Photograph @HugoSwire

The Northern Provincial Council called for Sri Lanka's draconian anti-terror law to be repealed, in a resolution passed today, reported BBC Tamil and the Uthayan.

Accusing the Sri Lankan government of misusing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in order to repress the Tamil people, the TNA's NPC member Dr Sivamohan, when proposing the resolution, highlighted the PTA's overwhelming use in the North and East of the island.

Photograph Uthayan

The Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, Lt Gen Daya Ratnayake has ordered a probe into the alleged involvement of soldiers in a contract killing in Wellawa, according to Colombo Gazette.

Three soldiers are alleged to have murdered the husband of a woman, who paid them Rs 2mn, and were remanded by Kurunegala Court.

The Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police will conduct an investigation into the involvement of the three soldiers.

The Sri Lankan military's targeted recruitment of Tamil youths to ancillary civilian posts is aimed at keeping the youth under military control, the Northern Provincial Council's Agricultural Minister, Ponnudurai Ayngaranesan, was quoted by BBC Tamil as saying.

As part of the recent recruitment drive, troops handed out flyers listing a variety of job opportunities at an event on Sunday at Jaffna Kokuvil Hindu College.

Advertising to men aged 18 to 32, and women aged 18 to 30, the flyers promised salaries of 25,000 - 30,000 Sri Lankan rupees, for civilian jobs including nurses, teachers for English, Tamil and dance, singers, musicians, dancers, computer technicians, farming supervisors, farmers, electricians, carpenters, building masons, painters, patch workers, mechanics, drivers, builders, and artists.

The Sri Lankan will send a “friendly and sympathetic” NGO to watch Sri Lanka’s interest at the probe by the OHCHR, mandated at last month’s UNHRC session, reported The Sunday Island.

Diplomatic sources told the paper that although the Sri Lankan government had rejected the resolution, it would send the NGO to represent its interests during the probe.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered External Affairs Minister GL Peiris to look into formulating laws to monitor the funding of foreign NGOs, reported the Daily News.

The laws would be enacted to monitor the entire process, including auditing and accountability for these NGOs so that they don’t act in a manner “inimical to the state”, the president said at a meeting for news paper editors.