May 16 (AT) Another arm of the Liberation Tigers - called itself as Ellalan Padai (Army), in the name of Ellalan (145–101 BC) - the righteous king of Sri Lanka, had restarted the extra-judicial killings in the Jaffna district, the region supposed to be under the control of the Sri Lankan armed forces. more..

May 16 (Reuters) The Gandhi dynasty's return to power in India could complicate Sri Lanka's peace process, with fears that New Delhi may press for extradition of the Tamil rebel leader accused in the killing of former premier Rajiv Gandhi. more..

May 16 (AFP) US and Japanese diplomats were leading a new push to kickstart talks between Sri Lanka's new government and Tamil Tiger rebels more than a year after negotiations stalled, officials said. more..

May 16 (TN) TNA parliamentary group leader Mr. R. Sampanthan Sunday told the Japanese special peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi that flow of foreign aid to Sri Lanka should depend on the progress made in establishing the Internal Self Governing Authority (ISGA) in northeast province. more..

May 16 (AFP) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahindra Rajapakse is all set to sue the International Cricket Council (ICC) over its decision to outlaw spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan's controversial "doosra" delivery. more..

May 16 (TS) One of the touchiest problems in all faith communities is the proper role of religion in politics. This issue is currently a lively one in Buddhism, in regard to the recent Sri Lankan elections. In that country, which has a Theravada Buddhist majority, a new party contested the election, all the candidates of which were ordained Buddhist monks. more..

May 16 (Rupavahini) The inauguration ceremony was held at the S.L.F.I. in Colombo this morning. University professors, lecturers, eminent personnel of the civil society and veteran journalists are involved in the national campaign for peace and constitutional reforms. more..

May 16 (AFP) Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Sunday backed away from the furore he ignited by calling Muralitharan a chucker. Howard, who bought into the sporting debate last week at a meeting of his Liberal party faithful on the New South Wales south coast, had nothing further to say after his comments set off a storm of indignation in Sri Lanka. more..

May 16 (Xinhua) The government initiative to revive peace talks with the LTTE has left the main minority Tamil political party in a dilemma, analysts note. The TNA may be forced to support the government of the President in view of the latter's decision to revive the stalled peace process with the LTTE rebels. more..

May 16 (IL) The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) will decide today their future political strategy, including whether to contest the forthcoming Provincial Council Election solo or under a major political party. The CWC’s national council and executive council on Saturday bestowed the task to their Leader Arumugam Thondaman to decide the party’s future. more..

May 17 (TN) Police found the body of a person identified as Subramaniam Chandralalith, 22, shot dead in Jaffna town in the early hours of Sunday morning. He was abducted in a van by unknown persons the day before, Police sources in the northern town said. more..

May 17 (TN) The launch of 'Viduthalai' (Liberation), collection of articles written by Mr.Anton Balasingham was held in Jaffna University Kailasapathy Auditorium Sunday evening. The book was first released in London six months ago and this was the first time the book was released in the Northeast, sources said. more..

May 17 (TN) "Operation USA" and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) donated Rs.10,000,000 rupees worth of medical equipment to the Government Agents of the eight districts in the northeast province to be distributed to state medical institutions in their health divisions, health officials said. more..

May 17 (SFG) At the core of Michelle de Kretser's "The Hamilton Case" is a murder mystery. But the novel, set in colonial Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) before its independence, is not so much a whodunit as it is a portrait of emotional decay. more..

May 17 (IRIB) Iran and Sri Lanka here on Saturday expressed preparedness to cooperate in the academic and scientific areas. Iran's Minister of Education Morteza Haji and chancellor of the Colombo college Markon Park voiced the willingness of their countries to promote the bilateral relations more..

May 17 (CI) It was a day of records at Queens Sports Club, but it wasn't a contest. Sri Lanka batted into the final session, amassing 713 for 3, before Marvan Atapattu gambled on a declaration. Some gamble. Zimbabwe ended the day on 44 for 2, still needing 441 to avoid an innings defeat. more..

May 17 (BBC) Zimbabwe batsman Dion Ebrahim has been suspended for one Test for after criticising Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action. Ebrahim was the recipient of a surprise orthodox leg-break from Muralitharan on the first day of the second Test. more..

