Endorsing the "principled stand" of Louise Frechette, the chair of the UN body who made the decision to bar Major General Shavendra Silva from the UN's Special Advisory Group on Peace Keeping Operations, Philippe Bolopion, the UN director for Human Rights Watch, called on UN member states and the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to publicly back her decision.
The Sri Lankan government vowed to conduct large scale rallies against the "Western forces" that are calling for an independent probe into the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The government's spokesperson, Susil Premajayantha, told reporters,
The Conservative MP for Harlow, Robert Halfon, writing on the ConservativeHome website, endorsed the Canadian pledge to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in
The Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka dismissed calls for an international inquiry into allegations of war crimes.
Vladimir Mikhaylov was speaking at a conference marking 55 years of diplomatic relations between Russia and Sri Lanka, where he expressed Russia’s view that larger, more powerful nations cannot dictate to smaller countries how to govern or what type of leader should be in power.
The UNP's deputy leader, Sajith Premadasa, is reported to be working with UNP dissidents towards forming a new organisation, with the group's first meeting held in Kandy Upcountry Union recently.
Ahead of the UNHRC March session, starting next week, Sri Lanka's minister of foreign affairs suggested it was unreasonable to expect implementation of the LLRC recommendations already.
Civil society groups, formed by resettled Tamil women in Mannar, protested against the construction of a Sri Lankan military cantonment, reported Tamilnet, Sunday.
The militarisation has increasingly encroached on residential areas, including access paths to basic needs such as water.
Sri Lanka is seeking to borrow US$ 1 billion from global investment bank Goldman Sachs to meet soaring fuel costs and fund the poorly performing and publicly owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, The Island newspaper reported Monday.
The official news portal of the Sri Lankan Government quoted Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the Unit, Dr Palitha Kohona, as saying the government will not favour any external intervention in, what it says are, ‘domestic issues’.
The decision to appoint Major General Shavendra Silva of the Sri Lankan Army to the UN Special Advisory Group on Peace Keeping Operations has come under fire, as pressure increases on the UN to review the appointment.
The US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice was earlier quoted as saying,
The influx of British tourists into Sri Lanka has fallen following the murder of a British tourist and the rape of his girlfriends at a holiday resort in the South of the island, according to official figures.
Extracts from The Economist article on India's strategy in the region and China's role:
Memories in Sri Lanka of India’s troubled role in the long and bitter civil war appear to be fading. Meanwhile, India, officially, does not worry about signs of its neighbour’s dalliance with China.
The Director General of the Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalle, dismissed the statement made by Human Rights Watch as "part of promoting pro-LTTE propaganda".
