Apr 12 (Hindu) The resident, Chandrika Kumaratunga, has said that the LTTE has established a "de facto separate State" in the north of her country and in parts of the east since entering into peace talks with the Ranil Wickremesinghe Government. more..

Apr 12 (Hindu) In a startling account of an "escape from a prison run by the LTTE", a member of the EPDP today alleged that a number of Sri Lankan "soldiers and policemen" were held captive by the Tigers "in an underground bunker" in rebel-held northern Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 12 (Island) The government has been forced to reconsider its decision to shift Jaffna division headquarters at Subash and Gnanam hotels to temporary facilities on state land near the Jaffna library, an authoritative official said yesterday. more..

Apr 12 (TN) Before the Eelam Wars began, the salterns in the northeast produced enough salt to meet the all the needs of Sri Lanka and a surplus for export. Elephant Pass and Kurinchathivu were the largest of these. The other salt production facilities were in Chemmani, near Jaffna town, in Mannar town, in Nilaveli and Kumburupiddy in Trincomalee. more..

Apr 12 (TN) The Sri Lanka Army Friday refused permission for a team of engineers of the State Engineering Corporation to enter the Point Pedro post office premises to assess the damage caused to the post office buildings, saying that the post office is located within the high security zone (HSZ), sources said. more..

Apr 12 (LBO) The Mahapola Trust Fund has floated a fully owned subsidiary to manage its fee and fund based activities. The new firm, National Wealth Corp. (NWC), will invest all funds in government securities. NWC is also seeking a primary dealer licence. more..

Apr 12 (LBO) State handloom giant Salu Sala has posted impressive growth last year, with it’s revamped interior decorating arm bringing in a chunk of the profits. Turnover was recorded at Rs. 190 mn in 2002/2003, over the Rs. 88 mn posted the year before, more..

Apr 12 (SLA) One thousand one hundred and eighty two lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 04 April 2003 – 10 April 2003. more..

Apr 12 (SLA) A soldier was found dead in the general area of ODDUPELI, about 12 km. east of CHAVAKACHCHERI on 11 April 2003 around 11.15 a.m. due to a gun shot injury on his head whilst on duty. It is suspected that he has taken his own life by shooting himself. more..

Apr 12 (SLA) As the Sinhala & Hindu New Year is around the corner, re-born Jaffna after years of turmoil and mayhem, is all set to mark this National event on grand scale on April 13-14 as photos just taken in Jaffna suburbs amply speak. more..

Apr 12 (DM) The EPDP yesterday expressed satisfaction with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission's action in getting one of their members released, who had surrendered to the SLMM on April 7 after escaping from LTTE custody. more..

Apr 12 (AP) Sri Lankans prepared yesterday to start a week of new year celebrations in which they will forgo work and follow traditions that include taking oil baths at an auspicious times and preparing meals of rice and milk in clay pots over wood fires. more..

Apr 12 (PTI) The Sri Lankan Cricket Board today appointed former captain Duleep Mendis as the country's interim coach following Dav Whatmore's early release from the contract. more..

Apr 12 (IANS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga warned in comments published Saturday that she may sack Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe if peace talks with Tamil Tigers threatened her country's unity. more..

Apr 12 (AFP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said she is under threat from Tamil Tiger rebels despite a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire and ongoing peace talks. In an interview with the Hindu newspaper published here Saturday, Kumaratunga said that she believed the rebel LTTE were out to get her. more..

Apr 12 (TN) The LTTE said Saturday it would review its decision to participate in the international conference in Tokyo in June in protest at its exclusion from the preliminary conference to be held in Washington on Monday. more..

Apr 12 (IANS) A passenger train packed with people in festive mood Saturday left the Sri Lankan capital for the eastern town of Batticaloa, marking the resumption of rail services to the region after a 12-year gap. more..

Apr 12 (HT) If there is an international competition in frequent flying, the members of Sri Lanka's jumbo cabinet will sweep the awards. Almost as if each one of them is issued with a pair of wings on being sworn-in, the worthies take off from Katunayake airport at the drop of a hat for any land or clime they fancy. more..

Apr 12 (IOL) New Zealand's cricket tour of Sri Lanka is set to go ahead, their cricket board said Saturday. The trip had been in doubt because of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Asia. more..

Apr 13 (SL) India has been a mover in Sri Lankan politics as long as the country has been in existence. There is little to wonder why despite its silent attitude, politicians from the government as well as the opposition have been visiting India regularly. more..

Apr 13 (SL) The government is considering implementing several financial reforms including the relaxation of exchange controls which are likely to have far reaching consequences, high ranking sources told The Sunday Leader last week. more..

Apr 13 (TN) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded North East Community Restoration and Community Development Project (NECORD) Saturday handed sixteen ambulances to the provincial ministry of health to upgrade the health services in the war-torn northeast province. more..

Apr 13 (Island) Trade unions in the newly privatised Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) were gearing last week to start negotiations with the incoming management for a collective agreement that would ensure the protection of employees’ earlier rights and privileges. more..

Apr 13 (SLA) A hand grenade has been exploded in front of the central liquor bar in the general area of PULIYANTHEEVU about, 01 km south of BATTICALOA town on 12 April 2003. Preliminary investigation reveled that it had been hurled by an unidentified person. more..

Apr 13 (SLA) Local fishermen in the general areas of VELVATITHURAI and POINT PEDRO, who tried to capture Indian fishing trawlers poaching off POINT PEDRO seas were averted by Naval troops on 12 April 2003 around 4.30 p.m. more..

