Dec 3 (SN) JHU parliament group leader Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero making a special statement in parliament on 01-12-2004 (yesterday) stated that on behalf Prebakaran, the terrorist leader, who attacked the Temple of the Tooth more..

Dec 3 (MKL) THE Educare 2004 Programme, organised by the Siri Jayanti Sunday Dhamma School at the Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, seeks to collect school items for 2,000 poor students from all over Malaysia this year. And it has help from Parkson Corporation Sdn Bhd. more..

Dec 3 (CP) Assaults against Christians in Sri Lanka continued over the last few weeks, according to the Voice of the Martyrs. In the latest incident that took place in the early morning of Nov. 14, 2004, human excrement and engine oil was thrown at the building of an Assemblies of God church in Yakkala. more..

Dec 3 (AAP) SRI Lankan asylum seekers have ended their hunger strike at a South Australian detention centre after immigration officials agreed to review their cases. Two men began the strike at Baxter detention centre in South Australia's north 10 days ago and nine more joined them last weekend, more..

Dec 3 (OW) The ICT Agency has many operating principles –one of them being to implement programmes and projects through partnerships. ICTA is deeply committed to partnerships, because it is evident that no one sector in society can deliver the complexities of sustainable development alone. more..

Dec 3 (LBO) Sri Lanka's opposition UNP says the budget has poured petrol to the country's galloping inflation, and the government may have to push the country to war to distract the people. "By April next year the full effects of this inflationary budget would be seen," more..

Dec 3 (BBC) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have threatened to return to war if the government does not resume peace talks based on the rebels' demand for self-rule. The government has rejected that demand. So will the peace process collapse completely? more..

Dec 3 (BBC) Disabled soldiers and army officers held a protest in front of the prime minister’s office demanding that current pension policies governing service personnel be changed. The soldiers atempted to submit a petition against current army pension procedure, more..

Dec 3 (AT) Tamil rebel leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran's threat to return to armed struggle has triggered fresh concern over an imminent outbreak of war in Sri Lanka. With the deadlocked dialogue showing no signs of revival, the three-year truce between the government and the LTTE seems under threat like never before. more..

Dec 3 (FL) "WE declare here at Thimpu, without rancour, and with patience, that we shall speak at Thimpu, or for that matter anywhere else, on behalf of the Tamil nation or not at all. And we call upon the Sri Lankan government to state unequivocally, whether it is prepared to enter into a rational dialogue on the basis of the framework set out by the cardinal principles enunciated by us at these talks." more..

Dec 3 (PIS) "No, no, never, never" was the reply of visiting PLO leader Yasser Arafat when asked whether he saw any similarity between his Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the LTTE. "In every aspect of the struggle, we are different from the Tigers," Arafat said during a press conference in Colombo in March 1997, attended by the writer. more..

Dec 3 (CI) Sri Lanka have recalled Russel Arnold for their tour to New Zealand later this month. Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was controversially axed for the Pakistan tour, has also returned into the fold. Muttiah Muralitharan will travel with the team as part of his recovery program. more..

Dec 3 (Scoop) The past experience and current political realities in Sri Lanka dictate that Sinhala Government is not even prepared to bring peace in place an interim administration (ISGA) that will facilitate normal life, development and meet urgent humanitarian needs. more..

Dec 3 (TN) Mr.Tyronne Fernando, former Foreign Minister in the earlier United National Front (UNF) government is to be sworn in as fourth Governor of the Tamil dominated North-East Province on Monday, 6th December, before Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge. more..

Dec 3 (KT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has warned that division of schools in Sri Lanka on ethnic and religious lines was a major obstacle towards peace among various communities. "How can we bring peace to the country when schools themselves are divided in this manner. more..

Dec 3 (DN) In the face of the current people-friendly budget the UNP's feeble fate has become crystal clear. The UPFA's maiden budget goes down in history as the first budget that dumbfounded the Opposition Leader, stated a joint media communique signed by UPFA Media Mangala Samaraweera and UPFA MP Wimal Weerawansa. more..

