Angry mobs attacked police stations in Valaichennai, Samanthurai and Potuvil in Sri Lanka’s east on Thursday and Friday respectively, ColomboPage reported.

See reports here and here.

Predominantly, Valaichennai is inhabitated by Tamils, Samanthurai and Potuvil by Muslims.

Comments by Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada. For full text click here.

From a recent Reuters’ fact-box (see full text here), with added details from the BBC and others:

Trade

“As evidence of the Sri Lankan army’s mass killings mounts, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s charm offensive is proving to be a futile exercise. It’s time the president and his younger brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa stopped seeking solace in a deliberate state of denial and realised that they can no more cover up the horrendous crimes committed against innocents on their orders.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) released Wednesday a report drawing attention to one of the most crucial yet overlooked humanitarian issues of today: violence against health care.

The 24-page report is available here.

These are comments on Tuesday by US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland came in response to questions posed by Headlines Today television’s Washington correspondent Tejinder Singh.

Extracts from Krishan Francis’ report for AP (see the full text here):

An article by Professsor Minxin Pei in The Diplomat provides some answers.

Much of the world has been watching the debt crisis in the United States with trepidation in recent weeks, but one actor has been particularly nervous: China.

China Radio International’s Tamil service enjoys the widest reach of all its channels and Tamils comprise the state-owned broadcaster’s fast-growing overseas fan base.

The United States has formally told Sri Lanka that it wants the final report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) discussed at the 19th sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next March, the Sunday Times reported.

The body of a prominent Sri Lankan human rights activist missing since February last year has been found, the United Nations said Friday.

Pattani Razeek, managing trustee of non-governmental organisation the Community Trust Fund, was exhumed by police on Thursday after a tip-off from two suspects arrested in relation to the case, the UN said.

"The Tamil people’s demand is that they exercise full powers of self-rule within their homeland consisting of a merged North and East. Once again, the Tamil people have declared that they will not relinquish their political aspirations.

Below are extracts from a frontline Sri Lankan soldier’s eye witness account of what happened in the final days of the war in May 2009 (see Channel 4's report here):

A Sri Lanka Army officer has given Channel 4 his account of how, following orders from Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajap