Sri Lanka’s ‘Joint Opposition’ has announced that they intend to table a motion of no-confidence against the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera, reports Adaderena.lk.

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Udaya Gammapila said Sri Lanka’s foreign minister was contradicting President Maithripala Sirisena who is clearly stating no foreign judges will be involved in a justice mechanism.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Biswal will be visiting Sri Lanka next week.

Ms Biswal, who will be accompanied by her deputy Manpreet Anand, will travel to Colombo where she will meet with senior government officials, political leaders, and civil society representatives to discuss bilateral economic cooperation as well as democratic governance and reconciliation, according to the State Department.

Tamil families in the North-East remember those that perished in the bombing by Sri Lanka's armed forces

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday reiterated that there will be no foreign judges in an accountability mechanism reports Ceylonews.

Addressing a Buddhist religious event in Panadura in the presence of Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mr Sirisena said,

“As long as I am President I will not allow foreigners or organisations to interfere in the internal affairs. I will not give room for any foreign organisation to mount pressure on our judiciary or meddle with internal affairs.”

The International Truth and Justice Project  (ITJP) welcomed media reports that Sri Lanka’s cabinet had recognised that  “exiled victims and witnesses have a key role in terrifying to the country’s future transitional justice mechanisms” adding concerns that Sri Lanka had not addressed “genuine concerns of witnesses and victims abroad who fear reprisals either against themselves or their families in Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lanka's cabinet this week approved the establishing of a task force to resettle "protracted internally displaced persons" within the Northern province.

“IDPs were seen since the 1980s due to the conflict situation. These include Tamil as well as Sinhala and Muslim families in the Northern Province,” the cabinet paper said, reported LBO.