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   http://www.lankanewspapers.com/DVLADV - Archive of Apr 2011




Notes Are Not A Requirement In A Kangaroo Court.
Saturday, 2 April 2011 - 5:52 AM SL Time

Not only a court, any investigation needs to have its notes, CJ de Silva told BBC Sandeshaya.

If there are no notes, it does not become an investigation.

The Chief Justice made the remarks when the BBC enquired about the recent revelations by a military court that it did not keep records of an investigation against the former army commander, Sarath Fonseka.

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A group of former Sri Lankan soldiers say they are stranded in a remote village in Iraq .
Sunday, 3 April 2011 - 2:10 AM SL Time

Lalith Kumara de Silva, a member of the group of 41 former soldiers, told BBC Sandeshaya that they arrived in Iraq as private security officers for a Lebanese company involved in a construction project in Al-Amra, some 600-700km away from the capital, Baghdad.

The group of 41 retired Sri Lankan soldiers received working visa to Iraq after another Sri Lankan working in the company arranged them contracts, he said.

A security firm registered with the Iraq government, Night Bird, has issued them with official identity cards from Ministry of Internal Affairs - after checking their qualifications.

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Sinhalese Beat Estate Tamils Of Indian Origin In Retaliation For India Beating Sri Lanka In Cricket.
Monday, 4 April 2011 - 2:28 AM SL Time

Police in Sri Lanka say that they have arrested four people suspected on an attack following a the protest threat by a cabinet minister.
Superintendent of Police Prishantha Jayakody told BBC Sandeshaya that the suspects were remanded until the 15th of March.

`This was a clash between two groups and the situation is under control,` he said.

However, a government minister maintained that they have provided names of four people `who were among a mob that attacked Tamil community in Up Country`.

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Hope At Least GOSL Gets Something For Its Money.
Monday, 4 April 2011 - 11:43 PM SL Time

(April 04, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Once the nasty campaigner who was on the spree of discrediting individuals questioning the LTTE is said to have been bought over by the Government of Sri Lanka to go on the spree to vulgarise all those campaigning against Sri Lanka in the western world.

The Scandinavian based rocker is said to have visited Sri Lanka couple of times since the defeat of the LTTE and have tied knots with the government on a financial deal to discredit the questioning activists.

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Sri Lanka Is Thankful Too. They Got Tea From The President And President Got A Picture Opp. :)
Wednesday, 6 April 2011 - 2:30 PM SL Time

by Ben Doherty in New Delhi


To the 11 men who won India the Cricket World Cup comes the thanks of a grateful nation.

In the euphoria of India`s win, it seems all 1.21 billion people in this massive country have a tribute in the form of a house, car, stadium, honorary degree or tens of millions of rupees.

These were already well-paid, well-cared-for men, each with lucrative endorsements and revered as semi-deities the length and breadth of the country. But the largesse of this ecstatic nation knows no bounds.

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Sri Lanka`s Cream Of The Crop At Your Service.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011 - 11:19 PM SL Time

Public Relations Minister and Kelaniya UPFA strongman Mervyn Silva says his associates aren`t involved in the alleged extortion racket at the newly opened fish market complex in Peliyagoda.

Minister Silva says he`ll initiate an inquiry on his own to identify those involved in the racket.

The minister was responding to a query by The Island in the wake of a spate of allegations that his associates were trying to launch a major extortion racket targeting fish vendors and suppliers.

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GL Peiris said that there was `no need` for the panel to come to the country when we are willing to crawl to them.
Thursday, 7 April 2011 - 3:27 AM SL Time

External Affairs Minister GL Peiris says a delegation from his ministry had met the members of the UN Secretary General`s (UNSG) Advisory panel on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Ruling coalition partners protested against advisory panel

The meeting in New York was not announced to the media by either the UNSG or the Sri Lankan government.

`The panel members took part in a discussion along with an officer named Lynn Pascoe (United States as Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs), where Attorney General and the secretary to the ministry of External Affairs represented Sri Lanka` the Minister told BBC Sandeshaya.

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Rally for Sri Lanka ex-skipper only 17 show-up.
Sunday, 10 April 2011 - 5:49 AM SL Time

COLOMBO (AFP) A campaign by fans of Sri Lanka`s World Cup-losing skipper Kumar Sangakkara to demand his reinstatement ended in a flop Saturday, with only a handful of supporters turning up.

