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Colombo on high alert
Tuesday, 6 December 2005 - 2:18 AM SL Time
The police and armed forces have been placed on high alert in and around Colombo city, in the face of terrorist threats.
DIG Colombo Pujitha Jayasundara said the city and its surroundings had been placed on alert after an LTTE cadre, amongst a number of suspects arrested, was found to be in possession of two passports bearing two different names and addresses.
The Tiger suspect had arrived in Colombo from Muttur, but the addresses and names in the passports were fictitious, DIG Jayasundara said.
Under the security alert, surveilance by the police and the armed forces has been increased at Orugodawatte, Bloemendhal Road and in the vicinity of the Kolonnawa oil storage tank complex. Special checkpoints manned by the police and armed forces personnel have been set up at important points of the city, he said.
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India asks European Union to ban LTTE
Tuesday, 6 December 2005 - 2:16 AM SL Time
NEW DELHI, December 5: India has asked the European Union (EU) to ban the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by branding it as a terrorist organization.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent to the EU, through the Ministry of External Affairs, a dossier on the LTTE and three Indian terrorist outfits to be considered for a ban, according to informed sources here.
The LTTE has acquired notoriety for being one of the most lethal and well-organised terrorist groups in South Asia. India was the first country to ban the LTTE on 14 May 1992, an year after the outfit`s woman suicide-bomber Dhanu assassinated former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally on the outskirts of Chennai on the night of 21 May 1991.
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No need to revise or review, just implement CFA: LTTE
Monday, 5 December 2005 - 3:17 AM SL Time
The LTTE has said there is no need to revise or review the current Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) as proposed by the new government and instead has called for its effective implementation. LTTE political head S.P. Thamilchelvam at a meeting with the head of Amnesty International (AI) Ms Irene Khan in Killinochi on Saturday said the government and the LTTE should urgently meet to discuss issues related to the commitment and implementation of the CFA and not revise it.
Mr. Thamilchelvam noted that Clause 1.8 of the CFA, which prohibits the activities of armed groups, has to be strictly followed in order to prevent escalating violence in the north and east. The Amnesty chief meanwhile expressed serious concerns over the increasing number of violence in the north and east and allegations of child recruitment carried out by the LTTE.
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Politics
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Anandasangaree petitions Blair against Bala
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:32 AM SL Time
TULF leader V. Anandasangaree yesterday petitioned British Prime Minister Tony Blair alleging that LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham has made a threat to his life during a Heroes day speech in London recently.
Mr. Anandasangaree in his letter gives the English translation of the introductory part of the speech made in Tamil by Mr. Balasingham.
'I am very happy for the opportunity I got today to participate and speak at this function to commemorate the death of our great heroes and the people who fought and fell in the struggle to save our soil and our people.
When I was coming to the hall a friend of mine told me that Mr. Anandasangaree also has come for the meeting. It is good that he came.
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Ranil tells President to spell out peace policy
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:31 AM SL Time
Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday called on President Mahinda Rajapakse to clearly spell out his position regarding the ceasefire agreement and the peace process.
Addressing a UNP parliamentary group meeting at the parliament complex, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the President had been making conflicting and confusing statements regarding the ceasefire agreement and the political solution to the ethnic conflict.
He said that while the President was still stressing on a solution within a unitary state, the Foreign Minister had issued a joint statement with India referring to a solution within a united Lanka.
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Mahinda is the only true leader since 1815 - JHU
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:24 AM SL Time
The support of the JHU to President Mahinda Rajapakse was based exclusively on the 12 point proposal which would prevent Sri Lanka being divided and also being redeemed from the precarious position that it has fallen in, said leader of the Jathika Urumaya Rev. Ellawela Mettananda Thera at a media briefing held on Monday.
The JHU did not seek any benefits itself and was only interested in safeguarding the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Nothing else matters to us how or later, he said.
As long as the proposals submitted by the JHU and included in the Mahinda Chinthanaya are addressed the JHU will continue to support Mahinda Rajapakse and lead the struggle to save Sri Lanka form bury decided even at the risk of death, he said.
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Editorial News
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Where are the co-chairs?
