Sep 1 (TN) The LTTE in Batticaloa said Tuesday they will meet Sri Lankan armed forces again after a long gap on Friday 3 September. The decision was announced following a discussion between Col. Ramesh and Maj. Gen. (ret) Trond Furuhovde, Tuesday in Kokkaddicholai, 15 kilometres southwest of Batticaloa. more..

Sep 1 (TN) The Consortium of Thenmaradchchi Civil Organizations in Jaffna district Tuesday handed over a memorandum to the Jaffna Government Agent that it would launch a mass agitation bringing the civil administration and public transport system in Thenmaradchchi division to a halt if the houses and lands of IDP are not returned by the Sri Lanka Army. more..

Sep 1 (HT) FEUDING Sri Lankans murdered a man with an axe and a sword in revenge for an almost identical attack, the Old Bailey heard. Mayooran Thangarajah, 24, of Elm Park Avenue, Wembley, was injured in the first incident and took revenge by killing Ajan Ratnasegaram, 19, it was claimed. more..

Sep 1 (wsws) As part of a campaign heightening communal tensions in Sri Lanka, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is conducting a series of lectures throughout the island entitled “Who are the true enemies of peace?”. more..

Sep 1 (ST) Sri Lanka's two-decade-old ethnic war does not appear to be closer to a solution. The island nation's president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, has invited the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, for a meeting. The Tigers have been waging a war for the independence of Tamil speaking regions in the country. more..

Sep 1 (HT) Given the developing crisis in regard to the peace process in Sri Lanka, the Opposition United National Party (UNP) has decided to open a direct dialogue with India, which is believed to be capable of playing a beneficial role in bringing peace to the island. more..

Sep 1 (Rupavahini) Foreign minister Laxman Kadirgamar emphasizes the importance of making full use of the free trade agreement between India and Sri Lanka and the forthcoming comprehensive economic partnership agreement to the mutual benefit of both countries. more..

Sep 1 (SLBC) The government assures that all the graduates who are being trained will be given permanent employment after three months. The finance minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said that this is one of the gigantic projects ever launched in the history more..

Sep 1 (SLBC) The senior MPs of the TNA hopes to discuss on the interim self government authority proposals with the major political parties. A senior MP of the TNA told the SLBC that they hope to have this discussions next week when they arrive in Colombo to participate in the parliamentary meetings. more..

Sep 1 (SLBC) The Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse says that the government is ready to solve problems through discussions. Participating at the 75th anniversary of the public services Draftsmen's Association today said that the government is ready to listen to the grievances of the people. more..

Sep 1 (AT) Jayendran Manoharan from Norway has written to “Asian Tribune” about the news report ”If a war breaks out Today, LTTE would be the biggest looser,” as "wishful thinking and reality could be a different story." Full text of Jayendran Manoharan’s letter to “Asian Tribune” is given below : more..

Sep 1 (HT) Pro-LTTE Tamil members of the Parliament are planning to seek India's help for the Tamils' struggle for autonomy in the island country. Addressing mediapersons in Kilinochchi on Monday, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP R Sampanthan said that India's support was important and necessary. more..

Sep 1 (TN) Eastern University administration has prepared a master plan to rebuild the Trincomalee Campus of the East University at a new site at Konesapuri, seven km off north of Trincomalee town towards Nilaveli, where two hundred acres of land located has been allocated for the project. more..

Sep 1 (AT) At last the SLMM was able to make the LTTE in the Batticaloa – Amparai region to agree to meet the Sri Lanka Army’s commanders in the Eastern region. Also LTTE in the Amparai – Batticaloa district has ended its wavering and agreed to meet the military representatives of the Sri lanka Army for discussion regarding the Ceasefire Agreement. more..

Sep 1 (AT) Ven Athuraliye Rathana thero in his exclusive interview to “Asian Tribune” said, “we will continue to sit in the opposition benches. But unlike the normal oppositions, we will be studying the proposals put forward by the Government and would support the Government if those proposals are meant to do good to the people in this country.” more..

Sep 1 (TP) With a new traffic scheme coming into force, the police said it would strictly implement the law against drivers parking their vehicles on roads obstructing the movement of other vehicles, on pavements, pedestrian crossings and other prohibited places. more..

Sep 1 (TP) The nationalist Jatika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the Sri Lankan parliamentary group of Buddhist monks, has accused the government of creating chaos in the country by not tackling the rising crime wave and the cost of living. more..