Apr 13 (SLA) The explosion of a hand grenade inside the PALALY Army camp premises in JAFFNA on 12 April 2003 caused injury to two soldiers. Two sergeants who received minor injuries had been admitted to PALALY hospital for treatment. more..

Apr 13 (AI) E-Vision has said that the addition of the 24-hour channel is a ‘gift' to all Sri Lankans in the UAE on the occasion of their New Year festival that falls on April 14. ‘TV Lanka' will be available on E-Vision on channel 48 as part of the Basic Packages that comprises over 80 channels available in 16 different channels. more..

Apr 13 (ABC) The United States will join the search for peace in Sri Lanka, hoping to bolster a painstaking drive to end a searing separatist struggle by Tamil Tiger rebels which has claimed 60,000 lives. more..

Apr 13 (AN) A consular team of the Consulate General of Sri Lanka will visit Madinah on April 17 to provide consular services and labor consultations to the island nation’s expatriates in the region. The team can be contacted at the Madinah Sheraton Hotel on the day from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. more..

Apr 13 (SO) The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), probing the massive fraud at the Central Province Education Department arrested its Chief Accountant, Ananda Weerasinghe last week, CID sources told the Sunday Observer. more..

Apr 13 (DM) Whatever the struggle of the common people, their representatives are having a happy new year with high-powered semi luxury vehicles coming their way. more..

Apr 13 (IANS) Peace facilitators Norway was the first to contribute to a newly established trust fund to help the people of war ravaged northeastern Sri Lanka by pledging $2.7 million to ensure "they reap early and tangible benefits of peace". more..

Apr 13 (Xinhua) The Sri Lankan government will not allow any one to set up cloning base in the country and cloning is banned here, the official Sunday Observer said. more..

Apr 13 (Stuff) Black Caps skipper Stephen Fleming believes the short tour of Sri Lanka will be pivotal to his team's structure and future. World rankings are at stake, a new round of player contracts loom and a possible management shuffle is in the offing. more..

Apr 13 (AP) Sri Lanka's President has accused her political rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, of granting too many concessions to Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's peace process. more..

Apr 13 (PTI) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has put off a planned visit to China due to the threat of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), according to media reports today. more..

Apr 13 (TN) The five day Festival of Music, Dance and Drama concluded Saturday attended by large crowd at Trincomalee Vivekandanda College auditorium. Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr. R.Sampanthan and national list parliamentarian Mr. K.Thurairetnasingham declared open the final day festival by lighting the traditional oil lamp. more..

Apr 13 (AFP) A train traveling from the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo derailed on its first voyage since war disrupted rail service eight years ago, railway officials said Sunday. more..

Apr 14 (Zenit) Catholics and Protestants in Sri Lanka are opposing a plan to reinstate the death penalty in the face of a rising crime rate. In Sri Lanka, the last person to be executed by the state was hanged in 1976. Since then, capital punishment has been commuted to life imprisonment, but not abolished. more..

Apr 14 (Hindu) "AYUBOWAN" on Aluth Avuruddhe day! Or greetings on the New Year's Day. Sri Lanka has been ascribed many names such as paradise isle, taprobane, pearl, and Serendip. more..

Apr 14 (IANS) An Indian politician Saturday asked LTTE group to wind up in the interest of the island's minority Tamil community it claims to represent. "The LTTE should now realize that they are considered a renegade unwelcome outfit in important parts of the world," Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy said more..

Apr 14 (Hindu) One year two months after the ceasefire came into force in Sri Lanka and brought a respite from two decades of ethnic violence, apprehensions have begun to be expressed about the direction of the peace process amid a growing realisation of the dangers inherent in tangoing with the leadership of the LTTE. more..

Apr 14 (CI) Sri Lanka's failure to qualify for the Sharjah Cup final is another indication of what is in store for the national team in the future. more..

Apr 14 (wsws) The Sri Lanka Islamic Students Movement (SLISM) along with other groups organised antiwar protests in Colombo and the country’s eastern province on April 11. more..

Apr 14 (BBC) In Jaffna, where Murugesu Sivapalan grew up, every house had its own well, which was unusual compared with other towns. The water, however, was undrinkable. "It was so salty, you couldn't use if for cooking," said Dr Sivapalan, now a hydrologist at the University of Western Australia. more..

Apr 14 (Gulf) It's Aluth Avuruddha (New Year) for Sri Lankans today, and hundreds of expatriates nationwide will join their countrymen to mark the most important date in their country's cultural calendar. more..

Apr 14 (BBC) An unique Sri Lankan theatre troupe has been staging a play on war and displacement in the Indian capital Delhi. The 50-member troupe consists of able-bodied and disabled people including war refugees and soldiers from the island nation's two decade long civil war. more..

Apr 14 (IANS) The repatriation of over 200,000 Sri Lankan refugees living in southern India will be delayed till areas selected for resettling them in the island nation are completely de-mined. more..

Apr 14 (HT) India's participation in a US-sponsored "Aid Lanka" conference in Washington on Monday is tempting some observers here to think that India may be giving up its 'stand-offishness' towards its troubled southern neighbour, and taking on a pro-active role in the peace process. more..

Apr 14 (IANS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga will visit Bangladesh this month, close on the heels of her visit to India. She will call on Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed and also meet Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan on the first day of her Dhaka trip on April 19. more..