Oct 16 (AFP) Canada's Foreign Minister Bill Graham Thursday urged Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels to make reasonable power-sharing proposals to end the ethnic bloodshed that has ravaged the country for three decades. more..

Oct 17 (TN) New deminers recruited recently for the Batticaloa district will be given one month training starting on October 25, said Ms. Teresa Tavares, the official in charge of demining in the district. more..

Oct 17 (TN) Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, in a meeting with a delegation of the TNA Thursday, accepted 'in principle' that all internally displaced families are entitled to resettlement in their own lands and houses in the northeast province, regardless of whether those lands or houses come under areas declared as high security zones (HSZ) more..

Oct 17 (LBO) Furniture specialists Damro, will expand into the household appliance manufacturing industry, with its first product going retail by Feb 2004. A semi and fully automatic washing machine is the first in a long list that also includes PVC door and windows. more..

Oct 17 (TN) Mr. Rauff Hakeem, the leader of the SLMC met with the visiting Indian Foreign Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, Tuesday evening, and told the latter that it was of paramount importance to safeguard Muslim interests in the proposed Interim Administration for the Northeast, sources said. more..

Oct 17 (TN) “The Singhalese should decide whether we are going to have a united Sri Lanka or Eelam and Sri Lanka. The peace process may take years. But the conflict should be resolved before the next elections”, said Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Lands, more..

Oct 17 (LT) V.Ananda Sangaree, Leader of TULF in a statement says that he would never take part in any future meeting of the TNA as it has become a cat’s paw of the tiger organization without dedicating itself for the aspirations of the Tamil masses. more..

Oct 17 (IL) The National Unity Alliance (NUA) while condemning Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's statement to the United Nations justifying the US invasion of Iraq, has asked why the country's main Muslim party is silent over the matter. more..

Oct 17 (IL) The JVP is yet to receive a formal invitation from the SLFP for the resumption of talks on the proposed alliance. The JVP politburo has decided to respond positively, only if the SLFP invites them officially and ignore any overtures for informal talks, party sources said. more..

Oct 17 (IL) Despite representations to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Norwegian facilitators by Muslim leaders to remove the controversial Manirasakulam camp, as it has been built on the site of a mosque, there has been no favourable response, a Muslim source said. more..

Oct 17 (IL) At least 2000 families of internally displaced persons belonging to the Jaffna Peninsula, but now living in Government Welfare Centres in Vavuniya are reluctant to return to Jaffna. According to a survey undertaken by the UNHCR, around 60% of the IDPs do not want to return to Jaffna at all because of the activities of the LTTE. The balance 40% wants to be certain of permanent peace before returning to Jaffna, the EPDP said. more..

Oct 17 (DN) Russel Arnold is one of the three Test players in a strong Sri Lanka "A" team which arrives in Nairobi today. The visitors will play five One-Day-International matches against Kenya at three different Nairobi venues. Sri Lanka "A'' last visited Kenya in 2001 when their tour was affected by rain and a Kenya national team boycott. more..

Oct 17 (DN) The Lanka Samasamaja Party congratulates the President on her principled stand in support of devolution of power as the basis for solving the ethnic problem. The LTTE has accepted this principle and in so doing also agreed to a federal solution within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 17 (AF) Syria rose to the occasion in their Asian cup qualifiers opening match on yesterday (Wednesday) with a 5-0 demolition against group G minnows Sri Lanka at Al-Abbasiyin Stadium in Damascus. more..

Oct 17 (hindu) The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, on Wednesday ruled out possible threats to Indian installations in Sri Lanka and asserted that there would be “no compromise” on New Delhi’s commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the island. more..

Oct 17 (LBO) Lanka Bell on Thursday signed up with Net2Phone Global Services of US, to offer international calls at bargain rates to key destinations. Net2Phone routes calls over the Internet, unlike conventional traffic, which goes through undersea cables. more..

Oct 17 (LBO) Leisure industry specialist Banyan Tree Holdings, is structuring a private placement for over US$ 20 million for early 2004. The exact quantum of the capital raising exercise was not available at the time of the report, more..

