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K`fir crashes into Negombo lagoon Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 5:24 AM SL Time An Air Force Kfir Jet returning to Katunayake airfield crashed into the Negombo Lagoon last evening due to a technical fault while the pilot managed to escape unhurt. The jet which was returning after a short mission in the North had plunged into the lagoon in Talahena, Singapooruwatta area around 5.45pm, Negombo police said. According to sources the fighter jet was among three other Kfir jets returning after an air movement and was the last to return. The first three jets had landed safely. The pilot of the last Kfir had been aware of the fault and cruised the craft via Negombo Lagoon fearing an unexpected drop at any moment. He had then immediately ejected from the craft and escaped without injury but the jet crashed into the lagoon, the sources said. 
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Tigers lose senior fighter - `Colonel` Akbar Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 3:22 AM SL Time The LTTE yesterday admitted to losing a very senior cadre in a battle against the armed forces. `Colonel` Akbar was killed in the fighting, LTTE spokesman Daya `Master` told The Island. He said the LTTE had set aside yesterday as a day of mourning in Kilinochchi for their cadres killed in fighting. He said some injured soldiers, admitted to the Kilinochchi Hospital, would be held in LTTE custody. The LTTE leadership will announce in a few days their team for the proposed Geneva peace talks and the Japanese Special Peace envoy Yasushi Akashi will be meeting the LTTE political wing leader Thamil Selvan tomorrow (18) he said. Defence Spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said the SLMM and the ICRC have been requested by the Government to secure the release of injured soldiers in the custody of the LTTE.
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Bomb blast on SLN vehicles, 70 killed Monday, 16 October 2006 - 8:08 PM SL Time A lorry laden with explosives rammed into 15 Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) vehicles and buses with more than 150 SLN troopers, at Digampatana in Habarana, 80 km southwest of Trincomalee, killing at least 70 troopers, Sri Lanka military sources in Colombo said. The blast, believed to be a suicide mission, has taken place around 1:40 p.m. Monday. 13 vehicles were damaged in the blast, initial reports said. Tens of wounded troopers were rushed to Dambulla and nearby hospitals. Troopers with serious injuries were airlifted to Colombo. Habarana, located 16 km west of Minneriya, where a Sri Lanka Army base is situated, is also a tourist site among the ancient city ruins and wildlife jungles in North Central Province.
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Security Forum
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HC refuses to accept video tape Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 5:38 AM SL Time Colombo High Court Judge Upali Abeyratne yesterday refused to accept the video tape submitted by the defence of the Ward Place heroin case observing that the Court earlier refused twice to do so. The Court observed that the tape had not been submitted in line with the Evidence Ordinance. The tape was not included in the production list by the Defence. The court made this observation when the Defence pleaded on an earlier date to keep the video tape in the Court registrar`s custody. The Attorney General indicted Mohammed Samoon Mohammed Shiyam, Jayagodage Upali Abeygunawardana and Murshida Shiyam alias Murshida Mubarak Murshida with six counts including for possession of 9 kg of pure heroin. A team of PNB officers led by Inspector Priyantha Liyanage arrested the accused with bags of heroin weighing 23 kgs on November 28, 2003 at the residence of the first and the third accused at Ward Place. The Government Analyst Department revealed that it contained 9 kg of pure heroin.
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North-East merger illegal: SC Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 5:27 AM SL Time The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the proclamations issued by the then President enabling the Northern and Eastern Provinces to operate as one administrative unit and be administered by one elected council were null and void and had no legal effect. Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva with Justices Nihal Jayasinghe, N.K. Udalagama, Raja Fernando and N.G. Amaratunga agreeing also ruled that the failure of the then President to appoint a date by order published in the Gazette for the establishment of a Provincial Council for the Eastern Province was an infringement and continuing violation of the petitioners` fundamental right to equality. The court observed that the proclamation made by the then President declaring the Northern and Eastern Provinces as one administrative unit was made when neither of the conditions specified on Section 31(1)(b) of the Provincial Council Act as to the surrender of weapons and the cessation of hostilities was satisfied. Therefore the court ruled that the order must necessarily be declared invalid.
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Australian forensic experts here this week Monday, 16 October 2006 - 4:45 AM SL Time At least four Australian forensic experts as observers are scheduled to arrive in Colombo this week to conduct investigations on the alleged killing of the Mutur French aid organization workers, after Sri Lanka government called a full scale investigation into the incident. 'The bodies will be exhumed by this week, as the Australian forensic experts are due here to conduct the investigations into the alleged killings,' a senior police official said. He said the bodies would be exhumed in the presence of Anuradhapura Magistrate, four Judicial Medical Officers (JMO) and ACF officials. Two bodies earlier exhumed on the orders of the Anuradhapura Magistrate were now in Police morgue in Colombo, where the remaining bodies would be brought to, he said.
