Lanka visit has helped consolidate ties: Natwar

External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh yesterday returned after a three-day visit to Colombo during which he discussed the peace process with Sri Lankan leaders.

Indian officials said the trip had helped consolidate bilateral relations, both economic and political.

Vaiko against provision of defence aid to Sri Lanka

The general secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that in the name of bilateral cooperation, India should not provide any defence equipment to Sri Lanka

Advani and Chandrika find themselves in the same boat
There is a remarkable parallel between the present plight of BJP President LK Advani, and the Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga. Both have made declarations, which, while promising to secure new and exciting bases of support, also threaten to take away what they already have, their tried and tested constituencies

Tsunami council will not affect territorial integrity: Chandrika Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has assured the Buddhist leadership in the island-nation that the proposed Post-Tsunami Operations Management Structure (P-TOMS) "does not threaten the nation's security or territorial integrity."

Rebel aid pact may topple S.Lankan government

Political bickering has reached fever pitch in Sri Lanka over plans to share tsunami aid with Tamil Tiger rebels, and the highly divisive issue could bring down the government.

Top government aides say President Chandrika Kumaratunga is likely to approve the pact in days although her ruling coalition's Marxist partner -- which is rabidly opposed to the Tigers -- has vowed to quit the government if she does.

JVP accused of 'psychological terrorism’

Sri Lanka’s president has accused her coalition partner of running a psychological warfare against her government.

Making a scathing attack on the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Sunday said the JVP is sabotaging every attempt in the Cabinet of ministers to introduce “progressive” cabinet papers.

President assures JM to TNA

President Chandrika Kumaratunga has assured Tamil parliamentarians that the proposed joint mechanism (JM) for tsunami reconstruction with the Tamil Tigers will go ahead as planned.

Chandrika relents on relief pact with Tigers

Under pressure from coalition partners and the Opposition, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today said she would sign a proposed tsunami aid agreement with the Tamil Tigers only after consulting the powerful Buddhist clergy

Lanka to receive radar systems from India

Giving a major boost to their defence cooperation, Sri Lanka today said it will accept air defence radar systems from India as the two sides announced a slew of measures which would help the island nation in various spheres of development

Monks influence Lankan politics

Sri Lanka, regarded as a repository of Theravada Buddhism and seen as upholding the orthodox branch of the religion for over 2,500 years, is emerging as a hotbed of Marxist monks.Saffron-robed monks lead political demonstrations providing colour and content and give more than spiritual power to parties, even though the Buddhist majority nation faces a severe shortage of clergymen for theological work.

India supports ongoing efforts to consolidate peace in Sri Lanka

The External Affairs Minister, K. Natwar Singh, has reiterated India's "firm commitment" to Sri Lanka's ongoing efforts to "consolidate" its peace and development promotion processes

India committed to Sri Lanka's sovereignty and territorial integrity

External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, who left for Sri Lanka on Thursday on a three-day visit, will co-chair the sixth meeting of the joint commission between the two countries, an official statement said

S.Lanka fires teargas at monks decrying aid pact

Buddhist monks in saffron robes sprinted for cover in the Sri Lankan capital on Friday as riot police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up their protest against plans to share tsunami aid with Tamil Tiger rebels

Indo-Lanka defence pact in the process of being finalized: Natwar
Indian External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh today said the proposed Defence Co-operation Agreement between Sri Lanka and India is in the process of being finalized

The Attorney General files plaint over Trinco Buddha Statue
The thirty - first of May and the first of June brought relief to the anxious public of tension - ridden Thirukkonamalaippattinam as the Buddha statue issue showed signs of being resolved through reasonable and peaceful means.

Sri Lanka's strategic importance
If the world is showing an extraordinary interest in the peace process in Sri Lanka; if the western donor nations have given $3 billion for post-tsunami reconstruction work in the island; and if India wants to be kept informed about what is going on constantly, it is because of Sri Lanka's strategic importance.

The Murder of Military Intelligence Chief Muthaliph
Muthaliph had a role to play in the abduction of a top LTTE intelligence
officer, Newton, on April 20 and another section of the military believe this is
the real motive for killing Muthaliph. Eight days after Newton's abduction, D.
Sivaram who wrote under the pen name Taraki was abducted on April 28
and killed the next day, after attempts were made to secure his release with
representations to the army commander to get the Director of Military
Intelligence to intervene

Suspected LTTE airfield in Trincomalee

The LTTE may be building a second airfield, this time in Trincomalee, close to the Sri Lankan naval base in China Bay, says a report in the Colombo-based The Sunday Times

LTTE wont accept India's condition on Joint Mechanism

The LTTE is unlikely to accept India's condition that it should accept other Tamil parties as members of the proposed Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction in the North Eastern Province (NEP), according to an informed Tamil source in the north

India's cautious support to Colombo-LTTE tsunami pact

India's cautious support for a proposed tsunami relief pact between Colombo and Tamil Tiger guerrillas is not, as some reports suggest, a tacit recognition of the rebels who are outlawed here.

After Tsunami, Sri Lankans Fear Paving of Paradise

This was a peaceful chunk of paradise, where the people were neither rich nor poor. They fished the emerald sea in outriggers, cast hand nets in the lagoon and -- increasingly in recent years -- put up surfers in simple guesthouses, feeding them feasts of grilled shark and tuna and serving up cold Lion beers after days in the dazzling sun

'Held captive by the Tamil Tigers'

A leading Tamil activist resident in the UK who was a former supporter of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers has been talking to the BBC about his alleged kidnapping by the rebels

Vaiko opposes assistance to Sri Lanka

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko on Saturday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to give any defence assistance to Sri Lanka in the interests of the Tamils in the island.

Four killed in Sri Lanka

Four people were killed on Sunday in Colombo and the north east.

Two bodies of Tamil youths were found in Kochchikadai in Colombo

Seriously concerned of LTTE air capability - US

US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice has said that the US government has taken serious note of the LTTE’s acquisition of air capability.

Tamil Tiger members shot dead in Colombo

Two people suspected to be members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital on Sunday, the police said.

Sri Lanka to support India’s SC bid: FM
Washington: Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has declared his country’s support here India’s bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council.

Sri Lankan legal experts studying federalism, says Marasinghe

Legal advisers to the Sri Lankan Government are examining the possibility of excising a provision in the Constitution that is a bar to federalismif and when a peace agreement is signed with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Sri Lanka's president discusses Tamil Tiger rebels, tsunami impact with India's Singh

Sri Lanka's president met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday, discussing peace prospects with Tamil Tigers and efforts to coordinate tsunami aid in rebel-controlled areas in the island nation, news reports said

Tigers get their wings
Speaking at a meeting of the Foreign Correspondents' Association of Sri Lanka in Colombo last Saturday, Hagrup Haukland, chief of the Norwegian-led military mission that monitors the three-year-old ceasefire between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), confirmed the allegation of the Sri Lankan government that the LTTE had constructed an airstrip near Iranamadu, in the Wanni area under its control in the Northern province of Sri Lanka.

India offers to aid Lanka protect skies

India is open to assist Sri Lanka in redesigning its air-defence network and help provide radars to improve its airspace coverage after reports that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have added at least two aircraft and a chopper to their arsenal

Sri Lanka accused over Tamil case

The US-based Human Rights Watch has launched a stinging attack on Sri Lanka's judicial system after four men were acquitted of killing 27 Tamils

India & Sri Lanka to sign new economic treaty

India and Sri Lanka, which have witnessed a six-fold growth in their bilateral trade from US$500mn to US$3bn since they signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 1998, are all set to take the next step in business co-operation

Delhi lets Chennai write Lanka policy; look what Beijing has done

NEW DELHI: As India allows Tamil Nadu politicians to exercise a veto over its Sri Lanka policy and squanders the opportunities for enhanced strategic cooperation with Colombo, China is stepping in.

Sri Lankan military intelligence commander shot dead in Colombo
Suspected Tamil Tiger guerrillas gunned down the commanding officer of a Sri Lankan army intelligence unit as he drove to his office in Colombo Tuesday, the military said

Two arrested in Sri Lanka military officer killing

Two suspects have been arrested for alleged involvement in the killing of a senior military intelligence officer, the state radio said Wednesday

Kumaratunga on 3-day visit

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga will pay a three-day visit to India beginning Thursday. Ms Kumaratunga will have wide parleys with the Indian leadership including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Kumaratunga to convince India on tsunami deal
Sri Lanka's peace process and a proposed pact between Colombo and Tamil rebels to tackle tsunami relief will top the agenda of President Chandrika Kumaratunga during her two-day visit to India from Thursday.

