Apr 9 (TN) An unidentified youth was found dead with gunshot injuries on his head in the Karuvakerny area of Valaichenai in the Batticaloa district, Valaichenai police said Thursday. According to the police, the youth might have been shot dead Wednesday night at about 8:30 p.m., more..

Apr 9 (TN) The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which has emerged as the third force in Sri Lanka's southern politics by winning nine parliamentary seats in the last week's general election, Thursday said it would oppose any move to hold direct talks only with the LTTE to come to an agreement to find a political solution to the ethnic crisis. more..

Apr 9 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels asked Sri Lanka's incoming government to open talks based on their blueprint for self-rule which had previously been rejected by President Chandrika Kumaratunga. more..

Apr 9 (TN) A thirty-two member cabinet of the UPFA is likely to be sworn in Saturday, sources in Colombo said. A conference of leaders of constituent parties of the UPFA was held Thursday with President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge in the chair and the allocation of ministries has been finalized, more..

Apr 9 (TN) The Indian Navy's Sailing Ship, Tarangini, will be visiting Colombo on the last leg of her circumnavigation voyage from 16th April to 20th April 2004. This is the first Port Call in Sri Lanka for an Indian Navy's Ship since 1983, Indian High Commission (IHC) said in a press release. more..

Apr 9 (IPS) Tamil Tiger rebels would find themselves in an enviable position if the country's stalled peace talks do resume in the coming weeks. At this point, right after the election, the LTTE, as the rebels call themselves, has in their favour elements to earn them stripes as the more willing partner in the fragile and complex peace negotiations that have been stalled since April last year. more..

Apr 9 (Hindu) In a show of political unity, all 20 MPs from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), have urged the Sri Lankan Government to start talks with the LTTE as the "sole and authentic representatives'' of the Tamils. more..

Apr 9 (NW) The Chief Election Monitor, European Union (EU) Election Monitoring Team, John Cushnahan attributes most of the violent incidents to the preferential voting system that is prevalent in Sri Lanka. He is of the view that it was the main cause for inter and intra party clashes. more..

Apr 9 (AP) A Sri Lankan court on Thursday sentenced 264 young men to a year in prison with hard labor for trying to illegally migrate to Italy. Colombo magistrate Kusala Weerawardena also imposed fines of Rs50,000 (US$525) on the men, who had pleaded guilty, a court official said on condition of anonymity. more..

Apr 9 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s top trade chamber said Friday that it will support the new Government, but voiced concern over proposals to expand the public sector and extend the state’s role in commercial activity. more..

Apr 9 (LBO) The JHU (Jathika Hela Urumaya), will make it a priority to introduce a new law to stop Sri Lankans from being persuaded to change their religious beliefs. The JHU is hoping to stop the island’s majority Buddhists from embracing other religions – mainly the teachings of various Christian sects now operating freely all over the island. more..

Apr 9 (LBO) The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) expanded its campaign to become more laymen friendly by opening up its specialised stock brokering education to the general public. more..

Apr 9 (SLA) On an information received by the Police, a tractor which was transporting some war like items hidden under sand inside the vehicle has been arrested by the Police with the assistance of troops in the general area of MUKKARAYANKULAM in MANNAR on 08 April 2004. more..

Apr 9 (SLA) A group of unidentified persons have hurled a hand grenade in to a house of a civilian in the general area of KALKUDA, about 25 km. Northwest of BATTICALOA on 07 April 2004 around 9.45 p.m. The victim has been identified as, AHAMAD LEBBE BUHARI of PULIADI Rd, ODDAMAVADI. more..

Apr 9 (wsws) The World Socialist Web Site received a letter from the Sri Lankan military on January 14 claiming that the article “Sri Lankan general on high-profile trip to India” posted on the WSWS on January 6 misrepresented the visit made by Chief of Defence Staff L.P. Balagalle to India last December. more..

Apr 9 (SN) EPDP, PLOTE and Mr Ananda Sangaree’s Independent Group have planned to challenge the election results in Northern Province since LTTE led intimidation and mass scale rigging took place on the election day. Jatika Hela Urumaya has agreed to support them in their law suit. more..

