Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Foreign Minister underscores Sri Lanka’s multi-faceted relationship with the EU

(May 12, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka values its historical and multi-faceted relationship with the European Union (EU) covering a number of areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, which has now developed into a robust partnership. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama made these remarks when an EU-Troika delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Madam Helena Bambasova, representing the incumbent Presidency of the EU called on him at the Foreign Ministry today (12 May 2009), prior to the official talks with the Sri Lankan delegation. Full text

Daydream of jokers in Tamil Nadu

By A.A.M. Nizam

(May 13, Matara, Sri Lanka Guardian) The last phase (Phase 5) of the Indian General Election for 543 Lokh Sabha seats will be held today (May 13th) and among the 9 States that go for poll for election of 86 members include the State of Tamil Nadu which will be electing 40 members including one member from Pondichchery. Election in this State becomes significant for Sri Lanka as many LTTE proxies and Tamil Racists are vying for election in this State assisted and supported by TamilNadu Jokers heading Racist Political Outfits. These Racists of all hues have taken the Sri Lankan issue as one of the main planks in their electioneering, outbidding each other in the intensity of their pseudo-adoration and faked-sympathy for Sri Lankan Tamils. Their rivalry however, bode well for Sri Lanka as the outcome could result in the seats split into three contending groups not as in the last Lokh Sabha in which Racist Karunanidhi and his allies had a commanding majority to threaten Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh’s Government. Full text

Crocodile tears over Sri Lanka

By Ashok K Mehta(May 13, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian)
The people of Tamil Nadu will be voting today with echoes of Eelam still ringing in their ears. To the military axiom that truth is the first casualty of war, one can add, ‘and during election in Tamil Nadu’. There are several versions of the Wanni war in Sri Lanka and India. Forget the manipulation of truth in the so-called No Fire Zone which was anything but that, now disingenuously named New Safe Zone where ‘combat operations’ had officially ceased on April 27 after a false claim by India that it was under its pressure that Sri Lankan guns had fallen silent. Full text

'Punish all who prolonged the war'

By Janaka Perera
Colombo, 13 May, (Asiantribune.com): Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation's Sinhala Service this week that the politicians and NGO ‘peaceniks’ who deliberately prolonged Sri Lanka’s armed conflict for 30 years under the pretext of searching for ‘peace’ and ‘negotiated settlements’ with the LTTE should be put on trial at the Galle Face Green, Colombo. The parents and families of thousands of security forces members and police personnel - who perished in vain as a result - should determine the punishment to be given to the guilty. Full text

" Yet another Hospital has been shelled" - another disinformation campaign fabricated by the LTTE for international consumption

Hilary Rajakarunanayake, Editor – Sri Lanka, Asian Tribune
Colombo, 13 May, (Asiantribune.com): Sri Lankan Army sources describe it as yet another canard and fabrication the news item prominently carried on some international media on Tuesday that a hospital has been shelled inside the conflict zone by the Sri Lanka Army, killing at least 45 persons, according to LTTE and alleged hospital sources.

Military sources said they had penetrated LTTE defence lines and were advancing along a coastal strip to the south of the area still held by the LTTE, and where a large number of civilians are still held hostage by the outfit. Full text

Monday, May 11, 2009

Pro-LTTE media once again misleads international community

(defence.lk)LTTE terror leaders hiding around the innocent civilian held hostages in No Fire Zone and terror sympathizing propaganda machineries once again have misinformed the international community circulating fabricated stories alleging that the security forces firing heavy weapons at NFZ.

Sri Lanka Defence Ministry has categorically denied those fabricated stories, which have already been published on the pro LTTE websites, solely for capturing the sympathy of the international community and also to tarnish the image of the Sri Lankan government and the security forces. Full text

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Two senior LTTE leaders killed

(defence.lk)So called "spokesperson" of the world's most ruthless terror outfit, LTTE, known as Ilanthirayan has succumbed to his injuries today, 10 May, pro-LTTE websites claimed.

According to the pro-LTTE website, Ilanthirayan was a senior cadre of the terror outfit from Batticaloa and he had been in key positions of the terror outfit. Full text

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Mortar locating radar indicates LTTE fired heavy mortars at civilians in new "Safe Zone"

(defence.lk)LTTE terrorists have fired heavy mortars targeting the civilians in the new "Safe Zone" using heavy guns mounted in the "Safe Zone" itself from morning hours today, 10 May, Mortar Locating Radar of Army confirmed.

The sporadic mortar attack launched by LTTE terrorists were later intensified and by 10.20 AM, heavy mortars believed to be 81mm have been launched by the terrorists in a location inside the "Safe Zone" targeting densely populated area within the "Safe Zone" itself, mortar locating radar report issued from the Army said. Full text

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Sunday, May 10, 2009

A few words to the self-loathing Sri Lankans

(GV)Of late people who made a living out of Sri Lanka-bashing have been changing their tune a bit, but obviously it’s not easy for them to get off their habitual groove.