Oct 17 (TN) The North East Provincial Department of Education held the first provincial level Science-Mathematics Quiz Competition for Grade 11 year students who have excelled in zonal level competitions. The winners of twenty-four zonal level competitions participated at the provincial level competition more..

Oct 17 (TN) The thirteenth annual Tamil Literary festival of the North East Provincial Education, Cultural, Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry is to commence Friday at Vavuniya. On the final day of the festival to be held on Sunday eight veteran Tamil scholars in the northeast province are to be conferred with the Governor’s Award-2003, more..

Oct 17 (SLA) Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham, now in Sri Lanka was on a tour to Jaffna on Thursday (16), in a bid to receive an update on matters vis-a -vis resettlement, security and function of the ceasefire agreement in the northeast of the country. more..

Oct 17 (SLA) Two teen-aged children in the general area of CHENKALADY town, about 15 km northwest of BATTICALOA town have been abducted by two LTTE men on 09 October 2003 around 8.00 p.m. alleging that they were needed for recruitment. more..

Oct 17 (SLA) A civilian taken into custody by LTTE while he was fishing in the KALLICHCHI tank on 15 October 2003 around 2.30 p.m. has been delivered to WADUMUNAI road block, about 3 km west of WELIKANDA. more..

Oct 17 (SLA) Four armed LTTE cadres threatened and took away two bullock-carts laden with firewood from the general area of MUTTUR on 16 October 2003 around 6.30 p.m. along with bulls while wood-cutters were returning from MURAY jungle in the area. more..

Oct 17 (SLA) An Army truck carrying troops from the general area of THANANKILAPPU towards KANKESANTHURAI has collided with a stationary lorry parked on wayside on 16 October 2003 around 10.50 a.m. The Army truck was badly damaged but the affected lorry received only slight damages. more..

Oct 17 (SLA) A private coach plying from JAFFNA towards POINT PEDRO has slipped off the road and crashed into a wayside bunker in the general area of PULOLY south on 15 October 2003 around 7.30 p.m., causing injury to a soldier on duty inside it. more..

Oct 17 (LT) Residents of Kalkuda and Kalmadu held a protest on the 15th to denounce Tamil Tigers’ ransom taking and other injustices. Burning tyres and blocking the roads the villagers whom were continuously subjected to such injustices protested against Tiger control. more..

Oct 17 (DJ) The government will press on with ongoing reforms to make Sri Lanka a more efficient country, in a bid to boost long-term economic growth, the secretary to the treasury said Friday. more..

Oct 17 (Gulf) The Sri Lanka Business Council will be officially launched on October 22 following the approval of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. With the recent approval granted by DCCI, the Sri Lanka Business Council joins the umbrella of the business councils in Dubai as the 20th business council under the chamber. more..

Oct 17 (Gulf) The Sri Lankan military has prevented the Tamil guerrillas from conducting a funeral for one of their cadres in a government controlled area as the body had been dressed in a military type uniform and the coffin draped with a guerrilla flag, more..

Oct 17 (Island) Confirming our recent report on a Sri Lankan housemaid (name withheld) gang-raped in Abu Dhabi and being denied the Rs. two million awarded by an Abu Dhabi court, Labour Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told that he has directed relevant authorities to probe the incident. more..

Oct 17 (DM) The crisis over the appointment of a new Inspector General of Police took another turn yesterday with President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointing Senior DIG Indra de Silva as the acting IGP. more..

Oct 17 (TN) “Today we see those who murdered Nimalarajan walking about freely. Investigations into his foul murder have been going on for long without any progress. But none of his murderers have been brought to book. We have no faith in Sri Lanka’s system of justice”, more..

Oct 17 (AP) A Bloomfield Township couple has been charged with illegally selling powerful painkillers. Waterford police arrested Dr. Subadra Deandra, 49, and her husband, Dr. Dewundara Dayananda, 55, and seized $180,000 in cash from their home Wednesday, more..

