Sri Lankan Official in Riyadh to Seek Clemency for Rizana

Sri Lankan Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday to lobby on behalf of a Sri Lankan maid who was sentenced to beheading for the death of an infant in her care.

“I came here to make a personal appeal to seek clemency from the parents of the infant who died in the hands of the teenaged maid,” Bhaila told Arab News on arrival at the King Khaled International Airport.

Rizana Nafeek, 20, was sentenced to beheading for the death of a four-month-old infant boy on May 22, 2005, in Dawadami, about 390 km west of Riyadh. Last week the case was passed to the Cassation Court in Riyadh.

Bhaila said that he came to the Kingdom on a request made by Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, who has taken a personal interest in Nafeek’s case. Bhaila added that the Sri Lankan government respects the decisions of the Kingdom’s judiciary.

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http://www.arabnews.com/

UNP would never return to power - JVP Leader

Sri Lanka would have ended up in division by now with a state of Eelam in the North if Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected President at the last Presidential election.

Therefore, the JVP has no regrets for having enabled President Mahinda Rajapaksa to win the last Presidential election said JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe.

The JVP Leader said so addressing a party rally held near the Kandy Central Market on Monday, March 10.

The rally was held to protest against alleged moves to fully implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which the JVP says would lead to a division of the country.

Amarawansa said the JVP’s stand at the last Presidential election helped to save a division of the country. If the people thought the JVP had taken a wrong decision then they would expect the people to pardon them like a mother would do to an errant child.

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http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/03/13/pol11.asp

S.B. Dissanayake asked why shouldn’t UNP contest Batticaloa elections

S.B. Dissanayake asked why shouldn’t UNP contest Batticaloa elections when it could have registered a facile victory in Batticaloa going by the last Presidential elections results: UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe secured almost 12 lakhs votes whereas President Rajapakse could only poll 27808 votes in the East!

The UNP was not prepared to play into the hands of the Govt..’s machinations aimed at only winning elections by the foulest means collaborating with another terror group –the Pillayan who were as bad as or worse than the LTTE , because the Pillayan was backed by the Govt. to the hilt allowing them even to use weapons.

In some instances they had even gone to the prospective candidates’ houses and forced them at gun point to withdraw or contest under their symbol. Even, pro Govt. Douglas Devananda party had admitted that Pillayan group was committing atrocious crimes with impunity: abductions, intimidations and extortions.

It is alleged that a Mudalali. A friend of Minister Maithripala Sirisena was also a victim of extortion of the Pillayan group. The UNP candidates who were preparing for candidature was also threatened at gunpoint against contesting.

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http://lankaguardian.blogspot.com/2008/03/

Airtel appoints Madison Media as AOR for Sri Lanka

Ahead of its launch in Sri Lanka, Airtel has appointed Madison Media, Sri Lanka, as its Media AOR for that country.

Airtel had evaluated only two agencies in Sri Lanka - Mindshare and Madison.

Airtel director marketing & communications Gopal Vittal said, "Madison Media has been a strong partner and has played a part in Airtel's success story in India and we are confident that they will extend the same strong support in Sri Lanka too and deliver all that it takes to make us succeed there."

Added Madison World CMD Sam Balsara: "We are delighted on hearing Airtel's decision and are confident that the Madison way in Media will work in Sri Lanka too. If P&G gave us a head start in Media in India, Airtel is doing that in Sri Lanka."

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http://www.indiantelevision.com/

Four fishermen abducted by LTTE and taken into its custody - Mannar

Four fishermen out five went for fishing are reported to have been abducted by LTTE cadres and taken them into its custody yesterday- 12th March, off Vedithalthievu in Mannar.

Five fishermen, all ethnic Tamils, had gone for fishing, their livelihood, in the morning on the 12th march from Pallimunai in Mannar, but is reported that only one returned without the other four. It is said that the youngsters aged between 19 years and 28 years had been detained by the terrorists.

The names ad other details as disclosed are as follows with the names, age and the National identity card Numbers and all are residents at Pallimunai in Mannar.

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http://www.navy.lk/index.php?id=731

Aerial Attacks Support Forward-Marching Troops

SRI LANKA AIR FORCE fighter craft conducted three air sorties this morning (12) in the north and east of MADHU at about 7.30 a.m. in support of the ground troops now inching forward.

Air targets centered on three Tiger terrorist camps in the area, from where Tiger terrorists were directing heavy fire on to the marching troops.

Air Force pilots confirmed the precision of the targets. Ground troop operations are under way.

Sri Lanka charges Tamil Tiger leader for murder

The Sri Lankan authorities have filed indictment against the leader of the rebel Liberation Tigersof Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Velupillai Prabakaran for the murder of former foreign minister, officials said Tuesday.

Officials from the Attorney General's Department said that Prabakaran and five other rebels were charged on Tuesday for the August 2005 murder of then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

A fellow Tamil, Kadirgamar was gunned down near the swimming pool of his Colombo home by a LTTE gunman. Kadirgamar had led an international campaign against the rebels which resulted in several countries banning the rebel outfit.

The Colombo High Court in October 2002 sentenced Prabakaran for 200 years imprisonment for bombing the country's Central Bank building and killing about 100 people in January 1996 in trial held in absentia.

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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/12/content_7769353.htm

SAARC summit venue shifted to Colombo

Sri Lanka on Tuesday decided to shift the venue of the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit from Kandy to Colombo due to inadequate facilities in the island nation's scenic tourist spot to accommodate the leaders and delegations from the member countries.

The 15th summit of the regional grouping and its preceding meetings are scheduled to be held from July 27 to August 3.

''Colombo city hotels have been identified to accommodate around 1200 delegates and media personnel associated with the event,'' an official statement said.

The shifting of the venue from Kandy to Colombo has been done due to inadequate infrastructure facilities to accommodate the seven heads of state, their respective delegations and the large international and regional media contingent, it said.

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http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/

Sri Lanka Telecom extends gains on NTT sale expectations

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) extended gains Wednesday on expectations of a sale of stock by NTT to Malaysia's Usaha Tegas group following a court order permitting the sale, dealers said.

SLT share rose one rupee to 39.25 on top of a 1.50 rupee gain on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, SLT said in a regulatory filing that a proposed shareholder agreement between Sri Lanka's government and the UT group cannot go ahead, but a court ruling has allowed a separate management deal.

Japan's NTT Communications which now owns 35.2 percent of SLT has a shareholder agreement with the government which owns 49.5 percent of the company, giving NTT benefits including the right to appoint a chief executive.

NTT was originally proposing to sell a 25 percent stake in Sri Lanka Telecom to Global Communications NV, a UT group investment vehicle, retaining a 10 percent stake.

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http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?

Why are they all ganging up on Sri Lanka

EITHER the world is ganging up against Sri Lanka or there is something wrong in the country where President Mahinda Rajapaksa is at the helm of affairs. In recent weeks, the International Commission of Jurists, the Amnesty International, the Human Rights Watch and top UN officials fired salvo after salvo on Sri Lanka, putting the government on the back-foot to defend itself.

The international human rights community’s attacks were too much for a government which is fighting a lone battle against what it calls a ruthless terrorist group which is waging a violent campaign to set up a separate state for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils living in the north and the east.

While the security forces fight a valiant battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and make slow but steady progress in their march towards the rebel heartland, government politicians and diplomats are also fighting an equally tough war to defend the country’s human rights record at world fora. While Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe last week went to Geneva to participate at the annual Human Rights Council sessions where he faced a series of allegations based on case studies and well-compiled reports, International Trade Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris left for Brussels and London on Sunday to plead for duty concessions for our exports.

The concessions granted under the European Union’s GSP+ (Generalised System of Preference) policy to Sri Lanka is up for review and it will be renewed only if the EU is satisfied that the Rajapaksa government is committed to good governance, which includes a commitment to respect human rights.

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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?

