Apr 10 (Dawn) Sri Lankan olympic chief Hemasiri Fernando says the island is not yet ready to host the 9th edition of the SAF Games as it requires at least 18 months to prepare for the event. "I am afraid we will have to refuse if such a proposal (to host 9th SAF Games) comes up at the next official meeting. more..

Apr 10 (CI) The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka's (BCCSL) search for a replacement for national team coach Dav Whatmore has been broadened to include former South African cricket coach Graham Ford. more..

Apr 10 (Reuters) Stocks closed higher for the third straight day on Thursday but brokers expect the gains, linked to the collapse of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's rule, would not be sustainable. more..

Apr 10 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday met with former Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujaral in New Delhi. The discussions centred on the current peace process and other matters of bi-lateral interest. more..

Apr 10 (DN) The working committee of the United National Party which met on Sunday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe decided to compensate UNP members assassinated by the JVP during the terror period. more..

Apr 10 (DM) With the Prime Minister's failure to recognize the SLMC rebels as a separate independent group, the five parliamentarians now representing the Ashraff Congress has warned the government that any remote chance of inaction by the government on vital matters concerning the Muslim community, would lead the congress to reconsider their stand with the government. more..

Apr 10 (Gulf) Sri Lanka is considering changing the venue for peace talks with the Tamil guerrillas due later this month in Thailand in a bid to avoid exposing the delegates to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, government sources said yesterday. more..

Apr 10 (wsws) The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka held a public lecture on Monday in Colombo to explain the party’s opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq and to outline the socialist alternative to imperialist war. more..

Apr 10 (IANS) Norwegian monitors in Sri Lanka are awaiting a response from Tamil guerrillas and the navy to fine-tune a truce so as to ensure peace in the waters around the country's troubled north and east. more..

Apr 10 (TN) ‘The Sri Lankan criminal justice system is contributing to a climate of impunity for police and security officials who commit torture’ observed the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) in oral submission Wednesday on 'Torture in Sri Lanka' at the 59th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. more..

Apr 10 (TN) Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), a constituent of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), held its 3-day sixth annual national conference in its Mannar office starting from Saturday, sources said. more..

Apr 10 (AFP) Sri Lanka will choose between former Australian wicketkeeper Steve Rixon, former New Zealand off spinner John Bracewell and South African Graham Ford for their new coach. Australia's Sri Lankan-born Dav Whatmore has been told his contract will not be renewed in June. more..

Apr 10 (AP) After postponing them three times because of political turmoil, Pakistan gave up Thursday and cancelled the South Asian Federation Games, citing the war in Iraq. Pakistan was originally scheduled to host in October 2001, but reconsidered after the Sept. 11, terrorist attacks more..

Apr 10 (PTI) Visiting Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge today briefed Indian leaders on the Lankan peace process as New Delhi reaffirmed its commitment to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the island nation. more..

Apr 10 (TN) Suicide among young persons in Jaffna is relatively higher in areas where many refugees live, according to court records in the northern peninsula. Twelve in the Jaffna division, ten in the Sandilipay-Masiyapiddy area and thirteen in the Chunnakam –Uduvil area committed suicide in 2001-2002. more..

Apr 11 (Island) The Government Proposed Organised Crime Bill has been held back to provide more scrutiny by civil society organisations and the public. Spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said yesterday that the bill was being held back for the moment in accordance with democratic values of the state to provide for more public opinion. more..

Apr 11 (Hindu) The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, today met the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and held talks with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. According to the Foreign Office spokesman, the main subject of discussion was the peace process in Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 11 (AFP) Former Sri spinner Lalith Kaluperuma will head the country’s four-member selection panel, cricket board officials announced here on Thursday. Board chief executive Anura Tennakoon said Kaluperuma had replaced Guy de Alwis, who resigned last month. more..

Apr 11 (TN) A workshop on the welfare of war-affected children, organized with the assistance of the UNICEF, is being held Thursday and Friday at the Tamil Eelam Economic Development Organization's (TEEDOR's) Conference Hall in Kilinochchi. more..

Apr 11 (Hindu) The State president of the Janata party, V.S. Chandralekha has expressed surprise at the LTTE spokesman, Anton Balasingham's reported statement that India should `forgive and forget' the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. more..

Apr 11 (Gulf) Talks between the Sri Lanka military and a Tamil coalition party to find an alternative place to relocate sections of the military in the northern Jaffna peninsula has ended without agreement. more..

Apr 11 (HT) In another blow at the sovereignty of the government of Sri Lanka, the rebel LTTE have staked a claim to a Line of Control (LOC) in the sea off the northern and eastern coasts of Sri Lanka in order to ward off the Sri Lankan navy and non-Tamil fishing vessels. more..

Apr 11 (PSL) The President Office is surprised to note the statement made by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission that they are not in receipt of a letter addressed to Major General Tryggve Tellefsen, the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission by President Kumaratunga. more..

Apr 11 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga returned to the island today after an official three-day visit to India. In the course oh her visit, which commenced from 7th to 10th April, President Kumaratunga met a number of Indian Political Leaders more..

Apr 11 (DM) The rivalry between the two factions of the SLMC reached dizzy heights yesterday with bodyguards of Wanni Rehabilitation Minister Noordeen Mashoor clashing with Wanni SLMC MP Rishard Badurdeen's group, at a mobile service held in Puttalam for displaced people. more..

Apr 11 (DOI) A large Malaysian company will invest Rs. 100 million to construct 23,000 houses for public servants in the country. The Public Administration Ministry on Wednesday signed the agreement with the Malaysian company 'Pembinath Chinkon' to commence the first phase of the project next month. more..

