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Civil war, suffering: Sri Lanka urged to save truce Thursday, 22 February 2007 - 11:20 PM SL Time Air raids, roadside blasts, suicide bombings, land and sea battles and thousands killed. So much for the 2002 ceasefire between Sri Lanka`s army and the Tamil Tigers. The tattered pact turned five years old on Thursday, with the foes ignoring repeated calls by the international community to halt a new stage of the two-decade civil war, and analysts fearing the bloodshed will only get worse. The war has killed an estimated 67,000-68,000 people since 1983 and displaced hundreds of thousands. Mediator Norway called on both sides on Thursday to respect the truce, but said the onus was on President Mahinda Rajapakse`s government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to halt the renewed fighting. 
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AI calls on Saudi Arabia to stop all executions Thursday, 22 February 2007 - 6:42 AM SL Time The Government is attempting to bring down the bodies of the four Sri Lankans who were executed in Saudi Arabia while measures will also be taken to educate foreign job seekers on the domestic laws of countries where they hope to work. Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said compensation would be given to the families of those executed but at the same time stressed a hue and cry could not be made over the actions of the Saudi authorities as they were carried out under its domestic laws. `It is not that it is something to be happy about. We will do all we can to help the families of those who were executed. But at the same time it is important that foreign domestic laws are not violated,` Minister Rambukwella told the Daily Mirror.
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No end in sight to Sri Lanka conflict Thursday, 22 February 2007 - 6:34 AM SL Time Vijaraja Lakshumi takes pride in her son`s appearance. Every day she dresses him for school in a crisp white shirt, even though they live in a sun-blasted, dusty camp in eastern Sri Lanka. Sumeshan is five years old, born as the ceasefire between the government and the Tamil Tigers was signed. He should have been growing up in a country at peace - instead he`s a displaced person in Sri Lanka`s continuing war. Political statement `We couldn`t stay at home because of the shelling,` says his mother, sitting in the long, low hut with a roof of tarpaulin donated by the United Nations that they share with dozens of others. `We travelled by river and through the jungle for three days before we finally got here.` The family is from Vakarai, a coastal hamlet that was controlled by the Tigers for more than a decade, until the security forces advanced in January. It was the last of a series of major rebel strongholds in the east to fall.
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| Security
Security Forum
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Navy claims two Tiger boats sunk Friday, 23 February 2007 - 3:41 AM SL Time Two LTTE boats were destroyed yesterday evening in the seas off Battalangunduwa in Kalpitiya killing at least nine Tigers on board, the Navy said. `There were six men in one boat and three in the other and both craft went down with the crew,` a senior Navy official said. He said there were no casualties among the sailors. He said two boats, one suspected to be an attack craft and the other believed to be carrying arms were heading for the shore, when they were detected some five nautical miles away. `When the naval craft approached them, armed men on board fired forcing the Navy to retaliate and sink the vesels,` he said. He said Navy divers searched the sea to locate any arms from the sunk boats.
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`India has also taken a new path in curbing terrorism` - Rambukwella Thursday, 22 February 2007 - 6:47 AM SL Time Government defense spokesperson minister Keheliya Rambukwella Says India could play a much bigger role in curbing LTTE�s terrorist activities. The minister made this comment while answering a question raised by a journalist regarding the vessels that were seized by Indian coast guards for transporting explosives to Sri Lanka. He said that the coast guards had detained one of the relevant vessels when it was sailing from Tamilnadu to Chennai and arrested three suspects from the boat. Two if them have been identified as LTTE cadres and the coast guards had found a T 56 firearm, 124 live ammunition, a suicide kit and 2 cyanide capsules from their possession. Rambukwella said an extensive investigation is being conducted in to the incident and that authorities suspect that the explosives were being transported to carryout a suicide attack.
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LTTE demands big money from Tamils in Australia Thursday, 22 February 2007 - 6:37 AM SL Time The LTTE agents in Australia were covertly targeting selected houses in Sydney and Melbourne to collect money for their `Final War` in Sri Lanka, agency reports said yesterday. An Asian Tribune news story filed from Melbourne said that Tamils domiciled in Sydney have been told to mortgage their houses and donate a minimum of $50,000. S. Sebasan, the propaganda secretary of the Tiger front in Victoria, who works in the Tax Department, is promoting the `Final War` campaign in 3 CR Community Radio, along with some overseas Tiger agents from Canada and Vanni. `In Sydney the covert operation is led by S. Sanjayan, an accountant. In Melbourne all Tiger operations are under S. Jathavan and his father-in-law, P. Senturan.`
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| Politics
Political News Forum
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Sri Lankan asylum seekers intercepted by Australian navy in Indian Ocean Friday, 23 February 2007 - 4:36 AM SL Time An Australian navy ship picked up 85 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who were traveling by boat towards a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, the government said Thursday. The asylum seekers, all men, were invited on to the fuel tanker 80 kilometers (50 miles) off Christmas Island on Tuesday because their boat was not seaworthy, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said in a statement. A border patrol plane had tracked the boat since Monday. The government did not explain why it did not confirm the interception until Thursday despite media inquiries Wednesday. The minister`s office would not say where the men were to be taken. The boat was carrying the largest number of asylum seekers to attempt to reach Australia since 2001, when the government introduced a policy of refusing to allow boat arrivals to reach the Australian mainland.
