Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister said that Colombo would address issues raised by the UN investigation into Sri Lanka through a domestic process.

Speaking to the Gulf Times, Mr Wickremesinghe said,

A domestic inquiry into violations of international humanitrain law would be the “final insult” to Tamil victims of the armed conflict, said film maker Callum Macrae, the director of the documentary, 'No Fire Zone: the Killing Fields of Sri Lanka'.

Writing in the August issue of Vice Magazine, Mr Macrae outlined the massacres that occurred during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, including the killings of Tamil television reporter Isaipriyai and the 12-year old son of the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

“One UN report concluded that as many as 40,000 Tamils may have died, mostly as a result of government shelling,” said Mr Macrae. “A subsequent UN report suggested the true figure could even reach 70,000.”

“But while the new government has made promises to mount a domestic inquiry into the crimes, they have also promoted or reinstated military officers accused of direct or command responsibility for those crimes,” he added.

He went on to say,

“For the traumatized Tamils, such a domestic process would be the final insult—nothing less than victor's justice over a beaten people. Meanwhile, a report ordered by the UN Human Rights Council has been delayed until September, and some fear that the call for an international judicial reckoning is weakening. Although the evidence is now here for all the world to see, the search for justice is far from over.”

The Jathika Hela Urumaya, one of the founder and main constituents of the UNP-lead UNFGG, said it will not allow the TNA’s demand for federalism to become reality, dismissing the notion as “just one of their dreams”.

General Secretary of the party, Champika Ranawaka, said the UNFGG had not made any proposals which could threaten Sri lanka’s sovereignty.

“The President and the Prime Minister and even Mahinda Rajapaksa have accepted the unitary state of this country. The TNA has been calling for a Federal solution since 1949. It is just one of their dreams,” the JHU chief said at an election rally in Kolonnawa.

A pre-election poll carried out by the Centre for Policy Alternatives showed the majority of Sinhalese back Mahinda Rajapaksa to become prime minister of Sri Lanka in the upcoming general election, whilst the overwhelming majority of Tamils rejected him.

According to the survey, which sampled 2,000 people across the island, 36% of respondents backed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for the prime ministerial post compared to 31.9% for current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Meanwhile only 1.8% of Tamils surveyed backed Mahinda Rajapaksa, with 62.3% backing Mr Wickremesinghe.

Mr Rajapaksa recently announced that there would be no room for separatism on the island, as he spoke out against devolution. A whole host of Sinhala political parties,  including Mr Wickremesinghe’s UNP, have also announced they will not allow any devolution of power.

Last month both leaders visited the Temple of the Tooth, to get blessings from Buddhist monks ahead of the general elections in a month’s time.

Sri Lanka's Board of Investment (BoI) said it will sign agreements with four foreign investors in deals worth nearly $4bn.

BoI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya said the major deals, worth nearly double of last year's FDI of $1.6bn, will include a $30mn investment from German car giants Volkswagen, a ship breaking facility at Hambantota, a monorail project and a crane factory at Colombo Port.

Speaking on the Volkswagen deal to be signed, Mr Jayasuriya said,

“It’s not huge but it’s just the footprint. We have asked them to set it up and given a time period for them to export,”

Sri Lanka’s Ministry Of Defence has teamed up with Sri Lanka’s tourism board to lead a motor expedition tour of Jaffna reports defence.lk.

The expeditions are to be lead by military members of Sri Lanka’s Commando Regiment across the North-East.