By Shanika SRIYANANDA

Social Services Minister Douglas Devananda, commending on the government's decision to relocate UN agencies and other INGOs in Vavuniya, said that civilians who were forcibly kept in Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi would cross to government controlled areas soon breaking the orders of the LTTE.

by Roland Buerk

Sri Lanka's powerful Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has said the government is on the verge of victory in the war against Tamil Tiger rebels. "In all fronts we are very superior, on the ground, the sea and air," said Mr Rajapaksa in an interview with the BBC. "Our numbers are very much greater than theirs, our firepower is much greater.

We are very confident we can win and we want to finish this very soon." About 70,000 people have been killed in one of South Asia's longest wars.

After a ceasefire fighting resumed in earnest in mid-2006 and Sri Lanka's military ejected the Tigers from the East. Attention then turned to territory controlled in the north by the rebels, who want a separate state for the ethnic Tamil minority.

UN: The Presidents of Sri Lanka and Iran agreed on the need for agricultural development especially in the developing countries in the context of assuring global food security. This understanding was expressed when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the United Nations on Thursday.

The bilateral meeting of the two leaders took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly sessions that were addressed by both leaders. The Iranian President expressed his gratitude for the very warm reception extended to him on his delegation on their recent visit to Sri Lanka, while the Sri Lankan President thanked Iran for the assistance given for important development projets, and measures that helped Sri Lanka avoid the harsh impact of the global fuel crisis.