Stop Indian military aid to Sri Lanka: PMK

The PMK, an ally of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK, Thursday demanded a halt to all Indian military aid to Sri Lanka following the “genocide” of Tamil people in the island nation. “India should ensure this genocide stops, and halt all military aid to the Sinhalese chauvinist regime in Sri Lanka which has directed its entire strength in a barbaric manner against the Tamil race in the island,” Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S. Ramadoss said here at a meeting to express solidarity with the minority in the neighbouring country.

“The Lankan navy is mercilessly mowing down innocent Indian Tamil fishermen in the Palk Strait. To effectively combat this, our central government must reclaim the Kachchatheevu atoll without any delay,” Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan said at the meeting.

The islet situated in the narrow expanse of water between India and Sri Lanka was ceded to Sri Lanka in the mid-1970s.

Addressing another function, Tamil Nadu’s Director General of Police P. Rajendiran said: “Everybody is talking about the increased activity of the (Liberation) Tigers (of Tamil Eelam) in Tamil Nadu. Anyone pointing them out to me would be welcome.”

“Everyone knows how many smuggling craft have been seized at sea by our Coast Guard. Further, our vigil on the shoreline has been considerably increased,” he added.

The LTTE has been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland since the late 1970s in northern Sri Lanka. Over 70,000 people have perished in the civil war so far. A ceasefire agreement with the LTTE in January 2002 was abrogated by the Sri Lankan regime in January this year.

Source: thaindian.com

Airtel signs $100-mn investment agreement to start Lankan ops

Bharti Airtel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel, has signed a 100-million dollars investment agreement with the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka to begin Lankan operation by this year.

The agreement, signed yesterday, is the second phase of the company's commitment to invest 200 million dollars in Sri Lanka over the next 5 years, officials of BOI said.

With mobile penetration in Sri Lanka estimated at around 30 per cent and growing at a rate of approximately 2 million mobile users per annum, Bharti is looking at cornering a high market share in the next few years.

According to the officials, Airtel is expected to begin operations in a big way in Sri Lanka by this year end.

It will, however, have to compete with the Telekom Malaysia-owned Dialog Telecom (the largest operator in Sri Lanka), Celltel Lanka (owned by Luxembourg-based service provider Millicom International Cellular), Hutchison (owned by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications) and Sri Lankan government-owned Mobitel.

Sri Lanka now has 2.7 million fixed access subscribers, 7.9 million mobile and 2,00,000 internet and email subscribers.

"The investment will enable Airtel here to roll out all passive infrastructure necessary to gear up the company for launch of its services," a BOI statement said.

It said this underlined the company's (Airtel) commitment to deliver quality services to the mobile subscriber market in Sri Lanka.

Source: indiatimes.com

33 rebels killed in Lanka clashes

At least 33 Tamil Tigers were killed in fierce ground clashes with security forces in Sri Lanka's embattled north as the Air Force jets pounded three LTTE camps in the rebel stronghold of Mannar, officials said on Wednesday.

''Air Force fighter jets pounded three LTTE camps, located in the north and east of Madhu area in Mannar this morning,'' the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

In ground clashes, at least one rebel was killed in Thirukkunishwaran area of Mannar on Tuesday, the army said, adding another guerrilla was gunned down in Muhamalai in Jaffna peninsula.

Separately, troops killed three LTTE cadres in Karampakulam in Vavuniya yesterday, the MCNS said.

In another confrontation, at least four rebels were shot dead by security forces at Janakpura in northeast Welioya on Tuesday, it said.

At least five LTTE cadres were killed in Umayaratuwarankulam in Vavuniya yesterday in clashes with security forces, the Defence Ministry said.

In a fierce encounter, troops gunned down nine rebels at Periyawalayanwaddukulam in Vavuniya on Tuesday.

Another five rebels were shot dead by troops in Kontakkarankulam in Vavuniya on Tuesday, the MCNS said, adding five more LTTE cadres were gunned down in Maruthamadu in the same region.

Source: NDTV

LTTE's criticism of India shows outfit is becoming weak: Lanka

Sri Lanka today said the LTTE's outburst against India in the wake of the recent visit of the island nation's Army Chief to the neighbouring country was indicative of the outfit's deteriorating strength.

"We don't bother to what LTTE says (on India) as it is a terrorist organisation. This only shows that they (LTTE) are becoming weak," Foreign Minister Rohithat Bogollagama told reporters here.

Bogollagama said Sri Lankan Army Chief Sarath Fonseka's recent week-long tour to India was part of the visits undertaken "from time to time" by various officials and leaders and should not be seen in any other context.

The LTTE yesterday criticised India for hosting the Sri Lankan army chief and said the "historic blunder" will "reinvigorate" the island's military which was carrying out "ethnic genocide" against the Tamils.