Dec 3 (AP) A road that links mainland Sri Lanka with the Tamil heartland reopened Friday, after Tamil Tiger guerrillas and the army closed off entry points for 24 hours during a rebel general strike to protest police harassment, an official said. more..

Dec 3 (AP) Hopes to revive Sri Lanka's stalled peace talks suffered a blow this week, with the government and Tamil Tiger rebels failing to agree on the structure of possible renewed negotiations amid growing fears of a resumption of war. more..

Dec 3 (HT) The entry/exit points on the border between government and LTTE-controlled areas in Vaviniya and Mannar districts had to be closed on Thursday because the LTTE was planning to bring civilian mobs to attack the army and create an ugly situation there, an army communiqué said. more..

Dec 4 (TN) ‘The desire to draw limits on the Tamils’ right to self-determination makes the Sri Lankan State align itself with any power that is willing to play along, even to the extent of blatantly seeking the interference of super-powers that would compromise, and put in jeopardy, the strategic interests of India’, said Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, more..

Dec 4 (TN) Opening event of a one week residential training program organized by the Tamil Young Journalists Association of Batticaloa- Amparai started Friday in Batticaloa, sources from the eastern province said. Several senior Tamil journalists gave lectures in their fields of expertise more..

Dec 4 (TN) The Sri Lanka Army has ordered residents of Vadamaradchchi East, which comes under control of the LTTE to get passes from the SLA military base located in Palaly to take generators to their villages from the government controlled areas, civil sources complained. more..

Dec 4 (TN) A former Policeman, believed to be an sympathiser of the Liberation Tigers, was shot dead by a gunman at a guesthouse in Batticaloa town Friday evening around 6.30. The ex Police constable, Mr. Johnpillai Chandramohan, 33, was living in Royal Hotel on Trinco Road, Batticaloa after he had been threatened with death by a paramilitary more..

Dec 4 (TN) An aircraft belonging to a private airline which was about to take off with 45 civilian passengers to Palaly in Jaffna district Friday morning at 8.30 a.m. from Ratmalana domestic airport was delayed for about 2 hours due to an anonymous telephone call that a bomb had been placed inside the craft, civil aviation sources said. more..

Dec 4 (CI) Sri Lanka's cricket selectors have followed in the footsteps of their government. Like the much-feared 2004 budget, the final 14-man tour party for New Zealand has surpassed expectations. more..

Dec 4 (Rupavahini) The President has issued a directive to the finance minister to follow general custom procedures for all ministers and mps and people's representatives during their departure or arrival to the island. This system is followed by other countries as well. more..

Dec 4 (Xinhua) Two minority Tamil legislators fromSri Lanka's main opposition party Friday voted against the government in Parliament alongside the island country's main Tamilparty legislators. more..

Dec 4 (BBC) Foreign minister Laxman Kadirgamer announced the possible candidature of senior diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala for post of UN secretary General. The foreign minister reviled plans to put forward dhanapala for the top UN post while winding up the foreign ministry budget proposals in parliament. more..

Dec 4 (TM) A SRI LANKAN man accused of a vicious axe murder claimed he was innocently caught up in the attack while going for a kebab. Shanthan Tharamalingam, 31, said he thought he was going to a party to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali. more..

Dec 4 (AT) World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka (WAPS) will hold its second international conference, “Towards Democracy and Peace on Sri Lanka” in Colombo, on 18 December, at the BMICH. The second International Conference is organized by "Sansadaya (Forum)" along with WAPS more..

Dec 4 (SLBC) President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday reiterated that her Government will achieve peace through discussion, irrespective whoever opposes since the majority of Sri Lankans have faith in the Government's efforts to bring peace to the country. more..

Dec 4 (LBO) Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) unveils an insurance plan for children between one month and 15 years. SLIC launched its new the new insurance plan for children, Mini Muthu on Thursday. more..

Dec 4 (TN) Handicap International inaugurated its Physical Rehabilitation Centre in Batticaloa on Friday, 3 December, to mark the International Day of People with Disability, in the presence of representatives of the Batticaloa District Secretariat, NGOs community, UN agencies, ICRC and the Batticaloa Health Services, sources said. more..

