May 7 (TN) Tamil political detainees from high security Magazine prison in Colombo has written a letter to Vanni Parliamentarian Sivanathan Kishore that thereare secret plans to murder them and that Tamil parliamentarians should take immediate action to urge the prison authorities to transfer the Tamil detainees to Welikada prison, more..

May 7 (AFP) Sri Lanka opening pair Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu bludgeoned a poor Zimbabwe attack to score a century apiece at lunch on the second day of the first Test at Harare Sports Club here. more..

May 7 (AP) European cease-fire monitors Friday were investigating the killings of two Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, which the guerrillas allege were committed with the help of the military. The army denied involvement. more..

May 7 (CI) The Malaysian cricket board has denied suggestions that the three-match one-day series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, scheduled for the last week of May in Kuala Lumpur, is to be cancelled due to a lack of sponsorship. more..

May 7 (TN) "The Indian government should lift the ban on the LTTE as a first step to win the hearts of Tamils in northeast province and to facilitate the peace process brokered by Norway," the TNA Jaffna district parliamentarian, Mr.N.Raviraj, told TamilNet Friday. more..

May 7 (FL) When Sri Lanka's 13th Parliament met on April 22, it was the day of reckoning for the island-nation's deeply divided politics, particularly the ruling minority UPFA. It was also an indication of the shape of things to come when the House, which has every shade of Sri Lankan society represented in it, sat through a historic nine hours to elect a Speaker. more..

May 7 (FL) As Sri Lanka starts another attempt at reviving the peace talks with the LTTE, its Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar outlines Colombo's broad approach to a range of related issues in an hour-long. interview to V.S. Sambandan on April 30. more..

May 7 (AFP) A strike by flight attendants over a pay row delayed several SriLankan Airlines flights and stranded passengers Friday, airport officials said. There was no immediate word from the airline about the delays, but the Flight Attendants Union said 600 crew members were taking part in the trade union action. more..

May 8 (TN) The Kattankudy Police Friday arrested Mr. Nagoor Faisool Ameen with a pistol and an AK 47 gun. The Batticaloa acting Magistrate, Mr.S.Sinniah, ordered remand for the suspect till May 20th when he was produced in court Friday, legal sources in the eastern town said. more..

May 8 (TN) Inspite of repeated assurances by the Jaffna command of the Sri Lanka Army that internally displaced families will be allowed to resettle and do their cultivation in their lands located six hundred meters away from the forward defence line of the Palaly high security zone, more..

May 8 (LT) The President and the JVP have come to an agreement on the intended talks to resolve the North-East issue. The leaders of the JVP have had separate discussions with the President and Minister of Foreign affairs Mr. Luxman Kadirgamar. more..

May 8 (LT) Tiger organization cannot be accepted as the sole representative of the Tamil people but would be considered as the main representative said the President to Mr. Vidar Helgesen, Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. more..

May 8 (AT) Suddenly LTTE had tone down their conditions and agreed to talk with the Government of Sri Lanka without any pre-conditions - a surprising move, but those wants and long for peace in the country has welcome the LTTE’s stance, although it was described as a political somersault. more..

May 8 (LBO) SriLankan Airlines will begin flights to Calicut, the fabled city in southwestern India, from the July 1, becoming the first non-Indian airline to operate regular services to Calicut’s International Airport. more..

May 8 (TN) More than ten Police officers and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are providing security to Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Ms.Thangeswary Kathirgaman, at her Nalliah Road residence in Batticaloa, security sources said. more..

May 8 (TN) Explosion of a hand grenade Friday evening inside a Special Task Force camp near the main bus stand in Batticaloa town injured soldier Champika Kumara, security sources said. The injured soldier has been admitted to the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital and receiving treatment for his injuries, more..

May 8 (SLA) Two teenage LTTE cadres (15 and 16 years) have been arrested by the troops on duty at MAHINDAPURA road block, about 33 km southeast of TRINCOMALEE on 07 May 2004 evening. more..

May 8 (SLA) The Officer in-Charge of a Police sub detachment in BATTICALOA town was wounded due to the explosion of a hand grenade lobbed at him by an unidentified person on 07 May 2004 around 7.20 p.m. more..

May 8 (SLA) Seven hundred and seventy four (774) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period 2004 between 30 April and 06 May 2004. more..

May 8 (SLA) Hundreds of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army extended their might during this season of “Vesak” in a different manner that fits the Exalted One’s vision based on Metta, Muditha and Upekkha. Those soldiers, having toiled for several days, were to depict their artistic creativity. more..

May 8 (AFP) Striking flight attendants at Sri Lanka's national carrier SriLankan Airlines announced they had ended a work stoppage that forced the airline to ground flights for more than 24 hours. more..

May 8 (TT) Muttiah Muralidharan and Shane Warne have revived the spinners’ role in cricket and made everyone sit up and take notice. This, Erapalli Prasanna feels, has been the sport’s biggest gain from Muralidharan equalling Courtney Walsh’s world record of 519 Test wickets. more..

May 8 (Jang) Sri Lanka needs to win both matches of its two-Test series in Zimbabwe to maintain its current rating in the ICC Test Championship table starting from Thursday in Harare, says an International Cricket Council press release. more..

May 8 (AFP) According to the Chinese Ambassador Sun Guo Xiang in the current economic development effort of Srilanka the People's Republic of China will offer support. To launch new investment projects in the country special attention will be drawn towards bringing Chinese investors. more..

May 8 (AT) It is learnt that the Anton Balasingham, ideologue of the LTTE would explain the position of his organization at a press conference which is expected to be held soon. He himself disclosed this message. more..

May 8 (AT) Small and Rural Industries Deputy Minister Sunil Handunnetti in a letter addressed to Hindu Religious Affairs Minister Douglas Devananda has requested him to conduct a formal inquiry into the Rs. 9,153,000 released by the Treasury to the Hindu Religious Affairs Ministry on four days close to each other after the dissolution of Parliament when Minister T. Maheshwaran was the Minister. more..

May 8 (G2L) The Patriotic National Movement that helped the ruling People’s Alliance government into power said although they strongly supported a negotiated settlement of Sri Lanka’s national problem they totally rejected the proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority for the island’s North and the East. more..

May 8 (TOO) The Sri Lankan School Muscat has conducted one of the major events in its calendar, the distribution of prizes for the academic year 2003. The chief guest was Dr Margeret Gay Northway, assistant professor of pharmacology at Sultan Qaboos University, more..

May 8 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga sent a message of congratulations on Thursday to Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith on his appointment as Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia and East Timor and as Archbishop to the see of Umbriatico. more..

May 8 (DN) A Five Judge Bench of the Supreme Court will hear the inquiry into the contempt charges against former Agriculture, Livestock and Samurdhi Minister S.B. Dissanayake on July 1, 2004. more..

May 8 (CI) It's been on the cards for a while now, but Muttiah Muralitharan has passed Courtney Walsh's previous world record of 519 Test wickets. It may not have been quite how Murali imagined reaching the milestone, against a weakened opposition and in front of a tiny crowd, but nevertheless, Murali reached the magical mark of 520 with the wicket of Mluleki Nkala in Zimbabwe's second innings of the first Test at Harare today. more..

May 8 (CI) Weaker men would have folded under the pressure of it all, but Muttiah Muralitharan appears remarkably unfazed by the debate that rages throughout the cricketing world over the legality of his bowling action, stubbornly refusing to ditch his controversial doosra during the first Test and gleefully speeding past Courtney Walsh to become the highest wicket-taker in Test history. more..

May 9 (TN) Vanni Parliamentarian S. Noharathalingam has requested Mannar Deputy Inspector General of Police M.P. Baddewela to make arrangements to provide safe areas in the high ground for Mannar fishermen in Vankalai region to park their boats, sources said. more..

May 9 (TN) Doctors from the Medical Faculty and Teaching Hospital in Tromsø, Norway, led by Tromsø University Planning Commissioner Mr.Eriksel, began a two day workshop on Medical education in the Nursing Education center at the Eastern University campus at 8.30 am Saturday, more..

May 9 (TN) "It is apparent that the killers have all the assistance from the SLA and we request of you to advise the [Sri Lanka] government that if the SLA continues to act in this manner the entire peace process and the cease fire agreement are being placed in heavy risk and dire consequence have to be faced," more..

May 9 (TN) Mr.C. Elilan, new Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE Saturday night met with the Tamil media personnel in the Trincomalee district, sources in Trincomalee said. Elilan was introduced to media persons by the outgoing district political head Mr.S. Thilak. more..

May 9 (TN) The Human Development Center (HUDEC) in Jaffna district is to implement a project funded by the European Union to improve the living standards and employment opportunities of fishermen in Vanni region and Jaffna peninsula, HUDEC Director Fr.R.Jeyakumar said. more..

May 9 (TN) Computer center Hartley College, Point Pedro, a leading educational institution in the Jaffna district, housing computer equipment estimated to be worth nearly Rs.4 million was completely destroyed by fire Saturday, school officials said. more..

May 9 (UNI) Barry Jarman, the former Australian captain and the match referee who first cried foul about Muttiah Muralitharan's suspect action, said he felt "sick in the stomach" that the Lankan spinner had equalled Courtney Walsh's world record as the game's leading Test wicket-taker. more..

May 9 (CI) Muttiah Muralitharan dedicated his world record-breaking performance to his parents, and added that the most influential person in his career was his former captain, Arjuna Ranatunga. more..

May 9 (SL) While hectic activity is underway to restart the peace process with a host of international players due in the days to come, the government is finding itself circumscribed by its own past rhetoric on the issue of the interim administration and the status of the LTTE, with the Tigers driving home the advantage in a series of master strokes. more..

May 9 (SL) Moves to oust Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe from the UNP leadership was nipped in the bud last week after it was revealed, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) Chief Thilanga Sumathipala was behind the move. more..

May 9 (SO) The UPFA, in a statement on the eve of the arrival of the top level Norwegian team headed by Foreign Minister Jan Peterson for talks with a view to kick-starting the peace process which has been suspended since April 2003, makes clear its position that the two principle parties at the negotiation table can only be the Government and the LTTE. more..

May 9 (AT) Those who takes the gun must die with it – a new adage which suits the present hostility campaign between the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabakaran and his erstwhile Commander Venayagamoorthy Muralitharan, who is popularly known by his nom de guerre Colonel Karuna Amman. more..

May 9 (AN) The Sri Lankan government is launching a tourism promotion, and public relations campaign in the Middle East. S. Kalaiselvam, Sri Lankan Tourism Board director general, said that according to World Travel Organization estimates, 16 million outbound travelers from the Middle East spend $18.4 billion annually. more..

May 9 (SLA) A nineteen year old female LTTE cadre who had reportedly run away from an LTTE Training Camp has surrendered to the troops at the OMANTHAI entry/exit point on 08 May 2004 around 12.30 p.m. The surrendered LTTE female cadre was to be handed over to her parents through the SLMM. more..

May 9 (SLA) A soldier attached to an Army Camp in BATTICALOA was shot dead inside a bus by an unidentified gun man in the general area of THANDAVELI, BATTICALOA on 09 May 2004 around 09.45 a.m. The soldier Lance Corporal K.K WASANTHA KOLAMBAGE (26) was shot at close range inside a private bus travelling from CHENKALADI to BATTICALOA. more..

May 9 (SLA) Naval troops on duty in the general sea areas of PESALAI and URUMALAI have apprehended 36 Sri Lankan refugees returning from India on 08 May 2004. 16 Sri Lankan refugees who arrived in the SAND BANKS off PESALAI after paying Indian Rupees 30,000/= have been apprehended by Naval troops around 4.15 a.m. more..

May 9 (TN) Mr. Selvarasa Gunaseelan (28) of School Lane in Kiran in Batticaloa district was shot dead Saturday night around midnight at Paththinipuram, a resettled village in Thampalakamam division, which is located about seventeen km off Trincomalee town along Trincomalee-Kandy highway, Kantalai Police said. more..

May 9 (BBC) Courtney Walsh has offered his congratulations to Muttiah Muralitharan, who has beaten his Test bowling record. "To get 500 wickets in less than 90 Tests, I think he deserves whatever he gets," Walsh told Radio Jamaica after Murali had passed his own mark of 519. more..