The Sri Lankan military says the restrictions on foreigners travelling to the Northern Province will remain indefinitely.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, military spokesperson Ruwan Wanigasuriya said there was no specific reason, as to why the requirement for foreigners to obtain Ministry of Defence approval before travelling to the North was re-introduced, but that the decision was “based on careful study” of the situation in the region.

"We need to have a track of all foreigners, who go there, for security reasons," he said.

Wanigasuriya said that foreigners found without the necessary permit would be turned back at Omanthai, which used to serve as the main crossing point between Tamil-held and Sri Lankan-held territory during the ceasefire.

Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church asked the government for clarification regarding the presidential election in January announced this week, as the election has cast doubt on the visit to Sri Lanka by Pope Francis, reports AFP.

The Church had earlier said it would be "inappropriate" for the Pope to visit a country at the time of a national election.

The European Union has defended the annulment of the measures in place against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in a statement released on Tuesday, saying the moves were of a legal nature and not political.

“[I]t is important to remember that it is a legal ruling of a court; it is not a political decision taken by the EU governments. The separation of the judicial system from the legislature is a key distinction in a healthy democracy,” the statement said.

The European Court of Justice last week annulled measures taken by the Council of the European Union against the LTTE, namely the designation of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation and the freezing of its funds.

“Furthermore, this legal ruling is clearly based on procedural grounds and it does not imply any assessment by the Court of the substantive issues of designating the LTTE or of freezing LTTE funds,” the statement further said.

The mother of Suntharalingam Gajatheeban, also known as Theiveegan, who was killed by the Sri Lankan military in April, was prevented from leaving Sri Lanka on Tuesday, despite being in possession of a valid visa, the Daily Mirror reports.

Fifty-seven year old Rajithamalar was held at Bandaranaike International Airport, where she was due to take a flight to Canada, for which she has a 6-year visa.

Sourced told the paper that she may have been prevented from leaving the island due to ongoing investigations into the activities of her son.

The Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena said on Tuesday it will contest parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, but denied reports that it would field a candidate to run against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January's presidential election.

General Secretary Gnanasara Thero said monks will not contest, but that the BBS will put forward laymen candidates to contest the parliamentary seats.

"Buddhist monks will offer guidance to them and will not contest elections,” Gnanasara said.

Ruling party MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardene accused the Tamil National Alliance of obstructing peace in Sri Lanka, according to Asian Mirror.

Speaking at parliament at the second reading of the Land (Restrictions on Alienation) Bill on Monday, the monitoring MP for the External Affairs Ministry said that peace had been realised to 99%, but that the remaining one percent cannot be achieved due to the TNA.

India is to provide equipment and training to the Sri Lankan military reports Colombo Page.

Bi-lateral cooperation is expected to increase between India and Sri Lanka with India working to build Sri Lanka’s military capacity by providing training and hardware.

The announcement comes after the Sri Lankan defence secretary and his Indian counterpart met to discuss defence ties on Monday.

Over 800 Sri Lankan military personnel are trained by Indian military establishments every year.

The Jaffna Press Club held a memorial service over the weekend, remembering the lives of two Tamil journalists - Mylvaganam Nimalarajan and Mr Sachithananthan.

The event was held on the date marking the 14^th death anniversary of Nimalarajan, who was a senior journalist having contributed to the BBC Tamil and Sinhala services, the Tamil daily Virakesari and Sinhala weekly Ravaya. The Committee to Protect Journalists stated he was gunned down in his home due to his coverage of the political violence before and during the 2000 parliamentary elections. Members of the government aligned paramilitary group the EPDP, are suspected of carrying out the killing.