Nov 13 (AT) Anton Balasingham, chief negotiator of the LTTE and his Australian born wife Adele Balasingham left back for London this afternoon from the Katunayake international airport. Earlier, Balasingham and his wife left in the morning from Kilinochchi to Katunayake airport by an air force helicopter provided by the Sri Lanka Government. more..

Nov 13 (AT) Why you - our valued reader has to come forward to contribute to uphold the independence of Asian Tribune? It has become important for us to bring to the kind notice of our readers that Asian Tribune - an online news daily does not have any political agenda more..

Nov 13 (PIS) Question: How much has the Sri Lankan political discourse on devolution changed over the decade? President Kumaratunga: It was the first time that a Sri Lankan Government of its own free will, proposed devolution and the granting of full rights to all the minority communities. more..

Nov 13 (AFP) Former Sri Lankan Test coach Bruce Yardley said he felt vindicated by the ICC proposed changes to cricket's chucking law. Former Australian off-spinner Yardley, who first encouraged Muttiah Muralitharan to bowl his "doosra", was Sri Lankan national coach in 1997-98, and has always been adamant that Murali was not a chucker. more..

Nov 13 (LT) Wanni tiger organization's theoretician Anton Balasingham's statement that during the discussions in Oslo there was no agreement on a separate state is totally misleading says Vidar Helgesen, Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway. more..

Nov 13 (LT) Arms that have been smuggled in are the cause for the escalation of crime says IGP Chandra Fernando. He points out that the war that raged throughout for two decades is responsible for this situation. more..

Nov 13 (LT) A long served officer of the Defence Ministry and the present Defense Secretary Cyril Herath has submitted his resignation to President Chandrika Kumaratunga from his post owing to his advance age. more..

Nov 13 (LT) Labour Relations and Foreign Employment deputy minister Mervin Silva is reportedly planning to take a different turn next week when his supporters are to picket opposite the Ministry demanding his reinstatement. more..

Nov 13 (LT) A discussion between Vidar Helgesen, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister and the Leader of the Opposition was held today in the office of the opposition leader. It is learnt that the discussions were focused on the discussions the President has had with Wanni tiger organization. more..

Nov 13 (LT) 35% of world's need in crape rubber is produced in Sri Lanka says the Rubber Research Institute. This was stated by Mr. L.M.K. Tillekeratne, Director of RRI at a meeting held in the RRI. more..

Nov 13 (AFP) Norway's latest bid to salvage Sri Lanka's faltering peace process ended without a breakthrough yesterday but the government and the rebels have pledged to continue to uphold a fragile truce. more..

Nov 13 (IB) Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan who arrived here today delivered the letter of invitation from Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga to participate at the 13th SAARC Summit to be held in Dhaka on 9-11 January 2005. more..

Nov 13 (CM) A 41-YEAR-OLD Sri Lankan woman was yesterday remanded in custody for four days in connection with the theft of £1,300 from her 97-year-old employer. The court heard that Costas Tylliris from the village of Lythrodontas had hired the suspect as a housemaid early in July last year. more..

Nov 13 (AME) With an almost doubling of profits and an anticipated 28 per cent growth next year, the award-winning Sri Lankan Airlines has plenty to shout about at this year's World Travel Market. more..

Nov 13 (DN) Ports, Aviation, Information and Media Minister and Education Deputy Minister Mangala Samaraweera, in a media communique yesterday came hard on certain media reports which highlighted the UNP's distortions about President Chandrika Kumaratunga's address to the National Advisory Council on Crime Prevention on November 9. more..

Nov 13 (ANN) Sri Lanka is likely to be able to enlist the support of international environmental groups on a campaign against the controversial Sethusamuduram Canal Project. The project has provoked a howl of protest from Sri Lanka as well as some influential quarters in India. more..

Nov 13 (HT) Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had offered the LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, a "secret" pact in July 1987, but the militant Tamil leader rejected it saying that he did not believe that India would honour that agreement, says the LTTE's political advisor, Anton Balasingham, more..

Nov 13 (IANS) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said in remarks published Saturday that Tamil Tiger guerrillas are still trying to kill her despite signing a truce with her government. more..

Nov 13 (Xinhua) The chief peace negotiator of the Tamil Tigers and the Norwegian special peace envoy left Sri Lanka Saturday after their failed attempt to revive the stalled peace talks, officials said. more..

Nov 14 (TN) Minister of Estate Infrastructure Mr Muthu Sivalingam of the CWC told the press Friday that CWC will never permit the implementation of the upper Kotmale Hydro-power scheme and warned that UPFA Government will be forcedout of power if it proceeds with the project disregarding CWC's protest. more..

Nov 14 (TN) Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Sri Lanka's powerful Marxist Sinhala nationalist party and President Chandrika Kumaratunga main coalition partner, Saturday marked the 15th death anniversary of its founder Rohana Wijeweera with a massive public meeting at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo. more..

Nov 14 (TN) Pungudutivu Division Civil Groups Consortium (PDCGC) Saturday wrote to Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge to take immediate action to completely lift the residential pass system introduced for resettled families in Pungudutivu by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), more..

Nov 14 (TN) Hundreds of families affected by flood in Jaffna district due to torrential rain are not provided with any relief by the central government and provincial council authorities, civil group activists complained Saturday. more..

Nov 14 (TN) "Destruction of Hindu shrines in areas where thousands of Hindus reside and construction of Buddhist shrines on State lands where there are hardly any Buddhists are blatant discriminatory acts and indicate State's willingness to condone acts committed in the name of Buddhism," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, more..

Nov 14 (TN) Jaffna District Fisheries Societies Federation (JDFSF) Saturday said hundreds of fishermen residing in coastal areas of Chullipuram would lose their profession following the construction of training centre along shore by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) violating the ceasefire agreement more..

