The Sri Lankan army organised a “mega musical extravaganza” in Jaffna to “strengthen the cordial relations prevailing between the Army and the civilians”, reports an official military website.

The event saw the Commander of the Sri Lankan Security Forces in Jaffna Major General Mahesh Senanayka honoured as the chief guest, as he strolled along a red carpet to enter the Jaffna Municipal Grounds for the show last Saturday.

Meanwhile a band from the Sinhala south played songs to “entertain thousands of civilians who cried in joy” according to the Civil Military Coordination Jaffna website.

A memorial event was held in Jaffna last week, marking the tenth anniversary of the murder of two Uthayan journalists.

 

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP S Sritharan condemned the Sri Lankan military's ongoing encroachment and control over Tamils lands, and urged the Tamil people to continue the struggle for freedom.

“The army that had encroached on the LTTE cemeteries are standing there with shoes over the faces of our our children who lie buried there. How can we ever consider rapprochement while the army stands over the faces of our children with their shoes?" MR Sritharan said whilst speaking at an event at the University of Jaffna on May 6th.

The Australian government confirmed that it deported a group of asylum seekers to Sri Lanka.

A group of 12 men, women and children were returned to Sri Lanka on May6 , confirmed Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, adding,

“They were in a good state – they had made the journey down and they quickly made the journey back.”

Responding to opposition that the Labor party was not briefed before the decision to turn back the asylum seekers was made, Mr Dutton added,

The Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was reportedly furious over the conditions agreed to in order to regain the preferential trade deal, GSP plus, the Sunday Times reported.

Stating that it had obtained a document detailing 58 conditions including the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the devolution of power under the new constitution, the return of private land in the North and the release of detainees, the newspaper cited government sources as saying that Mr Wickremesinghe was "furious" to learn of the commitments made.

The United States government announced that it will ease a set of long standing trade restrictions on Sri Lanka and review all further applications on a “case-by-case basis”.

The US Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) stated that “effectively immediately” it will “review applications for licenses to export or temporarily import defense articles and defense services to or from Sri Lanka”.

Previous restrictions on Sri Lanka blocked the use of US assistance for defence exports, apart from services related to demining and disaster relief.