Sri Lanka's Defence Minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said groups linked to the LTTE were attempting to "create further problems in Sri Lanka" and pose a potential terrorist threat, the Business Standard reports. "Some of these groups are trying to reorganise within Sri Lanka and mobilise people to once again take up their extreme left wing causes. There is information that some of these groups have started to establish ties to LTTE-linked agents to create further problems in Sri Lanka," he was quoted as saying. "Some of their activities include radicalising students and encouraging them to take to the streets in various protests. Though such activities are still in their early stages, they pose another serious national security concern that must remain a consideration," he added.
The BBS leader told the Sri Lankan president to ‘not pander to multi ethnic obscenities’ and understand ‘the roots of the country and the value of the nation and who it rightfully belongs to,’ to gain the support of nationalist organisations, reports Colombo Page . Gnanasara Thera told press that if the President did not agree with a ‘comprehensive policy framework’ submitted by the BBS, the group with join other nationalist organisations and field its own candidate to protect the ‘sovereignty’ of the country.
The Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs said that international pressure on Sri Lanka to probe human rights violations and foreign funding for 'capacity building' were harmful to the country, reports Colombo Page . "Because of the intensity of this pressure there is a disincentive to engage in earnest in a domestic process. Because of the conviction that far more is forthcoming by the application of pressure at an international level. And that is why this international pressure is not only not helpful, but is absolutely harmful," said GL Peiris at a Ministry of Defence seminar, on Monday, in Colombo.
Sri Lanka will deny visas to investigators from the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights due to conduct the UN inquiry into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan President said on Tuesday. “We will not allow them into the country,” said Mahinda Rajapaksa when speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Association, whilst adding that the domestic investigation panel had been strengthened to carry out its own investigation, reports Reuters . Disregarding any future findings from the UN investigation, Rajapaksa, said, “I don’t think anybody will take it [the UN investigation] seriously, other than the people who want it.”
A 75-year old Tamil woman, who has been missing for nearly 2 weeks, was found dead on Monday morning, reports Battinews . The decomposed body of Sinnathambi Pasupathu, who lived in Thikkodai, was found in shrub land near Vivekananthapuram, in the Vellaveli area of Batticaloa. The cause of death is unknown.
The body of a 33-year old woman from Kaaththankudi, Batticaloa, was discovered on Sunday. Mother of three, M Siththi Nazheeba, was found dead in a house in the town. The cause of death is not yet known. Kaaththankudi police are carrying out an investigation, Battinews reports.
Muslims near a historic mosque by Trincomalee have accused the Sri Lankan army of demolishing the mosque, which was already in a dilapidated condition due to lack of renovation. The mosque, now encompassed within the military's High Security Zone, is believed to be over 400 years old, say locals. The army denies demolishing the mosque, which they say was destroyed due to heavy rains and winds. When asked by the Eastern Province Chief Minister, Najeeb Abdul Majeed, if locals could pray in the mosque if it were rebuilt and renovated, the army reportedly told him they could not. “As the mosque...
The Sri Lankan government has appointed a 5th international expert to its commission on disappearances, a law expert from Pakistan, Ahmer B Soofi. The news of the appointment, tweeted from the President's Twitter account, comes as the President also announced that international investigators with the OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) Would be denied visas into the country. See more here . Earlier this month the President appointed an Indian human rights activist, following the appointment of three experts last month. Despite the high profile appointments, President Rajapaksa has...
The Sri Lankan Commander of the Army stated that national security on the island was “stronger than ever” as he addressed a military conference being held in Colombo this week. The Commander, Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, said that even though the island now had the “incentive of peace... this should not be interpreted in any way as letting down our guard.” He went on to add, “Our national security is stronger than ever... Today we are much smarter, more vigilant and possess greater responsive capability to deal with threats to national security.” In his opening address at the seminar, reportedly attended by representatives from over 50 countries, Ratnayake also said Sri Lanka had learnt “the value of national security and the will to pursue it at any cost.”
The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has once again reiterated the government's stand against the devolution of police powers to provinces on the island. Colombo Gazette reports that when meeting with a group of foreign correspondents on Tuesday morning, Rajapaksa “insisted that police powers will not be devolved to the provinces under any circumstances.”