Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged on Sunday that a draft counter-terrorism bill designed to replace the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act would be ready for discussion by next week. 

"I think by next week the first draft of the counter-terrorism law, which will be placed in the Prevention of Terrorism Act, will be available for discussion," he was quoted by New Zealand local media as saying. 

Mr Wickremesinghe is currently on an official visit of the country. 

Sri Lanka’s governor of the Northern Province pledged to give compensation to vendors affected by a fire at Kilinochichi market last week.

Reginald Cooray told affected business owners that they would each receive Rs. 25,000 in compensation for their losses, at a meeting in the Kilinochchi Divisional Secretariat Auditorium.

Locals have criticised the inadequacy of equipment available to the fire services, who had to call in the military to help tackle the blaze.

It is not yet known how the fire started.

The Ezhuga Tamil rally which drew thousands of Tamils in Jaffna last week, is “the expression of Tamil frustration witnessing the bases of their political power being compromised in favour of perpetuating Sinhala hegemony,” said exiled journalist J S Tissainayagam in the Asian Correspondent this week.

The New Zealand prime minister, John Key was urged to raise ongoing human rights concerns with the visiting Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who lands in Auckland on Saturday evening. 

Amnesty International's New Zealand director, Grant Bayldon was quoted by AFP as saying that whilst it was true progress had been made, much more needed to be done. 

Five Buddhist groups have filed a petition against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and its member organisation, Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) accusing the organisations of advocating secession in their manifesto, reported FT.lk. 

The petition was filed at court this week and a date set for November 21. 

The petitioners are representatives from five groups including, the Patriotic National Movement, Patriotic Buddhist Front Secretary, Swarna Hansa Foundation, Buddha Maha Sanvithanaya and the Jaffna Buddhist Association. 

See more here. 

The deputy chairman of the Northern Provincial Council passed away on Saturday morning after suffering an acciden whilst riding his motorcycle to Mullaitivu.  

He is believed to have suffered a heart attack following an accident and was pronounced dead at Mancholai hospital. 
 

Photographs have emerged of Sinhala Buddhist protesters brandishing death threats to the Northern Province Chief Minister during a demonstration in Vavuniya this week.

“We all need to live in peace or you rest in peace,” threatened one placard held by a protester.

Another read “Bin Ladan. Prabakaran. Now Vignashwaram (sic)." 

“Last episode will be televised soon,” it warned.

The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) looked to assure Sinhala Buddhists that any new constitution for the island will not threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Rauf Hakeem stated that a new constitution will not divide the island and that it would not be a threat to Sinhala Buddhists on the island.

See more from Colombo Gazette here.

His comments come as Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday, against Tamil demands for federalism. 

The Sri Lankan army has backtracked on its earlier admission that it kept a list of surrendering LTTE cadres in a court hearing this week, with a military commander "flatly denying" its existence.

Sri Lanka's Major General Chanayaka Gunawardena told the court that no such list existed, contradicting his statement earlier this year. The commander, who heads the army's 58th Division, said in February that the military kept a list of all those who surrendered during the final three days of the armed conflict in May 2009. None of the surrendees, who were taken prisoner by the 58th division, have been seen since.

The Sri Lankan Freedom Party's senior vice president, Nimal Siripala de Silva on Thursday accused the chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran of inciting ethnic tensions during his speech at the mass Tamil rally on September 24, Ezhuka Tamil.