"The LTTE strongly condemns the Indian State's action of extending a state welcome to the military chief of the Sinhala State which has unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire agreement (with the Tamil rebels) and has launched widespread military offensives in the Tamil homeland," it said in a statement.

On the local body elections in eastern Batticaloa swept by a group of former rebels, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister said his government was encouraged by its success as it was conducted in a peaceful manner with a high turnout.

Source: PTI

Sri Lanka charges Tamil Tiger leader for murder

The Sri Lankan authorities have filed indictment against the leader of the rebel Liberation Tigersof Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Velupillai Prabakaran for the murder of former foreign minister, officials said Tuesday.

Officials from the Attorney General's Department said that Prabakaran and five other rebels were charged on Tuesday for the August 2005 murder of then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

A fellow Tamil, Kadirgamar was gunned down near the swimming pool of his Colombo home by a LTTE gunman. Kadirgamar had led an international campaign against the rebels which resulted in several countries banning the rebel outfit.

The Colombo High Court in October 2002 sentenced Prabakaran for 200 years imprisonment for bombing the country's Central Bank building and killing about 100 people in January 1996 in trial held in absentia.

The Sri Lankan authorities have not been able to arrest the LTTE leader as he lives in the rebel hideout in the island's Northern Province.

Prabakaran's LTTE has been fighting the government troops since the mid-1980s to set up a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, resulting in the killing of more than 70,000 people.

Source: xinhuanet.com

Ex-Tamil Tigers win polls in Sri Lanka's tense east

A pro-government militia of Tamil Tiger defectors has swept to victory in the first local elections in Sri Lanka's restive east in 14 years, official results showed Tuesday.

The armed Tamil People's Liberation Party (TMVP), which broke away from the main separatist movement, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, won 72 of the 101 council seats in Monday's vote in the district of Batticaloa.

The government-backed TMVP had been widely expected to win the vote as it had been calling the shots in the troubled region since security forces drove out the main Tamil Tiger rebels eight months ago.

Colombo plans to use Monday's polls here as a curtain-raiser for a larger provincial council election later in the year to allow Tamils, who are in the minority nationally but a majority in Batticaloa, to have greater autonomy.

"This peaceful election underlines the aim of the government to create an environment in which all our people could live in freedom and harmony," Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a statement.

The United Nations has accused police and security forces in Sri Lanka of colluding with the TMVP, led by V. Muralitharan, to recruit child soldiers to fight the Tigers.

Muralitharan, better known as Colonel Karuna, defected in March 2004.

The government has angrily denied such charges and accused UN diplomats of being "terrorists," but local and international rights groups have documented alleged excesses of the TMVP with the tacit support of the security forces.

The TMVP took complete control of eight out of nine councils, with a ninth going to its proxies under the president's People's Alliance.

The results showed about 51 percent of the 290,000 electorate turned out to cast their ballots.

Poll monitors said some people had been forced to vote, but there were no major incidents of violence.

The government poured an additional 6,500 police and security forces into the region to secure the election. In some areas, they were deployed to drive away wild elephants blocking polling booths.

Although the vote was conducted in relative calm, fighting raged elsewhere in the island's embattled north where the military reported killing 10 rebels for the loss of three government soldiers on Monday.

After taking the east of the island from the Tigers in July, the military has turned its attention to the Tigers' mini state in the north, and appears confident of victory.

In the east, the election campaign was marred by allegations that the TMVP was imposing gun law amid reports of murder and intimidation, which the group has denied.

The TMVP founder, Karuna, is now in a British jail after being convicted of entering London with a fake "official" passport.

He says Sri Lanka's government arranged his clandestine passage to Britain to escape him being targeted by Tamil Tiger rebels, but Colombo has denied any involvement.

Source: AFP

LTTE lashes out at India for hosting Lankan army chief

The LTTE has criticised India for hosting the Sri Lankan army chief despite the scrapping of a 2002 ceasefire by Colombo, saying such moves will "reinvigorate" the island's military which was carrying out "ethnic genocide" against Tamils.

In a statement circulated here, LTTE said it "strongly condemns" India extending a "state welcome" to the military chief Maj Gen Sarath Fonseka of the "Sinhala State" which has "unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire agreement and has launched widespread military offensives in Tamil homeland."

Despite condemnation of its attempt to seek a military solution, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam alleged that Sri Lanka is continuing its "enormous human rights violations".

Many of the European countries now understand its "hidden motive" and have halted all assistance, it added.

"The Indian State also knows this truth. Yet, while pronouncing that a solution to the Tamil problem must be found through peaceful means, it is giving encouragement to the military approach of the Sinhala State. This can only lead to the intensification of the genocide of the Tamils," it said.

India's move of "propping up the politically- militarily-economically weakened Sri Lankan State has upset Eelam Tamils," it said.

India must take the "responsibility for the ethnic genocide of the Tamils that will be carried out by the Sinhala military re-invigorated by such moves of the Indian State."

LTTE said it "wishes to point to the Indian State that this historic blunder by it will continue to subject the Eelam Tamils to misery."

"We still have not abandoned the Norway sponsored peace efforts and we are ready to take part in such efforts."

Fonseka undertook a week-long visit to India this month. Fighting has intensified in the island country after Sri Lanka scrapped the tattered ceasefire in January.

Source: Hindu

No need to panic, says Sri Lanka captain

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said Monday there was no need to panic following the team's repeated batting failures in recent one-day internationals.

"What we have to remember is that all these guys have made a lot of runs in the past," said Jayawardene.

"Everyone takes responsibility for the failure and it is now a question of making right decisions."

World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka lost 3-2 to England in a home one-day series in October, and last month failed to qualify for the finals of a triangular tournament in Australia won by India.

Jayawardene said the batsmen had been working hard to regain form and there was no need to make major changes ahead of the upcoming tour of the West Indies.

Sri Lanka will play two Tests and three one-day internationals on the tour starting on March 17.

Sri Lanka Cricket chief Arjuna Ranatunga echoed those sentiments, saying the he was not "too much worried" about the team's performance in Australia.

"We should move on and have the team ready for the next World Cup," said Ranatunga, captain of the 1996 World Cup-winning squad.

The next World Cup will be jointly hosted by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2011.

Source: AFP

China making inroads in India's backyard, wooing Lanka

China has overtaken Japan and India among Sri Lanka's major donors, pumping over USD one billion in aid with no strings attached and is carrying out major development projects there, including a new port in the home town of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Chinese assistance has increased five fold in the last year and Beijing is now building a highway and developing two power plants in the island country, a top official was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

Sri Lanka also buys a lot weapons from China and its ally Pakistan, the New York Times reported in the context of Colombo scrapping a 2004 ceasefire with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The move has led to a barrage of criticism over alleged human rights abuses and Colombo has lost defence aid from the United States.

But in recent months, Sri Lankan government officials have increasingly cozied up to countries that tend to say little to nothing on allegations of abductions and assaults on press freedom, the report said.

Lanka's foreign secretary Palitha Kohona says that Sri Lanka's "traditional donors," namely, the United States, Canada and the European Union, had "receded into a very distant corner," to be replaced by countries in the East.

He gave three reasons: The new donors are neighbours, they are rich and they conduct themselves differently. "Asians don't go around teaching each other how to behave," he said. "There are ways we deal with each other perhaps a quiet chat, but not wagging the finger," Kohona was quoted as saying.


Kohona says India's contributions had also grown to nearly USD 500 million this year. India is building a coal-fired power plant and Indian companies have been invited to build technology parks and invest in telecommunications.

The picture in Sri Lanka, the report says, is emblematic of a major shift from 20 years ago, when India was the only power center in the region.

"Now come China's artful moves in India's backyard," it says.

While Sri Lanka is free to dismiss Western concerns about human rights these days, the paper says there are still long-range costs it may find itself confronting one day.

"The real Achilles' heel for the government is looming economic trouble, as its war chest expands and inflation reaches double digits."

"And in that, the world matters. For its failure to ratify certain international conventions, Sri Lanka already risks losing trade preferences with the European Union at the end of this year. And, however much China has risen in importance, Europe remains this country's largest trading partner," it adds.

Source: indiatimes.com

Sri Lanka arrests five journalists

Authorities in Sri Lanka have detained five mostly ethnic minority Tamil journalists, a media activist group said yesterday, days after Colombo came in for intense criticism over its rights record.
Five journalists, all linked to a liberal news website, outreachsl.com, were taken in for questioning over the weekend while some have been detained under tough emergency laws, the Free Media Movement (FMM) said.
"We hope that due process will be followed regarding the arrested writers and journalists," the FMM said, expressing its concern over the latest government crackdown against journalists.
FMM official Sunanda Deshapriya said his group's spokesman, Tamil journalist S. Sivakumar, had also been detained for 12 hours and later freed by the police Terrorist Investigation Division.
International media rights activists have described Sri Lanka as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists due to a worsening climate of violence and unofficial censorship.
Killings and attacks against journalists remained unsolved leading to fears that media freedom is being deliberately and violently suppressed through threats, abductions and attacks, a team of media activists said last year.
Since August 2005, 11 media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka. Ten of them were killed in government-controlled areas and no one has been brought to justice in connection with the deaths.
Sri Lanka is pressing for a military victory over Tamil Tiger rebels and a series of tit-for-tat clashes have left heavy casualties on both sides.
On Thursday the New York-based pressure group Human Rights Watch accused the island's government of being "one of the world's worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances," and called for tough United Nations monitoring.
The same day a team of top legal luminaries also announced they were pulling out of the war-torn nation because Colombo had failed to seriously investigate a string of high-profile rights cases, including the massacre of 17 local employees of a French charity.

Source: macaudailytimesnews.com