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| Politics
Political News Forum
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Sri Lanka Government again refuses monitors access to North Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 5:40 AM SL Time The government has again denied the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) access to Jaffna`s Muhamalai, where heavy fighting raged during the past few days killing hundreds of troops and Tiger cadres. During a 45-minute long weekly routine meeting held on Friday evening, the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process led by its head Dr. Palitha Kohona had however assured the monitors that they will do their best to grant access to the SLMM to Muhamalai soon. `The government`s refusal to grant SLMM access to Muhamalai was taken up at Friday`s meeting. Although they had informed us that they arenot ready to give us access to the site of the incidents in Muhamalai, the Secretariat did responded positively to a certain extent saying that it will try to do something as soon as possible to accommodate our requests and grant us access to the Muhamalai,` the Mission`s spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson told the Asian Tribune.
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UNP Ex-Co endorses union with SLFP Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 5:37 AM SL Time Party heavyweight Rajitha Senaratne said the Executive Committee that met yesterday unanimously approved the agreement and gave its assent to go ahead with the signing of the MoU next Monday. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) spells the agenda of the agreement where the two parties will work in harmony to achieve common goals on six agreed issues including the peace process. `The executive committee almost unanimously approved the agreement but they advised to come to an understanding over power sharing in proposed committees,` Senaratne said. According to the Agreement the Committees, consisting of Government and Opposition members, will oversee Ministries. He said the Party has agreed to sign the MoU next Monday and the Committee has advised to finalise talks on power sharing.
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Mahinda, Ranil agree to help each other Monday, 16 October 2006 - 4:44 AM SL Time Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa to increase the annual decentralized budget of each MP from the present Rs 5 million to Rs 10 million, to which the latter consented. The matter had been discussed at a recent meeting between the two leaders. Presently, only Rs 5 million is allocated annually for each Parliamentarian to carry out small-scale development work in their respective districts. Mr. Wickremesinghe requested the President to double this amount, as otherwise, it would be insufficient for MPs to deal with the development work in an entire district given the present circumstances. However, the increase is yet to be confirmed.
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Mental health treatment to be enhanced Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 5:43 AM SL Time With mental health clinics to be set up in every MOH division services will be enhanced and upgraded to meet the current demand, Director Mental Health Services Dr. Hiranthi de Silva said. Plans are underway to introduce new concepts in treating mental illnesses, which over 10 percent of the population is suffering from, she said. While over 10 percent suffer from some kind of a mental illness, over 2 percent are affected by severe mental disorders. 90 percent of the suicide cases are due to mental illness, she said. `Mental illness can be treated and suicide can be prevented, Dr. de Silva stressed. However, early detection is necessary in order to prevent complications, she said. Among the modern treatment methods are life skills development, relaxation exercises and meditation.
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More than half of Sri Lanka`s A/L candidates qualify for universities Monday, 16 October 2006 - 4:52 AM SL Time Out of the total 201,660 Advanced Level students sat for exams this May, 119,775 are qualified to entre to the universities. Of these qualifying candidates, 4164 have obtained `A` passes for all three subjects, the Department of Examination sources said. 121, 308 candidates passed all three subjects and 19,741 failed all three subjects. In the recent years, the gap between the students who sat for the Advanced Level Examination and the qualifiers to entre to the university stream has minimized. This is a considerable positive enlargement in the Sri Lankan education sector. Still the current university system cannot accommodate more than 15% of them.
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Attract Buddhist tourists Monday, 16 October 2006 - 4:38 AM SL Time Sri Lanka`s High Commissioner in Islamabad General Srilal Weerasooriya recently urged Pakistan to promote Buddhist relics and sites such as Taxila, Ghandara and Harappa as tourist attractions. During a meeting with President and members of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Majyd Aziz, Weerasooriya said, `Your tourism industry would benefit immensely if a tangible plan is launched to attract Buddhists. The Sri Lanka envoy said that Buddhists from all over the world would visit Pakistan to see the Buddhist relics and sites such as Taxila, Ghandara and Harappa. He expressed the belief that Pakistan could attract a sizeable number of Sri Lankans. Last year two delegations of Buddhist priests visited Pakistan to explore this possibility. He suggested that to facilitate the Buddhist tourism, it is imperative that PIA schedule two weekly flights on the Lahore-Colombo route. He said that PIA Chairman Tariq Kirmani should take the initiative in this regard.
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Merger most foul Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 3:24 AM SL Time The unanimous decision by the Supreme Court yesterday that the merger of the North and the East is null and void is a landmark judgment by all counts. The petitioners, JVP MP for Trincomalee Jayantha Wijesekera, Mr. A. S. M. Buhari and Mr. L. P. Wasantha, had held that the late President J. R. Jayewardene merged the Northern and the Eastern Provinces without the approval of Parliament and their fundamental right to elect a Provincial Council had been violated as a result. For, all elections save the Provincial Council polls had been held in the Eastern Province. The problem with blundering political leaders is that the people have to live with their blunders even after their demise. A beleaguered JRJ with his hands being twisted by India tried to manouvre out of his difficulties by sacrificing the rights of the Eastern Province people on the altar of the Indo Lanka Peace Accord. He made a mockery of the rule of law by simply amalgamating the two provinces through a gazette notification in 1987, without the conditions specified in Section 37 of the Provincial Council Act No. 42 of 1987 for that purpose'the surrender of weapons by the guerrillas and the cessation of hostilities'being satisfied. He used the LTTE`s token surrender of weapons, which later proved to be a farce, as an excuse for doing what he did. That he was aware of the injustice he had caused to tens of thousands of people in the process was evident in his promise to campaign against the merger personally at a referendum to be held subsequently. The promised referendum was never held.
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Enemy No 1 far from dead - II Monday, 16 October 2006 - 4:42 AM SL Time The government shouldn`t let the battlefield gains lull it into a false sense of complacency. The war is far from over and the LTTE cannot be written off that easily. The morale of the troops must be kept as high as it is at present. But there are signs of the chronic disease that once debilitated the military recurring. Infighting gnaws away at the fighting capability of the military and is probably its worst enemy. The government had better nip it in the bud. That is how we concluded our comment, Enemy No. 1 far from Dead (reproduced on page 6 today) five days before the army`s costly blunder at Muhamalai on Oct. 11. `Animosity among the defence top brass,` we said referring to our experience with the armed forces in the past, `ate into the vitals of the military finally rendering it hollow. Debacles were the inevitable outcome.`
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Holding a community to ransom Saturday, 14 October 2006 - 5:12 AM SL Time Vavuniya District Judge M. Illancheliyan has, as we reported on Wednesday, warned of stern action again the People`s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) if the outfit fails to rein in its members who are said to be extorting money from the business community. The Judge has told a PLOTE leader, produced before him, that the concessions his organisation had got from the government for self defence must not be abused. We couldn`t agree with the learned judge more. The Tamil politico-military groups that have obtained weapons from the state to defend themselves against the LTTE must be made to realise they wield no license to unleash terror with impunity. Many Tamil businessmen in Vavuniya as well as other areas, where those Tamil groups are active, have to part with large sums of their hard earned money monthly for their safety. Some of them are reportedly moving out of those areas, unable to pay protection money to both the LTTE and the state assisted armed groups.
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Sports News Forum
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Pakistan upbeat despite doping row Tuesday, 17 October 2006 - 5:33 AM SL Time JAIPUR, India, Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) - Pakistan`s team management on Monday put a brave face on a drug row involving Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, saying the team were geared up for the Champions Trophy battle against Sri Lanka. The fast bowling duo were scheduled to return home on Monday night after testing positive for a banned drug, just a day before Pakistan were to take on Sri Lanka in their opening Group B match here. 'Captain (Younis Khan) and I are disappointed that this has happened,' said Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer. 'I am pretty confident that the team will take the adversity in their stride and rise to the occasion. I am sure we will play good, competitive cricket tomorrow.'Akhtar and Asif were prominent cricketers to be caught in the doping net after Australian leg-spin wizard Shane Warne, who was banned for one year just before the start of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
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Sri Lanka for blind World Cup tourney Monday, 16 October 2006 - 4:47 AM SL Time Sri Lanka will participate in the Third World Cup cricket tournament for the blind to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan from December 1 to 16 2006. Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies are the other teams making their appearance. In view of this tournament the National Cricket Association for the Blind in Sri Lanka (NCABSL) has been conducting trial matches and coaching since early this year. Sri Lanka Cricket has been rendering tremendous assistance and has extended their coaches in Kumar Ramanathan and Hemal Mendis to handle the coaching. Efforts are being made to raise a sum of Rs. 1.5 million to purchase air tickets for the team, cricket equipment and other minor details. Rienzie Benedict, Secretary of the NCABSL appeals for assistance from benefactors and donors to make generous contributions. Benedict can be contacted on Telephone numbers, 2437768, 2305256 or 2231224 at 74, Church Street, Colombo 2.
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Sri Lanka turn on the heat Monday, 16 October 2006 - 4:46 AM SL Time Sri Lanka believes it has overcome its dependance on individual players and turned a new leaf where the team can contest matches under less pressure following the stunning nine-wicket victory over the West Indies in the ICC Champions Trophy on Saturday. The Sri Lankans now consider themselves playing as a collective force and the days of looking up to Muttiah Muralitheran to run through sides are over. `Things have changed and Muralitheran is no more under pressure`, said skipper Mahela Jayawardena. `We now have some youngsters coming through and the story is now about a group of players trying to do something and there is no pressure on individuals`.Paceman Pervez Maharoof joined the potential band of Sri Lankan match winners when he captured six wickets for 14 runs against the West Indies on Saturday to wipe out Pakistani Saheed Afridi`s previous best figures of 5 for 11 against Kenya in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy match at Edgebaston.
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