Sep 1 (TP) The government plans to immediately import 50,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan to meet a possible shortfall in the local market due to a poor paddy harvest owing to a drought, the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ministry said on Monday. more..

Sep 1 (TP) National carrier SriLankan Airlines is likely to offer an unbelievable bonanza amounting to nearly 50 per cent off on air tickets to several destinations as part of its silver jubilee celebrations, the Daily Mirror reported. more..

Sep 1 (SLBC) The new bus fare revisions will come in to effect from today. It has been decided to increase the minimum fare from 3 rupees to 3 rupees and 50 cents taking in to consideration in the increase of the prices of Diesel. The bus fares have been increased by 9 percent. more..

Sep 1 (SLBC) The government has expressed willingness to provide an interim allowance in line with the increase of cost of living until the salary discrepancies in the state service. The Joint Scientific and Technology Trade Union Front say Minister of Public Administration Amarasiri Dodangoda has arrived at an agreement in this regard. more..

Sep 1 (NW) Eight UNP members of the Mahara Pradeshiya Sabha have filed civil suit before Colombo District Court against the party and its senior members complaining they were wrongfully suspended from the party instead of action being taken against PS chairman whom they accused of squandering public funds. more..

Sep 1 (SN) EU delegation who met EPDP leadership recently assured that they would be tough on LTTE in future. They have discussed in detail about the threat posed by the LTTE to democratic rights of Tamils lived in the North. The EPDP has pointed out that people were suffering at the hands of the LTTE irrespective of their ethnicity. more..

Sep 1 (Yonhap) South Korea will provide US$15 million to Sri Lanka to help it implement a national project to improve the living standards of the island nation, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said Wednesday. more..

Sep 1 (LBO) Armed with a restraining order against a hydro project on forestland, environmental lobbies say secretive state procedures are keeping the public from getting involved. The Court of Appeal on Tuesday extended an interim order to restrain Manikawita Hydro-Power Development (Private) Limited from building a hydroelectric power project at Bomuruella. more..

Sep 1 (LBO) The Public Utilities Commission will kick off work as a multi-sector watchdog, shadow regulating electricity services and later, the unbundled Ceylon Electricity Board. But the recent Cabinet decision only gives the Commission a passive consultants role and does not include any authority over the sector and the CEB. more..

Sep 1 (LBO) Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said Tuesday that the public sector would be ‘expanded’ as needed, to take up 41,000 unemployed graduates who were promised jobs. The state is dishing out over 41,000 jobs in the public sector, topping its own election promises of 27,000 – the space and jobs being created as needed. more..

Sep 1 (SLA) Some irate fishermen from the general area of GURUNAGAR had suspended fishing and organized a protest campaign against continuous harassments to fishermen by the LTTE on 31 August 2004. more..

Sep 1 (SLA) Troops on duty at the roadblock in the general area of SOORANGAL, about 15 k.m southwest of TRINCOMALEE town, were compelled to retain some LTTE cadres trying to enter the government controlled areas on 30 August 2004 around 10.30 a.m. since the troops had not been informed about their move ahead. more..

Sep 1 (SLA) Police have arrested two LTTE cadres alleged to have abducted a teenager while they were in the general area of ERAVUR on 30 August 2004. Two LTTE cadres, N SUDAKARAN (19) and K CHANDRASEKARAN (27) were arrested in this connection by the ERAVUR Police and remanded till 13 September 2004 on a court order. more..

Sep 1 (SLA) Naval troops on duty in the general sea area north of TALAIMANNAR have observed approximately 40 – 50 Indian fishing trawlers poaching in the Sri Lankan waters on 30 August 2004 around 3.30 p.m. more..

Sep 1 (TN) A Muslim youth was killed and three wounded when gunmen suspected to be militants of an Islamic fundamentalist group lobbed a grenade and opened fire on the four who were gambling in Saddam Hussein Village, a suburb of Eravur town, 14 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Tuesday night around 11.30, Police said. more..

Sep 1 (TN) "Acting Defence Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake's warning to the LTTE not to push the Government to war and accusing the LTTE of continuing with killings and attacks on anti-LTTE elements in the East and in Colombo in violation of the Ceasefire Agreement in place, is not conducive to promoting a climate of peace," more..

