Sri Lanka’s president said his government was under “no compulsion” to implement a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling for an internationalised accountability mechanism, as he addressed a gathering of Sri Lankan soldiers on Monday.

The official Ministry of Defence website quoted Maithripala Sirisena as telling the soldiers “it is his duty and responsibility to protect war heroes who fought to bring freedom to the country”.

China's bank is to establish its South Asian branch in Sri Lanka the country's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, told parliament on Tuesday. 

“China agreed to set up the branch here in Colombo at the proposed financial city,” Mr Wickremesinghe was quoted by the LBO as saying. 

Sri Lanka's Speaker, Karu Jayasuriya, signed the Office on Missing Persons Bill on Tuesday, making it into a legal act, Colombo Page reported. 

The bill has received criticism from Tamil families who expressed concern about the lack of adequate consultation prior and lack of emphasis over justice for disappearances. 

Muslim and Tamil students at the University of Peradeniya were attacked by Sinhala students on Monday night.

The group, made up of 15 Tamil students and one Muslim student were set upon by a gang of Sinhala youths as they made their way back from a Hindu temple and a mosque. Female students in the group were told to leave the scene by the gang before they assaulted the Tamil-speakers with clubs.

A protest march was held in Kilinochchi on Monday, demanding justice for the thousands of disappeared Tamils and an end to the creation of Sinhala-Buddhist settlements in the Tamil homeland.

A group of Tamil women called for a quota for female politicians to be instituted during consultations by the Jaffna Zonal Task Force of the Consultation Task Force earlier this month. 

The Sri Lankan president was left waiting in his car whilst on a trip to Tirumala on Sunday, in what has been described as a major lapse in his security.

The proposal by a Sri Lankan presidential commission for “accountable amnesties” for those guilty of violating international humanitarian law is “not a real way forward” said James Ross, Legal and Policy Director at Human Rights Watch.

Mr Ross said the idea of “accountable amnesties” for such grave crimes was an oxymoron, as he criticised the commission’s recommendations of running contrary to an earlier UN Human Rights Council resolution, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade said the foreign ministry was fully aware of the hiring of a US lobby firm to help the government's international ties.

A Muslim businessman was reported missing on Sunday after reports that he had recently complained to the CID about frauds committing by other business people amounting to Rs 70 million, the Daily Mirror reported. 

The 29 year old man, named as Mohammed Sakeem Sulaiman was reported missing by his family. 

A Tamil mother holds a photograph of her missing son at a protest outside Sri Lanka's presidential commission sitting in Jaffna last year.

Sri Lanka’s presi

The Sri Lankan government has hired yet another lobby firm based in the United States, reports the Sunday Times.

The Sri Lankan army has denied reports that it will be closing down camps in the Eastern province.

Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa criticised his predecessor Chandrika Kumaratunga this week, rubbishing her claim that “75%” of the war against the LTTE had been completed under her government.

"The aristocrats can make all sorts of claims, but the people of this country know the truth,” said Mr Rajapaksa. “They are the best judges."