Was Sooriyamoorthy killing a warning to
Anandasangaree?
The dastardly killing of former Trincomalee Urban Council chairman Periyappodi
Sooriyamoorthy by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is an unmistakable warning
signal to Tamil United Liberation Front President Veerasingham Anandasangaree.
Though Sooriyamoorthy has sported different party colours at different stages of his
political career the man was primarily a Sangaree loyalist and trusted confidante. He
threw in his lot with Sangaree despite the danger and contested Parliament elections
last year in Jaffna on the Independent list fielded under the padlock symbol by
Anandasangaree. He has been associating with Sangaree for more than three decades.

Trincomalee Town in "Tinder" State
The hartal has been called off temporarily. The grenades, hand bombs, dynamite sticks and
Molotov cocktails are silent. The targeting of minority civilians by majoritarian mobs has ceased. Talks are on among concerned parties to diffuse the tension. The immediate cause of all the trouble continues to sit on his pedestal amidst a tight barbed wire fence surrounded by a 24 hour armed Police guard. It is indeed a telling sin of the times this. The flyby night Buddha guarded by armed coppers

From Gun to Pen - The Story of Sivaram - 4

When Sivaram started out as columnist "Taraki" on "The Sunday Island" the LTTE
was having talks with the Sri Lankan government of Ranasinghe Premadasa. Both
parties were united in the common intention of getting the Indian Peace Keeping Force
out. The political climate therefore was not very hostile towards the tigers in the South.
There was even an undercurrent of admiration for the tigers in the South as they were
fighting the Indian army on the battlefront.

TAMILS, LTTE AND THE FUTURE
The recent international aid donors conference in Kandy at which approximately U.S dollars three billion was pledged on condition that the peace process is revived; the attempts to establish a post-tsunami rebuilding mechanism for the north and east involving the joint
participation of the Sri Lankan government, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam) and the Muslims

Clinton Backs Sri Lanka Tsunami-Aid Plan

Former President Clinton on Saturday endorsed a proposal by Sri Lanka's president to share tsunami aid with the Tamil rebel group that controls parts of the country's north and east

Clinton visits eastern Sri Lanka

Former US President Bill Clinton has visited eastern Sri Lanka - one of the areas worst hit by the tsunami. The UN envoy for tsunami relief arrived by helicopter to meet politicians, aid workers and other dignitaries.

Clinton says to visit S.Lanka rebel areas next time

Former U.S. president

Bill Clinton visited a corner of Sri Lanka on Saturday that was one of the hardest hit in the Dec. 26 tsunami and said he intended to tour Tamil rebel-held areas on a future trip

Chandrika to visit India ahead of deal with LTTE

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga is set to undertake a twice-postponed visit to India next week ahead of entering into a controversial tsunami aid-sharing deal with Tamil Tiger rebels

In Sri Lanka, a Hard Lesson On Road of Good Intentions

KOMARI, Sri Lanka -- She was fresh out of college, bright-eyed and ambitious, an earthy, well-read physician's daughter from Missoula, Mont., with an iPod, a loving family and lots of big ideas. The only thing Satya Byock said she lacked was "a freaking plan."

The tsunami gave her one

Kumaratunga vows to push aid deal with LTTE

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday vowed to share foreign aid with Tamil rebels a day after former US president Bill Clinton urged local politicians to support the controversial move.

Four acquitted of Tamil murders

Four men have been freed from custody in Sri Lanka after the Supreme Court acquitted them of involvement in the killing of 27 Tamils five years ago

LTTE aircraft threaten peace in Lanka, says ceasefire monitor
The alleged possession of two aircraft by the LTTE is a threat to peace in Sri Lanka because it upsets the balance of power which is the basis of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of February 2002, says Hagrup Haukland, head of the Sri Lanka (Ceasefire) Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

Norway-led truce monitors in Sri Lanka warn of Tamil Tigers' "air assets"

European truce monitors in Sri Lanka have warned that the "air assets" of separatist Tamil Tiger rebels could re-ignite war on the island and destabilise security in South Asia

Sri Lanka's shame

Five months after the tsunami, as Peter Foster reports today, more than 100,000 Sri Lankans are living in tents or huts with leaking tin roofs that bake them during the day and soak them at night. And who is to blame for this state of affairs? Not the charity workers, nor the United Nations, nor the international aid agencies. It is the fault of the Sri Lankans' own government and its wretched public officials

Sri Lanka's tsunami victims left to suffer in a swamp of inefficiency
Within hours of arriving in areas of Sri Lanka hit by the tsunami the visitor is struck by one simple question: how can so much money - £1.75 billion pledged to date - have apparently achieved so little?

Clinton travels to tropical Sri Lanka on tsunami reconstruction tour

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was to spend Saturday along coastal areas of Sri Lanka promoting more honest and efficient distribution of aid following last year's tsunami.

Sri Lankan military says Tamil rebels using tsunami relief for military purposes

Sri Lanka's military claimed Friday it has evidence that the Tamil Tiger rebels were using tsunami relief materials for military purposes rather than to help victims of the disaster.

Top Tamil Tiger saved by his notoriety

A Sri Lankan man, considered by Canadian security officials to be a high-ranking member of the Tamil Tigers, a violent group known for using suicide bombings, has won the right to remain in the country while his deportation is re-examined by the federal government

The 19-year-old war between the government and the LTTE is over. It is now the battle by the Tamil Tigers for the best possible global position, not as terrorists, but as ‘liberators’ of the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. Transforming 20 years ago from a group of gun-toting boys to become one of the world’s most ruthless guerilla organizations, the LTTE first began its global preening after the ceasefire of February 2002. Money was taken out of the organization’s coffers for extensive travel in the European region and in South Africa. The LTTE, possibly with adequate guidelines from its London-based theoretician, Anton Balasingham, extracted itself from the northeastern Killinochchi jungles where they had waged their bloody war for a separate Tamil state

The main partner in Sri Lanka's ruling coalition, the JVP or the People's Liberation Front, is not opposed to a negotiated settlement with the Tamil Tigers based on the Tokyo declaration 2003, the state radio announced here Wednesday

JVP may feel compelled to fall in line on JM
The Sinhala-Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which has been threatening to bring down the Sri Lankan government if it agreed to a Joint Mechanism with the LTTE for post-tsunami reconstruction, is believed to be retracting from the hard line because of mounting domestic and international pressure

If all goes well, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga will be on a "working visit" to India on May 30, Hindustan Times learns. But the date is yet to be confirmed

Around 200 members of Sri Lanka's Tamil community have been killed for apparent political reasons since February 2002, a newly released report says.

Chennai, May 24 (UNI): Security for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo, J Jayalalithaa, has been reinforced in the wake of the Union Home Ministry's report of a threat to her life by a woman suicide bomber belonging to the banned LTTE

DMK President M Karunanidhi today joined issue with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on her remarks that his party had extended "indirect support" to the LTTE when it was in power in the state during 1989-91

Dec 26 tsunami claimed 700 students’ lives
COLOMBO: Over 700 school children and 62 teachers in the Southern Province have died due to the tsunami disaster, according to the Ministry of Education.

Sam Raj alias Neelan a leader of the Karuna Faction was among the detainees said the Officer in Charge of Saliyawewa Police Station A M Gunatileka

Sri Lanka grapples with Islamic threat
BANGALORE - While the emergence of armed Islamic groups in Sri Lanka's explosive Eastern province as well as increasing clashes between moderate and hardline Muslims are cause for serious concern, the raising specter of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism there is just as worrying.

Ongoing killings and abductions of Tamils throughout Sri Lanka have created a climate of fear among Tamils across the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the killings and abductions in order to identify those responsible and recommend measures to end the abuses.

An uneasy calm gripped Sri Lanka's troubled port city of Trincomalee as Buddhists celebrated a key anniversary amid protests over a Buddha statue in the region, police and residents said

Dispute over Lanka east begins again
The long-standing but covert dispute between the majority Sinhala-Buddhists on the one hand, and the minority Tamils and Muslims on the other, over Sri Lanka's tri-ethnic eastern districts of Trincomalee and Amparai, has erupted again.

Sri Lanka's Muslim community feels left out in the government attempt to reach consensus with the Tamil Tigers for a joint tsunami relief mechanism.T. Hassen Ali, secretary general of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) said here Monday that the SLMC had not been apprised of the details of the proposed joint mechanism

The Mystery Behind the Disappearance of Newton
43 year old Thamotharampillai Sivakumar alias Newton of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has gone "missing" since April 20th. The LTTE leadership has officially informed Sivakumars family members that the senior tiger leader undertook an important (Mukkiya) mission to Southern Sri Lanka and failed to return as scheduled. Suspecting Newton to be in the clutches of Sri Lankan intelligence the tigers have reportedly sent feelers to Colombo stating that they are prepared to swap prisoners if Newton is safely returned. It is surmised that the LTTE will release Inspector Jeyaratnam or Mano Master of the ENDLF or both if they get Newton back.

