Colombo: The last phase of Sri Lanka’s low-intensity military conflict saw the elimination of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a military force. It simultaneously witnessed a poignant human drama in which some 300,000 Tamil civilians were rescued by force of arms from a terrorist organisation that, claiming to fight for their freedom, had no compunction in using them as a human shield.

Let us now view how the Sri Lankan private media distorts news items in keeping with their private agendas. What is crucial here is that such distortions go a long way when it involves the country’s international image and its national security. The Sunday Times political columnist in page four August 19, 2007 maintained that Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka called Sir John Holmes

 A report in the Australian media on Thursday (July 02) has stated that Sri Lankan government officials were running a prostitution racket using Tamil women from at least one of the camps for the displaced people. This report had quoted an aid worker, who had reportedly requested anonymity for fear of reprisals by the authorities.

Senior Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka, Basil Rajapaksa, MP is presently in Indonesia on a good will visit on the personal invitation extended by Dr. Hassan Wirajuda, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. He was accompanied by Mr. Dhammika Perera, Chairman, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, who is on an official visit to China, addressed a gathering of over 100 diplomats, leading think tanks, research organizations and media personnel at the prestigious China Institute for International Studies on "Post - Conflict Sri Lanka and the way forward" on July 2nd.

The Army looking for the owners of gold jewellery recovered from the Puthukudiruppu area has established those valuables had been pawned to the so-called former "LTTE Eelam Bank" in that area. 

The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry will invest Rs. 869 million to re-engage the fishermen of North who were denied fishing opportunities due to terrorist activities. This investment will be placed in line with the 180 day accelerated program launched by the Government under the Uthuru Vasanthaya master development drive of the North.

Shocking revelations, such as Indian Peace Keeping Force Commander Harirat Singh defying orders given by the late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to shoot LTTE Leader Prabhakaran when he came to an IPKF camp in 1987 and how a plot to assassinate President J. R. Jayewardene was averted, were incorporated in the book ‘From peace of war insurgency and terrorism’ written by Former Army Commander General Cyril Ranatunga, the launch of which took place last Wednesday.

The move by the Government to provide all facilities to students in the IDP centres to continue with their education shows that it is keen to ensure as normal an environment as could be obtained under the circumstances to prepare the population to pick up their lives once they get back to their familiar surroundings in the near future.

Japan’s Special Representative for Peace Building, Rehabilitation and Resettlement who was on a short visit to Sri Lanka on the invitation of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to address the inaugural session of the ‘Sri Lanka Economic Summit’ met with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on June 30, 2009 at the Ministry.

Dear Members of NZ Parliament and Friends, Green Party MP, Keith Locke, has used the august assembly of New Zealand Parliament as a platform to campaign for the militarily defeated Tamil Tiger Terrorists in Sri Lanka and has thrown some wild allegations against the Sri Lankan Government. It is no secret that Locke has made a trip to Sri Lanka some years ago on a visit arranged by the LTTE and received the hospitality of the LTTE, a terrorist group known to be the most ruthless killers in the world and has been outlawed by more than 30 countries.

Unprovoked attacks on two Sri Lankan students, Jayasri Watawala and Chathurika Weerasinghe, on May 17, 2009 in the Western suburbs in Sydney by pro-LTTE activists were a demonstration of callous disregard for human life and defiance of the LTTE terrorist movement, said the Foreign Ministry in a press release issued yesterday.

The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) has begun distribution of drinking water to IDPs in welfare centres in Zone 4 of Manik Farm, Vavuniya, through the newly installed Water Treatment Plant with purification facilities.

Dubious peacemakers and sections of the Tamil National Alliance who vehemently objected to anti-LTTE military operations have now begun to express their concerns over alleged Sinhala-colonization of the predominantly Tamil areas in North and East with establishment of military bases and cantonments following the Tigers’ crushing defeat. They have also raised objections to the continuation of high security zones in the North.

Colombo, 02 July, (Asiantribune.com): Ladies and gentlemen,We are at a critical juncture in our history. We have the unique opportunity to bring our people together and make this blessed island a better place for all. As the Bard said, time and tide waits for no man. We must grab this chance and ride the tide as it rushes in, said Dr. Palitha Kohona.

Royal College Colombo today (Jul 1) honored the war heroes of Sri Lanka Armed Forces and Police who liberated the country from the clutches of terrorism. At a memorial ceremony held at the college premises the college staff, students, parents, and old boys paid their tribute to the 47 Old Royalists who had made the ultimate sacrifice for the motherland during last 30 years of war on terror.

“Can the Tamils Seize a new opportunity” ? was the heading given by Ajith Ratnarajah to his well-written piece on the future of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Though lengthy the post evoked a lot of constructive discussion and debate on this blog. Ajith had written it from a Tamil perspective and outlined certain ideas and proposals envisaging a bright future for the Tamils of Sri Lanka who at the moment face bleak prospects.

Post conflict Sri Lanka has witnessed several commentaries for and against the 13th Amendment (13thA)/Devolution. What is evident from this body of opinion is the lack of consensus as to how Sri Lanka should proceed with it, meaning whether to:

I fully endorse the views expressed by my friend and former classmate, Somapala Gunadheera (SG) published in The Island of the 30 June 2009 on the "Captain Ali" affair. However, regarding the application of the ‘Dhammapada’ to the situation of Prabhakaran’s aged parents being in custody, as referred to in the last para, and also brought up by SG in a previous letter, I have some reservations.

