Islam seeks to guide humanity on the right path of brotherhood, mutual understanding, cooperation and tolerance, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a message to mark Milad-Un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed.

Colombo – A former Tamil rebel military leader in eastern Sri Lanka has joined the ruling party and been named a government minister, local newspapers said Tuesday. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as "Colonel Karuna," was sworn as minister of National Integration and Reconciliation at a ceremony presided over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa Monday night, the state-run Daily News said.

Intervention of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, in the General Debate following the Reports of Special Rapporteurs and the Working Group on Disappearances, under Item 3 of the Agenda of the Human Rights Council.  

Sri Lanka welcomes the reports of the Special Rapporteurs and Working Group, which are helpful as usual and raise a number of philosophical points as well as practical ones. Whilst we appreciate the moral perspective enunciated by Mr Martin Schenin, we must also sympathize with the Government of the United Kingdom who have lost three servicemen recently to terrorist activity.

COLOMBO (AFP) — At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday and another 60, including a government minister, were wounded in a suicide bombing in southern Sri Lanka blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said.

The attacker targeted politicians attending a function at a mosque in the town of Akuressa, and came as the ethnic rebels continue to lose ground in the face of a fierce government offensive on their shrinking northeast base.

The attacker targeted politicians attending a mosque in Akuressa

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must release the hostages it has held for so long

Sir, The United Nations Secretary-General did send a representative to Sri Lanka, with the full co-operation of the Sri Lankan Government (letter, Mar 6). Archbishop Tutu and his co-signatories should read his report and add their voice to those demanding that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) releases the hostages it has held for thus long.

The sky is his terrain. His life is synonymous with the Sri Lanka Air Force as he is the son of a former Air Force Commander.  Having lost his best friend and younger brother to enemy fire, he has braved personal loss to guide the Air Force to its current glory. His commitment and strategic direction has paved the way for numerous Air Force victories. Under his command the Air Force has developed to a truly modern and high-tech fighting force. He has successfully confronted the world’s first-ever terrorist air wing.

Click here to read Air Force Commander's interview with Business Today. 

Courtesy: Defence.lk

Professor Rajiva Wijesinghe interviewed by Sri Lanka Guardian’s Udara Soysa

(Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)  

Greetings Professor Wijesinghe. Please tell us briefly how you view the current political- military situation in Sri Lanka? 

The military situation is comparatively satisfactory, in that the LTTE is on the verge of military defeat. However, since they managed to prepare a defence line of human shields, with no one bothering about preventing this when it might have been easy, our forces now have to move very carefully, which means very slowly. Meanwhile, in addition to using these civilians as physical shields, the LTTE is also trying to use them to get the world to try to stop the forces from advancing.

Economic Contributions

Women in Sri Lanka are unsung heroines in their contributions to Sri Lanka's economy. Working as migrant workers, tea pluckers, and in garment factories, many women have made significant sacrifices in order to invest in the education of their children and the well being of their families and society.

At least 200 terrorists were killed, as many wounded and over 150 LTTE bodies recovered by Sri Lankan security forces, following heavy fighting that broke out between troops and LTTE since last Thursday (March 5), at the Mullaittivu battlefront South of Chalai and Palamathalan. The 55 Division, 58 Division including Special Force (SF) and Commando troops comprehensively neutralized the LTTE offensive waves also seizing a large haul of weapons, security sources said.

The photograph shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov being greeted by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, on Saturday. Foreign Minister Lavrov delivered a landmark speech at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Saturday March 7^th, the day after he and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had met in Geneva, and symbolically pressed a re-set button for the improvement of US-Russian strategic relations. In his address Sergey Lavrov said that the present moment was the best time for progress on disarmament issues since the end of the Cold War. Ambassador Jayatilleka who is coordinator of the agenda item of the Disarmament Conference on general and comprehensive disarmament, thanked Minister Lavrov for the support extended to Sri Lanka by Russia, including in all UN forums. Minister Lavrov whose first diplomatic posting was Sri Lanka, also exchanged a few words in Sinhala with Dr. Jayatilleka.

Colombo (PTI): Suspected LTTE rebels on Monday launched heavy artillery attacks on a government ship carrying 500 metric tonnes of food and rations for the displaced people in the embattled north of Sri Lanka, officials said.

Once they were LTTE child combatants, now in the protective environment of a rehabilitation centre off Colombo, these youth are honing skills that will lead them to a future without guns and bombs.

Washington: Holding the Tamil Tigers responsible for the "increasing sufferings" of civilians in Sri Lanka's embattled north, the US on Friday asked the outlawed LTTE to stop lobbying shells and shooting guns out of the safe zone declared by the government.

by Muttukrishna Sarvananthan

On the very same day of the announcement by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) about a Stimulus Package for Finance and Leasing Companies of Sri Lanka in order to weather “some stresses… observed in a few Registered Finance Companies (RFCs) and Specialized Leasing Companies (SLCs)” as a result of the global and domestic financial crunch, not to be outdone, few members of the Tamil Diaspora in North America “suggested donation” of “US$50.00 or more” (per person) in order to prevent the extinction of an endangered species (aka Tamil Tigers) in their imagined homeland of Tamil Eelam at a “MEGA Rally” organized by the “Tamils Against Genocide” (TAG) in Washington, DC, U.S.A on Friday, February 20, 2009. Although the pretence for the solicitation of the aforementioned donation was to cover the expenses for “blown-up photographs of refugees, placards, banners, rally mega-phones, water bottles”, as usual the intent was bankrolling the dwindling species of their tribe back home.

The government said on Friday (06^th) that all international aid for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) should be channelled through the government and not sent directly to INGOs operating in the country in order to have better accountability.

The army had repulsed two large scale counter offensives last Thursday and Friday causing heavy damage to the LTTE. At least 150 LTTE cadres had been killed in clashes, mainly with the 58 Division, the army said.

By Dhaneshi YATAWARA

The Alpha 9 of Sri Lanka or better known as A9 road is progressing to return to her busy schedule like in those good old days. It not only connects two different cities but it heralds peace and harmony of two different ethnicities. A peaceful A9 symbolizes a traditional bond between the North and the South of our motherland. The A9 was closed in 1984 when the LTTE attacked the Pooneryn defences of the Sri Lanka Army which posed a threat to the Elephant Pass. Years later, the A9 was reopened on 8 April 2002 after the Ceasefire Agreement between the Government and the LTTE was concluded. Again in 2006, while the truce was in operation, the A9 had to be closed down due to the massive LTTE attack on Muhamalai entry exit point.

COLOMBO (AFP) — More than 100 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in two days of fighting in Sri Lanka as they tried to break a military stranglehold, the defence ministry said on Sunday.

They died when the army beat back a series of counter-attacks Friday and Saturday by the Tiger rebels against advancing government forces in the district of Mullaittivu in the northeast.

by P.Krishnaswamy  

A cross section of the Wanni civilians who had fled terrorist held areas and now housed in 12 transit camps in Vavuniya would be moved to the newly constructed semi-permanent housing units in the 1000-acre Kadirgamar Welfare village in Menik Farm a week ahead of the forthcoming Sinhala/Tamil New Year with all necessary facilities, Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services told the "Sunday Observer".

A special exposition of the sacred Tooth Relic has been opened at the Historic Dalada Maligawa today (06), and President Mahinda Rajapaksa worshipped the sacred Tooth Relic, inaugurating the rare religious ritual taken place after a six-year lapse from the last exposition.