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British Tamils pressured into donating money to Tigers Monday, 5 February 2007 - 7:46 PM SL Time Ethnic Tamils living in Britain are being pressured into donating money to support Tiger rebels in their native Sri Lanka, facing harassment if they refuse. According to The Times, which interviewed a number of Sri Lankan Tamils living in Britain, the problem has become so widespread that the country`s High Commission here has alerted the British interior ministry and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. `We know the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) are coercing money from Tamils but it seems that, unlike with Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups, the police do not have the resources to act,` a spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission was quoted as saying by the daily. The Times said that unnamed sources in the police had confirmed that they were investigating the LTTE`s activities but would not officially comment on investigations. 
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Talk to LTTE: TNA tells President Monday, 5 February 2007 - 10:35 AM SL Time TNA parliamentarian MK Sivajilingam told BBC Sandeshaya that Mahinda Rajapaksa should restart talks with Tamil Tigers if he is genuine in his efforts to end the bloodshed. `We were given a mandate to regard the LTTE as sole representatives of the Tamils,` he said. Addressing the nation on Independence Day at Galle Face Green, President Rajapaksa invited TNA to attend All Party Conference (APC). There is n no other way than join hands with his administration to `safeguard Tamils from terrorism and violence and liberate Tamils in the north`, he said. The TNA says it views the invitation as suspicious. `We are suspicious as to why the President who did not invite us to APC saying he wanted get southern consensus now asking for our help,` Sivajilingam told bbcsinhala.com.
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What is the Sri Lankan military up to in Vaharai Monday, 5 February 2007 - 10:30 AM SL Time According to the Sri Lankan military two of its men were injured during mine clearance, one in Kathiraveli and another one in Vaharai and both men were admitted to hospital today. Where did these mines come from? LTTE did not lay any mines inside the Vaharai area. There was only a few hours between the time when civilians fled Vaharai area and LTTE pulled back from Vaharai. Any civilian who was in Vaharai at that time will attest to the fact that no mines were laid anywhere near their homes. Within the few hours before LTTE pulled back it is impossible to lay that many mines which would engage the Sri Lankan military in a mine clearance operation. One only needs average intelligence to work out this `mine theory` of the military.
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Security Forum
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No books for Jaffna`s school children Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:34 AM SL Time The escalating violence in the Jaffna peninsula has left school children in the area to bear the brunt of the rising cost of stationery items. Education officials in Jaffna say the prevailing prices of exercise books, pens and other stationery items had doubled, with school children finding it difficult to continue their studies. `Before the closure of the A9 highway, there were 100 lorries carrying supplies to Jaffna on a daily basis. Now, there is a practical difficulty in supplying such huge stocks of various items in shipment,` according to T. Devarajah a visiting lecturer of the Jaffna Teacher Training College. He said sufficient textbooks had not been sent to schools in Jaffna though one month had passed with the opening of schools.
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A third harbour for Jaffna Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:31 AM SL Time With the closure of the A-9 road due to LTTE terror attacks, essential food items for the people of Jaffna were ferried by ships with the facilitation of the Sri Lanka Navy, Media Center for National Security said yesterday. Continuous supplies were ferried under the `Jathika Saviya` programme with the guidance of the senior advisor to the President Basil Rajapakse and the Commissioner of Essential Services. In order to avoid the delays in loading and unloading of goods at the two harbours in the Jaffna peninsula, a third harbour, the Mailaddi port which was damaged in the tsunami has been identified and developed to handle cargo operations. The development of a third harbour and developed the handle cargo operations. The development of a third harbour for the Jaffna peninsular surfaced subsequent to an inquiry made by the Senior Advisor the President Basil Rajapakse from the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral, Wasantha Karannagoda. Following the Navy Commander`s proposal to develop the Mailaddi port, the Sri Lanka Navy was tasked to carry out its restoration work. The Navy had completed the restoration work of the Mailaddi harbour within a short period of 45 days. The Mailaddi port is in operation currently.
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LTTE step up attacks Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:29 AM SL Time The LTTE has stepped up attacks on the Police and security forces in and around Vavuniya and Mannar on Independence Day. In the early hours yesterday (5) the LTTE launched an attack on an Army road patrol at Veppankulam - Bandarikulam junction in Vavuniya killing an Army captain and seriously injuring two soldiers. The injured have been admitted to the Anuradhapura Hospital. The officer killed has been identified as Captain Dhammika Kumara of the Seventh Sinha Regiment. Since Sunday night there were sporadic attacks on the Army and Police Bunkers in Vavuniya and Mannar. One soldier was killed and five others including a civilian were injured. In another attack on an Army bunker in Uilankulam in Mannar, early yesterday, a soldier was killed and two others injured
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Political News Forum
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Guarantee our safety: Vakarai IDPs Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:41 AM SL Time Refugees who fled the former LTTE-stronghold, Vakarai, have urged the Sri Lankan authorities to guarantee their safety before returning home. The eastern Sri Lankan town was captured by the Sri Lanka security forces in early January. President Mahinda Rajapaksa and armed forces commanders made a surprise visit to Vakarai and other captured areas on Saturday. Rajapaksa pledged to `liberate` Tamils and bring normalcy to the captured areas.
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World conference to liberate child soldiers Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:35 AM SL Time Amidst claims by the LTTE to have released some of its child recruits, representatives of over 50 countries including Sri Lanka meet in France for a two day conference, on Sunday and yesterday to look at ways to demobilise and rehabilitate more than 250,000 child soldiers all over the world. The conference, sponsored by UNICEF and France`s Foreign Ministry, will focus on strategies to prevent child recruitment and help reintegrate former child soldiers into society, while looking at ways to help girls, particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse and accounting for nearly 40 percent of recruits in certain armed groups, organizers said. ``Children are being recruited unlawfully to participate in armed conflicts as soldiers, messengers, spies, porters, cooks or to provide sexual services,`` Ann Veneman, the head of the United Nations children`s agency, UNICEF, said in a statement before the two-day conference, which began on Sunday. ``This is taking place every day, violating children`s rights and compromising their futures.``
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JVP Needs More Votes not Strikes Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:28 AM SL Time The past year has been a good one for the JVP. Its profile, and, indeed credibility, have been enhanced. Those followed its high profile campaign in favour of military action against the LTTE. The population had long been manipulated by the `usual suspects` that a military solution was not possible, not least because of its soaring economic cost. The only viable way forward, said the self-regarding elite and foreign powers, was a negotiated peace with the LTTE, notwithstanding its proven track record of terrorism for over two decades. By arguing that the question was not `Can we afford the War` but `Do we want to spend whatever it takes to save the Nation` the JVP has transformed the debate. Its Churchillian rhetoric, campaigning and call to arms has strengthened the backbone of the military and raised the morale of the troops. It tipped the balance on military expenditure such that the Government has embarked on a major rearmament programme to fight the LTTE. The military, officers and men, perhaps for the first time, have begun to feel that the battle against separatist terrorism is well worth fighting and dying.
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Business News Forum
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Sri Lanka tourism not yet out of woods Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:39 AM SL Time Tourism, the fourth largest foreign income earner in Sri Lanka with an ambitious plan to attract two million visitors by 2016, is currently facing severe challenges which prevent it from developing the industry. While travel advisories continue to be hostile to Sri Lanka thereby reducing the number of tourists to our shores and the tourist industry not getting the benefit of a new electrical tariff given to other industries, travel and tourism companies are urging the new Tourism Minister Millinda Moragoda for favourable reforms. Serendib Leisure Management Ltd. Chief Exrecutive Officer and Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka Vice President Sirilal Miththapala yesterday told The Island Financial Review that adverse travel advisories must be met with counter propaganda, which could profitably use the accumulated cess.
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Road network worse after land slides : All services affected Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:32 AM SL Time Development activities in the Panwila area have been greatly hampered due to the destruction of the road network by the recent landslides which occurred in the hilly regions. The Panwila ? Bambaranda main road and the minor roads leading to villages have been eroded, culverts edges broken, and others with potholes making them dangerous for driving. Even prior to the landslides and floods, these roads had been neglected for years and the authorities had taken steps to withdraw public transport from the affected routes. The employees of the Wattegama CTB depot said the buses driving along these dilapidated roads had been damaged and sent to garages for repairs. The depot officers said even the repaired buses could not operate as the roads were completely unmotorable.
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Over 1 billion barrels of oil off Sri Lanka coast Monday, 5 February 2007 - 2:40 AM SL Time Seismic data shows more than 1.0 billion barrels of oil lie under the sea off Sri Lanka`s northwest coast, the island`s petroleum minister said on Friday, adding exploration bids would be called in early April. If proven, such a find would be a major boost for a land which produces no crude oil of its own and must import all of its needs to the tune of between $1.0 billion to $2.0 billion a year -- which in turn hammers the island`s budget deficit. `There are more than 1.0 billion barrels,` Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development Minister A.H.M. Fowzie told Reuters in a telephone interview. `We are already making arrangements to call for bids ... in early April.` Fowzie said eight blocks would be licenced, with China and India promised one each.
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Karuna as a politician Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:33 AM SL Time A spokesman for the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) is reported to have told a group of US Embassy officials at a recent meeting that it intends to contest elections in the future. Prabhakaran`s erstwhile military commander and TMVP leader Karuna, now on a campaign to extricate the Eastern Province from his former boss`s grip, seems to be playing his cards right. The success of any guerrilla movement depends on its ability to metamorphose into a political force when the time warrants such a change. An organisation which resists that evolutionary process is doomed to perish inside its cocoon of terror. The LTTE has made that mistake. It may claim to have a political wing but it is only too well known that its political arm cannot at least pretend to have some semblance of independence in comparison to movements like Sinn Fein. The LTTE may have sought to achieve its political objectives through the formation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) but its effort has manifestly failed. For, the TNA lacks the gravitas of a real political force. It is neither here nor there.
