Sri Lankan MP killed in mine blast

A Sri Lankan Tamil lawmaker has been killed in a roadside bomb attack as Colombo faced fresh criticism over its rights record.

A vehicle carrying Kiddinan Sivanesan, 51, a legislator from the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance, was hit by a mine 35 kilometers (21 miles) north of the frontline post of Omanthai in a guerrilla-controlled part of the island.

"The government knew Sivanesan was crossing the Omanthai checkpoint and returning to his home after attending parliament," fellow lawmaker Mavai Senathirajah said.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said the attack, which also killed the driver, was carried out by a "deep penetration unit" of the Sri Lankan army.

The defense ministry has reported that security forces have killed at least 1,837 rebels in 2008. The ministry out the government forces death toll at 107. Three Sri Lankan lawmakers have also been killed this year.

The latest violence came as the island's government was accused of being behind hundreds of "disappearances."

Tens of thousands have died since separatist Tamil Tiger rebels began fighting the Sri Lankan government more than three decades ago.

Source: www.presstv.ir

India, Sri Lanka review anti-LTTE operations

The heads of Indian and Sri Lankan armies on Tuesday spent some time together in analysing the gains and losses in the ongoing military operation in the Island nation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

After meeting Indian Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor, the visiting head of Sri Lankan Army, Lt Gen G S Fonseka, said the political relations between the two countries were on right track and it was time for the armed forces to strengthen ties.

But that was what came out officially from the talks. The sources said Indian Army head took a detailed update on the recent military operations against the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan Army chief sought more cooperation with India which has kept itself away from bloody conflict.

India’s aloofness has forced Sri Lanka to look towards China and Pakistan to fulfil its requirements of military hardware like radars and surveillance equipment.

India only gives non-lethal military assistance to Sri Lanka which is seeking to modernise its armed forces to deal more effectively with LTTE. It needs a good number of aircraft for effective aerial penetration of LTTE strongholds.

At the political level, India reiterated that Sri Lankan Government should come out with a devolution package under the 13th amendment in the Constitution. It wants the Northern and Eastern provinces to be given powers which could not be withdrawn in the future.

Fonseka, who has survived assassination bids, is on a week-long visit to India. He was in Srinagar on Monday when he was briefed about Army’s counter insurgency operations in J&K.

Fonseka arrived in India in the backdrop of his government declaring that military operations against LTTE will not be stopped.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to attend SAARC summit in Kandy later this year.

Source: newindpress.com

Sri Lankan gov't says 104 soldiers, policemen killed in February

The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday that some 104 soldiers and police officers were killed in February during the conflicts between government troops and the Tamil Tigers, but the government's military campaign has yielded results.

Nimal Siripala de Silva, health minister and the government's chief negotiator with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) told parliament that 822 soldiers and police personnel were also injured in February in the confrontations in the north.

De Silva added that 80 civilians were killed while 201 were injured in the conflicts.

He said the LTTE has faced a series of military reversals in the north and is facing setbacks internationally, while the government's military campaign against the rebels is yielding results.

Officials from the Media Center for National Security said 871 LTTE rebels were killed in February, in addition to about 500 rebels killed in January.

Sri Lanka's security forces are currently engaging the rebels in the Northern Province with heavy artillery and mortar duels being reported regularly.

Having taken over the control of the Eastern Province last July, government leaders now vow to crush the Tamil Tigers from their last Northern Province bastion.

The LTTE has been fighting the troops since the mid-1980s to carve out a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people.


Source: reliefweb.int

Sri Lanka recruits Tamil policemen in east

The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday that it has recruited 175 new police officers from the Tamil minority in the newly liberated Eastern Province and more Tamil police personnel would be recruited in the near future.

Keheliya Rambukwella, the government's defense spokesman and the minister of Foreign Employment told reporters that the 175 police officers have come from some 1,200 applications received and it justified the governmemt's move to recapture the province from the control of Tamil Tiger rebels.

"It is the government's policy to allow for the public to attend to their needs in their own language," Rambukwella said, adding that Tamil people in the east would be able to freely communicate with the Tamil police personnel in the province.

He said the large number of applicants have shown that people are happy to free themselves from the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The LTTE was evicted from the province by government troops in July last year.

The LTTE dubbed it a tactical withdrawal from the province which is part of their ultimate goal of a separate homeland for the Tamils.

Rambukwella said 250 more Tamil police personnel would be recruited as the next stage of the government's plan to restore civil administration in the province.

