by Shamindra Ferdinando

Security forces yesterday thwarted an LTTE attempt to use the grand daughter of an 84-year-old woman, seeking treatment at the Vavuniya General Hospital, to smuggle plastic explosives into the government-held area in a vehicle belonging to the ICRC.

The army said that troops had checked Ms Ketheswaran’s unusually heavy bag and found about 3.5 kilos of C-4 explosives. The deadly cargo had been kept neatly packed and meticulously stitched inside.

New Delhi (PTI): Sri Lanka today unequivocally stated that terrorist activities of the LTTE have to be dealt with militarily and any underlying causes, exploited by such outfits, should be addressed politically.

"For over two decades, Sri Lanka has been facing a tremendous challenge to our democratic way of life through barbaric actions of a terrorist group, the LTTE.”

New Delhi (PTI): Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in New Delhi late Tuesday on a three-day visit during which he is expected to apprise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the steps being taken by his government to safeguard the interests of ethnic Tamils in that country.

Rajapaksa, who is in New Delhi for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit on Thursday, was received at the airport by Minister of State for Home Shakeel Ahmed.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sri Lankan Holidays, the leisure arm of Sri Lankan Airlines, has come up with four exciting tours to the island nation to attract children and their parents to explore the beautiful country.Valid from November to January, the tours are marketed as ‘Holiday in Colombo,’ ‘Holiday on the beach,’ ‘Holiday in Negombo’ and ‘Holiday in Kandy.’Two children below of the age of 12 can accompany a minimum of two adults purchasing the holiday packages that are on offer out of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Goa, Kochi, Coimbatore, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli and Hyderabad.

New Delhi, (IANS) A special tribunal Monday upheld the government s notification of banning the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for another two years.The notification, declaring the LTTE as an unlawful association, was issued by the union Home Ministry May 15 this year.Delhi High Court judge Justice Vikramjit Sen, who was heading the special tribunal constituted under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, said there was sufficient evidence against the Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels to justify the extension of ban.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was among South Asian leaders and foreign dignitaries who attended the swearing in ceremony of the newly elected Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed which took place at Male, today (11). 

Nasheed won the run-off election for the Maldivian Presidency on October 28 with a 54% majority defeating President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who had ruled the country for 30 years. It was the first election held under new laws that widened the democratic process in the Maldives. President Rajapaksa also made a courtesy call on former President Gayoom.

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's government on Monday rejected a reiterated Tamil Tiger offer of a cease-fire out of hand, saying surrender or defeat are the only options left now for their opponents in a 25-year-old war.Analysts say the military is making gains and has the unflinching support of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in its mission to wipe out one the world's most ruthless and effective insurgent groups. Here are some scenarios of what could happen next:

FLANKING THE TIGERS: The military for the last month has said it was on the edge of the rebel capital of Kilinochchi, 330 km (205 miles) north of the capital Colombo. The fighting is heavy at several points encircling the town, and the rebels appear to be dug in well behind a maze of trenches and defences. But while the world's focus has been on that target -- the capture of which would provide a strategic advantage and a morale boost for the military -- soldiers have battled hard up the north-western coast. Troops broke through Nachikkudah, a base for the rebel "Sea Tiger" naval units, a few weeks ago after more than a month of sustained, bloody combat. That cleared the way for soldiers to sweep rebels out of the Devil's Point area north of Nachikkudah while simultaneously heading for Pooneryn.

by Dayan Jayatilleka in Geneva

The historic win of Barack Obama can help reduce ethnic prejudices and divides throughout the world, such as those between Israelis and Palestinians and Tamils and Sinhalese. This is the view expressed by Kishore Mahbubani in the Commemorative Issue of TIME magazine on the Obama election.

Mahbubani is described as one of “the world’s top ten thinkers” in the current (Nov/Dec 2008) edition of the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine published by the Washington Post foundation, and asked for his suggestions for the incoming Cabinet of President-elect Barack Obama.

COLOMBO (AFP) – Government forces in Sri Lanka have wrestled control of a small town from Tamil Tiger rebels in an ongoing military offensive, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Troops fighting to secure a strategic road along the coast to the northern peninsula of Jaffna have faced stiff resistance from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).The ministry said that the soldiers had taken Palavi, a small town on the road. It described the town as an LTTE "strongpoint."