Sangakkara loyalists had organised the demonstration as a Facebook event, with 6,512 fans signing up to attend, but reporters counted only 17 people at Colombo`s Independence Square public park.

`It is possible that some of the fans may have gone to another park because of a misunderstanding about the location,` an organiser told reporters.

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Tamilisation Is Practiced By US Says The Govt.`s Blue Eyed Boy. LOL
Monday, 11 April 2011 - 5:11 AM SL Time

The Sri Lanka government has accused the US State Department of Tamilisation of its annual report on the island`s human rights.

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, a ruling party MP, who admitted that human rights violations are `still being committed` in Sri Lanka, told BBC Sandeshaya that human rights violations are committed in each and every country.

The problem is that the US has tried to Tamilise the report. But when you read it most of the names of victims are Sinhala nationals, he said.

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How deep does this rat hole go?
Monday, 11 April 2011 - 12:48 PM SL Time

Fisheries and Aquatic Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne yesterday said the lion`s share of protection money collected by extortionists at the St John`s Fish Market in Colombo had gone to certain politicians.

The politicians had not taken action to eliminate extortion there because they were hobnobbing with extortionists, Dr. Senaratne told a press conference at Colombo Hilton yesterday.

Extortionists backed by some powerful politicians had tried to resume their operations at the Peliyagoda Fish Complex. They had been arrested thanks to prompt action by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and IGP Mahinda Balasuriya, Dr. Senaratne said.

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Prof Wijesinha told BBC that the defence attach of the British High Commission (BHC) in Colombo `gave a note` that accused then General Fonseka of being responsible for the assassination.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011 - 9:48 AM SL Time

UPFA MP Prof Rajiva Wijesinha told BBC Sinhala Service on Monday the British High Commission in Colombo had told him it possessed evidence that former military chief Gen Sarath Fonseka was involved in the assassination of the Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickremetunge.

Prof Wijesinha told BBC that the defence attach of the British High Commission (BHC) in Colombo `gave a note` that accused then General Fonseka of being responsible for the assassination.

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How Many Will Ignore The Order? Muarali Should be Laughing.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011 - 11:48 PM SL Time

Sri Lanka`s sports authorities on Tuesday ordered its cricketers playing in the ongoing Indian Premier League to return home for training ahead of next month`s tour of England.

Sports Minister Mahinadananda Althugamage said he wanted team members to prioritise the national side over the IPL, which is financially lucrative for players.

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Do all a favour. Shoot yourself lets not wait for the kangroo courts.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011 - 1:22 AM SL Time

Minister Mervyn Silva says he will shoot himself using his official pistol if it is proven without a shadow of a doubt that he was involved in an extortion racket at the Peliyagoda fish market.

Speaking to reporters today the Minister said that there are both true and false reports circulating about the extortion racket and his name has now been dragged into it.

The Minister recalled that the suspects who were involved in the racket have been arrested but added there are more arrests to be made.

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The final responsibility for his murder lies with the government of Sri Lanka.` - Sonali
Thursday, 14 April 2011 - 2:41 AM SL Time

`I am satisfied that the government did everything possible to cover up his murder and prevent even a rudimentary police inquiry from proceeding,` Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge told BBC Sandeshaya.

She insisted that she does not know who killed her husband.

Breaking a two year silence, she questioned the motives of the Rajapaksa government.

There can be only one reason, she said, for the authorities to cover up.

`It is clearly to prevent those who murdered Lasantha, and those who ordered his murder, from ever being brought to justice,` added Mrs Wickrematunge.

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If this is true then this should be considered a crime.
Thursday, 14 April 2011 - 5:49 AM SL Time

(Lanka-e-News 13.April.2011 8.00PM) It has come to light that the bragging Education Minister`s boast in order to show that the Sri Lanka education standard has shot up by claiming that at the G C E Ord. level examination more students have passed than earlier years is an absolute falsehood and fraud .

This increase in the passes of the students have been achieved by lowering the pass marks . One example is the lowering of the pass marks of the Mathematics paper to as low as 18 marks. Science credit pass marks have also been lowered to 34.

