Eight Tamil political prisoners at Anuradhapura prison continued their hunger strike for the fourth day today. 

M Sulaksan, E Thiruvarul, S Jeyachandran, R Rupan, S Thillairaj, E Jegan, S Sivaseelan and T Nirmalan are demanding they be released following a quick rehabilitation. 

A number of Tamil political prisoners remain in prison for years without charge under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). 

Tamils across the North-East have called for them to be released. 

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, M A Sumanthiran met with the 8 men yesterday. 

Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF) arrested a fishermen on Saturday in  Thalaiyadi, Maruthenkeni, Jaffna.

STF officers broke into the fisherman's house and allege a bag was found containing explosives. 

The fisherman says the explosive material was being used by him to make dynamite for fishing purposes.

The second day of Thileepan's fast unto death was marked in Jaffna and Batticaloa on Sunday.

The Sri Lankan navy attacked Tamil Nadu fishermen on Sunday, PTI reports.

Fishermen from Rameswaram were threatened by armed Sri Lankan navy personnel near Katchatheevu and around 100 boats had their catch and fishing equipment damaged.

A representative of the fishermen alleged that hundreds of thousands of rupees worth of equipment had been damaged.

Seven Tamil youths were arrested in Vavuniya for a confrontation with police during a bus search.

The youths were arrested after police stopped a bus they were travelling on in Cheddikulam.

Other passengers travelling on the bus said that the youths became confrontational as they felt the police were harassing them by questioning them excessively.

Cheddikulam police said the youths were intoxicated and arrested for obstructing the officers from carrying out their duty.

The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena recalled the country's ambassador to Vienna along with five other embassy staff for leaving his phonecalls "unanswered for several hours", the AFP reports. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Ambassador Priyanee Wijesekera recall, however remained silent on the reason for it. 

Sri Lanka's embassy in Austria also extends its purview to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Serbia. 

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has expressed concern about draft counter-terror legislation, which is intended to replace the widely criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). 

A proposal by the minister of foreign affairs, Tilak Marapana to gazette the Counter-Terrorism Bill was approved by the Cabinet on September 11. 

“There were several drafts in this regard and in the context of the particular Parliamentary Oversight Committee, we raised concerns regarding a majority of matters. We were told that the issues were addressed. We have yet to see the draft presented to the Cabinet," the TNA spokesperson and MP, M A Sumanthiran told Ceylon Today. 

A Sri Lankan diplomat was arrested last weekend for alleged human trafficking, the Italian news site, Varese7 Press, reported. 

The diplomat, whose identity remains unknown, reportedly attempted to bring two woman and two men in their twenties into Italy, for a fee of 4000 Euros per person. 

An extract from the Daily Mirror is reproduced below: 

A former Sri Lankan minister who was part of the Rajapaksa administration has admitted that surrendered Tamils, including civilians and LTTE cadre, were executed by the military during the end of the armed conflict in 2009. 

Speaking at a press conference in Colombo on September 13, the former higher education minister, S B Dissanayake highlighted the case of the LTTE military commander, Col. Ramesh. 

“Ramesh surrendered, and Ramesh was killed," Dissanayake told journalists, JDS reported. 

The Sri Lankan government has rejected news reports stating the country's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was looking to arrest the chief of defence staff, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne over his alleged involvement in helping the main suspect of a disappearance case evade arrest. 

“He was only requested to make a statement regarding the allegations against him,” Director General of the Government Information Sudarshana Gunawardena, was quoted by the state-owned Daily News site as saying.