Explosion in Modara(video)

Source: lankantv

JVP to oppose devolution move

The Janatha Vimukthi Perumna (JVP) chief, Amarsinghe Somawansa, on Tuesday accused India of leading a campaign for “international intervention” in the name of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) the human rights of citizens, and asserted that under no circumstances would it accept any laws and measures under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

R2P, a concept designed by the International Crisis Group (ICG), has become a major controversy in the island nation since the ICG chief visited the country a few months ago and argued that Sri Lanka is a potential case for international intervention in view of its human rights record.

In an interaction with members of Sri Lanka Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) here, Mr. Somawansa argued that the 13th Amendment is “illegal” and was imposed against the will of the overwhelming majority of the people of the nation by India at gun point following the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 and accused New Delhi of pressuring President Mahinda Rajapaksa to implement the 13th Amendment.

He accused India of having promoted cross-border terrorism by supporting the Tamil separatist groups in the 80’s and said a section of the Indian bureaucracy is misleading the Manmohan Singh government to return to the period of late 80’s when India intervened militarily.

“India is leading the R2P [Responsibility to Protect] evil axis in Sri Lanka. Delhi, Brussels, Oslo, Washington and Tokyo are the key partners in this campaign. We are very concerned about the evil design. We would not allow it to succeed in its designs,” Mr. Somawansa asserted.

Source: the hindu

IPTV unit launched by Sri Lanka Telecom

by Lin Freestone

Sri Lanka Telecom has set up a subsidiary to broadcast IPTV to its broadband customers.

The company plans to invest $1m in the initial launch of the SLT Visioncom unit. Sri Lanka Telecom considers that IPTV is a value-added service with strategic importance in the future broadband service portfolio of the company.

Sri Lanka’s telecommunications company had more than 54,000 ADSL broadband customers and 88,000 post-paid dial-up subscribers by the end of 2007.

Sri Lanka Telecom was the country’s first telecommunications company and is the successor to the former government owned Telecommunications Department. It leads the country’s telecommunication industry with 87% of the fixed line network.

Source: iptv-watch.co.uk

Sri Lankan Air Force Strikes Rebel Artillery Command; 14 Dead

Siddique Islam - AHN South Asia Correspondent

Colombo, Sri Lanka (AHN) - At least 14 Tamil Tigers rebels have been killed in fierce clashes with security forces in the country's violent northern region on Thursday. Sri Lankan Air Force jets carried out air strikes on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) artillery command center and an underground bunker located in Palai.

"In this attack 14 LTTE terrorists were killed and six T-56 assault riffles were recovered. Two soldiers were slightly injured in this attack," according to the Air Force.

Meanwhile, the LTTE alleged that two separate claymore mine attacks by the Sri Lankan army's deep penetration unit killed eight civilians in northern Mulaitivu on Thursday. In both incidents, the victims were traveling in tractor trailers to work in paddy fields, according to the statement.

More than 700 people have been killed in the escalating conflict since the beginning of this year, the military said

The LTTE has been fighting for a separate homeland for the ethnic minority Tamils in the north and east for more than two decades, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people.

Source: allheadlinenews.com

JVP accuses India of cross-border terrorism

Accusing India of cross-border terrorism by supporting the Tamil separatist groups, Sri Lanka’s hardline JVP Marxist party has said the country was leading an international campaign for outside intervention in the island nation’s internal affairs.
India is leading the R2P (Responsibility to Protect) evil axis in Sri Lanka. Delhi, Brussels, Oslo, Washington and Tokyo are the key partners in this campaign. We are very concerned about the evil design, leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Somawansa Amarasinghe told reporters at an interaction with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Correspondents’ Association last night.
Amarasinghe said the R2P was nothing new to Sri Lanka as it has faced several interventions in the past, with India’s direct involvement in the local civil war in the late 80s being the last one.
The members of the R2P campaign are after the natural resources in other countries. This is not the Responsibility to Protect, but to Right to Plunder, Amarasinghe said.
Coming hard on India the JVP leader said, India is once again trying to force a solution on Lanka by reactivating the 13th Amendment to the constitution that devolved powers to the provinces. He said that the Provincial Council system was imposed at gun point by India on Lanka as a solution to the ethnic conflict, but ironically the system was in operation other than the Northern and Eastern provinces, which were merged illegally by India by force without the consent of majority of the people in the country.
We will reject any solution based on the 13th Amendment, because it is illegal as it stemmed out from the Indo-Lanka Accord.
We totally reject the proposals of the All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) or the 13th Amendment as much as we oppose the Indo-Lanka Accord, Amarasinghe said, adding that India was violating the Panch Sheel policies unlike China.
Pointing out that the JVP with 39 members in Parliament holds the balance of power in the current political scenario, the JVP leader said the party would vehemently oppose the implementation of the APRC proposals.
He, however, said the party was fully supportive to the current military campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels and wanted the rebels to be completely wiped out.
We are supporting the war and believe that the national security should be ensured and separatism should be defeated at any cost, Amarasinghe said, expressing hope that the troops would capture the Wanni from the rebels very soon.


