Apr 28 (TN) Prime Minister's senior advisor Mr.Bradman Weerakone at the end of his two-day visit to Jaffna Sunday said at a conference held at Jaffna District Secretariat that the reply to be sent shortly to the LTTE political advisor Mr Anton Balasingham would contain assurances that will help the resumption of the peace talks. more..

Apr 28 (PTI) Police on Sunday arrested five people in connection with the recent murder of a female Sri Lankan College student in the city. The body of the girl, Mayoorani, with cut injuries was found in a highly decomposed state in her room on April 24. more..

Apr 28 (Island) Neither Japan nor the United States of America or other international donor nations will change their programmes or schedules on the whims and fancies of the LTTE, diplomatic sources said yesterday. more..

Apr 28 (PTI) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead an informant of the Sri Lankan army, officials in Colombo said on Sunday. The victim was gunned down near the capital on Saturday night as he was about to leave his home. more..

Apr 28 (TN) "It is the birthright of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) to resettle in their own lands. There is no need for the internally displaced Tamil families in Jaffna district to seek permission from the government or the Sri Lanka Army to return to their own lands," said Mr.R.Sampanthan more..

Apr 28 (LBO) The Asian Development Bank plans to raise its annual contributions to Sri Lanka to about US$ 250 mn and is also keen the government steps up its aid disbursement ratio. more..

Apr 28 (PRIU) A Sri Lankan film Wekande Walauwa (Mansion by the Lake) has been selected for the 56th Cannes Film Festival, May 15-25 2003. This is the fourth time Lester James Peiris, the doyen Sri Lanka’s motion picture industry has been recognized by the Festival. more..

Apr 28 (PRIU) The Opposition parties view with concern the decision of the LTTE to suspend its participation in the negotiations for the time being and not to attend the scheduled talks in Japan in June. However, the Opposition parties are not surprised at this turn of events. more..

Apr 28 (DOI) A series of ceremonies will be held islandwide on May 1 to commemorate the 10th death anniversary of late President Ranasinghe Premadasa. A number of mobile health clinics, religious ceremonies and rural development programmes are scheduled to be held in commemoration of the late President. more..

Apr 28 (DOI) Sri Lanka's tax administration has been weak for the last 20 years and an effective tax administration will reduce the burden on the State coffers, International Monetary Fund's Senior Resident Representative in Colombo Jeremy Carter said. more..

Apr 28 (DOI) The Tea Development Project (TDP) is planning to utilise $ 3.2 million US dollars from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the reconstruction of underdeveloped roads and infrastructure development in the 13 districts where tea is grown. more..

Apr 28 (IANS) A Sri Lankan man has been arrested in Tamil Nadu with 13.4 kg of heroin. The man, identified only as Selvakumar, was taken into custody in Sivaganga district and was allegedly part of a gang that smuggled heroin into Sri Lanka from Tamil Nadu. more..

Apr 28 (DM) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected early this week, to issue a response to the reasons cited by the LTTE for its decision to pull out of peace talks, informed sources said. more..

Apr 28 (DN) A five-member underworld gang were taken into custody by two special teams attahced to the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) in connection with the possession of a number of weapons in Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa and Balapitiya police areas. more..

Apr 28 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's trade deficit in the first two months of 2003 widened to $271 million from $167 million in the same period in 2002, the central bank said on Monday. more..

Apr 28 (Reuters) Stocks edged up to their highest level in more than three months on Monday, helped by gains in DFCC Bank Ltd , with investors expecting peace talks to resume soon. The key Colombo all-share index was up 0.72 percent, more..

Apr 28 (Deepika) Sri Lanka's mainstream Tamil political party has joined Tamil Tiger rebels in asking the government to withdraw its army from civilian areas in the northern Jaffna Peninsula to allow Tamil civilians to return home, a party official said. more..

Apr 28 (PSL) The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Jaffna, the Most Rev. Dr. B. Deogupillai. He was 86. President Kumaratunga condoled with members of the Late Bishop's family and the Catholic community of the North and East. more..

Apr 28 (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels on Monday celebrated the third anniversary of a key military victory, in which they seized a strategic strip of land that links the Tamil city of Jaffna with the Sri Lankan mainland. more..

Apr 28 (AP) Hashan Tillakaratne celebrated his promotion to the Sri Lankan test captaincy with an unbeaten century Monday before heavy rain halted the fourth day's play and pushed the series opener against New Zealand toward a draw. more..

Apr 28 (HT) In a determined bid to bring the LTTE back to the negotiating table and make it attend the all-important "Aid Lanka" consortium meeting in Tokyo in June, two top officials of the Sri Lankan government were in Jaffna over the weekend to find out in what way the High Security Zones in the Jaffna peninsula can be modified to meet the LTTE's concerns about civilian re-settlement in those areas. more..

Apr 28 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's troubled peace process took a step backwards on Monday after a minister refused to take further part in suspended talks because the Tamil Tigers had breached his trust, a source close to the negotiator said. more..

Apr 28 (TN) Without interntational aid it will not be possible to renovate and rebuild hospitals damaged or destroyed by war in the Northeast province, said Minister of Health Services P. Dayaratne, addressing an event held in conjuntion with upgrading the Vavuniya General Hospital. more..

Apr 28 (TN) Defense Minister, Tilak Marapone, has ordered Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Lionel Balagalle to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of Lance Corporal Lingarajah Thavarajah Saturday night in Dehiwela, security sources said. more..

Apr 28 (CI) Hashan Tillakaratne, who celebrated the first match of his captaincy tenure with his eleventh Test century, believes Sri Lanka still have work to do on the final day despite his side's strong reply to New Zealand's 515 for 7 and a fourth day wash-out. more..