Apr 11 (DN) The Kotmale Reservoir will be named after the late Mahaweli Development Minister Gamini Dissanayake today. A ceremony will be held in this connection this afternoon at the Kotmale reservoir under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Apr 11 (BBC) Former spin bowler Lalith Kaluperuma has been appointed as the new chairman head of Sri Lanka's selection panel. The 53-year-old was banned for 25 years in 1982 after agreeing to go on a Sri Lankan rebel tour to South Africa. more..

Apr 11 (TI) Financial aid to fund reconstruction in Sri Lanka risks being misallocated or diverted into private hands unless transparency and accountability measures are built into the process, warns Transparency International (TI), the global non-governmental organisation engaged in the fight against corruption. more..

Apr 11 (Kyodo) Yasushi Akashi, Japan's envoy in charge of Sri Lankan issues, met U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York on Thursday and they discussed Sri Lankan peace talks that were held in Japan, U.N. sources said. According to the sources, Annan welcomed Japan's active participation in tackling the issue. more..

Apr 11 (Reuters) International attention on Iraq will not mean aid to Sri Lanka, trying to end two decades of civil war, will suffer, officials and diplomats said. A meeting in Washington on Monday hosted by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage showed the high-level support behind the peace process despite the Iraq war and recent sea clashes in Sri Lanka, they said. more..

Apr 11 (Reuters) Sri Lanka could sign trade agreements with Pakistan soon and with Egypt later this year as it seeks new markets for its garments and tea, a government minister said on Friday. The signing of a pact with Pakistan that will remove tariffs on many items was expected last year but was delayed as the countries held more negotiations. more..

Apr 11 (Reuters) Stocks closed mixed on Friday, with trades done mainly in Hayleys Ltd and John Keells Holdings Ltd as the market looked ahead to a quiet holiday week. The key Colombo all-share index finished up 0.04 percent, or 0.28 points, at 793.67 points. more..

Apr 11 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's economy is expected to grow by nearly five percent this year as long as the war in Iraq ends soon and oil prices remain relatively low, analysts said in the latest Reuters quarterly Asian economic poll. more..

Apr 11 (WSWS) Socialist Equality Party central committee member M. Aravinthan delivered a lecture entitled “The Iraq war and tasks of the international working class to a meeting of students, academics and workers at Jaffna University on March 26. more..

Apr 11 (IANS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has pleaded with India to get actively involved in her country's peace process, warning of ominous developments if that does not happen, but the once-bitten-twice-shy New Delhi wants to play it safe. more..

Apr 11 (AFP) Visiting Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga Thursday discussed with Indian leaders the ongoing peace process between her government and Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said. more..

Apr 11 (IANS) The U.S. administration has made it clear that Sri Lanka's Tamil guerrillas will remain on its terror list until the rebels give up terrorism "in word and in deed". more..

Apr 11 (AP) The government said on Friday it hopes to create 2 million jobs for young people, including those who fought in the country’s 19-year civil war. Creating the new jobs over the next four to six years is a “national priority,” a government statement said. more..

Apr 11 (SLA) Sections of civilians in the general area of ARIYAMPATHI, about 7.5 km. south of BATTICALOA town burnt tyres, raised black flags and kept their shops closed on 10 April 2003 around 5.30 p.m. to protest against the recent alleged LTTE’s killing of a rival political activist. more..

Apr 11 (SLA) Security Forces and Police personnel were compelled to intervene to de-fuse the tension that erupted between two groups in the general area of THOPPUR, about 17 km. southeast of TRINCOMALEE town on 10 April 2003 around 3.30 p.m. consequent to the abduction of a Muslim civilian. more..

Apr 11 (SLA) Civil- cloth clad two soldiers in the general area of MEESALAI north, about 19 km. east of JAFFNA on 09 April 2003 around 9.40 p.m. have been scolded in abusive language by an LTTE cadre who was on a motor bicycle. more..

Apr 11 (AFP) The United Nations development agency (UNDP) gave 700,000 dollars to help strengthen the administration in the island's embattled northern and eastern regions. more..

Apr 11 (Reuters) Tamil Tiger rebels agreed on Friday to a UNICEF plan to rehabilitate child soldiers recruited in their 19-year fight for a separate state. The plan, formulated jointly with the government and aid organisations, commits the Tigers to child rights training, a monitoring programme and mechanisms for the release and rehabilitation of child soldiers. more..

Apr 11 (CI) Sri Lanka look set to employ an interim coach for the forthcoming New Zealand Test series following current incumbent Dav Whatmore's request for early leave from his contract. The Sri Lankan born Australian's contract expires at the end of May and BCCSL has yet to decide upon a replacement. more..

Apr 11 (WF) The United States repeated its strong support for the peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE on the occasion of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's April 10 meeting in Washington with Minister for Economic Reform, Science, and Technology Milinda Moragoda. more..

Apr 12 (FL) The TULF president's decision to assert the party's independence vis-a-vis the LTTE in a context of the political winds blowing against the TULF for its "guilt by association", pose questions regarding his own future - and that of the TULF, the largest democratic political party of Sri Lankan Tamils. more..

Apr 12 (TN) The TNA Thursday reiterated its stand to the Prime Minister that the Sri Lanka Army should not be allowed to establish or relocate its camps and main bases in densely populated places in the Northeast province, TNA parliamentary group leader, Mr.R.Sampanthan, said more..

Apr 12 (TN) Prime Minister Thursday directed the Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs, Dr.Karunasena Kodituwakku, to obtain the approval of the Attorney General before granting permanent appointment to one thousand Tamil medium volunteer teachers serving in the Northeast province, more..

Apr 12 (Hindu) The President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, will be 58 on June 29. Eight-and-a-half-years and two terms on in the job of President, Ms. Kumaratunga is as combative as ever, never stingy in expressing her views. more..