The call by the Foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama on President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan in Kabul on 24th June, had as its outcome a clear meeting of minds on the need for SAARC to resolutely address the contemporary challenges facing the South Asian region. Towards this end the energy crisis, the rising food prices and the suppression of terrorism were identified as requiring a special focus during the forthcoming SAARC Summit in Colombo.

By: B. Muralidhar Reddy

Three obituary posters found by troops operating in the Mannar battlefront have revealed the details of 150 LTTE cadres including at over 20 child soldiers killed in one month. According to the defence sources, the posters were found on a billboard in a recently captured office of an LTTE regional leader in the Karakakulam area.

The army had opened a new front on west of Jaffna-Kandy road to flank 57 Division.

Military spokesman Brigadier Uadaya Nanayakkara said the newly created Task Force 11 would advance northwards while the 57 Division stepped up pressure on the LTTE holding on to Periyamadu, about 16 kilometers north of Madhu.

The Associated Press ,

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka has appointed a ministerial-level committee to investigate allegations that local journalists trying to cover the country's civil war have been threatened and harassed, a senior government official said Tuesday.

Inquiries have revealed that a majority of complaints made to the Police on abductions and disappearances are not genuine. Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Abductions, Disappearances and Unrevealed Carnage Mahanama Tilakaratne claimed these had been committed for personal reasons.

Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) and the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) signed an MoU to promote trade and investment between Sri Lanka and India.

The Government is fully committed and prepared to make sacrifices and be committed to protect all faiths and their associated sites of worship asserted President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday at a ceremony to donate financial aid to religious institutions held at the Presidential Secretariat.

Britain was given the opportunity to grasp an important point the other day. The United Nations Human Rights Council took advantage of a regular review of the situation there to urge the British government to call a referendum on the formulation of a written constitution and preferably a republican one that would confer sovereignty on the people instead of vesting it in the British monarchy.

MANNAR: Today (24) from 7.30am troops have captured 3 square km areas in North of ADAMPAN. Troops have advanced from MULLIKKANDAL, MINNANIRANCHAN and MARATTIKANNADI areas.

The President of Iran, who recently visited Sri Lanka in what was his first ever official visit to the region, has issued an order related to encouraging and supporting investments between Iran and Sri Lanka, according to sources from Tehran.