A prominent TNA MP says the party will continue to demand an international mechanism, despite the recent announcement by the US that it would support a credible domestic inquiry.

Sivagnanam Shritharan, who won the highest number of votes of all TNA MPs, said the party will act according to its manifesto, which demands an international inquiry.

“We will not accept it, if the US calls for an internal inquiry into the alleged war crimes and human rights abuses during the final phase of the war, we will demand an international inquiry as stated in the election manifesto," he said.

Tamil families affected by enforced disappearances rejected proposals for a domestic inquiry at a vigil for the disappeared in Mannar.

Emphasising the need for an international investigations into disappearances and abductions during the war and its aftermath, hundreds of relatives of missing persons marked the International Day of the Disappeared with an emotional vigil in Mannar on Sunday.

photograph IBCTamil.com

The vigil was organised by the Organisation for the Families of Forcibly Disappeared Persons - North and East Provinces, with the Mannar Citizens Committee.

The event’s chief guest, Reverend Father Elil Rajan, representing the Tamil Civil Society Forum, emphasised the Tamil people’s disappointment in the international push for domestic investigations.

Sri Lanka will look to borrow $4 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help tackle a widening balance of payment deficit, reports Sundaytimes.lk.

A senior government official, who wished to remain anonymous said that there was a proposal to borrow US $4 billion to support reducing the increasing deficit in Sri Lanka’s balance of payments.

The Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) on Saturday rejected calls by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that it should be given the post of opposition leader, reported Sri Lanka's Sunday Times.

“The opposition leader’s post should be given to the party which has the highest number of members and are not supporting the National Government,” the SLFP's acting general secretary, Duminda Dissanayake, was quoted as saying.

A new monument commemorating dead soldiers of the Sri Lankan military was unveiled in Galnewa this week, "in memory of the gallant soldiers who made supreme sacrifices on behalf of the country", the ministry of defence's website said.

"Names of 60 war heroes who made supreme sacrifices have been engraved in the monument," the ministry of defence added.

Updated 1000 GMT

Sri Lanka paid an estimated US $6.5 million to a major fundraiser to the Obama campaign in order to lobby US officials and is yet to finish making payments, reports Foreign Policy.

According to the paper’s investigation, the Sri Lankan government over a five month period in 2014 paid $6.5 million to Imaad Zuberi, a venture capitalist whp was one of the biggest contributors to Obama’s re-election campaign.

A document obtained by Foreign Policy found that a lobby firm owned by Mr Zuberi was paid $2 million by the Sri Lankan government for consulting services which included influencing the US government.

The transactions have come under scrutiny after it was found that payments to Mr Zuberi were not disclosed to the US Justice Department as required under federal law. The Foreign Agents Registration Act of FARA states that paid representatives of foreign governments must disclose those relationships to the Justice Department and carries a punishment of up to 5 years in prison.

Through Mr Zuberi, Sri Lanka “made hundreds of contacts with government officials, think tanks, and journalists, and arranged meetings on Capitol Hill”. One such meeting was on July 14 2014, when former Sri Lankan MP Vass Gunawardena and 14 other Sri Lankan officials, spent thousands of dollars on food and drinks for members of Congress in Washington DC.

Mr Zuberi however denied he worked for individuals, telling FP, “Our work was for the government of Sri Lanka… not Mr Vass Gunawardena as a person”.

He also rejected allegations of corruption within the then Sri Lankan government, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa. “Perhaps we were lucky that we didn’t encounter corruption,” said Mr Zuberi. “But we only explored opportunities and didn’t really make any investment.”