By Jamila Najmuddin

Foreign diplomats in Sri Lanka were taken to camps housing internally displaced people in Vavuniya, yesterday, and given a first hand view of the conditions at these camps and the measures taken by the government to assist the displaced people, a foreign ministry official said.  

Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona, Resettlement Minister Rishard Bathiudeen and senior officials from the foreign ministry accompanied the diplomats who were flown to Vavuniya via Anuradhapura last morning.

The government has urged the UNHCR to rethink its policy of designating only International NGOs as its partners as it did in Sri Lanka last year.  

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat and Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights said that the United Nations must work with government or with local organisations.

By Quintus Perera - Asian Tribune 

Colombo (Asiantribune.com): An old girl of Museus College and a first year undergraduate of the Colombo University, Ms Dilshani Gunawardena is the latest Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) World Prize Winner for Finance Accounting and Tax Principals at the examinations held last November.

“Offensives inside the remaining entire un-cleared area of less than 45 sq km, inclusive of the reserved ‘Safety Zone’ for fleeing civilians, should be carried out taking all possible safety precautions with utmost precision, since the number of civilians thronging into the area is now fast swelling,” so said Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, when he met his senior ground commanders Wednesday (4) morning at the Vanni Security Forces Headquarters in Vavuniya.

The Sri Lankan delegation to the on-going High-Level Segment of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva met with the UN High-Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navenethem Pillai, today, on the third day of the High-Level Segment. 

Statement of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat and Secretary to the Ministry of Human Rights and Disaster Management exercising the right of reply at the High Level Segment of the 10th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Amrith Rohan Perera 

“Government understood that fighting terrorism is a collective effort. Unlike previous defense secretaries, Gotabaya Rajapaksa understood the importance of working with everyone. He built a first rate team drawing the leaders within the army, navy, air force, intelligence, police, foreign ministry and other government agencies and got them to work together. During the past two years sustained pressure was applied on the LTTE crippling the LTTE support and operational networks. It was good government leadership that made the LTTE suffer.”

www.chinaview.cn

NEW DELHI (Xinhua) -- India said on Tuesday it will not buckle under any threat from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels of Sri Lanka, who warned New Delhi with consequences for demanding a safe passage of civilians caught in the fighting between government forces and LTTE.

The Associated Press

Colombo, Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan troops captured a key crossroads outside the last rebel-held town Tuesday after fierce fighting with Tamil Tiger guerrillas, the military said.The capture of the junction outside the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu came as government forces battled to destroy the rebel group and end the country's 25-year-old civil war.