The president of the Dravida Munnetra Kalagam M Karunanidhi on Saturday welcomed the appointment of the TNA's R Sampanthan of the leader of the opposition in Sri Lanka's new parliament, PTI reported.

"Sampanthan being elected Leader of the Opposition at a time when Tamils were for long looking forward to a resurgence gives us all hope," he said in a statement.

A Tamil from Sri Lanka died whilst in Indian police custody in Chennai on Friday, reported the Times of India.

The man, named Mohan, was detained by Chennai police in connection to an alleged fake passport incident.

According to the paper, Mohan was arrested after escaping, and "developed health complications and fell unconscious" whilst being questioned by police.

He was pronounced dead, on arrival at Perumbakkam hospital.

The Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met the South African president, Jacob Zuma, on Saturday at the airport in Colombo as President Zuma was returning home after a visit to China.

Welcoming #SouthAfrica President Jacob Zuma @presidencyza to #SriLanka pic.twitter.com/lnGGT7ZIn9 — Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) September 5, 2015

Updated 04 Sep 2015, 11:35 BST

Tamil campaigner for the disappeared, Balendran Jeyakumary will remain in prison, after her planned release today did not go ahead.

Lawyers who this morning produced two sureties, as required by the court, were told that the documents were not accepted. This means the campaigner will remain in detention until at least Monday. As of yet, no reasons have been given to Ms Jeyakumary's detention.

Ms Jeyakumari was detained on Wednesday after being summoned to Kebithgollawa courts.

She was issued with an arrest warrant on Tuesday and asked by police to report to the magistrate court the next morning. The court remanded her as she did not have two sureties and the police objected to her bail application, a statement by campaigners said.

 

 

As discussions on how to deal with the findings of the UN investigation into Sri Lanka’s mass atrocities (OISL) reach fever pitch, the newly elected chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, James Berry, spoke to the Tamil Guardian last week.

Speaking ahead of the release of the UN report into mass atrocities and after meeting the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, the APPG-T chair reiterated calls for normalcy in the North-East and stressed the need for any process to deal with the findings of the OISL to have the full confidence of the victims.

The Tamil National Alliance has announced it will hand over the post of opposition whip to the JVP.

In a press release, the TNA said it proposed to the speaker that JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake be appointed to the post.

The party also announced that in the absence of R Sampanthan, ITAK president Maavai Senathirajah would act as the leader of the opposition.

Sri Lanka's national government has commenced taking oaths from its new cabinet.

A total of 42 ministers were sworn in today, with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also taking his oath as Minister of National Policy and Economic Affairs before President Maithripala Sirisena.

Some ministers took their oaths last week, with Mangala Samaraweera as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wijedasa Rajapaksa as Minister of Justice and DM Swaminathan as Minister of Rehabilitation.

Mr Rajapaksa was today also sworn in as Minister for Buddhist Affairs, in addition to the justice portfolio.

A signature campaign was launched in Jaffna today calling for an international accountability mechanism to examine mass atrocities committed during the final stages of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, where tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed.

Representatives from the Tamil National Alliance, Tamil National People’s Front, Religious leaders, civil society representatives, Jaffna University lecturers and students all took part in the campaign.

Signatures were collected by Jaffna  Central bus station earlier today.