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A Father`s Cry For Justice.
Thursday, 14 April 2011 - 9:16 PM SL Time

In a video released by Amnesty International in the wake of the submission of a Sri Lanka war-crimes report by a UN-panel to Ban Ki Moon, Dr Manoharan, father of one of the 5 Trincomalee students extra-judicially executed on 2nd January 2006, tells Amnesty that he will continue to challenge the Sri Lanka Government until he receives justice for the `criminal political murder` of his son. The video was shot during Dr. Manoharan`s visit to New York during the last week of February 2011 to present the more than 55,000 signatures Amnesty received as part of Amnesty`s campaign to urge the UN to begin investigations into the murder of the five Trincomalee students.

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Prof. Changes His Story. LOL
Friday, 15 April 2011 - 2:53 AM SL Time

UPFA MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha has sent in the following clarification to our news item, `British HC in Colombo has evidence of SF`s involvement in Lasantha killing ...` (on April 12) based on a BBC (Sinhala Service) report: `I am grateful for your highlighting some sections of my interview with the BBC regarding the US Report on Human Rights, as also for carrying my critique of some improprieties in it.

I did not hear the BBC version of what I said, though as always they seem to have highlighted what they wanted, which has led to a misconception. I have asked them to send me recordings of interviews, but this does not seem possible for the Sinhala service of the BBC, though other journalists oblige.

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Some From MR`S Class Of 100
Saturday, 16 April 2011 - 2:56 AM SL Time

MR should be feeling really important. Gota could be `J` too. :))
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Bana Kiyana Moon : Where Do You Go From Here?
Saturday, 16 April 2011 - 7:41 AM SL Time

Full Executive Summary:
[[http://transcurrents.com/tc/2011/04/executive_summary_report_of_th.html#more]]

Recommendations

In this context, the Panel recommends the following measures, which it hopes as a whole, will serve as the framework for an ongoing and constructive engagement between the Secretary-General and the Government of Sri Lanka on accountability. They address the various dimensions of accountability that the Panel considers essential and which will require complementary action by the Government of Sri Lanka, the United Nations and other parties.

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As Citizen Of The US It Has A Responsibility To Charge Him For War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity.
Sunday, 17 April 2011 - 11:57 AM SL Time

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday lashed out at the UN experts panel report on the conduct of the Sri Lanka government and armed forces during the last stages of the war against the LTTE in 2009, saying there was an agenda behind the report and if the United Nations cannot protect one of its member states, Sri Lanka will be forced to look for protection from Russia and China.

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Sri Lanka`s conduct of war `serious challenge to International Order`
Monday, 18 April 2011 - 9:15 PM SL Time

In an interview with Radio Australia, Gordon Weiss, a former UN spokesperson who accused Sri Lankan Government earlier of killing 10,000 to 40,000 Tamil civilians by discriminate shelling during the final stages of war, said that the real impact of the UN-panel`s report `really in its absolute clarity that grave crimes were committed and that there must be an international judicial inquiry into it,` and adds that he believes these `investigations will lead to a war crimes process.`

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Rajathuma Wants May Day To Be Used To Support Royal Family.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011 - 5:12 AM SL Time

Trade unions affiliated to Sri Lanka`s ruling coalition are divided over the president`s call for mass protests against a UN report.

The leaked summary of the report allege that war crimes were committed at the end of the civil war when the government troops crushed the rebels.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the claims were not new but called for a `show of strength` against the report.

But unions say the May Day protest should be reserved for workers` issues.

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Will Ban Trade War Crimes Report For A Second Term? Most Probably, He Is Already Sabotaging The Report By Delaying.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011 - 3:07 PM SL Time

UNITED NATIONS, April 19 -- Sri Lanka and the UN Panel of Experts` report were listed in advance as topics of the Security Council briefing on the afternoon of April 18 by UN Department of Political Affairs chief Lynn Pascoe. Click here for that exclusive Inner City Press report.

The issues had been so listed even before the leak, presumptively by the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, of a summary of the report to The Island newspaper.

But after the leak, that was the main topic inside the Council, multiple sources told Inner City Press afterwards. It was said, inside the Council, that the government was the likely leaker. But a range of Council members said it made no sense to have a discussion of a partial leak rather than the whole report.

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Who Actually Put SL In Trouble?
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 - 5:09 AM SL Time

The Opposition Deputy chief Organizer and Kurunegala district M P Dayasiri Jayasekera declared that the UNP is prepared to extend support to the Govt. and jointly face the report of the panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary Gen. Ban Ki Moon, provided that the former Army Commander Gen. Fonseka who won the war is first released, whereby the Govt. can inspire confidence among them and create understanding.