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:28 AM SL Time
There is no end in sight to the LTTE using the CFA as a bludgeon to beat the security forces with. It has killed seven more soldiers in a mine blast in Jaffna on Tuesday. During the past few days it has accounted for fifteen soldiers and four civilians including a divisional secretary. They have become the sacrificial lamb on the altar of a ceasefire.
Nowhere else in the world would a sovereign state have tolerated such atrocities so subserviently. But, a prisoner of the donor community which is soft pedalling LTTE terror and using aid as a weapon, Sri Lanka cannot even defend herself. It looks as if the international community had mistaken Sri Lanka for a terror group and the LTTE a sovereign state.
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A peaceful war
Tuesday, 6 December 2005 - 2:20 AM SL Time
LTTE has responded to President Mahinda Rajapakse`s invitation to talk peace: It has killed seven soldiers on non combat duty in a mine blast and shot another soldier dead in a separate incident. It has also killed a Divisional Secretary in the East. These dastardly acts of cowardice as well as blatant ceasefire violations come within one week of the LTTE Leader, in his birthday speech, promising to wait `until next year` to see how the new government is going to handle the peace process.
The LTTE`s strategy is obvious. It doesn`t need a full blown war as, in a total war situation, it will be without the international safety net provided by the CFA, which allows it to unleash terror at present with impunity. A war will render its weakened eastern flank even more vulnerable and destroy whatever it has put in place by way of a `de facto separate state.`
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Sri Lanka, Norway, India and others
Monday, 5 December 2005 - 3:16 AM SL Time
Norwegian Minister cum Special Peace Envoy Eric Solheim, at a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, is reported to have said (The Sunday Island of Dec. 04) that Oslo is not happy being made a scapegoat for setbacks or slow progress in the peace process in Sri Lanka. Norway cannot play a worthwhile role, he has said, to help achieve peace in Sri Lanka if it gets blamed for the failure of the peace process to move forward.
He, who sleeps with dogs, so goes a Sri Lankan saying, gets up with ticks. Solheim has done just that. He has slept not with ordinary dogs but ferocious Tigers. However, the outcome has been the same; he is covered with ticks and has a flea in his ear.
One may lead a horse to water, it is said, but twenty cannot make it drink. On several occasions in the past, the LTTE has been led to talks but all peace brokers have failed to make it agree to a solution or prevent it from walking away. India tried to do so but failed in spite of having bred and nurtured the animal itself. Likewise, Norway failed to reverse the LTTE`s decision to unilaterally stall talks in 2003. So, we are where we are!
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Akashi rushes here
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:31 AM SL Time
As violence escalated and the ceasefire came under severe threat, Japan`s special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi was flying to Sri Lanka today for urgent talks with all parties.
The Japanese embassy said the peace envoy would meet President Mahinda Rajapakse, other government leaders and other parties during his five-day peace mission.
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Body armour not bullet proof
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:20 AM SL Time
A large stock of body armour purchased , under the Indian line of credit, from a private supplier costing 380 million rupees to the government, is said to be a sub standard product which is not bullet proof, technical tests had proved.
The government had approved a tender for the supply of 10,000 numbers of the body armour for the Armed Forces, each costing 3,800 rupees and the initial consignment of 2,500 numbers of the item was received recently defence sources said.
However, a technical test done at the commando regiment camp on November 28, had proved them to be defenceless against bullets. Bullets fired at the armour had pierced them sources said.
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LTTE CFA violations worry US
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:17 AM SL Time
The United States on Monday expressed concern over the LTTE`s violation of the CFA.
In a statement, issued by the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C. on December 5, 2005 Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman said:
`The United States remains gravely concerned about persistent violations of the Ceasefire Agreement, particularly over the past few weeks.
We condemn the December 4 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attack in Jaffna on a Sri Lanka Army vehicle that caused the deaths of seven soldiers. Such violence is inconsistent with LTTE claims to be committed to the peace process.
We call on both the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to take immediate action to prevent violence and to uphold the terms of the Ceasefire Agreement.
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Business / Economy News
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Intel. Corp Chairman visits Isipatana College
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:25 AM SL Time
Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation Craig R. Barrett is making a land mark visit to Isipathan College, Colombo 05 on 9th December at 1.30 p.m. to sign an agreement to train 100,000 teachers on International communication technology in Sri Lanka.
