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KP - The king pin of Tiger arms smuggling - arrested in Thailand, says Ministry of Defence Tuesday, 11 September 2007 - 5:39 AM SL Time The Tamil Tigers` chief procurer of arms, Shanmugan Kumaran Tharmalingam, aka Kumaran Pathmanathan or `KP` (48yrs) has been arrested by Thai Police in Bangkok, according to a report of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence.
He is a noted smuggler of arms and narcotics. Operating with bank accounts opened in London, Frankfurt, Denmark, Athens and Australia and he has had a free run so far. If this arrest is confirmed it will be a big blow to the Tiger supply of arms. He is also wanted by the Interpol. His popular bases have been Yangon, Burma, Singapore and recently Johannesburg. He moves smoothly across and he is said to be in possession of numerous passports. His arrest will be a big breakthrough to bust the arms smuggling rackets of the Tamil Tigers. Investigations are expected to probe deep into the international network of LTTE smuggling links, LTTE procedures, money laundering and the underworld dealers who supply arms and narcotics. 
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New supply route to Jaffna envisaged Monday, 10 September 2007 - 10:29 AM SL Time Following the capture of Silavathurai, the government is now considering the opening of a supply route to Jaffna so that essential goods may be transported to the peninsula by road rather than by air and sea as at present, a top defence official said.
He said that, in accordance with the latest proposal, the military was evaluating three major roads that led to Jaffna, but added that all these roads passed through rebel held areas. According to him, the three main supply routes to the Jaffna peninsula were Vavuniya-Jaffna (A-9), Mannar-Pooneryn-Sanguppidi (A-32) and Mullaitivu-Paranthan (A-35). At present all these roads pass through LTTE held areas. Since August 11, the only major road leading to the Jaffna Peninsula -- the ?Kandy-Jaffna road (A9) -- was closed after the LTTE launched a massive attack on the military at the Muhamalai main entry/exit point.
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UNP lacks support to topple Govt Sunday, 9 September 2007 - 9:49 PM SL Time Contrary to the `dreams` of some politicians of the Opposition, which say the days are numbered to topple the Government, the United National Party (UNP) says that there is no immediate intention as they lack the support of other parties.
UNP heavyweight and National Organiser, S. B. Dissanayake told the `Sunday Observer` that the UNP never said that they would topple the Government during the budget debate or within the next six months. He said though some UNP politicians say that the UNP would topple the Government soon, UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe never talked about toppling the Government immediately.
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| Security
Security Forum
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Retired Army Colonel Stabbed And In.. Wednesday, 12 September 2007 - 8:01 AM SL Time A retired army colonel was stabbed by three unidentified men near his residence in the Manning Town flats yesterday morning. The 47-year-old victim a former colonel attached to the Army Special Forces was out on his routine morning jogging exercise when three unidentified persons approached him and stabbed him on his chest several times.The colonel had managed to escape from the suspects and had run to a near-by house and cried for help. He was then rushed to the Narahenpita military hospital and his condition is reported to be not serious. OIC Crimes, Borella police, IP Gamini Hewavitharana, told the Daily Mirror that the reason for the stabbing is believed to have been a personal dispute. According to police, the victim had been having disputes with several residents in his neighborhood. So far no suspect has been arrested. Borella police are conducting investigations.
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Indian Coast Guard On Alert For Ned.. Wednesday, 12 September 2007 - 7:52 AM SL Time The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy had informed Sri Lanka they would not allow Tamil Nadu`s Tamil National Movement leader P. Nedumaran to cross the Palk Straits to Sri Lanka today as announced by him, the Sri Lanka Navy Chief said. However, Coast Guard sources from Chennai said they have yet to receive instructions from New Delhi as to the measures that needed to be taken if Nedumaran makes his attempt today. `Regular patrols are on, but he is not a regular citizen so they are awaiting word from Delhi since it`s a politically sensitive matter,` Indian sources told the Daily Mirror. Navy Chief Wasantha Karannagoda yesterday told the media that the Indian defence authorities had promised they would deal with the matter. `India will deal with it and they will do the needful. We don`t have to think about it anymore,` Karannagoda said.
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Mervyn`s Son Remanded Tuesday, 11 September 2007 - 5:48 AM SL Time A Colombo court yesterday remanded Labour Minister Mervyn Silva`s son Malaka who had allegedly assaulted a chartered accountant with a pistol at a night club last week. Chief Magistrate Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena who visited suspect Malaka Silva at a private hospital remanded him till tomorrow. Malaka Silva is the main suspect in the assault of chartered accountant Chaminda Rupanath Senasinghe at the Bistro Latino night club on September 6. The case was taken up before the Mt Lavinaia Magistrate yesterday morning and was referred to Colombo Chief Magistrate Courts as both the suspect and the complainant were in hospitals situated in areas that came under Chief Magistrate`s jurisdiction. While the complainant, Senasinghe was undergoing treatment for serious injuries at the National Hospital, suspect Malaka Silva had got admitted to a private hospital in Colombo.
