The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) looked to assure Sinhala Buddhists that any new constitution for the island will not threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Rauf Hakeem stated that a new constitution will not divide the island and that it would not be a threat to Sinhala Buddhists on the island.

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His comments come as Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday, against Tamil demands for federalism. 

The Sri Lankan army has backtracked on its earlier admission that it kept a list of surrendering LTTE cadres in a court hearing this week, with a military commander "flatly denying" its existence.

Sri Lanka's Major General Chanayaka Gunawardena told the court that no such list existed, contradicting his statement earlier this year. The commander, who heads the army's 58th Division, said in February that the military kept a list of all those who surrendered during the final three days of the armed conflict in May 2009. None of the surrendees, who were taken prisoner by the 58th division, have been seen since.

The Sri Lankan Freedom Party's senior vice president, Nimal Siripala de Silva on Thursday accused the chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran of inciting ethnic tensions during his speech at the mass Tamil rally on September 24, Ezhuka Tamil. 

Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday against the mass Tamil rally that took place last weekend, Ezhuka Tamil.

The Sri Lankan Federal Party (SLFP) on Thursday categorically rejected the inclusion of foreign judges in any accountability mechanism and said it would never support a federal structure. 

“We, the SLFP, will never support to divide the country via a federal structure under any circumstances. It’s not possible to get two thirds majority without our support for the new constitution,” minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told a presss conference in Colombo.

The commander of the Sri Lankn army warned that the military will “do what it must” in response to comments made by Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran.

Speaking to reporters after paying tribute to Sinhala Buddhist monks, Army Commander Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva said he would protect the "unity" of the country as well as "national interests" according to Colombo Gazette.

Sri Lanka slid down 3 positions in the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness index to 71st out of 138 countries.

Whilst South Asia continued an upward trend in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) Sri Lanka, received a rating of 4.19 out of 7, which saw it drop 3 places.

Summarising Sri Lanka’s position the report said,

A man employed by a newly constructed Buddhist vihara in Trincomalee has been arrested over a case of possible arson, after a neighbouring Hindu temple was set alight this week.

The man, Saman Nanayakkara from Kandy, is accused of setting fire to the Malai Neeli Ammam temple.

Tensions escalated in the region after the temple, which had been standing in the East for some 300 years, was destroyed during the armed conflict. Though attempts by Tamils to reconstruct the temple on its original site were made, Buddhist monks blocked the move and constructed a vihara close to the original site in June 2009.

Sri Lanka's deputy minister of public enterprise developement, Eran Wickramaratne on Monday rejected media reports which said the finance minister was being harrassed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Local media had quoted the finance minister, Ravi Karunanayake as saying, "we have another 55 days for the budget, and as the finance minister, I get harassed, by nobody else than the IMF." 

Five Sri Lankan army soldiers have been remanded over the murder of two Tamil youth in Jaffna, 18 years after their deaths.

Jaffna District Court Judge S Satheeskaran ordered the troops to be remanded until October 10, and also called on Achchuveli Police to produce 11 other soldiers in court suspected to have had involvement in the murders.

The two Tamil civilians were shot dead by soldiers from the Achchuveli camp in 1998. No one has yet been held responsible for the killings.