"the threatening and the international pressure are not the path for us to go forward. The international community should give us a vote of trust, because the Sri Lankan government has the greatest will to do things right and is dedicating great resources to reconciliation and reconstruction. We have the institutions to solve our problems,"

"It is a mistake to apply selective and subjective standards to Sri Lanka. The UNHRC must consider the facts, by their own merits,"

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for the immediate release of Indian journalist Tamil Prabhakaran, who was detained by Sri Lankan security forces on Wednesday.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said today that the current war census being carried out by the Sri Lankan government to consolidate the number of dead and disappeared over the 20 year civil war was improper.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said in his annual Christmas message that he sends his “warmest good wishes […] to all Christians in Sri Lanka”.

"In this season of loving and giving, Christians seek to break the barriers that divide people, whether by race, ethnicity, religion, caste, wealth or social status.

The son of a leading civil society activist was kidnapped by masked and armed men in Jaffna earlier this morning, after his family had left the house to attend a tsunami memorial event.

22-year-old Thamilamuthan Suriyakumaran, the son of Kanthavanam Suriyakumaran - president of the Northern Province Fishermen's Federation, was alone at the family home in Point Pedro in Jaffna, when masked intruders came to the house between 4-5 am.

Thamilamuthan managed to send a text message to his family, stating that 4 masked men carrying handguns had then kidnapped him and taken him to the Point Pedro army camp.

President of the TNPF, GG Ponnambalam tweeted earlier that Thamilamuthan had spoken to his sister, saying that he was being held in the jungle and was ‘frightened for his life’. He also reported that the Sri Lankan police are refusing to believe his son was abducted, labelling it a ‘scam’.