 12 to 15 days to fix them all. That story puts Sri Lanka and Pakistan among the affected countries.

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http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/hdw/?p=1563

Suicide bomber explodes himself; kills 4 civilians at Thirunaweli

A suicide bomber who was traveling on a bike exploded himself at a densely populated civilian area today (31 January) at 11.20 am. The incident took place at a crowded market place located along the Thrirunaweli- Kalliyankadu road, general area Thirunaweli in Jaffna, defence sources said.

Four civilians have succumbed to their injuries and another two sustained severe injuries due to the explosion sources added.

Extracted from,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080131_04