Rozanne Diasz and Dilruk Liyanage -Engagement

Polls chief warns of court action against media

Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has warned the media they may face charges of contempt before the Supreme Court if they do not follow the 21-point guidelines given by him. In a notice issued to both the print and the electronic media in relation to the general elections, Mr. Dissanyake has drawn reference to the Supreme [...]

Breakthrough in Lasantha probe

Top Army officer recalled from abroad, soldiers under “close arrest” A serving Army Major General, now on an overseas posting, has been re-called to Sri Lanka as CID detectives continued their investigations into the murder of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunga. They want to question this senior officer, who had been dealing with intelligence matters, [...]

Indian investigators awaiting death certificates of Prabhakarn/Pottu Amman

Indian investigators into the assassination of its former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Has informed the special Court in Madras hearing the case on Friday they are yet to receive the death certificates of LTTE leader V.Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman from Sri Lankan authorities. “We treat the suspects as still absconding,” the officials told the Court. [...]

No urgency for Emirates to sell SriLankan stake

The Sri Lanka government wants to buy back the 43.6 % stake owned by Emirates Airline in SriLankan Airlines but the Middle East carrier is in no hurry to sell, according to a Abu Dhabi-based newspaper. “The Sri Lankan government has put the feelers out, but we’re not negotiating anything at the moment,” Tim Clark, [...]

IMF 3rd tranche in June if Sri Lanka is lucky

Two months after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was due to grant the third tranche of the US$ 2.6 billion loan to Sri Lanka, a fund mission this week said that it was awaiting the conclusion of the Parliamentary elections in April and the subsequent budget to ‘decide’ on this disbursement but Central Bank (CB) [...]

LTTE Defeat Could Lead To Bombings In Canada — ICG Report Warns

Canadian security officials are concerned that last year’s defeat of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels could trigger attacks like the 1985 Air India bombings, Canada’s National Post said, quoting a new report. The International Crisis Group study quotes unnamed Canadian law enforcement officials saying that supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam might resort [...]

Enter The “Stars” – Sanath and Geetha

Former Sri Lanka cricket captain, Sanath Jayasuriya took a break from a match in Kandy to give The Sunday Leader a little insight into his decision to enter politics. Q: Can you confirm that you will be running in the upcoming general election? If so, which party and what district will you represent? A: Yes, [...]

Twitter and Facebook access for US troops

US troops are to be allowed to use social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook following a review of internet use and security. Defence department officials say the benefits of using social media now outweigh the risks to security. The ruling means that a number of sites blocked by the Pentagon in 2007 – [...]

Terror probe on 6 of Fonseka’s aides

Six aides of the detained former Sri Lankan Army Commander, General Sarath Fonseka, are to be questioned by the Terrorist Investigations Department (TID). They include Fonseka’s secretary Senaka de Silva and a serving officer of the army Brig Dumina Kappetiwalana. The Colombo Magistrate on Friday gave permission to the TID to keep them in their [...]

Sri Lanka’s dissenting voices ‘silenced’

When Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected president of Sri Lanka in January, media organisations and human rights groups said they hoped the suppression of dissenting voices would end. Gen Fonseka’s detention has led to concern about opposition intimidation But those hopes have not materialised. The recent arrest of defeated presidential candidate, Gen Sarath Fonseka, is seen [...]

Sri Lankan activists seek Brit MPs’ support for ‘Global Tamil Forum’

Several Sri Lankan activists will hold meetings with senior British politicians, including Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his shadow counterpart William Hague, in London to promote a new campaign for the ethnic Tamils crushed in the South Asian country’s civil war. Miliband and Hague are among the MPs in what is a cross-party sign of [...]

General Sarath Fonseka to stand in Sri Lanka election

Gen Fonseka is accused of working with “anti-government forces” Defeated Sri Lankan presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka – currently detained in military custody – is to stand in April’s parliamentary polls. Party sources told the BBC that he would lead a new opposition alliance. Sri Lanka’s authorities have meanwhile announced a raft of possible civilian charges [...]

Sri Lanka strongly protests British Foreign Secretary’s participation at meeting of Global Tamil Forum, an LTTE front organization

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama summoned the British Acting High Commissioner in Colombo Mark Gooding to the Foreign Ministry today to express Sri Lanka’s strong protest with regard to the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband’s intent to address the London Conference of the pro-LTTE ‘Global Tamil Forum’ (GTF) today (24/2). [...]