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The bloated obscenity Sunday, 4 February 2007 - 7:01 AM SL Time A reader`s letter we carry in today`s issue of this newspaper reflects public opinion, certainly urban middle class public opinion, on the size of the jumbo cabinet that President Mahinda Rajapakse has loaded on the backs of this country`s taxpayers to ensure the stability of his government. The president and his strategists may take comfort from the belief that rural people in the distant countryside are not as infuriated as the urban middle class about such political profligacy. They may be right. But the fact is that nobody anywhere will applaud this kind of circus. Talking to national editors and heads of the electronic media early in the New Year, Rajapakse tried to gloss over the then impending cabinet expansion saying that ministers and MPs are now paid the same and the reshuffle will enable rationalization of subject allocation. Nobody took him seriously when he said, `viyadama aduwenava misak vedi venne ne,` (the expenditure will go down rather than up.)
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Political foxes and ministerial grapes Saturday, 3 February 2007 - 4:52 AM SL Time A common ruse employed by a pickpocket in trying to escape a mob giving him the chase, calling for others` help to catch him, is to deceive the onlookers by repeating the pursuers` cry, `Pickpocket! Pickpocket!`, and run for dear life, holding on to the stolen wallet. Some government ministers seem to have taken a leaf out of pickpockets` book in a bid to escape the public wrath over the jumbo cabinet. On Tuesday, Minister and General Secretary of the SLFP Maithripala Sirisena said he was ashamed of the over-sized cabinet of President Mahinda Rajapakse. In our editorial on Wednesday, Masses aren`t asses, Mr. Sirisena!, we dwelt on his hypocrisy and asked him to resign from the cabinet, if he was really ashamed of being a member thereof.
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Sports News Forum
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Jayawardene leads Lankans to easy win Tuesday, 6 February 2007 - 4:38 AM SL Time The visiting Sri Lankan cricketers warmed up for the four-match one-day international series against India in style, thrashing Mumbai xi by 156 runs with 12 overs to spare in a practice encounter at the cricket club of India. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene led the way with a punishing knock of 91, after opening the innings, which included 18 fours and a six in Lanka`s total of 318 for 8 against a team that had a fair sprinkling of players who have been turning out in Ranji Trophy for Mumbai over the last two seasons. Fellow-opener Upul Tharanga made 48 while Marvan Atapattu (52) and Tilekaratne Dilshan (57) made important contributions in the middle to ensure the visitors did not waste the flying start given by Jayawardene and Tharanga who put on a century stand.
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When Ranatunga outwitted Warne Sunday, 4 February 2007 - 7:02 AM SL Time Fiery fast bowlers, smart captains, childish skirmishes, pay back times... the World Cup has had them all. Jeff Thomson (Australia) v Sunil Wettimuny (Sri Lanka) Group match, The Oval, June 11, 1975 Stung by the criticism of his constant overstepping in Australia`s previous match, Thomson was at his ferocious best. He first put Duleep Mendis in St Thomas` Hospital by hitting him on the head with a bouncer. Thomson was also ruthless with Sunil Wettimuny. The Sri Lanka opener withstood several blows to the body, and Thomson unsportingly tried to run him out as he hopped around after being struck on the foot. Wettimuny battled on to a game 53 but eventually decided to call it a day and join Mendis in the injured list after chopping the ball on to the same battered foot for a second time.
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Rajapakse ton for Royal Sunday, 4 February 2007 - 7:00 AM SL Time In form batsman Banuka Rajapakse hammered a 145 ball 132, laced with 19 fours and three sixes as Royal scored 249 on the first day of their Inter School Elephant Lemonade Trophy Under-20 match against St. Peter`s College which commenced at Bambalapitiya on Friday. In reply, Krishal Magage top scored with 71 runs for St. Peter`s who were 168 for 5 at close. In the morning, paceman Umar Samsudeen impressed with a five wicket haul. Scores: Royal 249 all out in 66.4 overs (Banuka Rajapakse 132, Charith Fernando 29; Umar Samsudeen 5/75, Vinod Perera 3/39) St. Peter`s 168 for 5 at close in 28.5 overs (Krishal Magage 71, Anuk Silva 38 n.o, Srimantha Wijeratne 26) S. Thomas` 250, Joes 70/4 Tournament favourites St. Joseph`s College were four wickets down for 70 runs in reply to S. Thomas` College`s 250, which came on the back of a valuable half century by Ashan Peiris and an unbeaten half ton by R. Nirushan on the first day of their Inter School Under-20 match played for the Gilmour Jayasuriya trophy at Darley Road, on Friday.
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