Nov 14 (Dawn) The London-based LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, who arrived in the country last week , told journalists on Thursday that it was unlikely that the LTTE would be able to arrive at a power-sharing strategy with the government of President Kumaratunga. more..

Nov 14 (Rupavahini) This was reiterated by the leader of the JVP Somawansa Amarasinghe at the 15th November heroes commemoration ceremony held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo this afternoon. more..

Nov 14 (Rupavahini) President Chandrika Kumaratunge has pledged to continue the peace process in the country. Issuing a special message to mark her ten year tenure in high office, the president noted that she had taken measures to restore the freedom to live during this period. more..

Nov 14 (AT) Norwegian Peace Makers - they came last week and they left yesterday. Shuttle diplomacy was one more time a failure. Norwegian’s ability to break the deadlock is now under microscope. How long this dilatory streak would continue? more..

Nov 14 (AT) Yasser Arafat’s success as a leader can be best understood when compared with the failure of the ‘nation building’ project in most other parts of the Third World, especially in Sri Lanka. more..

Nov 14 (SO) Transport Minister Felix Perera angered over the wildcat strikes of the private bus operators which put the commuters into untold hardship, and warned that he would leave no room in the future for these bus operators to hold the government and the commuters to ransom. more..

Nov 14 (SO) Eminent lawyers, professionals, top politicians and a cross section of the society opined that the Executive Presidential system should be scrapped in the interest of the country. Some others spoke in favour of amending or reshaping the system to make the Executive more answerable to the people and Parliament. more..

Nov 14 (TN) Tension prevailed near Kodikamam town in Jaffna Sunday morning as military and Police fired tear gas and assaulted civilians protesting against an accident on the A9 highway in which a Sri Lanka army vehicle knocked down and killed a young Hindu priest. more..

Nov 14 (TN) “Our objective is to spread computer literacy among the Tamil people. Our leader wants to create an e-society in the Tamil homeland. It is the foundation on which he plans to build an efficient e-government for our people. more..

Nov 14 (TN) Three-day workshop on Inter Faith Collaboration on Peace Process in Sri Lanka began Saturday at the Jaffna Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) auditorium located in Chundikuli, a suburb in Jaffna town. Dignitaries of all faiths participated in the inaugural event, sources said. more..

Nov 14 (SLA) Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI), the oldest and most senior Regiment in the Sri Lanka Army on Thursday saw its men are felicitated and honoured at their much-awaited “Colours and Awards Night ” that took place at BMICH headed by Commander of the Army, Lt. General S. H. S Kottegoda more..

Nov 14 (HRW) The government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were engaged in a brutal civil war from 1983 to 2002 that killed over 60,000 people. A ceasefire was implemented in February of 2002, but a final peace agreement has not been reached. more..

Nov 14 (LBO) The Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama told Lanka Business Report (LBR) that he is counting on the rural sector to contribute to productivity improvement and help drive economic growth. more..

Nov 14 (LBO) Making a budget for a poor country with a mountain of debt, low investment, a large public service and high defense expenditure is no easy task. But this is the challenge facing the Finance Minister and his team when they prepare the UPFA government’s first budget on Thursday. more..

Nov 14 (LBO) Tax experts say that government’s ad hoc changes to taxes outside the budget harms the stability of the fiscal environment. They also believe that the Economic Service Charge has not looked positive on a cross section of businesses. more..

Nov 14 (G2L) The government continues to make choppers available for senior LTTE cadres to travel within the northern and eastern provinces. On the request made by the LTTE, the government on Friday airlifted several LTTE cadres from the east to Kilinochchi, authoritative sources said. more..

Nov 14 (SN) NMAT vows to safeguard Sinhalese National Movement Against Terrorism held its national conference today (13th of November) at S S Jayasinghe Memorial Hall Dehiwala at 3.30 PM. more..

Nov 14 (LT) The Government has decided to import another stock of rice from India and Pakistan. Accordingly, 50,000 metric tons of rice will be imported in the near future. Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Mr. Jeyraj Fernandopulle says the stock of imported rice will be made available to the market through CWE outlets. more..

Nov 14 (LT) The Leader of the Opposition and the President must agree for a solution that doesn't divide the country says Mahanayake of Malwatte Chapter. The Prelate made this statement when he met a contingent of UNP Parliamentarians led by Prof. G.L.Peiris and Malik Samarawickrema. more..

Nov 14 (LT) Anton Balasingham, theoretician of the Wanni tiger organization and Norwegian special peace envoy Eric Solheim who were in Sri Lanka left the island last evening. They held a special discussion at a special room in the air port when they arrived there. more..

Nov 14 (PTI) Sri Lanka was banking on a hard currency injection from India to save the local rupee amid galloping inflation, a widening budget deficit and dwindling foreign reserves. more..

Nov 14 (AFP) The latest failed attempt to revive peace talks is bad news for Sri Lanka's economy, already in trouble from high inflation, a foreign exchange crisis and a falling rupee. more..

Nov 14 (HT) The LTTE has said that India should consult the outfit before undertaking strategically important infrastructure projects in the North Eastern Province (NEP) of Sri Lanka, since these impinge on the lives of the Tamil people. more..

Nov 14 (AFP) Sri Lanka's peace hopes dimmed further as Norway failed in a secret attempt to save a stumbling initiative to end three decades of ethnic bloodshed, officials close to the process said. more..

Nov 14 (Bernama) Jeremy Carter, the IMF representative, is completing his term and leaving around next February amid speculation that he has been asked to leave by the Sri Lankan government. He was leaving at the end of his term, he told Bernama. more..