The LTTE in Crisis

In the past few weeks there have been many media reports that point to the prevalence of confusion and disarray among the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE/Tigers) in the face of heavy losses inflicted by the armed forces of the Government of Sri Lanka. Apart from many references to injury sustained by the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the course of an aerial bombardment in November 2007, there was some speculation that he may even have died.

[Claims of Prabhakaran’s death may be set to rest after Prabhakaran’s ‘public appearance’ at the funeral of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament, P. Sivanesan, in the rebel-held Wanni area, of which the LTTE released photographs on March 9, 2008].

The specificities that embellish these reports, though ignored by spokesmen for the LTTE, have been refuted with disdain by several pro-LTTE writers. Given the questionable credibility of ‘news’ originating from either side of the great divide, it has seldom been possible to sort out the truth from fiction in the stories on the confrontational aspects of the Sri Lankan conflict.

What can, consequently, be attempted is, first, to contextualise the recent surge of media attention on turbulences in the shrinking Tiger habitat of the ‘Vanni’ in northern Sri Lanka, without speculating on whether its leader is dead or dying or hibernating prior to a deadly leap at the jugular, and then, to synthesise the information on what prevails at present, extractable from sources less contaminated by propaganda objectives.

Read the full article here,
http://www.ict.org.il/apage/1534.php

LTTE lashes out at India for hosting Lankan army chief

The LTTE has criticised India for hosting the Sri Lankan army chief despite the scrapping of a 2002 ceasefire by Colombo, saying such moves will "reinvigorate" the island's military which was carrying out "ethnic genocide" against Tamils.

In a statement circulated here, LTTE said it "strongly condemns" India extending a "state welcome" to the military chief Maj Gen Sarath Fonseka of the "Sinhala State" which has "unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire agreement and has launched widespread military offensives in Tamil homeland."

Despite condemnation of its attempt to seek a military solution, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam alleged that Sri Lanka is continuing its "enormous human rights violations".

Many of the European countries now understand its "hidden motive" and have halted all assistance, it added.

"The Indian State also knows this truth. Yet, while pronouncing that a solution to the Tamil problem must be found through peaceful means, it is giving encouragement to the military approach of the Sinhala State. This can only lead to the intensification of the genocide of the Tamils," it said.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200803111654.htm

LTTE links to boat-building a new threat

The Tigers are on the prowl in Kerala backwaters. With the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) outsourcing its boat-building works to the obscure boat-building yards in Kerala, the state government has woken up to a new threat.

The recent incidents in Munambam near Kochi and Azheekkal in Thrissur district in which the authorities have `seized' two boats allegedly being built for the Tigers indicate that the outfit has its presence or agents in Kerala.

Cops from the `Q' Branch of Tamil Nadu with the assistance of the state police on March 6 had seized a halfbuilt boat at a yard in Munambam near Kochi. The boat was seized from Sudhas Marine Engineering, Munambam, a private boat-building yard. The investigation team got a tipoff about the boat building in Kochi when they interrogated the two LTTE sympathisers, both Sri Lankans.

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http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?

Breakaway rebel group wins elections in eastern Sri Lanka

A breakaway group of the Tamil rebels won the first local elections held in 14 years in violence-plagued eastern Sri Lanka, election officials said Tuesday, as President Mahinda Rajapaksa hailed the conduct of the polls as a victory for democracy.

The government-backed Thamil Makkal Vidudal Puligal (Tamil People's Liberation Tigers, TMVP), won 72 of 101 seats on nine local councils, the officials said after Monday's voting, the first since the TMVP helped the government drive separatist Tamil guerrillas from the area last year.

The primary battle was for the municipal council in Batticaloa, 240 km east of Colombo, where the TMVP, contesting the elections there under the banner of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), secured 11 of its 19 seats after obtaining 53.77 percent of the 26,331 valid votes, officials said.

Turnout, however, was low as 29,153 people cast ballots when 54,945 were registered to vote in a region that has continued to see violence and intimidation since the departure of the rebels.

Read more,
http://www.indiaenews.com/srilanka/20080311/103387.htm