A group of Eelam Tamil refugees and a Malaysian citizen have commenced a hunger strike, after being quarantined and charged with a range of offences at a refugee camp in Tiruchirapalli, India.

The group of 26 people, which includes 25 refugees who have fled from Sri Lanka and a Malaysian citizen, are being charged with illegal entry into India and for being associated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a banned organisation in the country.

The hunger strikers have called for the cases against them to be completed as soon as possible.

A South Korea Destroyer and Combat Support Ship docked at Colombo port this week, where they were ceremoniously greeted by the Sri Lankan navy.

The Sri Lankan president accused Norway of funding the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the three-decade ethnic conflict reports Colombo Page.

Speaking at a function in Kurunegala on Sunday, Mahinda Rajapaksa, alleged that the government had received evidence suggesting the former Norwegian government’s involvement in funding the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan president said that the Norwegian government and peace envoy, Eric Solheim, had discouraged him from pursuing a military solution, reports Colombo Page.

The Sri Lankan government has announced Rs 45.5 million got welfare grants to disabled soldiers and their children from the military.

The grants, which were organised by the Ranawiru Seva Authority (RSA) were presented by the Secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at a ceremony on November 14.

The ceremony was also attended by General Jagath Jayasuriya. See more here.

A land survey carried out by military personnel in the Vettrilaikeni Kattaikadu Mulli region and Vadamarachchi East was halted on Thursday morning, after locals protested against further land grabs.

The surveyors arrived in the morning together with a large number of police officers.

"More than 3 acres of land were going to be surveyed today in Vadamaratchi East, Vettrilaikenu]i Kattaikadu Mulli region for military use, without land owners knowing," Northern Provincial Council member P. Gajatheepan told Uthayan.

2nd lead

The murder weapon used to shoot dead a former LTTE policeman at his home in Mannar on Wednesday night was found by sniffer dogs in Vellankulam on Friday morning, 200m away from the site of the shooting.

The victim, 34 year old Naguleshwaran Krishnasuwamy was in his own backyard working towards constructing his own home on Wednesday night, when unidentified gunmen entered his house and shot him at 8.30pm.

The Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph condemned the killing of a former LTTE police officer by unidentified gunmen on Wednesday night, and called on the international community to ensure an end to extrajudicial killings.

"[The latest killing] is an apparent bid by the gunmen to create a fear psychosis among the war-ravaged people in the North once again," the Mannar bishop was quoted as saying by Colombo Mirror.

The Jaffna University teachers' union condemned the heavy presence of military personnel around the university, stating that it was leading to widespread fear amongst students, reports Uthayan.

The heightened military presence comes days before the Tamil nation's remembrance day event - Maaveerar Naal - on November 27, which has been a focal point of military deployment across the North-East since the end of the armed conflict in an attempt to clamp down on memorial events.

"This [military presence] cannot be accepted, this has caused fear amongst not only the university students but amongst the entire university society.  The opportunity to learn independently will only occur when the army is discharged from the university environment," the union said on Friday.