It is only Gen. Fonseka who truly knows whether war crimes occurred or not .He will be prepared to join with us in the above proposal , Dayasiri pointed out..

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How deep does this rat hole go? (i)
Thursday, 21 April 2011 - 4:30 AM SL Time

Can you believe let alone tolerate ! that the Secretary of Minister Mervyn Silva who attempted to commit extortion of Rs. 5 lakhs on a businessman at Ingurukade junction , Colombo , recently has a putrid antecedence of dodging the CID for 6 long years as a suspect on another 98 lakh fraud though he holds a most responsible and respectable post for the Minister who parades as a paragon of virtue.

These disgraceful facts came to light when the Minister`s Secretary was produced to court along with the other three suspects , and the chief Inspector of the CID disclosed these rudely shocking facts to court.

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GL Is Overly Concerned About UN. LOL
Friday, 22 April 2011 - 5:35 AM SL Time

The Government said today that the publishing of the report by the United Nations Panel of Experts would seriously harm the United Nations system.

The consequences for the UN by publishing the report are far from fortunate. The publishing of the report will inflict even greater damage on the UN system than for Sri Lanka. The UN is based on principles and this action compromises on these core values, Minister of External Affairs G.L Peries said.

Speaking to the media the Minister stated that the publishing of the report was fundamentally wrong. It is wrong to publish this report or take any steps based on the findings or recommendations of this report, he said.

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IGP Cracks Down On STF.
Saturday, 23 April 2011 - 10:35 PM SL Time

Top officers, including the Superintendent of Police, Assistant Superintendent of Police and OIC of the Intelligence Unit of the Special Task Force have reportedly been transferred with effect from Monday on a directive of the IGP, informed sources said.

The unit was tasked to crackdown on the underworld gangsters on the instructions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa sometime back. During that period the unit was able to crackdown on the activities of some prominent underworld figures and many of them had to flee the country.

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If White Or Yellow Man Come Looking You Can Stay With Us
Sunday, 24 April 2011 - 8:49 AM SL Time

The mysterious leaking in Colombo of the Darusman (UN) Report was accompanied by a carefully choreographed outbreak of patriotic-hysteria. The President, in a hyperbolic-excess, declared his willingness to brave the electric chair (unaware that capital punishment is rejected by the International Criminal Court!). He also indicated his desire to turn the UPFA May Day demonstration into an anti-UN melee (does this explain the timing of the leak?).

His brother, in a warning to India and the West, announced Sri Lanka`s willingness to seek protection by entering Chinese and Russian orbits. The various Rajapaksas acolytes are competing with each other in fear-mongering, as if the UN is amassing a mammoth-force to invade Sri Lanka, tomorrow.

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India / China / Russia Supporting Sri Lanka Are They?
Monday, 25 April 2011 - 2:53 PM SL Time

COLOMBO: At the top echelons of the Sri Lankan government there is a belief that India is playing a `double game` in the UN war crimes panel issue.

The belief stems from the fact that India has been observing an intriguing silence on the issue when the UN, backed by the US and its Western allies, seems to be bent on pillorying Sri Lanka on war crimes charges.
The silence intrigues Sri Lankans because India has greater political, strategic and economic stakes in here than any other country. Lankans contrast India`s silence with Russia`s open support for the island nation in its hour of crisis. Although China is yet to make its views known, Lankans are sure of its support.

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When A Crazy Dad Drove His Van On His Daughter and BF. LNP Had A Field Day Blaming All Tamils. Anyone Want To Take Responsibility For This?
Tuesday, 26 April 2011 - 2:55 AM SL Time

Navy personnel who had brutally murdered his wife and daughter had been arrested. The incident had occurred at Baduraliya Nelumkantha area. Due to an argument erupted yesterday early morning hours, the said navy soldier had assaulted his wife and two years old daughter hence both had died at the incident states report.
The bodies were buried near his residence was mentioned by the Navy solider. Police had informed court order was obtained to exhume the bodies for post mortem inquiries. The suspected person who is now arrested was ordered for remand prison and investigation is continuing states reports

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Sri Lanka must `ensure that those involved in violations of human rights are held to account in a transparent and expeditious manner.`
Tuesday, 26 April 2011 - 3:54 PM SL Time

WASHINGTON A senior US lawmaker on Monday urged Sri Lanka to take concrete action on human rights after a UN panel found credible allegations of war crimes in the bloody 2009 finale to the civil war.

Representative Howard Berman, the top member of President Barack Obama`s Democratic Party on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Sri Lanka must `ensure that those involved in violations of human rights are held to account in a transparent and expeditious manner.`

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If She Is So Concerned She Can Call An Investigation Without Going Through UNSG.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011 - 3:05 AM SL Time

UN human rights chief welcomes Sri Lanka report, urges further investigation into conduct of final stages of the war
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

GENEVA (26 April 2011) -- The High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday welcomed the public release of the report of the Secretary-General`s Panel of Experts on accountability issues related to the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka, and supported the report`s call for further international investigation.

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Some Eery Similarities.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011 - 1:47 PM SL Time


by Upul Joseph Fernando

UN Organization sources say that there are a number of similarities between the report of the panel appointed by Ban Ki-moon to investigate war crime charges in Sudan where there was a conflict, and that of the panel of experts on war crimes pertaining to Sri Lanka (SL) . The UN report on the war crime charges against Sudan was released in November 2009. Sudans Ambassador to the UN Abdel Mahmoud reacted angrily to the panel`s report saying , ` Khartoum will demand that the Security Council terminates the panel`s mandate. They are just representatives of Western Intelligence agencies`. He told Reuters, `we are fed up with this Committee .Our position is a total rejection of this report

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Maliban Back In Business
Thursday, 28 April 2011 - 2:30 AM SL Time

Apr 27, Colombo: Housing and Construction Minister Wimal Weerawansa, the leader of Sri Lanka`s breakaway Marxist party National Freedom Front, is to lead a protest at the May Day rally against the report by the Experts Panel appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The NFF is to join the May Day rally of the governing United People`s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) on Sunday.

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According to the report, the government shelled the UN, food distribution lines and hospitals. Most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by government shelling,
Thursday, 28 April 2011 - 4:41 AM SL Time

She was in a bunker on a desolate beach in Sri Lanka`s war zone when a shell exploded 100 metres away. A hunk of shrapnel tore through her tarpaulin tent and struck her in the chest.

A Canadian, she sometimes thought about how her family would take it if she died. But she got lucky. By the time the shell fragment hit her, it had lost its force. It burnt away her skin but otherwise she was alright.

Every life is precious and that is why I really hope that no more lives are taken away in a war, the Canadian told the National Post. (She asked that her name not be published due to fears about the safety of her family.)

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The Message Is Not Clear. Is The Prof Senile Or Does He Think What He Says Will Not Be Questioned Because Of His Credentials.
Friday, 29 April 2011 - 5:47 AM SL Time

The Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris addressed the Colombo-based diplomatic corps at the Ministry of External Affairs in Colombo today to convey the response of the Government of Sri Lanka on the substantive aspects of the Darusman Report. The Minister stated that the Government of Sri Lanka was no longer constrained to comment substantively as the Report is now in the public domain.

The Minister went on to highlight some of the fundamental deficiencies, inherent prejudices and malicious intentions that characterize the Darusman Report. These flaws pertain not only to the contents of the Report, but also to the methodology followed in arriving at its conclusions. The Minister stated categorically that the Report is legally, morally and substantively flawed.

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Lanka officials `can be arrested`
Saturday, 30 April 2011 - 4:54 AM SL Time

Senior Sri Lanka officials may be arrested and tried abroad as a result of the UN expert panel report on Sri Lanka, a legal expert said.
Wijedasa Rajapakshe, an opposition MP, said it is possible for interested parties abroad to seek a warrant to arrest visiting dignitaries as a result of the UN report.

Amnesty International said that Sri Lankan leaders can be charged while they are travelling abroad after the release of the report.

A number of senior Sri Lankan officials and ministers including Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa are citizens of the United States.

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TNA should oppose Darusman report - SB. WHY?
Sunday, 1 May 2011 - 8:58 AM SL Time

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has to show its disapproval regarding the information presented by the controversial Darusman Report, says Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake.

The Minister pointes out that, the report brings out that the LTTE organization stood for nationality needs.

By assassinating the leaders of several Tamil parties such as the TNA in the past, for what nationality needs did the LTTE stand for? he questioned.

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