Let me illustrate by taking the case of Gehan Perera, whose career, like those of his ilk, I have been following with increasing disgust. Perera is the head honcho of the highly lucrative National Peace Council. Full text

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‘To be or not to be’ week for ltte

(nation)It is obvious that with the limited resources available and considering intelligence reports from the ground on civilians, our pilots have been much more successful and may be able give the Americans a lesson on air operations. When the Tiger training camp at Sencholai was attacked it was the Americans who immediately issued a statement against it but later realized the truth. While Tiger bastions were falling all round like nine pins, a group of its suicide bombers, who were the final lot, had been put out of action at Halmillewa, in Vavuniya. Their intention had been to carry out a suicide attack on a top military commander or a military convoy carrying soldiers. Full text
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Cease fire when the war is over

“To me, the TNA is a mouthpiece of the LTTE. TNA denotes ‘Tiger Nominated Agents’ and they are thoroughly misled” – Devananda

(nation)When Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) Leader and Hindu Affairs Minister Douglas Devananda, a very strident critic of the LTTE, said the Tigers could be physically defeated, nobody believed him. Even now, with the near elimination of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), some are skeptical. But Devananda is firm. The Minister who is a prime target of the LTTE says Velupillai Prabhakaran has to either kill himself or escape. “Otherwise, he will be caught. He is in the jungles. Hitler committed suicide while Saddam Hussein was caught. It is interesting to know what is going to happen to Prabhakaran,” the minister, an arch rival of the Tigers, said. He also said, with the war coming to an end, the government will soon put out a political solution for the Tamils. He said the 13th Amendment to the Constitution Plus will be the best answer to the dragging ethnic problem in the island nation. “I have been advocating this for the past several years. The full implementation of the 13th Amendment will help heal our wounds,” he told The Nation in an interview. He also said that there should be a Tamil Speaking Unit within the Sri Lanka Army and added he has already informed the government about the establishment of such a unit. Full text

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Meeting with Solheim on Ranil’s European agenda

(TI)Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremes-inghe will be in Europe later this week on a tour that will taken him to London, Brussels and Oslo where he is due to meet Norway’s International Development Minister Erik Solheim.

Wickremesinghe yesterday confirmed this visit which he said he said had been long postponed due to the elections etc. He had informed the foreign ministry in Colombo about it as well as Sri Lanka’s embassy in Oslo. Full text

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Thilanga gets Borella & Duminda, Kolonnawa A parliamentary election early next year?

(TI)President Mahinda Rajapaksa has indicated that the next parliamentary elections could take place in about ten months, well informed sources said.

The president has discussed the possibility when he had recently met with Lakbima publisher, Thilanga Sumathipala, at Temple Trees when Sumathipala received the appointment as chief SLFP organizer for Borella electorate. Full text

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Kilinochchi then and lessons learnt away from the blackboard

By S. Kotalawala

(ST)It was the 25th of May 1972, the day following Vesak when I left for Jaffna to take up my first appointment as an uncertificated teacher of English at the Kilinochchi Sinhala Vidyalaya on the basic salary of Rs. 220 a month.

During this period Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Mannar came under the purview of the Regional Director of Education, Jaffna and the post was held by Vijitha Abeyesekera. Next to him was the chief education officer K. Kanagasabhapathi. Kilinochchi was then an education circuit in which the circuit education officer was T. Rasalingam who was later elected to Parliament from the Uduppidy electorate. Full text
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The battle for bund leads to desert war

By Asif Fuard

(ST)Troops forged ahead this week, gaining more territory, including an earth bund, despite stiff resistance by the guerrillas who are cornered and desperately trying to cling on to their dwindling terrain.

Pitched battles were reported to have broken out this week in Kariyamullivaikkal and Vellamullivaikal in the southern tip of the no-fire zone which was on Friday reduced to an area of two kilometres in length and 1.5 kilometres in width or a total of 2.5 square kilometres. Full text

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Hunt for Prabha reaches final page


  • Separatist movement goes beyond defeated LTTE; it is now Eelam Inc.
By Our Political Editor

(ST)Most Sri Lankans or the world outside is still unaware -- the well-protected, secluded life under serene surroundings, with a thick layer of re-inforced concrete overhead, ended for Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on March 30.

Until then, it was from here that he crafted a strong military machine and directed a violent terror campaign even after the Norwegian-brokered Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of February 2002. His concrete palace, like other fortified military installations in the Wanni, provided the answers to a long-standing puzzle. Full text

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Malaysia sends medical team to Sri Lanka

(TH)Kuala Lumpur (IANS): Malaysia has set up four health posts in Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka for the Tamil civilians who have fled the fierce fighting between the troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

A report from Vavuniya said Mercy, a Malaysian body, has begun running the first mobile unit at Menik Farm in Cheddukulam. Full text

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LTTE cannot escape into Indian seas: Sri Lanka Navy

(TH)Colombo (PTI): Seeking to allay Indian Navy's apprehensions of LTTE using the sea route to get into Tamil Nadu or other areas, Sri Lanka today said it deployed an almost impregnable four-layered Navy defence line to prevent the Tigers from escaping through the Mullaittivu coast.

The Sri Lankan Navy is on full alert off the Mullaittivu seas in order to prevent any escape attempt by LTTE leaders or cadres to India, a senior Navy official told PTI. Full text

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Sri Lanka throws out three Channel 4 journalists

Asia correspondent Nick Paton Walsh deported after report on deaths, food shortages and sexual abuse at refugee camp.
Channel 4 News' Nick Paton-Walsh

Channel 4 News' Nick Paton Walsh and cameraman Matt Jasper leave their Colombo hotel after being exzpelled from Sri Lanka. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Sri Lanka deported three journalists from Channel 4 television today, a day after they were arrested for alleged false reporting on the civil war. Full text

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Terrorists fire mortars at civilians in "new safe zone"

(defence.lk)LTTE terrorists who have positioned their mortars in previously declared "Safe zone" fired mortars towards innocent civilians in "New safe zone" this morning (10). The LTTE mortar fire commenced around 9.00 a.m. and continued till about 10.00 a.m..

Mortar locating radars of Army confirmed that the mortar fire was launched by the LTTE from the previously declared "Safe Zone" The LTTE terrorists carried out those attacks intentionally to tarnish the image of the Security Forces in the eyes of public nationally and internationally. Full text

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