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Tigers further cornered in Canada
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 - 5:04 AM SL Time
The LTTE is facing more isolation in Canada after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in a new federal measure to combat the crimes in the country announced a relentless fight against terrorism- financing and money laundering.
Ottawa does not generally name the terrorist groups involved in fundraising in Canada, but the authorities are currently investigating schemes involving the LTTE, Iraqi insurgents, al-Qaida and its affiliates, the Canadian National post said.
The Canadian government recently banned the LTTE in what was seen as a major blow to the rebels as Canada is known to be the home to a major portion of the Tamil Diaspora from where most of the LTTE funding comes.
At a pier overlooking Canada`s financial centre, Minister Flaherty said Toronto had been chosen to host the headquarters of the world anti-money laundering organization known as the Egmont Group.
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The LTTE`s Flexibility in the Current Peace Process
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 - 4:54 AM SL Time
The current ceasefire was initiated by theLTTE declaring a unilateral ceasefire and calling for a negotiated settlement between the Government of Sri Lanka and it in December 2000. This was ten months prior to September 11, 2001. It was a manifestation of LTTE`s commitment to give peace and diplomacy a chance to bring normalcy to the island.
Prior to the commencement of talks, LTTE repeatedly stated that the immediate goal of the talks is the establishment of an interim administration, with the objective of addressing the urgent humanitarian existential problems of the people of the Northeast, the area affected by the prolonged war. Indeed, the Sinhala political party that won the parliamentary elections in 2002 ran on a platform of establishing an interim administration in the Northeast. However, during the initial stages of the talks when the Sinhala political party that represented the government of Sri Lanka indicated the lack of consensus in the South, on the issue of the establishment of an interim administration and its fear of being removed from power by the then president, if it entered into talks on the proposal to establish and interim administration. In response the LTTE showed flexibility and dropped its call for an interim administration for the sole reason of ensuring that the negotiating process did not breakdown.
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Sri Lanka to talk constitution change, Tigers out
Monday, 10 July 2006 - 8:44 PM SL Time
Sri Lanka said on Monday it was aiming to push through constitutional reform to bring an end to two decades of civil war, but analysts said it would probably not be enough to bring Tamil Tiger rebels to talks.
More than 700 people have died so far this year, some 280 in June alone, raising fears a 2002 ceasefire could collapse, restarting two decades of civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels who want a separate ethnic Tamil homeland in the north and east.
Both sides say they want peace but diplomats say that, so far, neither has been willing to make the necessary compromises. On Tuesday, the government will hold the first of a string of meetings aimed at discussing constitutional reform. `It is the launch of a process,` government peace secretariat head Palitha Kohona told Reuters. `Constitutional reform is an essential part of our approach to resolving the conflict. We don`t have a time limit but we need it sooner rather than later.`
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Douglas Peiris remanded
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:40 AM SL Time
Colombo High Court Judge Thilak Thabrew yesterday ordered the remand of former Senior Superintendent of Police Douglas Pieris who is indicted for providing forged documents to the Immigration and Emigration Department.
The Judge ordered the remand of the accused when Senior State Counsel Gihan Kulathunga submitted that the accused had committed an offence that does not entitle him to bail.
Panawala Vidanalage Joseph Douglas Pieris was indicted for forwarding a forged application form to obtain a passport to the Emigration and Immigration department on June 20, 1996 and posing himself as one Thalpavila Vidana Kankanamlage Vimalasena Thalpavila.
Examined by the SSC, Vimalasena Thalpavila of Jayawadanagama, Battaramulla giving evidence before the Colombo High Court said that accused in the case was known to him. He came to know accused through the association of their sons who are classmates. Accused`s wife who was a teacher provided tuition to witness` son. Accused, his wife and their son used to visit their home and they too did the same.
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CWC to join Government
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:35 AM SL Time
The CWC has decided to join the government, party spokesman R. Yogarajan said yesterday. According to him CWC MP Muttu Sivalingam would be appointed as a deputy minister under the proposed Cabinet reshuffle.
However, he declined to give more information as the party would be officially announcing its stand today. At present, the CWC has eight MPs representing plantation areas. Though the party supported the UNP during the last Presidential Election they contested the local government polls on the UPFA ticket for many local bodies on March 30.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that UNP Anuradhapura District MP W.B. Ekanayake who is likely to crossover to the Government had requested the President to appoint him as the UPFA organizer for the Anuradhapura West electorate which he currently holds in the UNP.
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Exodus from UNP to govt, Mahinda to reshuffle the pack
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 - 4:59 AM SL Time
A group of UNP parliamentarians, including Navin Dissanayake and Milinda Moragoda, will cross over to the Government. President Mahinda Rajapakse has already decided on a cabinet reshuffle and to abolish non-cabinet portfolios in a bid to accommodate the defectors from the UNP, senior Government sources said yesterday (10).
The cabinet reshuffle is likely to be effected within the coming fortnight but a number of UNP crossover parliamentarians are to be sworn in as deputy ministers pending the cabinet reshuffle sources said.
They placed the number of crossover UNPers at seven.
