The Island newspaper has reported that the US government recommended the Sri Lankan government to acquire cluster bombs, to strengthen the army against the LTTE.

"Frankly, Rapp is preparing the ground for human rights violations allegations against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in March. That was the ulterior motive of his visit to Sri Lanka. We are not surprised at this tweet, as we know that he came to make this kind of statements here, but we urge the members of the UNHRC not to be misled by this kind of imprudent diplomatic mission.”

Whilst meeting the US Ambassador at large for War Crimes, Stephen J. Rapp, Catholic bishops called for an international investigation into Sri Lanka’s use of cluster bombs and chemical weapons against Tamil civilians.

Rev. Rayappu Joseph and Rev. Thomas Saundaranayaga briefed Rapp, who was accompanied by US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison, on the use of such weapons by Sri Lankan government forces as well as attacks on hospitals and places of worship, alongside the blockade of food and medicine to Tamil civilians.

A senior military official has said that Tamils in Jaffna are not “pure blood” anymore, due to the amount of blood donated by the Sri Lankan military to Jaffna hospital, reported News First (in Tamil).

An event was held in Vavuniya earlier this week, marking 14 years since the assassination of Tamil politician Kumar Ponnambalam.

Held at the Vavuniya Urban Council, the event saw speakers from across the North-East pay tribute to the prominent human rights lawyer, who was gunned down in Colombo. The Sri Lankan government was accused of being behind the murder, and to date no one has been brought to justice.

Amongst those addressing the audience at the event was the Bishop of Mannar Rayappu Joseph, who stated that Ponnambalam’s advocacy and ideologies continues to encourage people to fight for Tamil rights. He went on to say that it was well known that Sri Lankan government won't concede anything to the Tamils, noting that the Tamils are a Nation, they deserve rights and they deserve to rule themselves in their traditional lands.

Hear more of his speech in Tamil below.

The memorial event was organised by the party Kumar Ponnambalam once led, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, which is now part of the Tamil National People’s Front and led by his son Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam.

The Tamil Guardian caught up with the Tamil National Alliance's Batticaloa District Parliamentarian, P. Ariyanenthiran in a phone interview last month, and discussed issues such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Northern Provincial Council elections and the TNA's future plans.

See full interview below.