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Mangala, Sripathy file HR petition Friday, 23 February 2007 - 3:43 AM SL Time Sacked ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathy Suriyaarachchi yesterday sought the intervention of the Human Rights Commission to order the Defence Secretary and Police Chief to restore their personal security to full strength. In their petitions, the former ministers said the government had reduced their security to just two personnel and also withdrawn the vehicles since February 9, thus exposing them to possible terrorist attacks. Addressing journalists, after handing over their petitions, Mr Suriyaarachchi said even government intelligence sources had confirmed that both former ministers were under LTTE threat. ` Some government members are calling us LTTE supporters but we will soon prove who the real traitors are,` Mr. Suriyaarachchi said.
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Statement soon Friday, 23 February 2007 - 3:39 AM SL Time The Government said yesterday it would announce its current stance on the Ceasefire Agreement soon. `Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake will make an announcement in this regard very soon,` Cabinet Spokesman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said urging the media not to listen to any rumours in this regard. He said currently the Foreign Ministry and the Defence Ministry are discussing the matter before releasing the statement of the Government. However the minister said Article 4.4 of the CFA clearly stated that either party should inform, 14 days in advance, if it was decided to terminate the agreement.
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| Business / Economy News
Business News Forum
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Procurement of 100 Nos. of Passenger carriages to Railway. Friday, 23 February 2007 - 3:48 AM SL Time The Cabinet has granted its approval to a Memorandum submitted by Dullas Alahapperuma as the Minister of Transport for the procurement of 100 numbers of Passenger Carriages from M/s. China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation (CMC) at a total FOB price of US $ 22,105,200.00 inclusive of all the improvements in the current specifications of all the Sri Lanka Railways. The Government will release 30% down payment to the CMC as an advance payment. Along with this a recommended list of spare parts at a total FOB price of US $ 2,651,724.00 will also be imported. The Ministry will also seek in to the possibility of utilizing the soft loan/grant facility now available from the Chinese Government for the required portion counterpart funds. The cabinet also granted approval for making 30% down payment for procurement of 15 numbers of Diesel Multiple Units from M/s/ Hubei Machinery Equipment Import and Export Company from China.
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Govt targets US$ 1 b tourism revenue Friday, 23 February 2007 - 3:46 AM SL Time The Government is to embark on an aggressive tourism promotional drive aimed at achieving a US$ 1 billion earnings target within the next two to three years while opening employment avenues in the leisure sector. This proposal has been submitted by Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda. Speaking to journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing, Media Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said the Cabinet has given approval to defer the implementation of the proposed US$ 10 Visa fee from foreign passport holders till August 31 this year while bringing the electricity rate for hotels on par with other industries for the same period. `Having consulted the industry, the Government has taken a decision to provide a package of incentives in the immediate term to build confidence and encourage the industry participants to work towards attracting a large number of tourists and new markets for the season commencing from September this year.
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Karuna in Kirulapone? Wednesday, 21 February 2007 - 6:08 AM SL Time The residents of Andarawatta in Kirulapone in fear of indirect threat from the LTTE are to take legal action against the proposed sale of a luxury house in the neighbourhood to the Karuna faction. According to the residents a two storey luxury house in the Andarawatta area is to be sold to the Karuna group. The house had been recently renovated and upgraded with tall parapet walls and other security features with two speed breakers laid on the road in front of the luxury house, the residents revealed. The Daily Mirror learns the transaction has already been finalised with half the price already paid yesterday.
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| Editorial News
Editorial News Forum
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Yes, Mr. Ambassador but Friday, 23 February 2007 - 4:39 AM SL Time US Ambassador Robert O Blake Jr says Sri Lanka has got an important opportunity to achieve peace and urges her to seize time by the forelock. `If a credible power sharing proposal emerges from the APRC, Sri Lanka has in President Mahinda Rajapakse a strong leader who can use his very considerable political skills and the trust that his supporters repose in him to help fashion the southern consensus that has eluded previous governments,` Mr. Blake has said at a peace symposium in Colombo. He thinks such a consensus can form the basis of renewed peace talks and an end to the conflict. He wants the solution to meet the aspiration of the Tamils, the Muslims and the Sinhalese. Mr. Blake echoes the thinking of all reasonable observers of Sri Lanka`s conflict. There can be no argument about the fact that the conflict must be resolved politically without further bloodshed. But, those who advocate a political solution make one fundamental mistake. They all want the government in power to offer solutions without asking the LTTE what it really needs by way of a settlement.