Sep 1 (TN) "The failure of the Tamil leadership during the last half a century to join forces with the progressive forces in the South has been one of the reasons why earlier attempts at a solution were not successful," said an editorial in Thinakkural, welcoming the formation of awareness and advocacy committees by the TNA more..

Sep 1 (TN) More than a thousand Bata workers and rights activists demonstrated in downtown Colombo Wednesday, demanding the giant footwear manufacturer to take back the six hundred employees it sacked two months ago. The demonstrators also urged President Kumaratunga's government to repeal the Termination of Workmen's Services Act, more..

Sep 1 (Xinhua) Myanmar and Sri Lanka will open indirect air link via Bangkok soon to promote bilateral ties and tourism industry, a local news journal reported in its latest issue. The Sri Lankan Airlines will connect the Bangkok flights of the Myanmar Airways International (MAI) and the Thai Airways International (TG), more..

Sep 1 (SLA) The ninth Officer Instructor course on International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, initiated by the Army’s Directorate of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for members of the Armed Forces began at Panagoda Army Cantonment on Tuesday morning attended by a host of distinguished guests. more..

Sep 1 (Reuters) Sri Lanka has become the latest touring team to express reservations about playing at some venues in Pakistan because of security concerns. The Asian Champions are due to tour Pakistan in October to first play in a triangular series, also involving Zimbabwe, before two tests against the hosts. more..

Sep 1 (USE) The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is pleased to announce that the United States is completely free of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The USDA has informed the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) that the strain of the avian influenza virus detected in one non-commercial flock in Texas, has been completely eradicated. more..

Sep 1 (PIS) With the peace process in crisis the SLMM chief is flying to Oslo on Friday to brief the facilitators on the current situation, a spokesman said yesterday. SLMM Chief Trond Furuhovde was expected to meet Norweigian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgessen and others for urgent talks. more..

Sep 1 (DN) A special Police squad attached to the Police Headquarters Action Plan program has solved a number of killings in Colombo District recently and recovered two vehicles stolen following the arrest of two underworld gang leaders. more..

Sep 1 (AFP) Sri Lanka's peacebroker Norway has mounted a fresh bid to salvage the island's faltering peace process that has been further undermined by brinkmanship by the two antagonists, sources said. more..

Sep 1 (HT) The LTTE has told the Norwegian peace facilitators that there can be no talks with the Sri Lankan government unless the latter withdraws the anti-LTTE Tamil militant groups from the North Eastern Province (NEP), as per the ceasefire agreement. more..

Sep 1 (AFP) Sri Lanka's prolonged drought ended with heavy rains -- shortly after the sprinkling of Buddhist holy water over drought-stricken regions, residents said. Rains accompanied by strong winds lashed several regions of Polonnaruwa, one of the worst affected districts, more..

Sep 2 (TN) Amnesty International welcomed the recent ruling by the UN Human Rights Committee in the first case from Sri Lanka submitted under the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) concerning the “disappearance” of Thevarajah Sarma in favour of the relatives of the victim. more..

Sep 2 (TN) Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Wednesday held a one-day workshop under the Human Rights for Displaced People Project in Jaffna."UNICEF has focused its attention on children who have been deprived of their education due to war," said Ms Judith Bruno, more..

Sep 2 (TN) A new campaign "Awakening East" organized by a Sinhala nationalist group and backed by the Janatha JVP demanding the de-merger of the northeast province was held Wednesday in Kalmunai Town Hall in Amparai district in the eastern province. more..

Sep 2 (TN) Of the first batch of 17,018 unemployed graduates who are to begin their three-month training programme Thursday at 215 centres in 23 districts excluding Killinochchi and Mullaitivu districts only 2,140 (11.4%) are Tamil medium graduates and the rest 14,883 are Sinhalese. These graduates will be given employment after the training programme, more..

Sep 2 (TN) One of the suspects who were arrested on 24 August in connection with the murder of a girl in Sithamparapuram, told Vavuniya judge Mr. Manickavasagar Ilancheliyan Wednesday that the main suspect in the case, Mr. Mendis Thilakrajah, had forced him to help remove the body of the victim by threatening to harm his wife and children. more..

Sep 2 (AT) A Muslim organization called Dawn of the East –Kizhahakin Uthayam, held a conference yesterday in Kalmunai to decide about the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal put forwad by the LTTE and about the temporary merger of the North and Eastern provinces. more..