Source: greaterkashmir.com

46 rebels, 4 soldiers killed in Sri Lanka’s fierce clashes

At least 46 Tamil Tiger rebels and four
government soldiers were killed in Monday's sporadic clashes
in the northern Jaffna and Vavuniya districts, Sri Lankan
Defence Ministry said today.
''Forty-six LTTE terrorists were killed and another 5 sustained
injuries in these clashes. Further, 4 army soldiers were killed
while 13 others received injuries during these clashes that erupted
right throughout Monday,'' the Defence Ministry here said.
It said that the government troops continued to engage in
''offensive operation'' against the LTTE inflicting heavy damages
to the rebels on several fronts.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Army yesterday handed over to the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 14 bodies of the
Tamil Tiger rebels killed during fierce clashes with the government
troops in the north-eastern Weli-Oya areas during weekend.
Director of the Anuradhapura base hospital Dr. Sarath
Weerabandara said that of the 14 LTTE bodies handed over to the
ICRC, six were brought to the hospital on Friday evening and the
remaining eight were brought on Saturday night.

Source: deepikaglobal.com

Lanka Opposition agrees to devolution package

Sri Lankan government's efforts to implement the devolution package for the embattled east and northern regions received a major boost with the main opposition party of the country agreeing to support the plan.

Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party last night expressed its fullest support for the implementation of the 13th Amendment (for devolution) to the Constitution, after a crucial meeting between President Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe on Tuesday, officials said.

Wickremasinghe said that since the interim proposals presented by the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) had included the implementation of the 13th Amendment, and since it was the law of the land, his party would not oppose as it has no objection to the implementation of existing laws.

According to an official statement issued by the government last night, the two leaders also discussed the 17th Amendment providing for Constitutional council to ensure good governance in the country.

The Opposition leader had reportedly requested the APRC to submit a report on the progress of its deliberations to date.

Source: dnaindia.com

Sri Lanka Casualties reach 1,734

Fighting since January in northeastern Sri Lanka has killed 1,734 people, between Tamil rebels, soldiers and government police, according to sources from the Defense Minister.

Statistics released in Colombo during the course of the armed force's offensive against the positions and shelters of separatists of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Tigers (TLTE) show 1,640 of their combatants died.

Meanwhile, fatal victims between soldiers and police reached 94.

A military dispatch reported the day's actions in which two soldiers died in armed clashes in Vavuniya region; the government forces reported two deaths and four wounded.

Source: plenglish.com

Tyronne Fernando passes away

Tyronne Fernando, an advisor to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and a former Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka under the United National Party (UNP) government earlier, passed away in a private hospital in Colombo Tuesday morning, according to Sri Lankan presidential secretariat officials. Mr. Tyronne Fernando served as the governor of North-East Province Council (NEPC) from December 2004 till January 2006.

Tyronne Fernando who aspired to contest for the post of Secretary General of the United Nations Organization (UNO), while holding the post of Foreign Minister left the United National Party (UNP) when it was ousted from power in 2004 April general election. He did not get enough preferential votes to win a parliament seat and also was not considered by the UNP hierarchy for a national MP post thereafter.

He was appointed by former SL president Chandrika Kumaratunga as the fifth governor of the NEPC.

Later, he served as advisor to the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Source: Tamilnet

Sri Lankan gov't hands over bodies of rebels

At least 14 dead bodies of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sri Lanka's north central town of Anuradhapura, officials said Tuesday.

Sarath Weerabandara, the director of the General Hospital in Anuradhapura told the media that the bodies were handed over to the ICRC officials who called over at the hospital in the morning.

"We handed over the bodies after the post-mortems were conducted by Dr. Ajith Mendis the Judicial Medical Officer for Anuradhapura)," Weerabandara said.

The bodies were of the LTTE members killed in fierce battles in the north and east border of Welioya over the last weekend, according to military sources.

Some 47 rebels had been killed in confrontations with the troops during Saturday and Monday in the northern and northeastern regions, the military sources said.

Sri Lankan troops are currently engaged in limited military offensives to re-capture key areas from the rebels in the country's Northern Province.

The government claimed that rebels who controlled most parts of the Northern and Eastern provinces have now been restricted to just two districts in the north.

Source: Xinhua