Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

President Mahinda Rajapkse had stated that if General Sarath Fonseka tenders his letter of resignation, he will accept it.

President added that he is not prepared to violate the fundamental rights of anyone. He can face any challenge he may have to encounter following the resignation of Gen.Sarath Fonseka.

The media reported recently, that Gen. Fonseka had informed the Defense Secretary one month ahead that he does not wish to extend his services any longer. At any rate, if Fonseka is to send in his resignation papers, there is room for the President to reject, reports further said.

A close relative of Gen. Fonseka`s son-in-law is reported to have got entangled in a club brawl, which saw him being `bounced` from the club by its owner. The next day, the club owner had received a threatening telephone call. The club owner seems to have influence himself - he had reported the matter to Major General Shavindra Silva, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and Maj-Gen. Mendeka Samarasinghe, Chief of Staff of the Army, because the number of the call was traced to an officer from the Artillery Regiment at Panagoda. An inquiry was promptly called into the matter.

While our boys give their life to get rid of the terrorists, the son-in-law of the Commander, Danuna Tillakaratne profits from every bullet fired in the war. As exclusive agent of the Pakistani arms dealer and ISI agent Ahmed Nissar (who stays rent free in Tillakaratne`s flat in Central Colombo) he gets 2cents for every bullet procured and 20$ for every shell. Add up the numbers ans see how this young lad has become a multi millionaire overnight. Is this what our boys are shedding their blood for?

According to Canada`s CBC News, the majority of Canada`s Tamils are members of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) or supporters of the group. Tamil Tigers have eliminated most of Tamil moderates to cave in a separate state for LTTE out of Sri Lanka.

Tamils in Canada want the Canadian government to intervene and prevent the fall of the Tamil Tigers so that the group can re-arm and re-group. This will take Sri Lanka back into decades of civil war, and allow Tamil refugees in Canada to continue with their refugee cases and subsequent Canadian citizenship.

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/

(CNN) -- Sri Lanka`s president declared Wednesday that the country`s Tamil insurgents are on the verge of total defeat, saying their demise has helped unite the island nation on the 61st anniversary of its independence.

`We are today a nation that has defeated a powerful enemy that stood before us,` Mahinda Rajapaksa said in his independence day speech. `Our entire nation is now united in the shade of the national flag.`

The following is an email chain received by Mawbima...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: xxx
Date: Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Subject: LTTE Terrorists Organizing a Rally in Los Angeles.
To: xxx

Friends,

Cat is out of the bag! `Tamils for Democracy`, according to their email below, is the same organization who organized the rally last week in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington DC to discredit the Sri Lankan G overnment. Now in LA? By hiding inside Lasantha`s coffin, these terrorists are doing their dirty work in support of vanishing LTTE. Please, inform the authorities in LA. What ever political party we believe in, this is the time to support our Government, and our Forces so we can celebrate Unitary Sri Lanka after three decades. Our Country has suffered for more than 28 years in fighting Terrorism. Please don`t let these Terrorists do harm again to our Mother Land.

About a quarter of a million people are trapped inside the 300 square kilometers of jungle where Sri Lankan troops have surrounded Tamil Tiger rebels. Thousands are marching to the United Nations offices in the northern city of Jaffna to urge intervention.

STORY:
Sri Lanka`s government and human rights groups accuse Tamil Tiger rebels of forcing civilians to remain inside the shrinking conflict zone as human shields.

TV (camera) crew came across LTTE attacks as they went to video the battleground.

Troops of 55 division led by Brig. Prasanna De Silva have breached the Earth Bund in the North of Chalai, Mullaittivu and captured the forward defense line (FDL) of the LTTE terrorists, latest information from Wanni battlefront confirmed.

Fierce fighting broke out between LTTE and security forces in the Chalai general area since yesterday and LTTE ended up loosing their front defense line.

How about that?

Police arrested a suspect at Aththidiya in Dehiwala this morning (Jan 30) in connection with the killing of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, police said.

According to Police Spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekara, a series of investigations had led to the arrest.

He said the suspect was taken into custody along Attidiya Road at around 5 am today. He is a three wheeler driver. The arrest was made after extensive investigations into a telephone. Details about the phone will be presented to the Magistrate. The suspect revealed that he had purchased the phone for four thousand rupees. The seller is also a suspect from the Attidiya area. The Police are seeking a Court order to carry out the interrogation. The Police Media Spokesman was confident that further investigations will be undertaken after obtaining a detention order from the Court.

According to New York-based Bloomberg Finance, Sri Lanka`s Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is the world`s best performing stock market so far this year. In the number two spot is China`s Chile Stock Market.

http://www.mawbimanews.com

An `urgent appeal` doing the rounds in the media and diplomatic circles, UN and relief agencies, and as a widely distributed e-mail message referring to a `Human Catastrophe and Medical Emergency` in the Wanni, reporting the alleged deaths of more than 300 and injury to 1000 in Mullaittivu is found to be a total fabrication.

This is issued as an `URGENT APPEAL to the Government of Sri Lanka, the ICRC, the UN and the international community for medical supplies and medical teams to be sent to the Mullaittivu district.` This false appeal refers to an `acute shortage of essential drugs and medical personnel in hospitals in the Mullaittivu District`, aims at showing a major humanitarian catastrophe in the area.

President Rajapaksa said he would reveal to the country `something very big` on Jan. 30 or so. `It is going to be a very big surprise,` he said refusing to elaborate. `When the time comes,` he said, `I will make it known to one and all.`

(Island) During a meeting with the newspaper editors at Temple Trees on Tuesday (Jan 27), President Mahinda Rajapaksa said his government was ready to adopt all possible measures to ensure the safety of editors in view of attacks on them. He denied any government involvement in them as he said the government had no reason to sully its hands with such reprehensible acts of violence. He said for a government whose popularity was at the peak nothing would be more foolhardy than to attack the press. `The armed forces are doing extremely well and our popularity has never been this high, so why should we even think of such undemocratic action?` he asked.

We are on the verge of uniting the entire country. A feeling of belonging to one nation is growing among people of all communities.

That is why the national flag flutters everywhere including estate line rooms. Therefore, at this juncture please do not write to encourage communal hatred but use your pen to foster communal harmony, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the newspaper editors at Temple Trees yesterday evening.

I have learnt to address Tamil people in Tamil using my little knowledge of that language to give leadership by example and I am pleased that several ministers including Hemakumara Nanayakkara and T. B. Ekanayake too did so at the rally at Nuwara Eliya the day before, the President added. Our struggle is against LTTE terrorism and not against the Tamil people, he stressed.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa Sunday invited Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa Jayaram to visit Jaffna and Vanni and personally appeal to LTTE to release the civilians held as human shield at gun point.

`We are ready to provide safe corridors for the civilians to go through the army controlled areas to safer places, but it is now up to the Tamil Tigers to `release` the civilians`, the President told the Asian Tribune in an exclusive interview.