A Sri Lankan minister this week said hard-line Buddhists were behind the recent days of anti-Muslim violence, describing the attacks as "organised" and "systematic". 

"These are organised attacks on Muslim business houses and premises," Navin Dissanayake, minister of plantation industries, said at a press briefing yesterday. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists this week condemned Sri Lanka's decision to reinstate an Army Major accused of the assassination of the Sunday Leader editor, Lasantha Wickremetunge. 

Prabath Bulathwatte was arrested two years ago over a number of attacks against media workers and is currently on bail. However, the army commander last week announced he would be reinstated following the Easter sunday bombings by Islamist extremists. 

European Union countries expressed concern yesterday anti-Muslim violence which has taken place in Sri Lanka this week. 

Students at the University of Jaffna protested today against arrest of two student union leaders and a campus hospitality worker under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) earlier this month. 

As increasing eye witness reports and videos emerge of the collusion of Sri Lankan security forces with rioting Sinhala mobs responsible for the widespread anti-Muslim violence, the state's army has said it would be investigating the case of one soldier, accused of standing by whilst the mobs attacked. 

A video released by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka shows military and police personnel joining Sinhala mobs in anti-Muslims riots that have taken place in the island over recent days. 

India's central government this week extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by another five years, citing continued concerns from the group and the Eelam Tamil diaspora. 

Locals in Mullaitivu came together on Tuesday to clear up the Mullivaikkal memorial grounds in preparation for May 18.

Commencing with cross-faith prayers at the memorial stand in the grounds, the works were overseen by Hindu and Christian religious leaders.

Tamil genocide remembrance week continued across the North-East with vigils today in Chemmani and Chavakachcheri in the Jaffna district.

The United Nations Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and Responsibility to Protect, Adama Dieng and Karen Smith, released a statement of concern in response to widespread anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka last weekend.

The experts warned that the recent violence was pushing Sri Lanka back towards a  period of armed inter-ethnic conflict.

People that fail to accept Sri Lanka as a Sinhala Buddhist country should not remain in the country, claimed the Mahanayaka (Chief Prelate) of the Kotte Chapter, one of Sri Lanka’s most prominent Buddhist chapters.