Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called for a meeting with the Sri Lanka head of USAID, accusing the organisation of attempting to turn people against the government through a voter education programme.

US ambassador to the country, Michele Sison, has refused to authorise the meeting, unless she was also invited, The Island reported, causing Gotabhaya to order senior military officers as well as heads of other institutions under his purview to only meet the ambassador or her representatives in his presence. The defence secretary said that the government welcomed visits by diplomats from other countries and military commanders to the North-East and usually briefed them but that from now on there would be restrictions on these meetings.

Rajapaksa told The Island last night that he wanted to discuss what he called a move to influence the electorate through a voter education project called ‘Election Support through Voter Education (ESVE) programme, adding it was nothing but a “ruse” by USAID to turn people against the government and if it goes ahead, bilateral relations would be further undermined.

Malaysian police have arrested four more people for allegedly having links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, reported Reuters.

Police inspector general Khalid Abu Bakar said the two Tamils, one Muslim and one Sinhalese, "were planning to reactivate the group by making Malaysia as their base of operations" adding that some had “exploited their status as refugees to pursue illegal activities”.

The Sri Lankan government’s adherence to policies by the IMF, was behind the annual cuts in social welfare, health and education budgets, UNP MP and financial analyst Eran Wickremeratne told The Island.

A Chinese embassy official said that a stable and peaceful Sri Lanka was to India’s advantage and that the country can gain a lot from its southern neighbour, reported Colombo Gazette.

The South African Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, Cyril Ramaphosa, is due to visit the island next week for talks with the government and other groups, to discuss a political solution for the “Northeast problem” a senior government source told the Daily Mirror.

Several parties in the ruling coalition expressed their opposition to the visit.

“No positive results would be brought from a South African model peace initiative as the issues in Sri Lanka and South Africa are totally different. Besides, South Africa cannot win the confidence of the people in Sri Lanka as that country maintained a close link with the LTTE. Therefore, it concerns only on the grievances of minorities,” said spokesperson for the JHU Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe.

More skeletal remains have been found in Muhamaalai on Thursday, a day after remains and clothing of female LTTE fighters were unearthed by a demining team, reported the Uthayan.

Bones, grenades and bullet casings were found in the town on the Jaffna peninsula, which used to be a major checkpoint to enter territory under Tamil control before 2009.