From Gun to Pen - The Story of Sivaram - 3
The transformation of SR the gun toting militant into Taraki the pen - toting columnist
was a gradual process. Being well - read, of an analytical mindset and possessing a flair for words he was ideally suited for Journalism. He was lucky indeed that his transition into a normal life from that of a guerilla was facilitated through journalism. The interregnum between militancy and journalism was the short stint in active politics as the Secretary of the Democratic Peoples Liberation Front.

An event of great importance and political significance occurred in the Highlands of
Nuwara - Eliya district last Sunday . The peoples movement against the proposed Upper - Kotmale scheme held a day of protest on May 15th. Though a Sunday there was work available in Private managed plantations but many workers boycotted. Black flags, posters, banners were visible all over the estates and even some towns. Processions and meetings were held

Special task Force Responds to article by D.B.S. Jeyaraj:
Eastern Tamils caught up in an endless cycle of violence:
In the said article, Mr. Jeyaraj has invited attention to the assassination of Mr. D.
Sivaram, linking it to the on going violence in the east, caused after the break away of
the Karuna Faction. He has further elaborated that what is seen in the East today is a
continuous and consistence pattern of inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic political violence
directed against easterners over the years, since the inception of the conflict.
Mr. Jeyaraj, states that, manifestation of violence takes different forms at different times in the East. He denotes several elements as the causative factors, directly attributes to the present destabilisation of the east.

Trouble and Tension in Trincomalee Town
Trincomalee with its mixed population and conflict - ridden history remains a powder keg of trouble. The latest crisis over a statue is all about a "little" Buddha turning overnight into a "Big" Buddha. The small Buddha statue at the three - wheeler stand near the Central bus stand transformed overnight into a four and a half foot statue on a three ft tall concrete pedestal . The driving force behind this miracle is Ambalangoda Keerthi Premalal the General - secretary of the Trinco Auto - driver welfare association. Backing Premalal is the North - East Sinhala organization

India continues to cold shoulder Rajiv killers
Fourteen years after losing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to a suicide bomber, India has politely but firmly refused to shake hands with Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas who carried out the killing

As India marks the 14th anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination on May 21, three men linked to his killing are still on the death row.The three are Suthenthirarajah alias Santhan and Sriharan alias Murugan, both Sri Lankans, and Perarivalan alias Arivu, an Indian national

Sri Lankan leaders and the media have completely ignored the death anniversary of former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, who fought for the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka and sacrificed his life in the process 14 years ago.

Fourteen years after losing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to a suicide bomber, India has politely but firmly refused to shake hands with Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas who carried out the killing

The top leaders of the main partner in Sri Lanka's ruling coalition, the People's Liberation Front (or the JVP), left here for J apan Saturday at the invitation of the Japanese government

LTTE recruited 137 children since tsunami: UNICEF
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have recruited 137 children into their ranks since the Indian Ocean tsunami, nine of whom were directly taken from relief camps, the U.N. Children's agency said today

While the global attention was focused on al-Qaeda, the world's best-organised terrorist outfit, the LTTE, made a quantum leap in acquiring a force multiplier by building an airstrip and acquiring fledgling but enviable air capability

ON April 28, one of Sri Lanka's widely read columnists, Dharmeratnam Sivaram (46), was abducted around 10-30 p.m. by an "unidentified gang" as he was leaving a restaurant-bar at Bambalapitiya in Colombo's main Galle Road. He was probably killed a couple of hours later. The next morning his body, with the mouth gagged and with bullet injuries on the head, was found dumped on the banks of a lake that encircles the Sri Lankan Parliament building

Rival LTTE factions, fighting for supremacy in Batticaloa, on Wednesday interfered with the funeral of a youth killed at Mamamgam, Batticaloa last Tuesday. An authoritative Batticaloa based military official said that the Vanni group ordered a major demonstration against the killing of 22-year-old Sivalingam Arun, a three wheeler driver

Two suspected bombers were admitted to hospital on Friday with serious injuries after a hand bomb attack on Trincomalee vegetable market

More explosions have ripped through a northeast Sri Lankan port town in the grips of the fourth day of a strike called by minority Tamils, police said

Cannes film festival is often seen as an antidote to the dominance of the world film market by Hollywood and the US industry.Apart from beautiful starlets posing on the beach as the cameras click, or perhaps the victorious progress of world-famous directors along the red carpet in front of cheering crowds of fans, this years Cannes has another appealing side

Unexpected and unabated waves of aid should allow Sri Lanka to use some of that money to tackle poverty and rehabilitate war-ravaged parts of the island, the chairman of the tsunami reconstruction agency said on Friday.

