Tamils gathered by the destroyed memorial to Lt Col Thileepan in Nallur on Monday evening to mark the 29th anniversary of his death. 

Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday stressed that he would not allow the European Union's ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to be lifted despite the European Court of Justice (ECJ) recommending the ban should be dropped.

“I worked hard to bring this ban in 2006 when I was the foreign minister, with the full backing of the US amid lot of struggle. We will do the same in the future to keep the LTTE ban on," he said in an interview to Ceylon News. 

Hundreds of students the University of Jaffna on Monday remembered the 29th anniversary of the death of Lt Col Thileepan. 

Lighting candles of remembrance, students gathered to pay their respects to Thileepan, who died after 11 days hunger striking in protest at Sri Lankan state actions. 

The Tamil National Alliance spokesperson, M A Sumanthiran on Sunday distanced the party from the 'Ezhuka Tamil' mass rally, in an interview with BBC Sinhala. 

Mr Sumanthiran said the rally, which saw thousands of Tamils marching through Jaffna demanding their rights, was unhelpful at a time when the new constitution was being drawn up and argued it would be misunderstood by the Sinhala people. 

Stressing that his party had advised the Tamil people against it, he reiterated that the TNA had no part in it. 

Sri Lanka is not afraid of a Tamil uprising in the North-East the country's state minister of defence Ruwan Wijewardene told reporters a day after thousands of Tamils took part in a mass rally in Jaffna, 'Ezhuka Tamil'. 

Describing the demonstrators as belonging to "some extremist groups", Mr Wijewardene rejected their demard to demilitarise the North-East, stating "the government will not remove our army camps". 

Marking the 29th anniversary of the death of Lt. Col. Thileepan who fasted to death on hunger strike, the Tamil National Alliance held a memorial event in Kilinochchi on Sunday. 

The TNA MP S Sritharan took part in the event along side the TNA youth wing leader. 

Photograph: Daily Mirror

A bomb from a Sri Lankan fighter jet weighing over 300kg has been found in Kilinochchi.

The bomb, identified as having been launched from a Sri Lankan air force Kfir jet, measures 6 foot long. 

Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force were called out to the Chundikulam reserve, where the bomb was discovered.

The Sri Lankan military took part in organising charity cricket matches for Tamils schoolchildren in the North-East last week, alongside Sri Lanka’s international cricketers.

Sri Lanka’s Security Forces Commander for Kilinochchi Major General Amal Karunasekara was garlanded as the chief guest at a ceremony held to launch the 'Murali Harmony Cup 20-20'.

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena claimed that global leaders praised his government’s achievements, during his visit to New York for the UN General Assembly this week.

“They express open appreciation about our achievements,” said Mr Sirisena, speaking on his meeting with various officials this week.

“I assured them that we, as a government, are determined to take the country towards progress and make Sri Lanka a truly democratic and prosperous nation,” he said.

Thousands of Tamils from across the North-East participated in the Ezhuka Tamil rally (Rise Up Tamil) in Jaffna today. 

The rally, which was organised by the Tamil People's Council, raised awareness about key issues of concern for the Tamil people, including ongoing militarisation and state sponsored Sinhala colonisation of the Tamil homeland, the need for an international investigation into mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people, the continued detention of Tamils under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the need for a political solution based on a federal model which recognises the Tamil nation and its right to self-determination. 

See full declaration here. 

Organisers estimate that approximately 10,000 people attended the rally, making it the largest Tamil rights protest since the end of the armed conflict more than 7 years ago.

A procession from Nallur was joined by another from Jaffna University and gathered at Muttaveli for the main rally, which saw speeches from politicians and activists. As crowds gathered outside the famous Nallur temple, the arrival of Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran signalled the start of the rally. After Justice Wigneswaran cermeoniously broke coconuts, crowds marched thorugh the streets of Jaffna, holding placards and chanting slogans.