Apr 28 (SLA) Naval troops on routine sea patrol in the general sea area of BACK BAY, TRINCOMALEE this morning (28 April 2003) around 11.20 a.m. detected a suspicious boat with six persons onboard. more..

Apr 28 (SLA) Two unidentified persons on a motor cycle have hurled a hand grenade at some Muslim persons while they were near their house in the general area of JAMALIYA, about 2 km northwest from TRINCOMALEE town on 26 April 2003 around 9.00 p.m. more..

Apr 28 (SLA) A van taken away by LTTE from the general area of KILINOCHCHI on 10 April 2003 has been returned to its owner on 24 April 2003 after a ransom of Rs.400,000 (about US $ 4167 ) was paid to the LTTE by its owner. more..

Apr 28 (Reuters) Sri Lanka offered on Monday to move some of its troops in the Tamil heartland of Jaffna in the first government response to complaints by rebels that not enough was being done to improve conditions in war-hit areas. more..

Apr 28 (AFP) Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom will open an emergency meeting of South Asian ministers Tuesday to decide on collective action on SARS, his office said. more..

Apr 28 (AP) Sri Lanka's military said on Monday it will vacate private homes and buildings it occupied in the rebel-controlled northern Tamil town of Jaffna to allow civilian resettlement. A military statement said army and police positions in Jaffna's high security zone will be shifted to state land elsewhere in the town. more..

Apr 29 (TN) The opposition parties in Sri Lanka should not derail or be hostile to the peace process for their own political gain, said the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in a statement to the public on Monday. more..

Apr 29 (AFP) Japan's top peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, is due to arrive here this week in a bid to revive the stalled talks between the Colombo government and Tamil rebels, officials said Monday. more..

Apr 29 (Reuters) Tamil Tiger rebels moved to ease tension in the island's troubled peace process on Monday, backing away from remarks that angered a government negotiator and phoning him to clear the air. more..

Apr 29 (Island) Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) officials in Muttur have been unable to restore power supply to the area which was disrupted by the LTTE on April 18, following the Muslim and Tamil communal violence that erupted last week on LTTE’s instigation. more..

Apr 29 (TN) The IFSP in Trincomalee Monday donated a consignment of forty mother and child-weighing scales to the Department of Health Services to be supplied to the public health midwives in the Trincomalee district to monitor malnutrition prevalent especially amongst women and children less than five years of age, sources said. more..

Apr 29 (LBO) Capitalising on the ongoing peace dividends, the government is once again talking of seeking a sovereign rating for Sri Lanka, with plans to issue the mandate as early as July this year. more..

Apr 29 (SLA) A teenager, who had been abducted and held by LTTE managed to flee from LTTE custody and sought protection from BOGAMUYAYA Police on 27 April 2003 around 8.p.m. more..

Apr 29 (SLA) A search was conducted in the general area of JAMALIYA, about 2 km. northwest of TRINCOMALEE town this morning by a combined team of Police, assisted by Security Forces personnel in order to ensure that the area is free from acts of violence and provided with intensified security. more..

Apr 29 (SLA) Naval troops on duty have apprehended two civilians with their Fiber Glass Boat on 28 April 2003 around 8.40 a.m. while they were moving in the restricted sea area of the COLOMBO Harbour. more..

Apr 29 (TN) Moolai Hospital in Jaffna, the only large co-operative society medical facility in the northeast, lies largely useless today owing to the lack of doctors, patients and the presence of the Sri Lanka Navy in its environs. more..

Apr 29 (TN) The late Bishop of Jaffna, Most Rev. Dr. Bastiampillai Deogupillai, fought until his last for the removal of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, said the Bishop of the Trincomalee-Batticaloa Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Kingsely Swampillai, in his eulogy delivered prior to the burial of the religious leader’s body. more..

Apr 29 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga conveyed her best wishes to the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Benjamin William Mkapa, on the National Day of Tanzania, April 26, 2003. The full text of the message as follows: more..

Apr 29 (DN) The Colombo Municipal health officials next week will strictly implement its anti-dengue campaign with a one week "clean-up or pay-up" deadline imposed on household who do not adhere to Municipal health conditions. more..

Apr 29 (TN) The Liberation Tigers denied Monday that Sri Lanka’s Economics Reform Minister, Milinda Moragoda, had given them an assurance they would be able to attend the international aid conference in Washington on April 14 as quoted in weekend press reports. more..

Apr 29 (DM) Students of Jayawardenepura and Sabaragamuwa universities are intent to go on staging a massive protest if their meeting with Minister Kabeer Hasheem and the opposition parties due in May 6, which they termed as the "last resort" too proves to be futile. more..

Apr 29 (Gulf) The Norwegians monitoring a ceasefire between Sri Lankan troops and the LTTE have now dropped a controversial proposal seeking to recognise the militant naval wing, and simultaneously said an opposition proposal to have Indians also monitor the truce requires approval from the militants. more..

Apr 29 (Gulf) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has responded to the Tamil Tigers leadership on their decision to suspend peace talks with his government, a day after the prime minister's secretary Bradman Weerakoon returned from a visit to north Jaffna. more..

Apr 29 (HT) Making a major breakthrough that could lead to an early resumption of peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, the rebel group's chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, on Monday invited Lankan negotiator Milinda Moragoda for talks in the Wanni more..

Apr 29 (IL) A joint demonstration staged by opposition parties condemning the untoward incidents in Mutur was held in Colombo. The demonstration was staged at the Lipton Circus. Members and supporters of the SLFP, the JVP, the MEP, and the Muslim United Front participated. Slogans against the Norwegian Monitoring Mission accusing it of being agents of the LTTE, and demanding that it should leave the country were clearly seen and heard.