Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary and a frontrunner in next month’s presidential elections, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has vowed to free all Sri Lankan soldiers that he claimed had been imprisoned on “absurd charges”.

Demonstrations were held by Tamil families of the disappeared across the North-East last week to mark Children’s Day.

Protestors held photographs of the Tamil children and babies who had disappeared when their families surrendered to the Sri Lankan army in May 2009.

The families also sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, urging her to investigate the fates of the disappeared children.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) announced it will support former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa in next month’s presidential election, in a landmark move this morning.

The Vice Chancellor of Jaffna University was dismissed earlier this year on “national security” grounds reports the Daily Mirror this week, with the Sri Lanka government refusing to give any further information into the incident.

Hundreds of German Tamils attended an event in Stuttgart last week, to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who fasted to death in 1987, appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.

The British High Commissioner to Colombo has announced more than £10 million in funding to Sri Lanka over the next three years for the explicit aims of long-term stability. 

Sarah Hulton, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, stated that these funds would further support “peacebuilding and dialogue, supporting resettlement and livelihood for displaced communities and strengthening the rule of law”.

Sri Lanka risks alienating Muslims with its response to the Easter Sunday attacks, warned the International Crisis Group (ICG), calling on Colombo to “lower communal tensions” on the island.

The UK’s Metropolitan Police announced that four “Sri Lankan nationals” were arrested on “suspicion of being a member of a proscribed organisation”, as they arrived into the country this weekend.

The four were arrested on arrival at Luton Airport on Saturday, 5 and Sunday, 6 October.

A demonstration was held in Jaffna last week, demanding former Sri Lankan defence secretary and presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa appear before the courts and give answers on a habeas corpus case of two disappeared Tamil youths.

Hundreds of Tamils gathered outside Downing Street on Sunday, to call on the British government to take action on Sri Lanka over the forcible disappearance of Tamil children.

<p>President Maithripala Sirisena said the Easter Sunday bombings were a "cowardly attempt" to discourage his nationwide narcotics crackdown.</p> <p>Sirisena, speaking at a ceremony in Colombo, said that he had given continous leadership throughout his political career to prevent destruction caused by the drug menace. He claimed that the island was able to reap many benefits of drug prevention programmes before the deadly attack.</p>

The United National Party’s (UNP) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa has vowed to defend the “territorial integrity” of Sri Lanka, in a speech that will appeal to hardline Sinhala Buddhists ahead of next month’s elections.

Speaking at a rally in Moratuwa on Saturday, Premadasa declared that he will “create a developed and proud Sri Lanka with dignity and respect for the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of our motherland”.

<p>Sri Lanka urged India on Friday,&nbsp;to remove trade barriers to ensure better economic cooperation among South Asian countries.</p> <p>Speaking at the India Economic Summit, Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, Harsha de Silva, asked India to remove restrictions on tea imports from Sri Lanka. He also told the Summit that India's ban on the export of onions had "major impact on prices."</p>

A Sri Lankan court has dismissed a court case filed against Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the island’s former defence secretary accused of orchestrating mass atrocities, as he filed his nomination papers for the upcoming presidential elections earlier this morning.