The government has embarked on a massive development drive worth 6.5 billion Sri Lanka rupees (about 59.9 million U.S. dollars) in the province, Rambukwella added.

Government troops and the LTTE are currently engaged in fierce battles in the north. The government is determining to defeat the LTTE, but refrains from giving a time frame.

The LTTE has been fighting the troops since the mid-1980s to carve out a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east.

Source: xinhuanet

Sri Lanka: UNHCR commends government after boat people rescue

UNHCR is deeply concerned about the plight of 71 boat people who were rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy yesterday, after they were found adrift in high seas off the island's northern district of Mullaitivu. The boat, carrying 50 Myanmar nationals and 21 Bangladesh nationals, had engine failure and been adrift since 20 February. Twenty of those on board, including 17 Myanmar nationals and three Bangladeshis, reportedly died due to starvation and dehydration.

The boat and its victims have been taken to Sri Lanka's eastern Trincomalee harbour and are currently being attended to at the naval base there. UNHCR commends the Sri Lankan government for rescuing the boat and its passengers and bringing them ashore. We also commend the government for its commitment to international obligations in allowing the survivors to disembark and providing them with necessary medical relief.

UNHCR is in close contact with both high-level and government officials and is awaiting unhindered access to the people in question, once they are moved out of the restricted military zone where the naval base is situated and to a police- and civilian-administered area.

The phenomenon of people taking to the seas in search of safety, refuge, or simply better economic conditions is not new. Since the vessels used are often overcrowded and unseaworthy, rescue-at-sea, disembarkation and processing of those rescued has re-emerged as an important but difficult issue.

Aiding those in peril at sea is one of the oldest of maritime obligations. The legal framework governing rescue-at-sea and the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees rests on the applicable provisions of international maritime law, in interaction with international refugee law and aspects of international human rights law. UNHCR places emphasis on safety aspects, providing technical advice and assistance to states to ensure that they respect their obligations.

Source: alertnet.org

Military ties with India good: Sri Lankan Army Chief

Visiting Sri Lankan Army Chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, who is on a six-day visit to India to strengthen military ties between the two countries, today said both countries enjoy a sound military relationship.

"Militarily we have very good relationships for long time and we hope to continue relationships that we are having right now. We are very happy with that," Lt General Fonseka told media persons after being presented a Guard of Honour outside the Defense Ministry. Defence Ministry officials had earlier said that India would like to ensure that the Lankan Army retains its edge over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to enable the Sri Lanka Government to come out with a devolution package acceptable to the Tamil minority in that country.

Lt. Gen. Fonseka, who is accompanied by Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, pledged to defeat the LTTE at the earliest.

The Lankan Army is presently engaged in intense battles against the LTTE in northern Sri Lanka.

According to sources, the Sri Lankan Government expects help from the international community to contain the rebel group.

The visit by the Sri Lankan Army Chief comes in the wake of the island nation increasingly looking at China and Pakistan for weapons supply in the face of India's reluctance to provide it with sophisticated arms.

Source: dailyindia.com

Lanka military: Soldiers capture small rebel territory as fighting kills 7 rebels

Government troops backed by artillery and mortar fire attacked Tamil separatists guarding a front line in northern Sri Lanka, killing seven rebels on Tuesday and capturing a small piece of territory, the military said.

Troops seized about a square kilometer (0.39 square miles) of land in the Mannar district during an early morning battle that lasted one hour, said Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara, the military spokesman. Nearby troops captured a rebel post and advanced about one kilometer (more than half a mile) in a separate battle, he said without giving details.

The significance of the territory seized was unclear and rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan did not answer calls seeking comment.

Also Tuesday, fighter jets pounded a rebel artillery gun position and an underground ammunition depot in the northern rebel-held Pooneryn area, said Air force spokesman Wing Commander Andy Wijesuriya.

He did not give details of casualties and damages, but said the bombing caused ``extensive damage'' to the rebels.

In scattered fighting along the front lines Monday, government soldiers killed 14 rebels, the military said Tuesday.

The government has said it aimed to capture the Tamil Tiger rebels' de facto state in the north and crush the group by the end of the year, but diplomats and other observers said the army was facing far more resistance than it had expected.

It was not possible to independently verify reports of the fighting because the government has restricted access to the northern jungles where the fighting was taking place. Both sides routinely exaggerate their opponents' casualty figures while underreporting their own.

