Following The Independent newspaper’s report on the British government’s approval of licences for the export to Sri Lanka of over £3m worth of arms - in just one three month period last year – the UK minister responsible for Sri Lanka, Alistair Burt has written to the paper seeking to clarify the transfer of hundreds of assault rifles and large quantities of ammunition amongst other weapons.

However, Mr. Burt’s response raises as many questions as The Independent’s article.

Sri Lanka's UN mission has written to the Human Rights Council, trying to bar an upcoming screening of a documentary in its premises.

The Channel 4 documentary "No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka" is due to be screened on Friday, at the Palais de Nations, an event organised by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and FIFDH Geneve.

The United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances has been urged to conduct a thorough inquiry into the recently unearthed mass grave in Matale.

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), an independent regional non-governmental organisation, suggested in a written statement, that the United Nations working group should conduct an independent inquiry into the remains of 200 or more persons found in Matale.

Sri Lanka has announced that it has decided to ban the sale of all state and private land to 'foreigners', according to Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

The move was approved by Sri Lanka's cabinet and will be brought to Parliament. It will also see the ban on transfer of land on a freehold basis to foreigners, including land which is already owned by foeigners.

See report from Lanka Busniess Online here.

Tamil teachers continue to face continued discrimination with documents being provided in Sinhala only, rather than in Tamil, charged the Ceylon Teachers Union.

CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin stated,

India will vote against Sri Lanka, in support of a US backed resolution at the UN Human Rights Council Session (UNHRC) in March.

The Hindu reports that Minister V Narayanasamy told reporters that PM Manmohan Singh had promised to support the resolution against Sri Lanka.

In an article published on Sunday in The Independent, former BBC journalist and author of Still Counting The Dead, Frances Harrison, details how two witnesses have come forward to state how they saw slain Tamil political leaders surrender to the Sri Lankan military during the infamous 'white flag incident'.

See here for full article, extracts have been published below:

Speaking at the 5th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and Russia, the Russian ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alexander Karchava, assured Sri Lanka that Russia will take every possible opportunity to secure the support of the UNHRC member countries against a possible resolution on Sri Lanka, that will likely be tabled at the forthcoming United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions.

A Tamil political prisoner in Colombo has undertaken a hunger strike to demand the release of political prisoners.

T Prabhakaran, who is being held in the Welikada prison, started a fast unto death on Wednesday.

Explaining his protest in an appeal to political leaders, human rights activists and religious leader, Prabhakaran wrote that despite many hunger strikes having taken place in the past and the government offering many promises, none of these have been fulfilled.

DMK president M Karunanadhi, criticised Indian President Pranab Mukherjee's comments in his address to Parliament on engagement with Sri Lanka.

Karunanidhi said in a statement: