US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in New York on Wednesday and called for “meaningful reconciliation and justice in Sri Lanka”.

State department spokesperson John Kirby said Mr Kerry and Mr Sirisena discussed their “our strong, bilateral partnership and to build upon the first U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue”.

A massive Sri Lankan military exercise which has been underway for several weeks concluded with a multi-pronged assault on a beach in the North-East on Tuesday.

The Sri Lankan military declared open a new exhibition showcasing heavy weaponry deployed by the military in the final phase of the armed conflict in the Tamil North-East, more than 7 years after the massacres of tens of thousands of Tamils.

India and Sri Lanka are to jointly manage 30 oil tanks in Trincomalee, the Sri Lankan petroleum minister Chandima Weerakkody was quoted by The Hindu as saying. 

Mr Weerakoddy is to hold meetings with his counterpart in New Delhi regarding the joint venture which will involve the Indian Oil Cooperation subsidiary, Lanka IOC and Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation. 

“It’s the starting point for developing the regional hub,” Mr Weerakoddy reportedly added.

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Sri Lanka's justice minister, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said he "categorically rejects all allegations of war crimes against the armed forces" in an interview to the BBC Sandeshaya. 

Mr Rajapakshe warned that "legal action would be taken against anyone who alleges that the country’s armed forces had committed war crimes", reported News Radio. 

"Anyone who brought up the subject of mass graves in the North was an enemy of the nation and the war heroes," Mr Rajapakshe added. 
 

The president of the Valikamam North Resettlement Society called for displaced Tamils to be resettled in their native land and not in any other alternate locations, in an interview with Ceylon Today published on Tuesday.

Arunasalam Gunapalasingham said everyone “must understand reality”. “Our people are looking forward to resettle in their native places and everyone has their own lands.”

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera met with UN human rights chief Zeid Al Hussein in New York this week, where the two discussed the “reconciliation” on the island, according to a government spokesperson.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit, currently underway in New York.

The secretary of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) said the Sri Lankan government is confusing its electorate by giving contradictory statements on federalism and the prominence of Buddhism on the island.

Udaya Gammanpila, a Sinhala nationalist MP, said whilst Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister have pledged to ensure Buddhism still holds prominence across the island as in the current constitution, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has contradicted them.

Four members of the Sri Lankan military’s intelligence unit have been released on bail, after being arrested over the disappearance of cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda.

The suspects were released on a cash bail by the Avissawella Provincial High Court and will have to report weekly to Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department.

The commander of the Sri Lankan Army’s 53 Division said secrets from the war “will go with him to his grave,” as he battled off claims that he revealed military secrets in his newly published book.

Major General Kamal Gunaratne was speaking to reporters outside the Seethawakapura Urban Council when he made his comments, according to Colombo Gazette.