Apr 9 (PSL) President Kumaratunga in her message to mark Easter Sunday says 'we as a nation have resolved never to go back to war' The President who is in the process of finalizing her new cabinet in consultation with the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse said 'I am confident a durable peace, one which respects the rights of all our citizens is not too far away. more..

Apr 9 (SN) Ven Athuraliye Rathana thero confirmed the rumours that Hela Urumaya was considering Mr Ananda Sangaree to appoint as a national list parliamentarian. He told SinhalaNet that the proposal was forwarded by several activists of the party. more..

Apr 9 (Gulf) After five months of political turmoil and uncertainty the private sector is getting back to business in the context of the new realities emerging from the first ever free, fair and peaceful parliamentary elections which gave a clear mandate to the Freedom Alliance (FA) more..

Apr 9 (DR) Ninth-grade vocal music students at Northview Middle School in Ankeny recently donated money to students in war-torn Sri Lanka to help pay their transportation costs to attend school. more..

Apr 9 (DN) The Supreme Court yesterday issued notice on S.B. Dissanayake, the former Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Samurdhi to appear before Court on May 7 to answer the contempt charges levelled at him, the Registrar of the Supreme Court said. more..

Apr 9 (TN) 39 motorcycles will be handed over to the Jaffna provincial health department for the use of public health inspectors in the peninsula under the 250 million rupee-grant of the Japanese government through the UNICEF more..

Apr 9 (AFP) A Sri Lankan court has sentenced 264 men who tried to leave the island illegally and were headed for Italy to one-year jail terms and fined them 135,000 dollars in total, court officials said on Friday. The men, all Sri Lankans, were arrested aboard an Italy-bound trawler off the coast of Puttalam more..

Apr 9 (TN) Infantry formations of the Liberation Tigers crossed the Verugal River, about 86 kilometres north of Batticaloa, in the early hours of the morning Friday and advanced towards Vakarai, residents from the area who arrived in Valaichenai said. more..

Apr 9 (Reuters) Rival factions of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged mortar and machine gun fire in the country's east on Friday and nine people were killed in the worst fighting since a two-year truce halted the island's civil war. more..

Apr 9 (AFP) Intense fighting broke out between rival Tamil Tiger factions in north-east with at least nine people killed in the first wave of bombardments. The main Tamil Tiger group mounted a pincer movement against positions of the renegade commander Karuna who holds sway in Batticaloa, more..

Apr 9 (HT) The LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran launched a full-scale military operation against the rebel Eastern military commander Col Karuna at 12 am on Friday, military sources told Hindustan Times. more..

Apr 9 (FL) The victory of the alliance led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga in the parliamentary elections brings to an end the bitter politics of cohabitation with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, but the inherent contradictions in the alliance portend another phase of unease. more..

Apr 9 (SLE) All those who supported the UPFA to win the recent general election, especially SLFP activists and grassroots level party leaders should endeavour to preserve the peaceful atmosphere that prevailed for the past week after election, SLFP General Secretary, Maithripala Sirisena said more..

Apr 9 (SLE) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has appointed new Chairmen for the Board of Investment (BoI), Ceylon Electricity Board and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, yesterday (8). Lalith de Mel a former director of Reckitt and Coleman, Colombo and a Tripos in Economics at the Cambridge University is the new BoI Chief. more..

Apr 9 (TN) The Sri Lanka Army has allowed resettlement of a few internally displaced families in the high security zones in Thenmaradchchi south division in Jaffna district on a staggered basis. more..

Apr 9 (TN) A key commander of the Karuna Group was seriously wounded when troops of the LTTE advanced on Vakarai, 62 kilometres north of Batticaloa, in the early hours of Friday morning. ‘Barathithaasan’, commander of the Karuna Group’s Vinothan Unit, wounded in the abdomen, was admitted to the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. more..

Apr 9 (CI) Bruce Elliott, the biomechanist at the University of Western Australia, has admitted that his research has so far not produced clear-cut conclusions regarding the legality of Muttiah Muralitharan's controversial doosra. more..

Apr 9 (BBC) Thousands of civilians are fleeing homes in the east amid fighting between Tamil Tiger factions, the Red Cross has said. Clashes erupted overnight between breakaway commander Colonel Karuna and the mainstream Tiger faction around the Verugal river. more..

Apr 9 (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels wait to move and set up a new defense line after they retreated from their position from the Verugal Ferry in rebel controlled Tamil Tiger area at Palinchankaly, eastern Sri Lanka on Friday. more..

Apr 9 (HT) The much expected fratricidal fighting between the LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and the rebel Eastern Commander, Col Karuna, broke out on Friday along the Verugal river in north Batticaloa. Both the groups said that eight cadres had died on each side. But unofficial sources put the death toll at over 50. more..

Apr 10 (TN) The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which was voted to power at the general elections, should continue the peace process with the facilitation of the Norwegian government, said the Forum for Northern Muslim Rights (FNMR) in a statement released Friday. more..

Apr 10 (TN) The Tamil National Alliance Thursday nominated Mr.Jospeh Pararajasingham of Batticaloa and Mr.M.K.Eelaventhan of Jaffna for the posts of two national list parliamentarians through the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK), political sources said. more..

Apr 10 (TN) Mystery gangs comprising armed men are allegedly assaulting and intimidating active supporters of the Tamil National Alliance in the Jaffna district, especially in the Vadamarachchi north division, following the victory of the TNA at the last general election, more..

Apr 10 (Reuters) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell she will move to restart peace talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels after next week's New Year Holidays, one of her aides said on Friday. more..

Apr 10 (TN) Special units of the Jeyanthan Brigade, the most feared infantry formation of the LTTE, led the multi pronged offensive towards Vakarai Friday, according to LTTE sources in the east. Two counter attacks on the forward defence localities which the Tigers have consolidated at Kandalady, 64 kilometres north of Batticaloa, more..

Apr 10 (Hindu) The commencement of today's armed fighting between the northern and eastern factions of the LTTE is expected to test the military and tactical capabilities of the LTTE chief, V. Prabakaran, and the defiant eastern commander, V. Muralitharan (`Col.' Karuna). more..

Apr 10 (TN) The main opposition in the thirteenth parliament United National Party Saturday submitted its national list of parliamentarians to the Commissioner of Elections. The list included three Tamils and four Muslims. more..

Apr 10 (LT) Jathike Hela Urumaya will support the UPFA government in its programme for a righteous government said Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thero of ‘Uththara Sangha Mandala’ of JHU. Ven. Thero made this observation at a ceremony held near the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. more..

Apr 10 (LT) A set of moral principles is to be introduced to the Ministers and Members of Parliament of the UPFA. This decision has been taken at a discussion held in President’s House by the President and the leaders of the political parties belonging to the Alliance. more..

Apr 10 (LT) The executive committee of the UNP has decided to completely reorganize the party and make many changes in its leadership. Instead of a single leader it has been decided to appoint a collective leadership or a leadership board. more..

Apr 10 (LT) Legal action will be taken against all ministers and state officials who were engaged in corrupt practices during the UNP government says Mr. Nandana Gunatilleke, President of UPFA. more..

Apr 10 (SLA) Nine hundred and twenty (920) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 02 April 2004 and 08 April 2004. more..

Apr 10 (SLA) The ceremonial pass-out of six Officers and 192 Other Ranks who successfully completed the Advanced Infantry Unit Course (Stage 1) conducted at Jaffna-based Eludumattuval Advanced Infantry Unit Training Centre took place on Monday under the aegis of Security Forces Commander Jaffna, Major Gen M. D. S Chandrapala. more..

Apr 10 (SLA) The closing ceremony of the US sponsored third Humanitarian De-mining Course for Officers/Other Ranks in the Army, conducted by the US based RONCO Consulting Corporation took place on Thursday (8) at Embilipitiya, Thunkama, School of Military Engineering of the Sri Lanka Army. more..