• Sri Lankan military exercise launched in Mullaitivu


    Thousands of Sri Lankan soldiers are taking part in a military exercise in the Tamil North-East this week, with delegates from Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and the USA joining in.

  • Businessman goes missing in Trincomalee

    A Muslim businessman who travelled to Trincomalee has been declared missing on Sunday evening, reports NewsFirst.

    Police report that the man, identified as Mohammed Nazrin of Bandaragama, had travelled to the North-East for a gold auction. 

    Last month an abducted Muslim businessman was found murdered in the South.
     

  • Lasantha's body to be exhumed - reports


    According to reports in the Sri Lankan press, the body of the former Sunday Leader editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge will be exhumed. 

    Mr Wickrematunge, who was openly critical of the Rajapaksa regime, was assassinated in January 2009. 

    His grave site has been guarded by police, reports Ceylon Today

  • Sri Lanka to summon Malaysian envoy over High Commissioner attack

    Malaysia's envoy to Sri Lanka is to be summoned on Monday after Sri Lanka's High Commissioner was attacked by anti-Rajapaksa protesters in Malaysia this weekend. 

    "The Malaysian envoy in Sri Lanka would be summoned to the Ministry this morning to register protest," the deputy foreign affairs minister, Harsha de Silva was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

  • Sri Lankan president vows not to ‘bow down’ to international pressure

    Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena vowed that his government would not “bow down” to international pressure, days after meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.

    Speaking at the 65th anniversary of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party, Mr Sirisena told a crowd in Kurunegala that the international community would not be allowed to interfere with the “domestic affairs” of the island.

  • Sri Lankan High Commissioner assaulted in Malaysia amid protests

    Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia was reportedly assaulted by a group of protestors, amidst continued demonstrations against former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to the country. 

  • Ranil delivers inaugural address at Indian Ocean Conference 2016 in Singapore

    In his inaugural address to the Indian Conference 2016 in Singapore, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe called for the establishment of an Indian Ocean Order to govern the "interaction between states to ensure the safety and security of the Indian Ocean".

  • Sri Lankan army invited to join UN peacekeepers in Mali


    The Sri Lankan army has been invited to join the UN peacekeeping force in Mali, the Sunday Times reported. 

  • Lack of will for meaningful transitional justice say civil society to UN chief

    In a letter handed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, civil society organisations have criticised the Sri Lankan government lack of political will on meaningful transitional justice and its failure to establish a conducive environment for meaningful consultations on any process. 

  • UN chief tells Vali North IDPs will push for resettlement


    The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told displaced Tamils from Vali North that he would push for their resettlement into their homes, as he visited an IDP camp in the region on Friday. 

    Mr Ban had visited Jaffna as part of a three day visit to the island, where he also met with the chief minister of the Northern Provincial Council, the Tamil National Alliance, the Sri Lankan prime minister and president. 

  • Credible war crimes inquiry with international actors essential - Wigneswaran tells UN chief

     

    The chief minister of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), C V Wigneswaran told the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon who visited Jaffna on Friday that a credible war crimes was essential and that the Tamil people would not be satisfied regarding its credibility unless international judges and prosecutors were included. 

  • ‘We made big mistakes’ in Sri Lanka admits UN chief

    United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon admitted the global body made “big mistakes” and could have saved “many more human lives” during the final phase of the island's bloody armed conflict in 2009, where tens of thousands of Tamil civil

  • UN chief realises Tamils' demand for international justice - TNA

    The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a meeting on Friday in Jaffna that he fully realises the Tamil people's expectation of justice and that it must include international involvement, the TNA's spokesperson, M A Sumanthiran told reporters after the meeting. 

  • Tamils voice their plight as UN chief visits Jaffna


    Tamils in the North-East gathered outside the public library in Jaffna on Friday as the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon visited to raise awareness of their plight. 

    Reiterating their central demands of international justice for mass atrocities, end to the military occupation of their lands, release of Tamil political prisoners, repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and to find out the whereabouts of their missing loved ones, Tamils gathered carrying banners and placards, and called on the UN to make the Sri Lankan government to act.

    The demonstration took place despite a number of armed Sri Lankan military personnel being deployed to the area along with a full-scale police presence. 

  • ‘Access at a high price’ – Syria and Sri Lanka

    The ongoing crisis in Syria shows the dilemmas faced by humanitarian agencies and their “persistent deficiencies in response” said the Guardian in an editorial on Tuesday, urging the international community to learn lessons from Sri Lanka.

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