It is unfortunate that a series of weekly articles each confined to about 1300 words on a single theme cannot be written as invariably there would be distracting snippets by "distinguished" and respected" "scholars" and others that need immediate responses. This series on the solution has to give some space this week to respond to Dr. H. L. Seneviratne who is respected by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka.

We are constantly told that restrictions on access to IDP camps prove that awful things are happening. If the situation were under control, this hypothesis goes, the Government would allow people to go and see for themselves. So when journalists write unverified stories about disappearances, rapes, starvation, epidemics and more, often encouraged by equally imaginative NGO reports, they are believed. Few of us trust the Government enough to take its word for the wellbeing of the long suffering people of the Vanni.

 Fears that LTTE fighters may attempt to pass themselves off as refugees will lead to the latest boatload of unauthorized arrivals in Australia -- believed to be Tamils -- being subjected to a particularly rigorous security screening process, The Australian newspaper reported yesterday.

The Attorney General has filed indictment against nine persons for granting Rs. 35 million to the LTTE from the funds of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation in 2006.The Attorney General filed indictment against Velupillai Sivanadiar, Murugesu Shanmugarajah, Kanthilingam Prem Raj...

Finding a lasting solution based on constitutional amendments to address the grievances of the Tamil people and drawing more investments into the country will strengthen the military victory over terrorism and rooting out any possibilities of resurfacing of the LTTE terrorism, the High Commissioner said.

This discourse commenced to examine the reasons for the international community's hostility towards Sri Lanka when the country is engaged in a 34-year protracted struggle against the worst terrorist outfit in the world. Especially in an era, where the international community itself, has palpably realized the need to free the world from cross border terrorism.

FEARS that ex-Tamil fighters may be passing themselves off as refugees will lead to the latest boatload of unauthorised arrivals - believed to be Tamils - being subjected to a particularly rigorous security screening process. The Australian has been told the recent defeat of the Tamil Tigers in their stronghold in northeastern Sri Lanka has led to concerns Tamil fighters may seek to flee the island amid fears of government retribution.

The Sri Lanka army (SLA) is to establish a Tamil regiment for the first time in Sri Lankan history, a Tamil government minister has said. Minister Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan, widely known as Karuna Amman, told BBC Sandeshaya that he was informed of the new unit by SLA commander General Sarath Fonseka a few days ago.

Since the war against terrorism won now, we have to win the war against drugs so that our society would not be destroyed by this menace. Therefore a special program would be launched with the assistance of all the police stations in the Kotte electorate to eradicate this evil, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said addressing a meeting held at Obeysekerapura Community Centre to start the anti-dengue campaign in Kotte.

The Sri Lankan government yesterday said that a US State Department travel advisory aimed at discouraging US citizens from visiting Sri Lanka was part of US strategy to undermine the country. A senior Foreign Ministry official told The Island that nothing could be as bad as the US warning of potential for continued instability and possible terrorist attacks a month after the end of war.

Former LTTE Eastern Commander and present Minister of National Integration Vinayagamurthy Muralidaran dismisses attempts to form a ‘government in exile’ as a futile exercise.

At a camp situated on top of a hill overlooking scenic rubber and coconut plantations in Sri Lanka, more than 100 former Tamil Tiger child soldiers are undergoing a year-long rehabilitation course.  Bala, who is now 17 years old, was one of the child soldiers who swelled the ranks of the feared Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Washington, D.C. 29 June (Asiantribune.com): Unprecedented in the history of overseas diplomacy undertaken by Sri Lanka since its independence in 1948, this South Asian nation’s defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who was one of the main strategists to annihilate the ruthless terror outfit LTTE last month, reached to the Sri Lankan expatriates in the United States opening a much needed dialogue.

Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa MP who led the three-member high level delegation to New Delhi this week assured Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna that the Sri Lankan Government had no intention whatsoever of keeping Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in welfare villages and camps even a day more than necessary and they will be resettled in their own villages before long as pledged under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s 180-day resettlement program, the President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga

Approximately 15 years before the news of Prabhakaran’s sudden death filtered through to Colombo, on May 17 this year, and the thunder of fire crackers echoed throughout the country, I had bought 100 fire crackers, in wishful anticipation of this event.  Of course, no such thing happened then, and two years later, I lit the crackers for some other more regular occasion before they went stale.

NEW DELHI, June 27: The LTTE’s elusive and self-proclaimed International Relations Chief Selvaraja Padmanathan alias KP has squarely blamed India for the humiliating defeat of the Tamil Tigers in the hands of the Sri Lankan security forces in the jungles of Vanni last month.  "In the recent war, India sided with Sri Lanka firmly and provided full support to them," he claimed in a statement emailed to, and broadcast by, an Indian television channel "Headlines Today" and published in "Mail Today" on Friday.

The Rajapaksa Government is seriously considering mobilizing the Sri Lankan diaspora through a governmental organization. Asian Tribune has suggested long ago that a separate ‘Ministry for Sri Lankans  abroad,  be set up to look after the interest of the Diasporas in the Western Countries.

 It was another jubilant victory for the patriotic Sri Lankans in the UK when they took to the streets of London waving flags of the Lion, yesterday (June 27). The mass Peace March was organised to commemorate the dawning of peace in Sri Lanka and to show the strength of the Sri Lankan Diaspora in UK who wholeheartedly is grateful for ending terrorism in motherland.