Oct 17 (PTI) Sri Lanka's navy detained 39 Indian fishermen for allegedly poaching in the island's territorial waters, police said on Friday. However, 28 of them were released later and handed over to Indian coastguard. more..

Oct 17 (DJ) The Sri Lankan government is contemplating a further stake sale in Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. (SLTL.SL) and is currently mulling various exit options, the company said Friday. more..

Oct 17 (OW) The issue of religious conversions is snowballing in Sri Lanka, with nongovernmental organization, The National Peace Council asking the government to investigate into a spate of recent attacks on churches, even as a journalist was allegedly attacked by Christians last week. more..

Oct 17 (AFP) A Sri Lankan trade unionist who was jailed for contempt while challenging Sri Lanka's controversial chief justice emerged a free man Friday to be rewarded with an Asian human rights award. more..

Oct 17 (BBC) As two men are jailed for life for murder, BBC News Online investigates what is behind the spiral of violence which has claimed the lives of 10 young men in London's 80,000-strong Tamil community in the past three years. more..

Oct 17 (TN) "While cherishing the ancient nature of Tamil literature we need to march courageously towards accommodating newly emanating concepts in our culture. Debates and research should probe deeply into our culture and contribute to healthy development of our literature," more..

Oct 17 (Reuters) A halt to Sri Lanka's 20-year ethnic war has boosted foreign investor interest in the island, the insurance arm of the World Bank said on Friday. Investors in areas such as power, tourism, toll roads and mining had made inquiries on taking insurance for political risk from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), more..

Oct 17 (AFP) A 31 year-old Dutch man was arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly sexually abusing a 14 year-old local boy, the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said Friday. The man was arrested at the village of Palangathurai, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the capital Colombo on Thursday night, more..

Oct 17 (ABC) A Norwegian mediator says the Sri Lankan peace process is evolving slowly but in the right direction. Erik Solheim was speaking after talks between Norwegian officials and a delegation of Tamil Tiger rebels in Norway's capital, Oslo. more..

Oct 17 (Reuters) Tamil Tigers, who deny recruiting child soldiers, handed over 13 children in the island's east coast on Friday, the U.N. children's agency said. The issue of child soldiers is considered a litmus test of the sincerity of the LTTE as the group prepares to restart peace talks with the government to end two decades of civil war. more..

Oct 18 (TN) The World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a " food basket" scheme to support the resettled displaced families under the Protective Relief Recovery Operation (PRRO) in the districts of Killinochchi, Mullaithivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa more..

Oct 18 (BBC) The pioneers of a new technology centre must have thought the jungles of rebel-controlled northern Sri Lanka would be the last place to expect the powerful Blaster Worm computer virus. Overcoming a lack of electricity and telephone lines was hardship enough. more..

Oct 18 (LBO) The Public Enterprises Reform Commission (PERC) on Thursday called on financial consultants to value the state’s ailing paper manufacturing arm, The National Paper Corp. Cabinet approved the proposed restructuring effort were up to 90% will be offered to private investors, with the remainder gifted to employees. more..

Oct 18 (LBO) LOLC Securities was given the mandate on Friday to sell the government’s 3.8 million shares in Kahawatte Plantation on an all or nothing basis as part of its ongoing strategy to divest its residual holdings. The Public Enterprises Reform Commission (PERC) has valued a share at Rs. 6.50. more..

Oct 18 (TN) Unidentified persons hurled a hand grenade on a private home in Pandarikulam in the Vavuniya district Friday at about 11:30 p.m., injuring three people, sources in Vavuniya said. The injured were admitted at the Vavuniya hospital. more..

Oct 18 (DN) A project has been started in Kurunegala area to construct a cancer hospital to treat the patients who are suffering from cancer. For this purpose Dr. M. A. Wickramarathna from his own funds amounting Rupees four hundred lakhs (Rs. 40,000,000) proposed to construct the hospital at Salam state in Dambepola more..

Oct 18 (DN) The LTTE in its counter proposals has focused on the conflict resolution process in various parts of the world and emphasised interim arrangements suited to the Sri Lankan context, LTTE Political Chief Thamilselvam has told Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen. more..