Rauff Hakeem, after meeting with the UNP leader and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, told press that the SLMC had decided that it was in its best interests to contest with the UNP

The family of the detained was told that 30 year old Konespapillai Kugadesan was a former LTTE member and had been detained for further rehabilitation.

At least six Tamil village (GS) officers in the Northern Province have been called for  rehabilitation at a military camp in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil village officers, who work in the district of Kilinochchi, have been advised to attend the rehabilitation programme to keep their jobs. Some of the officers called for the rehabilitation programme are mothers of new born babies, reports Tamilnet.

The UPFA has agreed to nominate former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the election on its ticket.

UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha, SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva informed Mr. Rajapaksa about President Sirisena’s decision earlier today, the Daily Mirror reported.

The United National Party (UNP) reiterated that it would not allow an international war crimes inquiry to investigate former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and former army chief Sarath Fonseka.

Speaking to media on Monday, Deputy Minister of Justice Sujeewa Senasinghe said the world “is aware of the fact that our leaders and the armed forces have carefully conducted this war to save the civilians”.

“We will not allow any international probe against Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka,” Minister Senasinghe said, according to the Colombo Mirror.

“We give that pledge. Nobody can play fool with us and ours is an independent democratic country. We pledge that we will not allow our leaders or the armed forces to be tried before international tribunals”.

The General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena, Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, said the new party launched by the Buddhist group would contest the general election with the main objective of representing the Sinhala community.

“While we have many small parties representing the Tamils and the Muslims, we do not have any one representing the Sinhalese. A lot of people are against monks entering parliament but we are doing so as today the political culture in Sri Lanka is very bad,” Mr Gnanasara said.

The World Bank has approved a US$ 165 million loan to Sri Lanka to help improve access to drinking water and sanitation.

The districts of Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Monaragala, Kegalle and Ratnapura, will see an increase in access to piped water services and improved sanitation, said the World Bank in a press release on Friday.

Calling on Tamils to vote for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the upcoming parliamentary elections, Suren Surendiran, said,

The NGO, Together Against Genocide (TAG, formerly Tamils Against Genocide) has welcomed the prosecution of Sri Lankan Army Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake for the Mirusuvil Massacre, but has said that much more must be done to end impunity.

Rathnayake has been sentenced to death over the massacre of eight Tamil civilians, including two children, who were arrested by Sri Lankan security forces and subsequently murdered and buried in a mass grave in December 2000.

The drawn out timeline of the trials and the fact that only one out of fourteen soldiers originally implicated has been convicted reveals a failure of the Sri Lankan Judicial Authority, TAG said in a statement on Sunday. The organisation has demanded that Sri Lanka ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; allow the ICC to investigate all instances of war crimes and violations of international law; and co-operate with the UN investigation human rights violations.

TAG also urged the international community to refer the incidences to the ICC; and to urge the Sri Lankan government to promote international justice and protect witnesses to atrocities.

“The Sri Lankan judicial authorities are clearly unwilling to proceed with criminal trials against the Sri Lankan Army,” the organisation highlighted, calling for efforts to trace command responsibility to higher levels of the army.

A suspect in the murder case of TNA MP Nadarajah Raviraj was released on bail earlier today.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Nirosha Fernando granted bail to Captain Samantha Munasinghe on a cash bail of Rs25,000 and a Rs500,000 surety bail.

Mr Munasinghe earlier this month filed a fundamental rights petition, alleging illegal detention by the CID.

Mr Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo in November 2006, at a time when the capital was heavily fortified by Sri Lanka's military. The government was accused of being behind the attacks by the TNA, diaspora organisations and the UNP. The US led international criticism of the government and urged it to conduct an investigation.