NPC member Ananthy Sasitharan has written off the Sri Lankan government's plans to investigate disappearances as a farce.

Speaking at the Jaffna Press Club on Thursday, Sasitharan said that the investigation commission was appointed to deceive the international community and to parade in Geneva at the UN Human Rights Council.

Sasitharan called for the direct intervention of the international community to ensure the safety of witnesses and relatives.

Updated 0445 GMT

The Canadian Tamil MP, Rathika Sitsabaiesan, who recently arrived in the North-East, is under house arrest, reported TamilNet.

According to the news site, around 8-10 officers from Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Department arrived at the hotel that Ms Sitasabaiesan was staying in Jaffna, on Tuesday night.

Krishantha Pushpakumara, the United National Party (UNP) Southern Provincial Councillor, announced that he was to leave the party to join Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), with reports that more are set to join him.

Pushpakumara told reporters that at the forthcoming Southern Provincial Council election, he would now be contesting as an SLFP candidate, complaining of “unfair treatment” by his current party.

A senior Buddhist monk has been released on bail after his arrest for sexually abusing children.

Kalyanathissa runs a children’s home in Vavuniya, in the Northern Province, which has now been closed due to a court order.

Parents and relatives of the victims have expressed concern that his release on bail could give him the opportunity to get rid of incriminating evidence, the Uthayan reported.

Supporting the Bishop of Mannar’s call for an international investigation into the mass grave found at Mannar, TNA MPs Suresh Premachandran, Sivasakthy Ananthan, Pon Selvarajah, and P. Ariyenthiran called for international experts to investigate the grave.

56 Tamil organisations from across the world have rejected a domestic Sri Lankan inquiry into human rights abuses and called for an international investigation into genocide, in a joint New Year message.

The signatories to the statement, which span across 10 different countries, jointly noted there was an overwhelming mandate for an international investigation expressed in the recent Northern Provincial Council elections, and fully committed themselves to working towards an independent investigation into the crime of genocide.

The statement, signed by many youth organisations and political parties, is released as talk of a South African style ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ have emerged from the island. Notably, organisations from South Africa, Malaysia, Australia, UK, India, Canada, USA, Mauritius, New Zealand, Sweden all jointly signed the statement.

"This year will be of special significance in economic and national development as well as in the field of politics. We shall continue to move towards this while ensuring national unity, peace and satisfaction. We have identified this as the correct path for true prosperity of the nation and building of the country.

The government is planning a proposal to oust Tamil National Alliance MP S Sritharan from parliament, according to Sinhala newspaper Divaina.

The report accused Sritharan of being involved in anti-government activities and is supposedly attempting to rouse communal unrest, including for praising LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in parliament.