Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

COLOMBO (AFP) India`s external intelligence agency tried to undermine Sri Lanka`s President Mahinda Rajapakse at polls in January and wanted him defeated, a minister said in an interview published Monday.

Nandana Goonathilake, minister of postal services, said the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India`s foreign intelligence service, had worked against Rajapakse at the January 26 vote even though the Indian government publicly supported him.

A leading Washington, DC-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, notwithstanding the arrest of retired Sri Lankan Army General Sarath Fonseka who challenged President Mahinda Rajapakse at the recent elections, and the country`s poor record on human rights and its treatment of several thousand internally displaced persons, has said that the United States cannot afford to disengage with the island nation.

It has mentioned in our chronicles, the Mahavamsa and the Chulawamsa, that the flag with the symbol of the lion was invariably used by the monarchy from the reign of King Vijaya, who was the first and foremost Sinhala king of this small, beautiful island. This nation`s flag was thus used up to the fall of the Kandyan kingdom, during the reign of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, on March 02, 1815.

King Dutugemunu when marching to war with foreign invaders, used the heraldic lion carrying a sword in the right paw with two additional symbols of sun and the moon. When he was at war, he planted this particular flag in the battlefield, as King Vijaya did when he landed at Tammanna. He planted the flag he was carrying with the lion symbol, on the soil of Sri Lanka.

by Zacki Jabbar

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), has never advocated a separate state, but has right along been for maximum devolution in the North and East of Sri Lanka, its leader R. Sambandan said yesterday.

He told a press conference in Colombo that a perusal of the TULF`s 1978 manifesto (which was representative of the Tamils) will reveal that they had never wavered from their comitment to a unitary Sri Lankan State.

`I am prepared to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss genuine devolution for the Tamils in a merged North and East,` Sambandan said. `We realised after participating in the APRC established by the Rajapaksa government, that it was used as a forum to buy time and also fool us in the process. We are willing to talk to President Rajapaksa, only if he is interested in conducting serious negotiations and not the type of bluffing exercise that was enacted over the last four years.`

Excerpts of a letter by Gen Sarath Fonseka to Sri Lanka`s Elections Commission, following his defeat in the presidential poll. The letter has been translated from Sinhala.

Dear commissioner of elections. Before and after handing over the nomination papers, President Rajapaksa`s election campaign has made great use of state resources.

Further, there have been threats, intimidation and accusations levelled against me. Many of my supporters were intimidated.

So you have decided to vote Sarath Fonseka, haven`t you? It`s all right. I understand. I am not here to sling mud at Sarath Fonseka. I will never ask or beg you to vote Mahinda. You don`t have to. I just want you to read this to the end. I respect Sarath Fonseka, as much as you do. In fact I personally want to vote him, but I can`t. I`ll tell you why. Please read till the end. You have decided to vote Sarath Fonseka for one of these three reasons

By Rohan Abeywardena
Sole Tamil presidential candidate M.K. Sivajilingam, backed by a rebellious section of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has not thrown in the towel as some candidates have done and has now even brought his campaign to the South.
Asked what support he was getting from his own alliance, he said MP and senior lawyer, N. Srikantha was openly managing his campaign, but five to six other TNA parliamentarians were supporting him from behind the scene for fear of not getting nominations from the alliance at the next general election.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking tougher sentences for three Tamil-Canadians who were caught by the FBI trying to buy anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons for the LTTE three years ago.
Toronto residents Suhil Sabaratnam and Thiruthanikan (Thani) Thanigasalam were in court for a sentencing hearing in New York yesterday. Both have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and material support for terrorism and were facing possible sentences of 25 years to life. Two others, Nadarasa Yogarasa, also a Canadian resident, and Sathajhan Sarachandran have pleaded guilty in connection with the undercover FBI sting operation, Canadian media reported.

Contradicting the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) claims that they decided to back Sarath Fonseka in the Presidential polls as the former Army Commander agreed to the conditions set forth by the TNA, the JVP has firmly said there is no such agreement.

TNA Leader R. Sampanthan said last week following discussions with candidates, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka, only the latter came up with an agreement satisfactory to them.

If the doting father could have had his way, Velupillai Prabhakaran would have never founded the Tamil Tigers or died so brutally along with his family and dreams.

Thiruvendran Velupillai, who died in Sri Lankan military custody last week, tried his utmost to persuade his youngest child, Prabhakaran, to concentrate on studies and not be swayed by Tamil nationalism.

Velupillai, who fathered four children, had more than one reason to worry. In the 1960s when Prabhakaran was in his teens, Tamil-Sinhalese relations were worsening. His own house was located in Velvettiturai, or VVT, in Sri Lanka`s northern tip where smuggling was a way of life.

Sri Lanka`s major Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance has decided to support the common opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka at the forthcoming presidential election on several conditions.

TNA parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan told reporters this afternoon that the opposition candidate agreed to implement the TNA`s proposal when he is elected to the post of President in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil National Alliance today confirmed that it will support Rtd. General Sarath Fonseka at the upcoming Presidential Elections. When contacted by Ada Derana, TNA party sources said that the decision was reached last night and a formal announcement will be made today at a press briefing.

According to sources the party had discussed at length the re-merger of the North and East with General Fonseka and he had not shown any objection to the proposal.

A good ananlysis posted by a Sri Lankan living in Oz..

What if....?

Due to the recent political upheaval in the land of Sri Lanka (SL), several people have come out and claimed the victory of the war. So we frequently hear/read the statements like

I am responsible for the victory over the LTTE .

So I thought of compiling a list of critical events related to Sri Lanka which happened during the last 3 4 years and analysed to see what if we failed in any of these missions, what would have been the possible outcome scenario?

Happy New Year

Wish U folks a very very Happy New Year 2010

What to do...Just sob only after returning home!!

Will he be thrown out of the party after the 26th January????

People will decide!