May 17 (LBO) Emirates Airlines on Monday announced a fuel surcharge on airline tickets purchased from selected markets, including Sri Lanka. Passengers buying tickets from Sri Lanka, pay an additional Rs. 500 for a one-way journey and Rs. 1,000 per return ticket, more..

May 17 (LBO) Sri Lanka Telecom plans to send out the backlog of customer bills from the end of this month, but subscribers will be billed on a shorter cycle. SLT’s new US$ 20 mn billing system went through technical glitches in its implementation stage, leaving over 800,000 customers chatting non-stop since last December. more..

May 17 (LBO) Ceylon Electricity Board is in the midst of a cash crisis after a key securitization deal failed to get through. The ambitious deal pushed by Peoples Bank to Securitize the cash-flows of the CEB was tipped to raise over Rs. 10 billion in long term finance for the cash strapped state utility. more..

May 17 (LBO) The Treasury will put in Rs.150 mn over 2 years to re-haul productivity in 200 small and medium apparel factories to face a quota-less world post 2005. About 80 percent of the 800 apparel factories locally, are classed as small to medium, though ironically, about 80 percent of exports are by 20 of the biggest in the business. more..

May 17 (Reuters) Stocks dipped more than one percent on Monday, in what brokers said was an indication of investor caution a day before parliament reopens to a test of strength for the island's minority government. The key Colombo all-share index ended down 1.14 percent, at 1,306.14. more..

May 17 (SLA) A civilian from the general area of JAFFNA town, who has been beaten to death and dumped at a location close to MARATHADDY, was recovered by the JAFFNA Police on 16 May 2004. The deceased, SUBRAMANIYAM CHANDRAN (23), alleged to have been abducted by LTTE, has been beaten with clubs until death according to the JAFFNA Police. more..

May 17 (SLA) One hundred and thirty one men of the Sri Lanka Air Force, including two Officers were admitted to PALALY Base Hospital on Sunday (17) night after an alleged food-poisoning that occurred soon after their supper. more..

May 17 (SLA) A hand grenade has been thrown at the rear side of a house in the general area of VALAICHCHENAI by suspected LTTE men on 15 May 2004 around 8.30 p.m. The complainant, claimed that she was watching television when two unidentified suspected LTTE men on motorbike threw a grenade at her house and fled away. more..

May 17 (LT) Tiger organization has directed all Parliamentarians of the TNA that they should meet a senior representative of the tiger organization before every Parliamentary session. This directive states that TNA Parliamentarians should go to their villages and engage in political work without remaining in Colombo. more..

May 17 (TT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government, eager to restart the peace process with the LTTE, is using the Congress victory to pressure the Tigers to return to the talks table. more..

May 17 (Xinhua) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has indicated that she would like to have the participation of two Muslim allies of her freedom alliance government in the peace talks instead of the main Muslim party, the state radio announced Sunday. more..

May 17 (TP) Sri Lanka is aggressively pursuing ways to improve trade ties with Qatar, a country it is a major manpower exporter to, but with which it has a losing trade balance. There are an estimated 55,000 to 60,000 Sri Lankan workers in Qatar, but out of a total trade worth QR94m between the two countries in 2002, imports from Colombo barely accounted for QR9m. more..

May 17 (TN) The UPFA government has been holding intensive discussions with a few selected leaders of small political parties represented in parliament to ensure majority to elect the Deputy Speaker and the Chairman of Committees when parliament is scheduled to meet May 18th morning, more..

May 17 (TP) The JVP, a key partner in the ruling UPFA, is opposing moves by the government to import paddy to contain rising rice prices and urged that paddy should be bought from local farmers at a reasonable price. more..

May 17 (BERNAMA) The Congress Party's stunning polls victory in India last week has not opened a new dimension in Sri Lanka's touchy peace process but drew attention to how the poor in both countries rejected IMF/World Bank policies. more..

May 17 (GSM) The National Council of Young Men's Muslim Associations of Sri Lanka are calling for Muttiah Muralitharan, the controversial Sri Lankan bowler to be honoured with a stamp. Muralitharan, 32, has captured the imagination of the Sri Lankan population having established himself as the best bowler in the world and Sri Lanka’s greatest ever player. more..

May 17 (NT) A delegation with around 25 MPs elected from the Tamil region in Sri Lanka plan to hold a meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi soon after she assumes power to stress the need for India's intervention to bring about peace in Sri Lanka, former Minister and president of Upcountry People's Front (UPF) P Chandrasekaran has said. more..

May 17 (G2L) The LTTE is changing its tune and making welcoming statements for the newly formed regime of Prime Minister designate Sonia Gandhi, in India whose husband, Rajiv Gandhi they assassinated in 1991. more..

May 17 (AT) The proxy political party of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka told the Japanese government that if the Sri Lankan government did not accept a proposal by the separatist rebels in Sri Lanka that had been called a blue print for a future separate state, all international aid to Sri Lanka should be stopped. more..

May 17 (AT) In the coming month, LTTE is to open up three more new police stations in the areas under their control. It is expected that these new police stations are to be opened up in the Batticaloa and Mannar districts. more..

May 17 (AT) It has been identified that it was one Subramanian Santhiralalith of ayinthu Santhi (Five junctions) in Jaffna, was the person who was shot and killed and whose dead body was found lying with gun shot injuries, on 15 May, in the Racca Road, located near the Jaffna Kachcheri - Nallur road. more..

May 17 (DN) An attractive mother of two ,the daughter of a former Member of Parliament appearing on the national television network Rupavahini last night, alleged that she had been cheated in a love affair with SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem and said that the only thing left for her to do was to commit suicide. more..

May 17 (TN) TNA parliamentarian Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan Monday sent an urgent letter to President that the establishment of new check points of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Mannar and Vavuniya is causing serious apprehension in the minds of the people that the security forces are preparing for renewed military action, more..

May 17 (CI) ICC and Sri Lanka Cricket officials breathed a sigh of relief on Friday when a previously defiant Muttiah Muralitharan shelved his doosra on the first day's play of the second Test. more..

May 17 (IANS) With Congress president Sonia Gandhi set to become prime minister, the man who ordered the assassination of her husband, over a decade ago, will certainly be worried. more..

May 17 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's parliament was set to reopen on Tuesday with the ruling party still battling for a majority, raising questions about whether it has the power to push through laws and pursue a peace bid with Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

May 17 (AP) A Japanese envoy will meet with Tamil Tiger leaders in the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi on Tuesday to discuss Sri Lanka's efforts to end a two decade civil war, an embassy official said. more..

May 17 (CI) Zimbabwe, hopelessly weakened by the loss of the 15 rebel players, on top of the 20-odd others who have walked out on Zimbabwean cricket in the last four years, went down fighting at Bulawayo, but they lost by a larger margin – an innings and 254 runs – more..

May 17 (HT) The LTTE, a Sri Lankan Tamil militant organisation banned by the Indian government after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi thirteen years ago, is now hoping to set foot in India again. And it believes that this time, it will have the backing of the newly emerging political forces in Tamil Nadu and New Delhi. more..

May 17 (TN) Miss. Seevaratnam Tharani, student of Akkarayan Maha Vidiyalayam in Kilinochchi district, won the bronze medal for the Putt-Shot event under 16 years of age in the three-day National Junior Schools Athletic Meet held in Colombo Sugathathasa Sports Stadium, more..

May 17 (TN) A three-hour debate on the Kandapola incident in which two Tamil plantation workers were killed due to police firing will take place in the parliament Wednesday according to a decision taken at the first meeting of the leaders of political parties represented in the new parliament, more..

May 18 (TN) Four new parliamentarians are to be sworn in by the Speaker when parliament meets Tuesday morning. One of the four is the TNA parliamentarian, Mr.Pakkiaselvam Ariyanenthiran, of Batticaloa district. The other three are from the National List of the UPFA, sources said. more..

May 18 (TN) The Jaffna Magistrate, Mr.R.T.Viknarajah, on the orders of the Court of Appeal on Monday allowed the fourth suspect, Mr.Balachchandran Uthayapavan, in the Jaffna Journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan' murder case, on bond signed by two sureties, who should be government servants, for one hundred thousand rupees each. more..