Canada has done its best to end the long-running conflict in Sri Lanka, but will not bow to pressure to remove the Tamil Tigers from the list of banned terrorist groups, a Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said.

The decision of the government to declare a ceasefire over the New Year period has met with they type of reaction that suggests how difficult it is to achieve peace when so many influential and noisy international actors are full of destructive preconceptions.

In the last few weeks I have received a number of questions from readers for which there are no simple answers. I have tried to answer some of these inconvenient questions, although my answers may not satisfy all.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s directive to the Sri Lankan armed forces to observe a 48-hour pause in their victorious offensive operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam may be “less than the full humanitarian pause of several days” pressed for by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon but it will be greeted with relief worldwide. Coinciding with the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, this concession from a position of total military dominance is aimed at securing safe passage for an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 civilians.

At a time when the country awaits the dawn of peace and prosperity we are happy to welcome the Sinhala and Tamil New Year which brings the promise of a new awakening to our people, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a Sinhala and Tamil New Year message.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka in a Sinhala and Tamil New Year message has expressed the hope that the public will celebrate this festival in an unprecedented manner with the dawn of peace with the total elimination of terrorism from Sri Lanka.

Dr. Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary, met with top U.S. State Department officials on Friday 10 April 2009. The end of the 25-year-long conflict with the terrorist LTTE was at the core of the discussions.

The Editor 

The Guardian  

Sir,

Your editorial of 11^th April was right in spirit but wrong as to several facts. The way to end the suffering of the civilians trapped in the no-fire zone is for the LTTE, which trapped them, to let them go.

With my adoration of things British, I had always thought of British Parliamentarians as splendid creatures. And I suppose they are, in a way, in that the latest set of effusions puts any exaggerations our Parliamentarians can manage in the shade. Of course the poor creatures are suffering from that well known disease of Parliamentarians, the need to hang on to one’s seat, and some British Labour MPs have a heightened form of this, given the proximity of the next election and the current state of Labour in the polls. But even so, the hysterical exaggerations they have engaged in recently deserve our deepest admiration, and perhaps emulation, if Sri Jayewardenepura is ever to match up to Westminster. And since it seems that some releases from the Peace Secretariat have contributed to the mania, I suppose we can also take some credit for these latest examples of the bludgeoning that has replaced the cut and thrust of an earlier age.

Visiting Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday evening met Libyan President and Chairman of the African Union Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and discussed the ‘international issues of common interest and coordinating stances at international arenas’.  

Reports said that President Rajapaksa has renewed his and his country’s congratulations to the leader for being selected by Africa to be Chairman of the African Union, commending his leading role and several initiatives to bring about security and peace around the world.

by Dayan Jayatilleka

Let me get this right. Two hundred and thirteen years since the first British colonial ships landed in Sri Lanka, a ship is setting sail from Britain, launched at an event with banners and posters (Vanangaman: “Mercy Mission to Wanni”) bearing the map of Tamil Eelam, patronized by politicians and personalities of the former colonial occupier; a ship which hopes to enter the territorial waters of Sri Lanka without our permission and in violation of our sovereignty, at a time when our Navy is involved in the closing battles against a separatist terrorist army.

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) will promote exchanges and cooperation with the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to boost bilateral ties, said a senior CPC official here Thursday.

M.R. Narayan Swamy

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi has come under vicious attack in Tamil Tiger media over India's failure to end the war in Sri Lanka, worrying the Indian security establishment.

In media controlled or influenced by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and also in pro-LTTE street protests, fingers are being pointed at New Delhi for the stinging military reverses the Tigers have suffered.

By: Nlantha Ilangamuwa

(Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Top Indian military analyst Col. R. Hariharan has scoffed at the LTTE's claims that Sri Lankan troops had used chemical weapons in the ongoing conflict.

The former head of intelligence to IPKF in Sri Lanka also described the latest LTTE allegations against the military as false propaganda.

Many Sri Lankan expatriates in Switzerland have recently got together to collect and send a consignment of Swiss chocolates to Sri Lankan soldiers of the Special Forces Regiment (based in Mullaittivu) fighting against LTTE terrorists in the northern war front in Sri Lanka.

The expatriate association ‘Sri Lankan Diaspora - Switzerland’ initiated this generous gesture and collected chocolates from Sri Lankan expatriates residing in Basel, Bern, Fribourg, Geneva and Zurich.

Home Ministry issues alert  

Worries are mounting in New Delhi about intelligence reports of the strong prospect of an attack on the Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi, her children, and other top political leaders of India by the LTTE, during the current election time in India.

The Governing Board of the SAARC Cultural Centre held its first meeting at Galadari Hotel in Colombo on 6-7 April 2009 with the participation of Members from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and officials of the SAARC Secretariat. 

The Meeting followed the ceremonial opening of the Office of the SAARC Cultural Centre in Colombo on 25 March by Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama.