Sri Lanka not ready to accept unilateral LTTE cease-fire agreement

Sri Lankan government has stated that it is not bound by the unilateral cease-fire agreement announced by the Tamil Tigers Monday night.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said in parliament Tuesday that the government will not respondent to the LTTE overture, All India Radio (AIR) reported.

The Tamil outfit had announced a 10-day unilateral cease-fire from July 26 in view of the SAARC Summit slated to begin in Colombo later this month.

However a few hours after the announcement of the cease-fire agreement by the Tamil Tigers, Sri Lankan Air Force launched massive air strikes on Mullaithivu killing 22 black tigers.

Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara told AIR that the fighter jets pounded training camp of LTTE leaders located at Uddarkattukulam in Mullaithivu.

LTTE has not reacted to the loss suffered by them following the air strike.

At the same time Sri Lankan Navy launched an offensive on an LTTE flotilla at Pulmudai off Trincomalee in the eastern coast early hours today.

Navy spokesman said that one Tamil Tiger boat was completely destroyed while two other vessels were partially damaged.

The spokesman said the 10 sea-tigers are believed killed in the sea-attack.

Source: IRNA

ESPN Star lands rights to Olympics

ESPN Star Sports has acquired exclusive cable, satellite, IPTV and mobile TV rights in 22 countries in Southeast Asia, including India, to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Deal gives the Disney-News Corp. joint venture 200 hours of coverage for the London Games and more than 60 hours for Vancouver.

"This is the first time that IOC has awarded the rights to a pay TV platform across the region, and it is a testament to our commitment to reaching out to a wide audience base across Asia with the most interesting and compelling programming," said ESS managing director Manu Sawhney.

The 22 territories covered by the deal are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Macau (English-language rights only), Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia (English-language rights only), Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The company recently landed exclusive TV rights for the Indian subcontinent to soccer events including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2009 Confederations Cup.

Source: variety

LTTE announces unilateral ceasefire during SAARC summit

The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Tuesday announced that the movement would observe unilateral ceasefire during the period of SAARC conference from 26th July to 04 August, giving cooperation for the success of the conference. Conveying goodwill and trust of the Tamil people, the LTTE Political Wing, in a press statement issued from Vanni said it wished for the success of the SAARC conference, extending the movement's support to the "countries of our region, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives."

Source: Tamilnet