During a three day visit to Pakistan, Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, signed 3 memorandums with his counterpart in Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, on trade, technical education and media.

The trade agreement, includes Pakistan offering an export credit line of $200 million, in order for Sri Lanka to import machinery and equipment. In exchange Pakistan would import goods, such as food.

The Sri Lankan Minister for Livestock and Rural Community Development, Arumugam Thondaiman, was forced to abandon his visit to the Tamil Nadu city of Coimbatore after protestors besieged his residence.

Arumugam Thondaman's visit drew angry crowds to his hotel on Saturday, before he fled to Chennai.

The protestors, mostly supporters of Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), demanded Thondaiman leave India immediately and attempted to jump over the gate of the hotel.

15 people were arrested by police over the protest.

In his blog in The Independent, journalist Emmanuel Stoakes calls for an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes.

See below for extracts.

"It has been around a thousand days since the conclusion of the war. In that time the response of the government to allegations of abuses, up to and including the LLRC report has been unconvincing, redolent of political self-service rather than an authentic attempt at truth and reconciliation.

Writing in the Dawn newspaper, former BBC foreign correspondent based in Sri Lanka and Iran, Frances Harrison, highlighting the "living hell" experienced by Tamils during the finally stages of the armed conflict in 2009, argues that "without the truth, reconciliation and forgiveness are simply not possible and the grievances that led to conflict in the first place remain dangerously unresolved".

See here for original article.

A German tourist has lodged a complaint with Sri Lankan police, stating that she was raped in her hotel room whilst staying in Dikwella in the Matara district.

The victim, who is in the country with her partner, alleged that that a man entered her hotel room during the night and raped her before escaping. A 29-year old resident of Dikwella has been arrested on suspicion of rape.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has been under fire for failing to respond to Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report, despite assurances that he would.

The report, which was released in December 2011, has already been criticised by both the Canadian and British governments, as well as facing further condemnation from human rights groups.

In its latest edition, The Economist writes about the Rajapakse clan's stranglehold on Sri Lanka.

See below for extracts.

Douglas Devananda, a Sri Lankan minister and leader of the paramilitary group, EPDP, threatened physical attacks on journalists, reported Tamilnet.

In an article published Thursday, Tamilnet quoted Devananda as saying,

“I told my [paramilitary] boys to beat up these journalists. But, the boys are not paying attention. It seems I have to go in person and do it to make these journalists behave"