Dec 4 (TN) Confused reports emerged Saturday about the reported missing of seven Jaffna Tamil youths who went to Colombo in a vehicle last week to receive a relative who was scheduled to return from abroad. Meanwhile parents of these youths have complained to the SLMM to take steps to trace their sons in Colombo, more..

Dec 4 (TN) Sri Lanka's Supreme Court reserved its order on the appeals made by the four accused against death sentence imposed on them by the Trial-at-Bar of the High Court in the Bindunuwewa rehabilitation camp massacre case, for a later date. The appeals were heard by specially constituted five member bench more..

Dec 4 (SLA) An ex-policeman, alleged to have been a supporter of an LTTE WANNI faction pistol group, has been shot dead by some unidentified armed persons inside a hotel in the general area of BATTICALOA town on 03 December 2004 around 6.10 p.m. more..

Dec 4 (SLA) Seven hundred and ninety six (796) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 26 November 2004 and 02 December 2004. more..

Dec 4 (Telegraph) The re-emergence of Sri Lanka as a popular holiday spot could be under threat after Tamil Tiger rebels have announced that they will resume hostilities unless the government agrees to talks based on a blueprint for self-rule. more..

Dec 4 (SLA) Two students from the JAFFNA University, who were found threatening passers-by and vehicles in the general area of VAIRAPULIYANKULAM, about 3 km west of VAVUNIYA town were arrested by the Police on 02 December 2004. more..

Dec 4 (FT) Sri Lanka's seaside capitalof Colombo bustles with life as if the country's two decades of civil war were a distant memory. Foreign tourists, whose spending is vital to the island's economy, are returning to its tropical shores in record numbers. more..

Dec 4 (IANS) Sri Lanka expects foreign investment to grow by 50 percent to 300 million US dollars in 2005 with good performance in its construction, apparel and tourism sectors. But Sri Lankan Board of Investment Chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya maintained that peace in the island country was essential for realising the target. more..

Dec 4 (DN) Thursday's drama in Parliament involving UNP MP T. Maheswaran continued for the second day yesterday with Chief Government Whip Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle refusing to back down from the Government's decision not to answer questions raised by the MP more..

Dec 4 (PIS) The President and the government intend to discuss the peace process completely as a whole and not necessarily basing it on the ISGA proposals, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar told parliament yesterday. more..

Dec 4 (HT) The problem of holy men turning rapists seems to be spreading to Sri Lanka from India. Kishore Shastri, a fake holy man from Karnataka, who had made a name for himself in Sri Lanka as a soothsayer and sorcerer, was arrested here on Friday on a charge of rape. more..

Dec 4 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has reiterated that her government will achieve peace with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through discussions, the official Daily News reported Saturday. more..

Dec 4 (AFP) Shops and offices reopened and public transport was slowly returning to normal Friday in Sri Lanka's embattled northern and eastern regions after a rebel-sponsored work stoppage came to an end, officials said. more..

Dec 4 (HT) As part of its campaign to get an ISGA for the Tamils-speaking North Eastern Province (NEP), the LTTE is reportedly thinking of ordering a widespread civil disobedience movement to being the civil administration to a standstill in that area. more..

Dec 4 (Age) Sir Donald Bradman declared Muttiah Muralitharan's controversial bowling action legal and described umpire Darrell Hair's attitude towards the Sri Lankan spinner as "distasteful" shortly before his death in 2001. more..

Dec 4 (TN) The prosecution in the Udathalawinne murder inquiry closed its case last week before a three member High Court Trial-at-Bar in which former Deputy Defence Minister General Anurudha Ratwatte, his two sons Lohan and Chanuka, and thirteen others have been indicted with the murder of ten Muslims on December 10, 2001 the general election day. more..

Dec 5 (TN) Sri Lanka’s armed forces substantially expanded their offensive capability after the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers was signed in February 2002, a book published by a senior United States military analyst says. more..