The military said soldiers have driven deep into rebel territory in recent months and pushed the front lines back from three to 20 kilometers (two to 12 miles) in different areas. Fighting, which has escalated over the past two years, further flared since the government announced in January it was pulling out of a tattered cease-fire.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state in the north and east for the country's ethnic Tamil minority after decades of being marginalized by Sinhalese-dominated governments. The fighting has killed more than 70,000 people.

Source: hindu.com

Sri Lanka Army chief to pay six-day visit to India

Sri Lanka's army chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who has vowed to crush the Tamil Tigers, will pay a six-day visit to India from Sunday to deepen military cooperation between the two countries.

Details of Fonseka's programme have not been divulged, apparently over security considerations. The defence ministry has only said that he will briefly interact with the Indian Army here Tuesday.

He will also lay a wreath at the memorial to the Unknown Soldier at India Gate, a World War I monument, after which he will be presented a guard of honour at the defence ministry headquarters at South Block.

Fonseka, along with Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, leads a no-holds-barred military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and has vowed to defeat the rebels at the earliest.

He is one of Sri Lanka's most protected figures, more so after the LTTE came close to assassinating him in April last year. He survived but had to spend many months in hospital, in Sri Lanka and abroad, before resuming work.

Military officials here told IANS ahead of Fonseka's visit that they did not want the Sri Lanka Army to slacken its drive against the LTTE, which is outlawed in India.

"India is closely engaged with Sri Lanka on two fronts," one official said. "It wants to ensure that the Sri Lanka Army maintains its upper hand over the LTTE. At the same time, Sri Lanka needs to come out with a devolution package that is acceptable to the minorities.

"India does not want to see the Sri Lanka Army losing its grip over the rebels. At the same time, there is no question of Indian military intervention beyond providing non-lethal hardware," the official added.

Towards this end, the official pointed out, the Indian and Sri Lankan navies had been conducting coordinated patrols in the narrow sea dividing the two countries. New Delhi also shares intelligence on LTTE activities with Colombo.

Thousands have been killed in fighting between the LTTE and the military in recent years.

As fighting has escalated, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has increased its surveillance over south India and is planning to conduct a series of exercises in the region this year.

Fonseka is sure to discuss military cooperation with India, which has become a touchy issue in bilateral relations.

Sri Lanka has been increasing looking at China and Pakistan for weapons supplies. Although India supplies only non-lethal military items to Sri Lanka, it provides training to Sri Lankan soldiers.

Sri Lankan leaders say they keep India informed about arms purchases from other countries.

Source: newkerala.com

India Coast guard arrests 21 Sri Lankan fishermen

Coast guard officials today arrested 21 Sri Lankan fishermen who had strayed into India's territorial waters.

The fishermen were taken into custody by the officials off the coast of southern Karaikal in Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu.

They were later taken to Chennai where they were handed over to the local police for further interrogation.

The Sri Lankan authorities however, claimed that all those arrested were innocent and had strayed into Indian waters by mistake.

"Altogether 21 people, all innocent fishermen from Sri Lanka. They don't know what they were doing, where they were going, so we are now enquiring where they were headed," said Thassin, an official from Sri Lankan Embassy.

The police also took into custody four fishing trawlers belonging to the fishermen.

Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen often cross over into each other's territorial waters by mistake and get caught.

Source: newkerala.com

Colombo urges U.K. to ban LTTE “front” organisations

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Sri Lankan authorities here have urged the British government to ban fund-raising activities of what they described as “LTTE’s front organisations” alleging that the money collected by these groups “ostensibly” for charitable purposes went into the “coffers” of Tamil Tigers.

They said that although LTTE was banned in Britain a number of organisations claiming to be “charities” were working for it.

“These funds directly go to the coffers of the insurgent group to wage war with the Sri Lankan government and spread violence among civilian populations,” a spokesman of Sri Lankan High Commission said.

The call came ahead of a cultural show by the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) here on Saturday to raise funds for an educational project in Visvamadu in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan officials called the project an extension of the LTTE.

“We have complained to the British police that Visvamadu is in the Wanni territory, where the power of the LTTE is wielded and these funds are meant for its campaign,” the spokesman said.

The TYO however denies any links with LTTE and says that it is a “charity with the interests of Tamil youth at heart”.
Primary objective

“Our primary objective is to unite Tamil Youths nationwide by acting as the central communication link and providing an opportunity for action to serve the Tamil community, both domestically and abroad.

“Such endeavours will include coordinating development projects to improve the Tamil Youth in our homeland devastated by the civil war,” it says on its website.

Source: Hindu