Under the Secondary Education Modernization Project of Ministry of Education, Information communication Technology has been given priority a concept of New Educational reforms.
On request of Minister of Education and the Secretary of the Ministry to Education, Intel Corp. Readily accepted to sponsor the Training of one Hundred thousand teachers in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Barrett who has observed the existing Intel based computer laboratories in Sri Lanka has selected Isipathan College computer laboratory to hand over the sponsorship package.
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Non-Tamil U`grads leave Jaffna
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:23 AM SL Time
Sinhalese and Muslim students, of the University of Jaffna, left the town yesterday (6) due to the prevailing security situation in the North. They will be appealing to the University Grants Commission find them places in other universities, police sources said.
Among the 46 students, who had left the campus and Jaffna, were 28 Sinhalese medical students and 18 Muslim students of the Arts Faculty. These Muslim students are from areas other than the north or east and an additional 30 Muslim students who are also not from the north or east, have requested the Dean of the Arts Faculty to leave the campus, for the same reasons.
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Train carriages to be made locally
Tuesday, 6 December 2005 - 2:48 AM SL Time
The Transport Ministry is drawing up plans to set up a railway workshop for manufacturing carriages required for the train service locally.
`For many years there was a proposal to set up a factory exclusively for manufacturing rail carriages so that the Government will not have to spend money to import carriages. It is time that the proposal is implemented,` Transport and Railways Minister A.H.M. Fowzie said during a visit to the Ratmalana railway workshop yesterday.
According to the Minister, the proposed workshop will be set up in the form of a company attached to the Railway Department and completely owned by the Government.
The maintenance of rail carriages is done by the Department`s Ratmalana workshop where around 30 rail carriages are repaired every month.
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| Sports News
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Sri Lanka ready for tough battle against Pakistan
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:27 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka are poised for a strong battle as they prepared to take sweet revenge on hosts Pakistan in the first match of the 4th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Gold Cup Championships here at the Karachi People`s Stadium today. The match will kick off at 6 p.m. local time just after the opening ceremony of the SAFF Gold Cup Championships which offers handsome prize money of US$ 50,000 for the winners.
In the previous edition of the regional championships Sri Lanka suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Pakistan after a closely contested battle.
The Sri Lankan national team led by Duddley Steinwall yesterday completed their final training session prior to the opening encounter.
`It`s going to be a tough game. Pakistan are a very strong side and specially with the home advantage it will be pretty hard to beat them,` team coach Sampath Perera said.
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Fiery Vaas rattles India in drawn Test
Wednesday, 7 December 2005 - 2:25 AM SL Time
Chaminda Vaas skittled India for their lowest total against Sri Lanka before the rain-ravaged first Test was consigned to a draw here on Tuesday.
The left-arm seamer grabbed 4-20 in 21 overs and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claimed two wickets as India were shot out for 167 on the fifth and final day at the Chepauk.
Sri Lanka rode on Mahela Jayawardena`s 71 to score 168-4 in reply before the match was called off after 14 wickets fell in the four sessions of play possible in the game due to inclement weather.
The meaningless proceedings in the Test where the first three days and two sessions of the fourth day were wiped out by rain were lit up by a fiery exhibition of seam bowling by Vaas.
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Axed Jayasuriya`s bat does the talking
Tuesday, 6 December 2005 - 2:20 AM SL Time
Test discard hammers 106 in 121 balls while helping Bloomfield record a 10-wicket win over Saracens on Sunday. The century follows his unbeaten 60 made in a victorious game against Galle CC the previous day.
Sri Lanka Test discard Sanath Jayasuriya slammed an unbeaten century, while piloting Bloomfield to a ten-wicket win over Saracens SC, and answered his critics with the bat, in a Premier div.-I limited-overs cricket tournament match played at Reid Avenue on Sunday.
There was a row over Jayasuriya`s sudden omission from the Sri Lanka Test squad, now involved in an Indian tour for three Tests. His persisting shoulder injury was cited as the cause for his removal but the country`s President Mahinda Rajapakse last week asked the authorities to investigate why and how the country`s ace batsman, who was once named Master Blaster, was suddenly dropped from the national team.
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