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

Indian Govt to go ahead with Sethusamudram project

Ahead of crucial trust vote, the government bows to pressure from its ally -- the DMK -- to file affidavit to allow work on the Sethusamudram project.

Government will file an affidavit in the Supreme Court tomorrow asking for work to progress on Sethusamudaram project. Government is also planning to submit that ASI survey is not important. The
government's turnaround - considering it had earlier suggested that the Archaeological survey is imperative - is being seen as a surrender to the DMK.

The government's turnaround will come as a major boost to DMK. DMK has been pushing for the project to go ahead.

In its time of crisis it's only natural for the Congress to be more dependent on its allies, and so it comes as no surprise that the government has had to bow to the wishes of the DMK.

What is Sethusamudram?

Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, which envisages dredging of a ship channel across the Palk straits between India and Srilanka, is finally taking shape. The project will alllow ships sailing between the east and west costs of India to have a straight passage through India's territorial waters, instead of having to circumvent Sri Lanka. This will lead to a saving of upto 424 nautical miles (780 Km) and upto to 30 hours in sailing time.

Two channels will be created - one across north of Adam's Bridge (the chain of islets and shallows linking India with Sri Lanka) South - east of Pamban Island and another through the shallows of Palk Bay, deepening the Palk straits. The total length of these two channels would be 89 Kms.

Source: timesnow

Sri Lankan expats will have to pay duty on household items

Beginning Aug. 1, Sri Lankan expatriates will have to pay a duty on electronic and household goods they ship home, according to an advisory by Customs officials in Colombo.

Members of the Sri Lankan community in Saudi Arabia have lambasted the move, while at least one shipping company in the Kingdom has complained that the government gave neither prior notice of the duty nor a grace period for goods that have already been purchased by Sri Lankans abroad and are on their way to the country.

Some of the items, such as televisions, will face a 20 percent levy upon arrival in Sri Lanka.

The size of the duty is based on the types of products being shipped. Items that will now be taxed include: air conditioners, refrigerators with two or more doors and with capacities over 500 liters, dish washers, deep freezers, four burner cookers with ovens, fully automatic washing machines, CRT televisions exceeding 29 inches and LCD TVs exceeding 32 inches. The cost of the levy depends on the item.

Andrew Sinnen, country manager for Trico International, a shipping agent in the Kingdom, said that the news has come as a shock to the Sri Lankan community.

“The expatriates, including housemaids, purchase these items over a period of time prior to their vacation and store them in our warehouses. Some of these goods are currently aboard cargo vessels,” Sinnen said, pointing out that notice should have been given for such a move in the interest of the poor workers.

Fazli Sameer, an IT consultant working in Riyadh, said it is bad news for all Sri Lankan overseas workers. Previously, they were given baggage allowances that waived import duties on personal goods.

“Removing the duty free concession on several items of household electrical goods under the prevailing passenger baggage allowance is certainly a step backward in the motivation of expatriates who look forward to return home either for their vacation or on completion of their work overseas contracts,” Sameer said.

Most expatriates, especially those living and working in the Middle Eastern region, are used to these household electrical items and would certainly want to continue using them in their own homes in their native land, he added.

“These items are not luxury for those who live abroad and they are essentials for all those who live in Sri Lanka too,” Nihal Gamage, former president of the Sri Lankan Expatriates Society said.

Source: arabnews

DMK leaders on fast to protest killing of fishermen by Lankan troops

Leaders of the ruling Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) staged a day-long state-wide fast on Saturday to protest the killing of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

Party president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi commenced the fast in Chennai today.

Several union and state ministers, besides senior party functionaries participated in the protest.

On Thursday, a resolution was adopted by the DMK's Working Committee meeting, which called for Central intervention in the matter.

The DMK also adopted a resolution that urged the Centre to summon the Sri Lanka High Commissioner and express its displeasure in strong and unequivocal terms over the killings.

A third resolution called for the intensification of patrolling by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard on the international maritime boundary to prevent incursions by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The DMK Working Committee called on the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, to convey the Indian Government's concern and displeasure over the killing to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse during the 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Colombo next month.

Source: newstrackindia

E.U. delegation to visit Sri Lanka

A parliamentary delegation of the E.U. will arrive here on July 20 to assess the situation in the eastern part of the country, especially after the recent election to the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC).

The delegation includes a cross-section of political groups and E.U. member-states.

The delegation’s six-day visit would include meetings with key members of the Cabinet, political parties and the media.

The visit assumes importance as the issue of extension of GSP plus concession” to Sri Lanka’s textile sector is coming up for review shortly.

The Foreign Ministry said Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the E.U., Ravinatha Aryasinha, briefed the delegation in Brussels on Wednesday.

Source: Hindu

Colombo closes in on victory in Sri Lanka's long civil war

The offensive launched two years ago by Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger rebels took on new momentum in the past few days with the capture of a key rebel naval base.

On Wednesday government troops took the port town of Vidattaltivu on Sri Lanka's northwest coast after heavy fighting. The port has been a base for the Tamil Tigers' small boat navy and is an important entry point for arms and other supplies smuggled in by the rebels, mostly from India across the Palk Strait.

Government forces swiftly consolidated their hold on Vidattaltivu and pursued Tamil fighters northwards, attacking them with air force bombers and helicopter gunships.

Officers described the capture of the port as a "fatal blow" to the Tigers, properly known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for an independent Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka since 1983. About 70,000 people have died in the fighting and terrorist attacks by Tigers, who have targeted politicians, officials, journalists and civilians, usually in the capital, Colombo.

The Colombo government does indeed have cause for satisfaction and some confidence that its boast that it can capture all Tiger territory by the end of the year can be met.

