President Maithripala Sirisena has announced that the term of all local government bodies will be extended by 6 months.

The terms were scheduled to expire on December 31 however President Sirisena said the decision to extend the terms was taken to facilitate the forthcoming amendments of the electoral system of the local governments.

Catholic leaders have called for the release of Tamil political prisoners in a Christmas Day message released earlier today.

The Commission For Justice & Peace of The Catholic Diocese of Jaffna said that the delay in releasing prisoners who are being held in jails across the island is causing suffering and hardship to families across the North-East.

The statement identified 15 prison sites across the island, where at least 176 prisoners are currently being detained.

Stressing that the figures compiled were not the complete numbers of those being detained, the statement identified 50 people who had been held for 10 to 15 years in Sri Lankan prisons. At least 8 women were amongst those being held in the infamous Welikada (or Magazine prison) in Colombo, it added.

See the full text of the statement (in Tamil) below.

Earlier the Rev. Fr. S.V.B. Mangalarajah told The Island that Tamil political prisoners were admitting to crimes they did not commit, just so that they could be produced in court. "Most of the families of these prisoners are undergoing unbearable hardships as they are the bread winners of their families” he said. “Repeated instances of hunger-strikes and peaceful demonstrations by these prisoners and their loved ones cause us lot of pain."

The leaders’ call comes as the Sri Lankan government announced that 550 prisoners would be released on Christmas Day. However, Commissioner General of Prisons Nishan Dhanasinghe said those released would be prisoners held for “minor crimes”, with no word of whether Tamil political prisoners would be amongst the released.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said the military would be used to “protect the natural resources including forest and coastal areas” of Sri Lanka, after a meeting in Colombo in Tuesday.

Speaking with leaders of Environment Protection organisations at the Presidential Secretariat, Mr Sirisena said that soldiers from all branches of Sri Lanka’s armed forces would be used to “protect natural resources”.

Commanders of Sri Lanka’s Tri Forces and the Inspector General of the Police were also present during the discussions, reports the Ministry of Defence.

A member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances called for the abolition of Sri Lanka’s presidential commission into disappearances.

Speaking to Ceylon Today Ariel Dulitzky the UN was clear that the commission must be scrapped and have relayed their recommendations to the government of Sri Lanka.

“Our report urged the government to scrap the Presidential Commission and recommended transferring all cases handled by it on Missing Persons to a credible and independent institution, developed in close consultation with families of the disappeared,” said Mr Dulitzy.

However “so far the government has shown no sign of heeding our recommendation,” he stated, adding that “we hope it will be acted upon as soon as possible”.

Hundreds of Tamil Catholics gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral in Jaffna for a Christmas Eve midnight Mass today.

Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka have formed a new organisation to protect 'war heroes', after some military personnel were arrested over abductions and other crimes.

"The current government hates the word, patriotism," president of the organisation, Bengamuwe Nalaka said, adding that the head of state should not have made a recent statement in which he allegedly branded patriots as extremist.

He said the organisation was formed to protect 'war heroes' from 'local and international threats' and to look after their families and to ensure their welfare.

"There are no extremists in Colombo. We are not extremists but patriots. We love this country and we want to save our war heroes and protect the peace we won," the monk said.