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Demand for abrogating CFA: Attempt to kill the brain-dead Thursday, 22 February 2007 - 6:44 AM SL Time The National Bhikku Front (NBF) has given the government twenty four hours to abrogate the CFA. Else, they are going to stage a hunger strike, they have said. The NBF demand evokes memories of the fate that befell the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam pact, which the late Prime Minister Bandaranaike had to tear up under pressure from Buddhist monks. The Dudley-Chelvanayagam pact went the same way due to resistance from the nationalist forces. (Recently, we had another Senanayake?Rukman is his first name? tearing up the MoU between the SLFP and the UNP!) Let there be no argument about the glaring bias that the CFA has towards the LTTE and how it has helped further the interests of the outfit. But, it has today become a fait accompli. The UNP is challenging the government to do away with the CFA if it doesn`t want it. Chutzpah at its worst!
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Parliament jokes and Montessori theories Wednesday, 21 February 2007 - 6:10 AM SL Time Ex-Minister Anura Bandaranaike, after being fired from the UPFA Cabinet, told the press that he was happy to have left a Carnival of Clowns. Buffoonery of politicians appears to be fairly well known. Sometime ago, a film called Parliament Jokes became quite popular. Some politicians have become not only jokers but jokes as well. The problem with political `jokes` is, cynics say, that they get elected. How true! The latest joke comes from the Opposition. UNP MP Joseph Michael Perera was quoted by this newspaper yesterday as saying that his party would ask the Prime Minister whether there was any truth in the allegation that the Security Forces were not attacking the LTTE in the North in keeping with a secret deal between the government and the LTTE. He said his question was based on a statement by an SLFP dissident. Ex-Minister Sripathy Sooriyaarachchi recently said the military was only capturing empty land in the East without moving into the North. The UNP has apparently taken Sripathy seriously!
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| Sports News
Sports News Forum
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Thurstan and Isipatana are poles apart Friday, 23 February 2007 - 4:38 AM SL Time Though the series tally stands without much difference at 5:4, the unbeaten Thurstan, oozing with formidable talent, and the recently invigorated Isipatana are poles apart at least on paper. The two teams meet each other in their 44th annual big match at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground today. Having recorded five outright victories, with several batsmen who have aggregated over 500 runs this season to brace the batting line-up, and with two bowling kingpins to make their bowling department formidable, Thurstan are well equipped to thwart any obstacle that would stand in their way to achieve a positive victory which had not come in their favour in fifteen years. Meanwhile, Isipatana after suffering three defeats at the hands of St. Joseph`s, St. Sebastian`s and D.S. Senanayake Colleges will have to look back at the positives gained in the match against Zahira which they won outright and the closely contested encounter against St. Peter`s to hold their opponents from winning the Blackham Wijewardena Trophy.
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Sangakkara brings all-round qualities to Sri Lanka team Friday, 23 February 2007 - 3:45 AM SL Time Kumar Sangakkara is Sri Lanka`s leading all rounder, a student of law with a passion for literature, their best batsman and an inspirational wicketkeeper. The 29-year-old is in the prime of his career and he holds a key responsibility batting at number four, the old batting position of Aravinda de Silva. De Silva was Sri Lanka`s most prolific batsman when they won the World Cup in 1996 (448 runs at 89.60) and many believe Sangakkara is the man most likely to emulate his heroics. Sangakkara starts the tournament with 1,333 runs and 44.43 in 2006, more ODI runs than any other player in the world. Moreover, his mental resilience has enabled him to score many of those runs under extreme pressure. He will be relied upon to deliver when it matters most.
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Thomian Warden rues big-match drunkenness Thursday, 22 February 2007 - 6:46 AM SL Time Warden of S. Thomas` College Dr. David Ponniah yesterday appealed to supporters of his school and Royal College to refrain from acts of violence, drunkenness and bad behaviour that are usually witnessed at the annual Royal-Thomian big match scheduled to be worked off from March 8 to 10 at Maitland Place in Colombo. He made his appeal to coincide with the sponsorship of the big match by Dialog for the seventh consecutive year. Dr. Ponniah said that the annual Royal-Thomian cricket encounter was an important event for past and present pupils of the two institutions as it produced friendly rivalry amid intense but fair battle on the field. He also said that the sponsorship provided `valuable resources` that make it possible to maintain the high standard of the game.
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