Tiger Leader personally recruiting civilians by force 

As the Sri Lanka Army speeds up its advance into the remaining 63 square kilometres of land controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), its chief Velupillai Prabhakaran had reportedly told his senior leaders that he would not leave the country and would fight the military until his death. According to the civilians and the LTTE cadres who had surrendered to the military, it has been revealed that most of the senior level leaders such as Pottu Amman, Soosai and Prabhakaran’s son Charles Anthony themselves are leading from the front in the battlefield under the direct command of Prabhakaran.

Address by HE President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the launch of the Sri Lanka National Campaign against the Recruitment of Children for Use in Armed Conflict  

“Distinguished Guests. Ladies and Gentlemen,

We meet today to launch an important campaign, one of the most important campaigns for the future of our society. There are many who would say that this should have been launched earlier. But, even at this late stage, this is something we owe to our children, who will be our future, and for whom we must be ready to make the biggest sacrifices.

Colombo:  Sri Lanka will host the first energy efficient lighting Center of Excellence in South Asia, thanks to funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  The Regional Center for Energy Efficient Lighting (RCEEL) will serve as a research hub to develop new lighting technology to be used in Sri Lanka and South Asia.  Rebecca Cohn, USAID Mission Director, and Dr. Krishan Deheragoda, Chairman of the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) of the Government of Sri Lanka, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the project on Tuesday, February 24, 2009.

Source: Government of Japan