Former Sri Lankan Army General Sarath Fonseka has claimed that the LTTE had used Indian army uniforms asserting that this explains freshly uncovered evidence of war crimes, and maintained that he was willing to answer any questions over the conduct of the war.

Speaking to reporters in Colombo, Fonseka said,

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has officialy opened the country's second international airport, constructed in his hometown of Hambantota after a $209 million Chinese loan.

State television showed Rajapaksa arriving at Hambantota airport on a state-owned Sri Lankan Airlines flight, with a 213-member delegation.

Teresita Schaffer, a former US ambassador to Sri Lanka, said,

“This recent huge increase in [Chinese] money was very convenient for Rajapaksa, who wanted to show he didn’t need the west and all its talk of human rights abuses”.

Addressing a gathering at the airport, Rajapaksa stated,

"We need international funding. We have not hesitated for external loans and we will not hesitate in future as well... We have been criticised for taking loans to build this airport... The loan was not for consumption, but to build infrastructure. We will build more power stations, highways and ports".

"It is not possible to build internationally important development projects such as this solely from internal revenue. It is true that we launch most development projects from the revenue of our own country, but we need international assistance, too. This is a practice followed by other countries too. It is necessary to obtain loans to build a country. We too obtain such loans and assistance and build many things for the development of the country. Therefore, I express the gratitude of our people and our country to all of you".

Welcoming the adoption of the UNHRC resolution 22/1 on Sri Lanka, the leader of the TNA, R Sampanthan, praised India's support to it.

Asked for TNA's position on the passing of the resolution in an interview to BBC Tamil, R Sampanthan, said:

Sri Lankan authorities have denied entry to a British tourist into the country over a Buddha tattoo on his arm, deemed to be ‘disrespectful’.

42-year-old Antony Ratcliffe from Nottingham was “shocked and upset” over the decision, over what he said was “inoffensive” body art meant to be a tribute.

Speaking to the BBC he said,

The Indian government has delayed an annual 3 day defence dialogue scheduled to commence on March 23.

Official sources gave no reason for delaying the three-day talks, stating,

“The annual defence dialogue is not taking place for the time being.”

The Sri Lankan mission addressed a general debate on the Israel Palestine conflict at the 22nd United Nations Human Rights Council Session today, championing the idea of a people’s right to self determination and a sovereign state.

Commending the acceptance of Palestine as a non-member observer state at the UN, the Sri Lankan representative outlined in a short statement, that Sri Lanka supported the Palestinian people’s right to a sovereign state and condoned the occupation of land in Gaza and the West Bank.

See our tweets from Geneva below:

Around 1,000 people from  30 different unions affiliated to  the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) joined a protest on Tuesday, joining student protestors across Tamil Nadu.

Observing a token fast near Valluvar Kottam, the protestors called for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka, an independent investigation into genocide, Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa produced before the International Criminal Court and a referendum for a separate state of Tamil Eelam.

FEFSI president and director Ameer stated,

Writing in the Asian Correspondent, Frances Harrison has stated hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka “rubber stamps the Rajapaksa regime” saying that the reputation of the Commonwealth was at stake.

Extracts from the former BBC journalist and author of “Still Counting the Dead” piece entitled “Commonwealth struggles for unity amid Sri Lanka HR concerns” have been reproduced below.

See the full piece here.

“Holding the Commonwealth’s main gathering in Colombo rubber stamps the Rajapaksa regime, endorsing its extreme Sinhala chauvinist agenda and whitewashing war crimes. As the host, Sri Lanka will  head the 54-nation body for two years and automatically sit on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which is tasked with taking action on thorny issues like democracy and rule of law.”

Continuing the widespread protests across Tamil Nadu, over 1,000 students gathered at Marina Beach, Chennai on Wednesday to protest against Sri Lanka.

Deepak Johnson, a student of Madras-IIT and one of the many present at the protest, said,