The Sri Lankan army has said that senior LTTE leader Ezhilan did not surrender at the end of the war and was not detained.

A criminal lawsuit filed against former Sri Lankan military commander Jagath Jayasuriya should “act as a loud deterrent message to all would-be perpetrators” said the Sri Lankan Campaign for Peace & Justice (SLC), in a blog post examining the case today.

General Jayasuriya, who was appointed as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Brazil, fled to Sri Lanka after the lawsuits were filed last month.

Updated: 1100 GMT

The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe today presented the interim report by the steering committee established to work towards drafting a new constitution. 

Find full report here. 

The Eastern Province is to be brought under the administration of the governor after its term of office ends on September 26 until elections are held, the Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Faizer Musthapha was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

Batticaloa locals paid tribute on Thursday to 17 Tamil civilians massacred by Muslim Home Guards in Puthukudiyiruppu (Batticaloa) 27 years ago.

Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal has fixed a date for the appeal case of a Sri Lankan politician who stands accused of murdering a British national and raping his Russian girlfriend at a holiday resort in 2011.

Sampath Vidanapathirana, a close associate of former Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was convicted of the murder, after the British aid worker Khuram Shaikh was shot and stabbed whilst on holiday in Southern Sri Lankan on Christmas Day.

The Sinha Regiment of the Sri Lankan army distributed dry rations to Tamil civilians in Kilinochchi, reports an official military website.

A Tamil paramilitary leader and six others including a Sri Lankan army intelligence officer have pleaded not guilty to the murder of TNA parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham.

33 Tamils killed by Sri Lankan soldiers in Savukkadi in 1990 were remembered in Batticaloa on Wednesday, 27 years since the massacre took place.

Tamils and Muslims in Jaffna protested against the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar and called for the United Nations to intervene to end the atrocities.

The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said the Tamil National Alliance would accept the interim report by the constitutional steering committee provided the UNP and SLFP agree to it, reports The Hindu. 

Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan called for Sri Lanka’s new constitution to accept the long standing goal of recognising the identity and dignity of the Tamil speaking people.

Speaking at the launch of the Interim Report of the Steering Committee on Sri Lanka’s constitution, Mr Sampanthan said,

Sri Lanka's recently appointmed foreign minister, Thilak Marapana today defended the former army commander Jagath Jayasuriya stating there was "no provable evidence" against him, the Daily Mirror reported. 

Tamils should not be obsessed with words such as federalism, the TNA leader and leader of the Opposition, R. Sampanthan, has said, adding that a political solution may or may not come.

At a meeting of Tamil newspaper editors held at his working residence, the party leader said that while there may not be 100% satisfaction with the new constitution, it would still be an improvement.