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| Politics
Political News Forum
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As grants go-a-begging, Govt. going for big loan: Opposition Wednesday, 12 September 2007 - 4:31 AM SL Time The main opposition UNP and its ally SLFP (M) charged yesterday the government was negotiating for a loan of US$ 500 million from a consortium of foreign banks when it had not even utilized the US$ 4.7 billion received as aid and grants for development projects including post-tsunami reconstruction activities. SLFP (M) parliamentarian Sripathi Sooriyarachchi told journalists that even the utilization of 20% of committed funds each year could be considered satisfactory, but the amount utilized did not even amount to 10%. He said these funds were available in the form of aid and grants only for specifically identified development projects and proper records of the monies spent should be maintained.
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Govt. to tighten no smoking law Wednesday, 12 September 2007 - 4:30 AM SL Time As a result of the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Authority coming into force, smoking in prohibited places under the Act had reduced by 90 per cent. However Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has appointed a committee to amend the Act to include public places like roads and lanes which were not included in the Act The Authority hopes that with strict enforcement of this amendment, smoking in prohibited places could be reduced to nearly 100 per cent, if the Police and Excise authorities enforce the law strictly. However, there had been a number of incidents since the Act came into force where ignorant policemen have charged people for smoking on the roads despite it not being an offence. The Courts, too, on many occasions, had fined them when the police informed the Magistrate that accused had been smoking in a prohibited area. The accused, too, had been unaware of whether he had committed an offence or not.
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President Rajapaksa has no true mandate to rule - Ranil Tuesday, 11 September 2007 - 5:42 AM SL Time President Mahinda Rajapakse does not have a true mandate to rule the country but one obtained by a Gazette Notification published by the Commissioner of Elections, Dayananda Dissananyake, UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Sunday (9). He was addressing a UNP convention in Kandy. He said the Rajapaksa brothers reached an agreement with the LTTE during the last Presidential election to prevent 600,000 Tamil people from voting and it was due to that agreement that Mahinda Rajapaksa was holding the position of President.
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| Business / Economy News
Business News Forum
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Switch off your mobiles for two hours on 17th to protest the tax - UNP Gen. Secretary Wednesday, 12 September 2007 - 7:58 AM SL Time United National party (UNP) General Secretary Thissa Aththanayaka said that the government should immediately resign since it had no mandate to remain in power. He said that it should not be allowed to nourish one family from the money extorted from the public. Addressing a press briefing at the official residence of the opposition Leader, Aththanayaka said that the current government is politically illegitimate. He enquired if the United People`s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) with the `Country Forward` manifesto that won the general election in 2004 was in power now. He pointed out that 41 of the 105 MPs of UPFA, JVP MPs and Mangala and Sripathi, have now resigned from the government.
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Sri Lanka`s Economic Growth Probably Held at Slowest in 2 Years Wednesday, 12 September 2007 - 7:57 AM SL Time Sri Lanka`s economic growth probably held at a two-year low in the second quarter, constrained by the highest interest rates in Asia and renewed violence in the island`s civil war. The South Asian economy expanded 6.1 percent from a year ago, matching the pace of the first quarter, according to the median forecast of nine analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. The statistics department is due to release the data tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in Colombo with a different base year to that used by the central bank, which previously issued the figures. Governor Nivard Cabraal has kept the central bank`s benchmark interest rate at a five-year high of 10.5 percent for six straight meetings to curb runaway inflation. That`s damping growth in an economy already suffering from attacks by separatist rebels on industrial facilities in government- controlled areas.
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There is no shortage of food in Jaffna: Food Commissioner Wednesday, 12 September 2007 - 7:56 AM SL Time The government undertook shipment of food to Jaffna with the closure of the A-9 highway by the terrorists. The Essential Services Commissioner expressed these views referring to its one-year progress. At present, nine ships are handling the transport of essential commodities to Jaffna. Two more are to be deployed for this purpose. Jaffna requires 33,000 metric tons of food monthly. Drugs for hospitals are being air lifted. Sufficient stocks of fertiliser and other material for cultivation in the maha season have already been transported. Mr. Divaratne said it is planned to dispatch 42,000 bags of cement within 10 days. 3000 telephones have already been provided under the programme of supplying 10,000 telephones. A ship with a capacity of 12,000 metric tons is handling the transport of fuel. Stocks of diesel, petrol and kerosene sufficient for 20 days have already been stocked at Kankasanthurai. Mr. Divaratne said they had taken measures to bring down prices of goods in Jaffna by 60 percent.
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| Editorial News
Editorial News Forum
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Heroes and heroines: A different view Wednesday, 12 September 2007 - 8:02 AM SL Time History is a tale told by someone to serve his or her purpose, especially when the narrator happens to be a politician. Such tales are often first person narrations replete with egotism. If we are to believe in history as told by politicians, all of them are heroes or heroines. Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera has, in a recent speech in Kandy, related how the SLFP contrived to turn the tables on the UNP and brought its 17-year-long regime to an end in 1994. He, no doubt, played a key role in reinvigorating the SLFP together with several other staunch SLFPers like S. B. Dissanayake, who is today in the UNP. Reviving a faction-ridden ailing party is no mean achievement, especially in the face of resistance from the shibboleth-driven old guard averse to change.
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For the serene joy of the pious Tuesday, 11 September 2007 - 5:50 AM SL Time Opposition and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe`s flair for stinging and biting extempore remarks oozing with sarcasm is monumental. On Saturday, when a group of journalists asked him what had transpired at a closed door meeting between him and the Malwatte Maha Nayake Thera in Kandy, he displayed his puckish sense of humour with the quip that he had requested the prelate to ordain all the journalists. We know that kind of jovial remark should be forgotten after a hearty laugh. However, we can`t but yield to the temptation for making a comment. We wonder why the Sasana which is already faced with enough and more problems should be burdened further with an additional liability. So, we believe, instead of ordaining journalists, an attempt may be made to turn them into upasakas or pious laymen and urge them to observe pansil or the five precepts. (Journalists of other faiths may be urged to live according to the tenets of their religions.)
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A question of reputation Friday, 7 September 2007 - 10:56 AM SL Time One of our readers who had been away for a while yesterday afternoon inquired about a story doing the rounds that we had brought Parliament into disrepute through a headline in The Island. He wanted to know whether there was any truth in the story. We told him that whoever thought so ought to be a real nincompoop who urgently needed some schooling. His inquiry prompted this comment. Our reader wholeheartedly agreed with us when we told him that if any institution, state or otherwise, had deteriorated so much that children couldn`t visit it any longer because of filth and fisticuffs being freely exchanged by the guardians thereof, some of whom lacked even the basic educational qualifications required for the recruitment of sanitary labourers in the state sector, carried firearms sans permits, committed murder and fraud and abused their privileged position to shower pay hikes and perks on themselves at the public expense, it had the same reputation as a whorehouse and the question of its image being sullied didn`t arise at all. We also pointed out that corrupt administrators through their shady deals with either local or foreign organisations gave such institutions an impetus on their journey down the Gadarene slope. The situation became far worse, we told him, if lonely women happened to be in top positions sleeping and conspiring with privileged stud bulls, who had a penchant for jumping in with both feet to oblige any administrative or secretarial fille de joie, to silence the scribes who exposed their corrupt deals, through intimidatory tactics.
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| Sports News
Sports News Forum
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Lankans placed 14th in Asian Rankings Monday, 10 September 2007 - 10:34 AM SL Time Sri Lankan Spikers who took part in the 14th Asian Senior Men`s Volleyball championships here in Jakarta left yesterday after the completion of their games.The Lankan spikers were deprived of witnessing the closing ceremony as there were no flights available for them to return on the next day. Sri Lanka were placed 14th in the overall standings with only two victories during the championships. The Lankans who were in Group C lost their two games in the preliminary round to Thailand and Saudi Arabia and ousted from the top eight teams. They were later grouped along with Pakistan, Vietnam and Maldives for ranking of the championship for the remaining places. The other Group consisted of India, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The eight teams to qualify for the main Championship were found from the preliminary round Australia, Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, the hosts Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Iran.
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Marrying up terrorism with evangelism Osama style Monday, 10 September 2007 - 10:34 AM SL Time The world knew Osama bin Laden as a terror kingpin claiming to defend his faith. But, now it looks as if he had gone a step further and were trying his hands at unethical conversions! In his recent video message released close to the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, he has urged the American people to give up democracy and embrace Islam to end the war in Iraq. Interestingly, bin Laden looks rejuvenated in the video. His unkempt trademark beard flecked with grey has got a black sheen. Anti-al Qaeda spin doctors are trying to have us believe that this is a sure sign of vanity of an ageing man, which runs counter to his cause, but military experts claim he is only trying to pull the wool over the eyes of his pursuers by sporting a false beard. They believe he must be clean shaven. This argument seems tenable in that a man on the run spending nights as he does in several places out of fear cannot have any time for his beard, which has become a liability for him. (It couldn`t also have been that his wives wanted their hubby whose head is worth 50 million US dollars to look smart on TV with a dyed beard.)
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Kingswood rally to down St. Sylvester`s Saturday, 8 September 2007 - 4:30 AM SL Time After being deadlocked at nil all at half time fancied Kingswood College produced a stunning second half comeback to gain a shock 7-5 win over archrivals St. Sylvester`s and booked a quarterfinal slot in the Singer-SriLankan International Sevens tournament`s schools event on the opening day of the competition here at the Nittawela Stadium, in Kandy yesterday. The second half was also closely fought out, but Kigswood managed to lead the game. Prop forward Gayan Rathnage broke away from the scrum at Sylvester`s 10 metre line and touched down at the right corner. This was converted by Roshan Weeraratne. But the Sylvestrians counter attacked in the dying minutes and their fly half S. M. Rajakaruna went over for a try. Their place kicker however failed the conversion from a difficult angle and the Kingswoodians gained victory by a mere two points. Kingswood will now meet their other home town rivals Dharmarajah in the Cup quarters which is scheduled to be played today at 4.00 p.m. Meanwhile the other Cup favourites defending Singer SriLanka schools cup champions St. Anthony`s, last year`s runners - up Isipathana and inter schools champions St. Peter`s managed to win their all group matches and thus entered the cup quarters.
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