December's tsunami disaster is set to put the country's balance of payments into surplus, its central bank has said

SINCE THE end of last year, the Sri Lankan media have reported off and on about the newly acquired air capability of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In February 2005, a press report said President Chandrika Kumaratunga had even told the two former American Presidents, George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton, about this in the course of her briefing on the tsunami disaster and relief work organised by her Government

The Australian Government has continued to resist pressures from LTTE front organisations in Australia and opposition Australian Parliamentarians to provide direct assistance to Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), a Sri Lankan NGO which is widely believed to be the relief and rehabilitation arm of LTTE.

No acceptance of Lanka's sovereignty, says LTTE
The LTTE has refuted Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's claim that it has accepted Sri Lanka's sovereignty by agreeing to work with the government in a Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction in the Tamil-speaking North East Province

The Muslim leaders are not against the Joint mechanism says the leader of the Muslim Congress, Rauf Hakeem, MP.They have some concerns but, they do not oppose the mechanism like the JVP or the JHU says the Muslim Leader.

Throughout South Asia, homosexuality has been a taboo subject. But there are signs in some areas that gay people are now becoming more open in their behaviour. In the second of a series of articles from the region, the BBC's Chloe Arnold looks at gay life in Sri Lanka.

Police say that they are faced with a difficult situation in Trincomalee where the opposition to erecting a Buddha statue has led to a third day of Hartal activity.

"Men in battle garb, whether they come with swords or guns, on a horse or in armoured cars, the price of conquest seems heightened by the violation of women," wrote Dr. Rajani Thiranagama, a few months before she was assassinated in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka.

An increased foreign aid offer of three billion dollars for Sri Lanka’s tsunami recovery is mainly aimed at pushing Colombo and Tamil Tiger rebels to salvage their peace talks, diplomats said Wednesday.Delegates who wrapped up a two-day review of international assistance to the embattled island nation nudged the government of the president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, to work with the rebels, diplomats at the meeting said.

A curfew was eased in northeastern Sri Lanka on Wednesday, but a strike continued for a second straight day after a man was killed and four were wounded in a grenade attack, police said

Security forces were on alert in Sri Lanka's volatile east Wednesday, as the police lifted a curfew imposed after two grenade explosions killed one person and wounded five others, the military said. The attack Tuesday in Trincomalee followed another grenade blast late Monday which damaged a Buddhist statue and slightly injured one person. The town is 230 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo

Seven bodies washed ashore in northern Sri Lanka after a boat carrying 17 refugees returning from India capsized, police said Wednesday. The bodies, which washed up on Delft island Tuesday, were being stored in a hospital awaiting identification, police officer H.M Jayatillaka said

Sri Lanka is on the verge of agreeing a long-elusive tsunami aid pact with Tamil Tiger rebels, a top government official said on Tuesday, as donations and debt relief hit $3 billion -- twice the amount needed.

High drama at the opening of foreign donors meeting in Kandy
Unexpected high drama interrupted yesterday’s inaugural session of the Sri Lanka Development forum held in Kandy. Soon after President Chandrika Kumaratunga finished her own emotional speech in which she said that her life was at risk in sticking to the Joint Mechanism Ven Athuraliye Rathana Thera, the parliamentary leader of Jathika Hela Urumaya, took the floor and blasted the LTTE and the proposed Joint Mechanism

Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga told international donors that her life was in "extreme danger" as she moved to enter into an aid-sharing deal with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Chandrika has little incentive to fight for Joint Mechanism
Heated opposition in South Sri Lanka, a palpable fall in international donors' interest, and a change in the LTTE's stand, may combine to dampen President Chandrika Kumaratunga's ardour to push for the establishment of a Joint Mechanism with the LTTE for post-tsunami reconstruction in the Tamil-speaking North Eastern Province (NEP).