The current British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives will be replaced in April 2015. James Dauris will replaced the current British high commissioner, John Rankin, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) announced on Monday. Dauris joined the FCO in 1995, and has worked in London on South Asian, European Union and others issues, whilst also serving overseas in Russia and Colombia. Speaking on his appointment as the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Duairs said, "I am really pleased to have been appointed to be the United Kingdom’s next High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. Our two countries enjoy and benefit from a long and broad relationship. We see this in our close people to people, trade, investment, education, sporting, tourism and other links. I am excited about taking our relationship forward at an important time and to working with Sri Lanka on issues that matter to both our countries. And I am looking forward to working with the many British companies that are doing business and investing in this growing South Asian market."
In less than a month’s time, Sri Lanka will choose a president. In the south of the island the poll is one of the most anticipated in the country’s recent history, with the common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, and his extensive coalition, encompassing the right to the left of Sinhala politicos, widely seen to be a serious challenger to incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Maithripala’s defection from the SLFP led government, and pledge to abolish the executive presidency and tackle corruption, is being seen by many in the South as an opportunity to effect change on the island and to end Rajapaksa’s reign, which has been characterised by corruption, repression of freedom of expression, nepotism, and an autocratic, despotic leadership style.
International election monitors at Sri Lanka's presidential election on January 8, will require clearance from the Ministry of Defence to visit the Northern Province, reports the Sunday Times.lk . “We have not lifted the restrictions on travel to the North. Foreign nationals will not be allowed to visit the North under ‘blanket approval’ without obtaining necessary clearance from the Defence ministry,” the military spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said on Saturday. The monitors will require a recommendation from the Election Commissioner, including their passport details, to the Ministry of Defence, prior to being granted permission to travel. “If there is no recommendation from the Commissioner, we will not know the purposes of these visits by the foreign nationals. If not, they have to follow the same procedure in place,” he added.
The body of a fishermen who had been reported missing was found washed up on the Punnaikudaa shore on Saturday morning, reports Batti News . The fisherman has been identified as 20 year old Kanthasamy Kiritharan from Eravur, who went out to see together with eight others. He was reported missing last Thursday after the fishing vessel ran into difficulty at sea and he was swept away by large currents. The police are reportedly investigating the incident.
India is to send two indigenously built warships to Sri Lanka, the country's minister of state for defence production said on Saturday. "From Sri Lanka, we have received an order to build two off-shore patrol vehicles (OPV) and they are under construction in Goa Shipyard," Minister Rai Inderjit Singh, was quoted by the Times of India as saying, during an address at the delivery of warships to Mauritius.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O Panneerselvam, expressed disappointment that the Sri Lankan government had failed to hand over the fishing boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen, and called on the Indian Prime Minister to ensure the boats were delivered before Christmas. "It only confirmed what AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa had always maintained -- that the government of Sri Lanka was pursuing a sinister strategy of depriving fisher families in Tamil Nadu of their source of livelihood," Panneerselvam wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Times of India reported. "We...
The body of a young man was found in Kattudai Kaattu region of Manipay on Saturday, reported Uthayan . Local residents suspect the body is that of a youth who was reported missing three days previously, the paper said. Manipay police, who unearthed the body, are reportedly carrying out investigations.
Photograph: BBC Sinhala The common opposition candidate for Sri Lanka's presidential election next month, Maithripala Sirisena, released his election manifesto on Friday in only Sinhala and English, setting out his vision for "compassionate governance and a stable country". The manifesto, following on from the joint opposition's election campaign pledges to date, fails to address key Tamil concerns of accountability, justice and the right to self-determination. Pledging to protect every citizen from international justice mechanisms targetting individuals responsible for mass atrocities against the Tamil people during the armed conflict against the LTTE, Maithripala said that he would disseminate an image of Buddhism as that of non-violence amongst the West in order to improve, what he described as, Sri Lanka's poor international image at present. Reiterating his commitment to the "stability, security and sovereignty of the country", Maithripala pledged that he would not change any aspect of the constitution that would potentially be detrimental to these aspects and that he would not change anything that required a referendum. Extracts relating to key Tamil issues are published below: Accountability and justice for mass atrocities against the Tamil people "No international power will be allowed to ill-treat or touch a single citizen of this country on account of the campaign to defeat terrorism."
A leaked United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report warned of the negative effects that assassinations could have, recommending targeted strikes that could exploit leadership divisions and a combined counterinsurgency strategy. The report, compiled in 2009, analyses the impact of "high value targeting" (HVT) in conflict scenarios across the world, including in Sri Lanka. Entitled “Best practises in Counterinsurgency: Making High-Value Targeting Operations an Effective Counterinsurgency tool” the report stated that HVT operations may, “by eroding the ‘rules of the game’ between the government and insurgents, escalate the level of violence in a conflict, which may or may not be in a government’s interest.” The report noted that the Sri Lankan government had used “antibunker bombs” to target LTTE leaders in 2007 and 2008, adding “Geocoordinate information provided by a former bodyguard of Prabhakaran’s contributed to an accurate Sri Lankan military bombing raid that killed LTTE political spokesman S.P. Tamilchelvan and other LTTE leaders on 2 November 2007, according to a clandestine source with whom a relationship was just beginning.”
Sri Lanka's army Commander, Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake hailed the military increase in “strength”, whilst addressing troops in Colombo this week reports Colombo Gazette . “The Army and its strength has increased in a significant manner in the past three decades and the organization has proved itself to be an integral and indispensable force to be reckoned with,” said Ratnayake. “It has performed arduous tasks which is impossible for others and won commendation from all quarters.” Ratnayake went on to say that various “international elements” were attempting to destabilise Sri Lanka,...