Navin Dissanayake, son of former UNP leader Gamini Dissanayake, is tipped to be sworn in as Deputy Minister of Mahaveli Development or Foreign Affairs, while Anuradhapura District UNP parliamentarian W. B. Dissanayake, who crossed over last week, is to be sworn in as Deputy Minister of Highways shortly, sources said.
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Editorial News
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Musings on defections
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:33 AM SL Time
Elephants, as one of our readers pointed out on the Opinion page the other day, cannot jump as they are not capable of having all four legs in the air simultaneously. But the political jumbos don`t seem to have any such problem. They are jumping like frogs across the well of the House to the government benches and landing as ministers or deputy ministers. The jumbo jumps have had the UNP leader jumping up and down, and are standing in the way of a promised cooperation between the UNP and the government.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, according to a report in this newspaper today, has declared a moratorium on accommodating defectors, perhaps in a bid to secure the UNP`s support for his peace project. The rampant defections have also caused concern to the JVP, as an increase in the ruling party`s numbers erodes its bargaining power and ability to remote control the government. On the other hand, the JVP has promised the people a slim cabinet and the burgeoning cabinet which is becoming still more unwieldy due to defectors being given portfolios is certainly an immense embarrassment to it as an ally of the government.
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Of academic Abu Ghraibs
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 - 5:03 AM SL Time
Prof. A. N. I. Ekanayaka, in an article on this page today puts his finger on a problem that has turned Sri Lankan universities into academic Abu Ghraibs in the eyes of the civilised world. It is torture euphemistically called `campus ragging`. Students have started entering universities after an inordinate delay caused by a malfunctioning scanner at the Department of Examinations and the sadists in the undergraduates` garb are said to be hyperactive.
Ragging has claimed the lives of several students so far. Parents have to live in eternal fear, not knowing whether their children will be able to pass out of universities in one piece. No serious incidents have yet been reported this year but since it is the season when sadists come out of their hibernation, ragging should receive due attention.
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Will-o`-the-wisp
Monday, 10 July 2006 - 4:56 AM SL Time
The UNP has accused the government of engineering defections at a time when it is cooperating with the latter on all vital national issues. The UPFA and the UNP are cooperating on national issues! News to us! If so, why did the UNP abstain from voting for the extension of Emergency, which is essential for curbing the escalation of terror attacks' And why did it allow its MP T. Maheswaran to vote against it' Emergency was reintroduced following the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and the UNP continued to support it until the vote before the last. How can the UNP justify its refusal to vote for Emergency within weeks of the assassination of Lt. Gen. Parami Kulatunge, one of the most illustrious officers the Sri Lanka Army has produced' And its abstention comes on the heels of its call for the government to order a probe into the Parami killing!
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President calls for global response to terrorism after India blasts
Thursday, 13 July 2006 - 1:10 AM SL Time
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lanka`s president pressed Wednesday for a coordinated global response against terrorism in reaction to a series of train explosions in India that killed more than 180 people. Bombings have been a common occurrence in Sri Lanka - since separatist Tamil Tiger rebels began fighting the government in 1983 to carve out a separate homeland for the country`s 3.2 million ethnic minority Tamils, who allege discrimination by the majority Sinhalese-dominated state.
Last month, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels targeted a passenger bus in northern Sri Lanka - , killing 64 commuters.
``No cause justifies ... terrorism against innocent civilians,`` Rajapakse said in a message sent earlier to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Eight bombs tore through packed commuter trains during Bombay`s Tuesday evening rush hour, killing scores of people and wounding hundreds more.
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3,754 LTTE truce violations
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:39 AM SL Time
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission revealed that the LTTE has violated the ceasefire on 3,754 occasions since February 2002.
Nearly half of the violations relates to child recruitment. In all the SLMM has received 7,308 complaints against the LTTE up to-date.
SLMM spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson quoting the latest SLMM CFA violation figures said yesterday they have investigated and ruled on 1,853 incidents relating to child recruitment during the period from February 2002 to June this year.
`There are hundreds of incidents still to be investigated during the period from May up to date,` Omarsson said adding that they were yet to make a ruling on the assassination attempt on the Army Commander, assassination of Lt. Gen Parami Kulatunga and the Kebithigollewa massacre.
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Tamil Tigers ready to attack Sri Lankan forces with toxic weapons
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:26 AM SL Time
Hidden in the jungles of Vanni a toxicological laboratory of the Tamil Tigers is manufacturing their 'special weapon', as described by Anton Balasingham earlier, to attack the Sri Lankan government forces located in Jaffna ' a politico-military centre needed to regain the lost prestige of the LTTE after they were driven out by the Sri Lankan Army in 1995.
Prof. Peter Chalk of Queensland University (now attached to Rand Corporation as an expert on terrorism) told an audience in Melbourne that the LTTE is the first known terrorist group to use chemical weapons.
Prof. Chalk, a leading expert on Tamil Tigers strategies, said that the Tigers fired a 'chemical' into an army camp in one of its early offensives. Ironically, it backfired because the winds brought most of it back and deposited the chemical on the LTTE side.
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India to supply air defense system for Sri Lanka
Thursday, 13 July 2006 - 1:11 AM SL Time
India is to supply an air defense system for Sri Lanka shortly, a Defense Ministry source says.
`The equipment is now on its way to Colombo,` a high-ranking ministry official said.
The news comes hot on the heels of a visit by Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran to Sri Lanka, bearing messages from New Delhi that India was fully backing the Rajapaksa administration`s efforts to bring peace, together with offers of support in various areas.
In the wake of mounting threats by the LTTE to launch aerial attacks on key government installations, the government of India assured Colombo of its commitment to provide air defense radars to combat the threat.
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Kotala Himbutu export banned
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:31 AM SL Time
The government has banned all Kotala Himbutu related exports. The Fauna and Flora (prohibition of export) Regulations No. 01 of 2006, published in Gazette extraordinary no. 1449/16 of 15 .06 .2006, under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, bans the export of raw materials, plants, dried leaves and value added medicines of Kotala Himbutu.
Kotala Himbutu is a traditional herbal medicine for diabetes. Kotala Himbutu plants have been illegally exported to Japan for years. The Japanese companies have obtained a number of patent licences for Kotala Himbutu related medicines.
The Custom Department detected the first illegal Kotala Himbutu consignment in 1998. Then Conservator General of Forests, N. Bandarathilake issued an order to stop the Kotala Himbutu exports. But, it was not implemented properly and some Kotala Himbutu consignments have been exported illegally. The last Kotala Himbutu consignment of ten tonnes had been exported last year.
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Jaffna, a saga of mending wounds and building bridges
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:28 AM SL Time
As peace continues to elude Sri Lanka, the security forces in Jaffna, which has been the main battle ground during the last two-decade long ethnic crisis, are now waging a battle of a different sort, to win the hearts and minds of the people there, our Special Correspondent K.M.Ravindran who recently visited Jaffna captures the true picture of the peninsula.
Jaffna peninsula an indispensable part of the island country had been the hot bed for the two decades long ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka. The city was under LTTE control for 12 long years from 1983. It was re-captured by the security forces, on the 2nd December 1995.
Narrating the account of the entire journey, our Special Correspondent K.M.Ravindran writes, a Czech built armored vehicle taking Colombo based journalists in and around Jaffna came to a grinding halt at a hamlet in the northern part of the Peninsula.
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Sri Lanka to host Vietnam boxers
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:37 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka and Vietnam will compete at an international boxing meet scheduled to be held on July 22 at the Sugathadasa stadium.
The meet is organised by the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (ABASL) for the MAS Holdings Cup as a final preparation for the Sri Lanka boxing team at the South Asian Games (SAG) to be held in Sri Lanka from August 18.
The ABA president Dian Gomes told the Daily Mirror that they were hopeful of winning the MAS Holdings Cup.
Eight male and three women boxers will arrive in Sri Lanka from Vietnam on July 21 and the first meet will be held on July 22 at the Sugathadasa stadium for the MAS Holdings Cup and the second meet will be held in Pannala at the Slimeline boxing ring on July 24.
Last year the ABA also organised a boxing meet in Sri Lanka that was contested by Philippine fighters.
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Sri Lanka reach knockout stage unbeaten
Wednesday, 12 July 2006 - 4:32 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka Under-17 were on course to complete their preliminary round matches unbeaten as they prepared to face underdogs Singapore in the last league match of the ongoing Golden Hope International Under-17 Cricket Challenge trophy limited overs tournament in Malaysia, yesterday.
Sri Lanka, who romped to an eight wicket victory over Malaysia in the curtain raiser on the back of a fine unbeaten half century by Ashan Priyanjana, cruised to a 35 runs victory over Bangladesh on Monday as Kusal Janith top scored with 73 runs.
Sri Lanka beat Malaysia
by 8 wickets
Scores
Malaysia 103 all out in 44.1 overs (Aminudin Ramly 26, Shafiq Sharif 24, Faizal Abu Hassan 12; Angelo Perera 4/17, Sachith Pathirana 3/19, Wimanga Perera 2/19).
Sri Lanka 104 for 2 in 18.2 overs (Ashan Priyanjan 57 n.o., Kusal Janitha Perera 21 n.o.; S. R. Chandra Mohan 2/26)
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Cricket chiefs slammed for shifting Dambulla matches
Tuesday, 11 July 2006 - 5:08 AM SL Time
Candidate for the post of secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket Michael de Zoysa yesterday accused the interim committee running the cricket board of irresponsible conduct in shifting the four matches of the triangular series involving India, Sri Lanka and South Africa from the Dambulla stadium to Colombo.
The matches were withdrawn after the temple authorities that own the land on which the stadium was constructed took over the venue for non-payment of dues by a Trust.
'I put this down to short sighted decision making of the current Interim Committee. When one considers the inconveniences caused by this decision to shift games, it is not worth the effort to do so.
What should have been done in my opinion was to re-negotiate the payment and and play the games at Damublla', de Zoysa said in a press statement yesterday.
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