Since the collapse of the 2002 ceasefire and peace process brokered by Norway, and the resumption of all-out civil war in 2006, government forces have had a steady succession of victories. Colombo's military now controls northeastern Sri Lanka, in part because of the defection of a local renegade Tamil Tiger commander known as "Karuna."

Though casualty claims by both sides are usually exaggerated and unreliable, the government claims to have killed 9,000 Tigers since 2006 while losing about 1,000 troops itself. Remaining Tiger forces are said to control only a shrinking area in north-western Sri Lanka.

Army Commander Lt.-Gen. Sarath Fonseka said a few days ago his soldiers have noted that the Tigers no longer have "the same strength and willpower to fight. We have already defeated them."

Fonseka is experienced enough, however, to know that even complete victory on the battlefield will not bring an end to the insurrection that has its roots in entrenched discrimination against Tamils by the country's Sinhalese majority.

In 1949 one of the first acts of the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government, fresh from independence from Britain the previous year, was to disenfranchise Indian Tamil plantation workers. The anti-Tamil drive gained momentum in 1956 with the election of the intemperate Sinhalese nationalist Solomon Bandaranaike as prime minister.

Sinhala was made the only official language, Tamils' access to government jobs and higher-level education was restricted, and measures introduced to enhance Sinhalese Buddhist culture. Most Tamils are Hindus.

Over the following years anti-Tamil riots killed hundreds of people and many thousands of Tamils were displaced. Government-sponsored anti-Tamil discrimination continues, including the extra-judicial killing of non-governmental organization workers and journalists who are deemed sympathetic to the Tamils or insufficiently loyal to the government.

In many ways the wonder is that it took until 1983 -- more than 30 years -- before the Tamil reaction to their subjugation became a full-blown separatist rebellion.

So even a conclusive military victory by the government forces now will not be a solution to Sri Lanka's internal problems.

"You might never be able to kill the last LTTE member," Foneska said, adding it is quite possible the Tigers could continue a terrorist insurgency for two decades or more.

That is more than likely. The Tamil Tigers invented the suicide bomb and have counted Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa and former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, among their victims.

Terrorist attacks by Tigers in the past few weeks include the machine-gunning of a civilian bus in which 24 people were killed, and the assassination of the highways minister.

But, as with all civil wars, there has to be a political solution to Sri Lanka's agony. That will have to include a semi-autonomous Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka.

The concern now for all Sri Lankans and the country's neighbours is that a battlefield victory will blind the Colombo government to this necessity.

Source: Vancouver Sun

Sri Lanka journalists harassed: media group

Journalists covering Sri Lanka's war with Tamil Tiger rebels are being harassed despite a government pledge to take action to protect the press, a rights group said Friday.

The Free Media Movement (FMM) reported eight incidents of threats and intimidation, just two weeks after a ministerial committee was formed to look at the issue of media rights.

The incidents included verbal death threats, assaults in public places and visits to journalists' homes by people claiming to be from the police, the statement said.

"It is apparent that the cabinet sub-committee... is powerless to foster media freedom and the freedom of expression in Sri Lanka, or investigate meaningfully the violence directed at journalists," the FMM said.

The rights group demanded a probe into the recent incidents and asked the committee to tell police to respect journalists.

In June, Sri Lanka's hawkish defence ministry published several editorials which labelled journalists and reporters "cowboy defence analysts" and "enemies of the state."

The defence ministry presented reporters with a stark choice of being either pro-government or "pro-terrorist" -- sparking renewed alarm among media rights activists about freedom of the press in Sri Lanka.

Since August 2005, 12 media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka, which is regarded as the second-most dangerous place for journalists after Iraq.

Eleven of them died in government-controlled areas and no one has been brought to justice in connection with the deaths.

Sri Lanka's bitter ethnic war, which has left thousands of people dead, has escalated sharply since January, when the government pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce with the Tamil Tigers.

Source: AFP

Court stops UK from returning Tamil to Sri Lanka

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that an ethnic Tamil man denied asylum in Britain could not be sent back to his native Sri Lanka because he would be at risk of torture there.

The ruling could have implications for hundreds of other Tamils trying to avoid expulsion from Britain to Sri Lanka.

Thursday's ruling centred on a 33-year-old man who sought asylum in Britain in 1999 citing fears of ill-treatment by the Sri Lankan authorities, who had detained him six times in seven years on suspicion of involvement with the rebel Tamil Tigers.

The man had been released without charge every time. He was ill-treated during at least one of his detentions and his legs bear scars from being beaten with batons.

The man also feared the Tigers because his father had done some work for the Sri Lankan army, which has been fighting the rebels for 25 years in a civil war estimated to have killed 70,000 people.

The European Court of Human Rights said it had received an increasing number of petitions from ethnic Tamils facing expulsion to Sri Lanka from Britain and it had asked British authorities to suspend 342 procedures pending rulings.

Fighting has intensified in the north of Sri Lanka after the army, which has vowed to finish off the Tigers this year, drove the rebels out of their eastern enclave in 2007.

The Tigers, fighting for an independent state for the ethnic Tamil minority in predominantly Sinhalese Sri Lanka, regularly retaliate with suicide attacks.

In its ruling, the European Court of Human Rights "took note of the current climate of general violence in Sri Lanka", according to a summary posted on the court's website.

The court agreed with British authorities that the deterioration in security did not create a general risk for all Tamils returning to Sri Lanka, but it found there were specific risk factors in the case they were examining.

The court said the man's father had signed a document to ensure his release from detention and therefore it was possible authorities would have records of him and would detain him on arrival in Colombo.

"The court considered that where there was a sufficient risk that an applicant would be detained ... the presence of scarring, with all the significance that the Sri Lankan authorities were then likely to attach to it, had to be taken as greatly increasing the cumulative risk of ill-treatment."

Source: Reuters