TERRORISM – those who practise it and those who support it – has no place in Canada.Ottawa officially placed the Tamil Tigers on its list of terrorist organizations two years ago. The LTTE – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam – is the guerrilla group that’s used extortion, assassinations, suicide bombings and the forced recruitment of child soldiers in its bloody fight for an independent state within the island nation of Sri Lanka.

Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a reputed Greek shipping firm for a joint venture to transport petroleum products and supply ship fuel.

by Dayan Jayatilleka

The commentary in the local press over Sri Lanka’s defeat in the General assembly in its attempt to be re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council is proving revelatory in at least two ways. It is revealing of the spectrum of views on foreign policy and diplomacy in Sri Lankan society, and thereby simultaneously revelatory of our several collective selves, our several identities. It is a debate that is useful then, as a mirror --- but can be even more if it results in a serious discussion of the underlying core issues: who are we? What should we strive to be? Where are we, and what can we be in the world?  

The Government has appointed retired Supreme Court Judge Chandra Nihal Jayasinghe as the new Sri Lankan High Commissioner for the United Kingdom with effect from July 1 this year, sources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed www.news.lk.

by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha

A recent article by the Asian Human Rights Commission had some characteristic critiques of the requests for assistance in strengthening Human Rights in Sri Lanka made in our submissions during the Universal Periodic Review. Having heard from Basil Fernando, in a moving private missive, about the fears he entertains, and recognizing that he had some justification for those fears in the experiences he underwent in the seventies and eighties, I will not critique his critique, since it was doubtless advanced in all sincerity. However, it does highlight some of the problems we in Sri Lanka face in trying to address human rights issues whilst refusing to be browbeaten, by more insidious forces than Basil, into acquiescing in the claim that we cannot deal with our own problems.

The counter terror offensives aimed at liberating Wanni region from terror clutches continued yesterday (June 21) as troops moved further ahead crushing terror defences in the Jaffna, Vavuniya, Welioya and Mannar battlefronts. According to the military reports received from the battlefield 15 terrorists were killed, 12 others wounded and 7 more were recorded as either killed or wounded. In addition, two soldiers were killed and 9 others injured during yesterday's incidents.

All I had to do was ask him if he liked Benny Goodman or Fats Waller or Louis Armstrong. At the time, I knew nothing of his chosen musical confections, for that would have made the writing rather more about the Mervyn I knew, than the one I had to get to know through distance learning.

The EU has been in the forefront of a campaign to democratize the developing world. Its concern may be appreciated as the autocratic rulers in the global South need lessons on democracy. Respect for dissent is one of the pillars that carry democracy and the EU has been urging the so-called Third World nations to uphold that noble tenet which also underpins the principle of human rights.

An attempt is being made in some quarters to make a mountain out of a molehill over an allegation that a Sri Lankan diplomat serving abroad has advocated that the British monarchy be abolished. The envoy concerned has denied that charge and explained his position. His response carried in this newspaper the other day was clear enough to put the matter to rest. But, some pundits who don't read the original version of anything or follow-ups including clarifications but love to go by the electronic grapevine (aka e-mail) which dishes out a great deal of doctored trash keep on baying for his blood. So do some gossipy Foreign Ministry mandarins who behave like women at a public tap and treat their political bosses like mushrooms––by keeping them in the dark and feeding them with hogwash!

Former MP for Matugama Daya T. Pasquel who celebrated his 96th birthday on June 10 could be the oldest politician living in Sri Lanka. He represented Matugama electorate from 1956 to 1977 and was able to win each election with a sweeping majority.

Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Deputy Minister of Finance, making a special statement in Parliament today (June 20), said that contrary to claims made by certain quarters, there is not massive economic crisis in the country.

Poverty in Sri Lanka has become a multi-dimensional situation where low income groups are faced with a situation where basic consumer needs cannot be satisfied. The poor are faced with gaps in access to education, healthcare, water and sanitation. This tends to stifle an individual which results in the drive for personal development not taking place. This in turn contributes to the vicious cycle of poverty in the country. There are also studies that develop a relationship between poverty and terrorism in the context of the conflicts that take place in situations of inequity.

by Shamindra Ferdinando

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa wants the UNP to stop playing politics with the ongoing war effort against the LTTE.

In an interview with The Island, Rajapaksa regretted the UNP-led Opposition had chosen to undermine the military campaign which he asserted was on track despite the LTTE and its sympathisers frantically fighting to save the day.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexei Borodavkin on June 17 held consultations with Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona.