Mar 10 (AT) Rajasingham Jeyadevan, a British resident, who was held captive by the LTTE, since 31 December 2004, was released yesterday at 2.30 PM in Vanni, according to a reliable source. “Asian Tribune” exposed this illegal confinement and torture on 09 March exclusively. more..

Mar 10 (AT) Like a slow download, we are inching to war. There already is a small war on the side, a mini–civil war. It’s the title fight: the Sun God vs. The Colonel. It is decidedly not in the interest of the Sri Lankan state to tilt against Karuna, eliminating his challenge to Prabhakaran, nor is it in its interest that the conflict spiral out of control and spill-over into the South. more..

Mar 10 (AT) Sri Lanka’s premier carrier Sri Lankan Air Lines is now selling their corporate anthem in DVD to collect more funds to assist the tsunami affected schools and the children. The company says that they have formed a charity to support tsunami victims. more..

Mar 10 (LNP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga`s Women`s Day speech where she cited federalism as the only solution to the North-East problem, drew a mixed reaction from political parties yesterday. more..

Mar 10 (LT) Deputy minister of foreign affairs, Professor Wishwa Warnapala said in parliament yesterday (09) that NGO’s operating in this country are making serious inroads into the political body of this country and their activities pave the way to neo-colonialism. more..

Mar 10 (LT) JVP parliamentary group leader MP, Wimal Weerawansa said that in spite of differences in political ideology, no those who represent the Sri Lankan parliament should allow anyone to dilute the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 10 (LT) On the occasion when MP Wimal Weerawansa rose to make a special declaration in parliament yesterday (09), there arose a tense situation as MP R. Sampandhan of the Tamil State Party opposed. more..

Mar 10 (SAMN) An astounding Rs. 5 million worth of a concentrated nutritional product sent from Australia for tsunami affected children had gone missing from the airport but strangely some of it had found its way into the shelves of some shops in the south. more..

Mar 10 (SAMN) Despite strong opposition from the JVP, the government is going ahead with talks on the formation of a joint mechanism with the LTTE. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar had briefed European Commissioner for External Relations Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner of the ongoing negotiations with the LTTE in this regard. more..

Mar 10 (LNP) The Mahanayake Theros of Malwatte and Asgiriya have, in separate statements, urged all political groups in the Parliament to support the move to set up Provincial Appeal Courts, which they explain would benefit litigants in the outstations. more..

Mar 10 (ANN) Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka and Ceylon Tobacco Company have yet again found their place in the Business Today TOP 10 companies for the financial year 2003/04. The presence of DCSL and CTC, the only two manufacturing companies to be in this list, more..

Mar 10 (ANN) Those who propounded the theory that the tsunami disaster would help resolve Sri Lanka’s conflict stand corrected. Instead of facilitating a solution, it has worsened the situation by changing the course of the peace process, more..

Mar 10 (TN) "It is meaningless to observe a ceasefire in the current situation where there is no peace and no peace talks. The deteriorating security climate in the east, and the chaotic political situation plagued by disunity within the ruling UPFA in the South that shows no signs of improving, can only hasten Tamils march towards the final solution," more..

Mar 10 (TN) Tension in Oddamavadi, 34 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Thursday morning over reports that three men who had gone from the Muslim town to chop firewood in the jungles two days ago were found murdered was resolved after SLMM and the LTTE who searched for their bodies found them staying in a village in the interior to ply their trade. more..

Mar 10 (SLA) Angry civilians in the general area of ARIYAMPATHI market, BATTICALOA moved in on three LTTE cadres and chased them away when LTTE men after death threats and assaults on a teenager, tried to conscript him to the LTTE on 09 March 2005 around 8.00 a.m. more..

Mar 10 (SLA) LTTE pistol men, believed to be from its WANNI faction has shot and injured a businessman, suspected to be a loyalist of the LTTE KARUNA faction after pistol men stormed his residence in the general area of BATTICALOA on 9 March 2005 around 7.15 p.m. more..

Mar 10 (SLA) A six-member gang on two motorbikes have hacked a couple in their sixties after they stormed their house in the general area of AMMAN Road, JAFFNA on 08 March 2005 around 8.30 p.m. The victims, DHARMALINGAM (67) and his wife D. PUNIDAVADI (61), parents to the wife of an Inspector of the Police, now serving COLOMBO, more..

Mar 10 (PRIU) The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) will reconstruct seven schools in the tsunami-affected district of Matara. The Swiss Ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni and Secretary to the Ministry of Finance P.B Jayasundera today signed a MoU in this regard. more..

Mar 10 (LT) A mammoth campaign organized by Patriotic National Movement (PNM) to oppose the statement made by Mr. Peter Harold, the representatives of the World Bank in Sri Lanka was held in Colombo today. The protestors marched along the Galle road to the World Bank office in Galle Face and handed over a petition to the authorities of the World Bank more..

Mar 10 (AP) Major international hotel chain Hyatt Regency will open a 260-room luxury hotel in Sri Lanka, an official from a partner company said Thursday, despite the island's recent battering by the Asian tsunami. more..

Mar 10 (CI) Sri Lanka have recalled Ruchira Perera, a left-arm fast bowler who has bounced back after suspicions over his bowling action, in an 18-man training squad for their postponed tour to New Zealand. The final 14-man squad is expected to be named next week for the tour that starts on March 26. more..

Mar 10 (BBC) Graeme Swann took 5-79 as England A triumphed in their four-day match over Sri Lanka A, winning by 197 runs on the final day at Colombo Cricket Club. Swann, who moved from Northamptonshire to Nottinghamshire in the close season, impressed with his spin bowling as Sri Lanka A were all out for 239. more..

Mar 10 (PIS) The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has failed to get the LTTE flag removed from the venue where an LTTE function at Trincomalee was held on Tuesday evening. Military spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake said LTTE flag was hoisted during a commemorative ceremony at the Hindu Cultural Centre more..

Mar 10 (SAMN) United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake said Wednesday that certain people in the government received aid from Non Governmental Organizations but scolded them the next day. They should either take action against such NGOs or leave the government. more..

Mar 10 (PIS) Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights of Sri Lanka (SPUR) writing to President Chandrika Kumaratunga had urged to initiate a comprehensive assessment of violations of the ceasefire agreement. more..

Mar 10 (SAMN) The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress in parliament Wednesday rejected the government's proposed 200m protective buffer zone in the Eastern Province as irrational and arbitrary, and called on the government to incorporate opposition proposals regarding the matter. more..

Mar 10 (LM) Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Rauff Hakeem today demanded both the Government and its main ally Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to take full responsibility of the deaths of the five Muslim civilians who were killed in the East allegedly by the LTTE. more..

Mar 10 (LM) The tsunami disaster that struck the island late last year caused serious damage to the Kalmunai Zone in the Ampara District. Kalmunai, which has a population of around 100,000, is a region that is populated mostly by Tamils and Muslims. more..

Mar 10 (LM) Armed LTTE cadres, who abducted a Muslim three-wheel driver from Kirimichchiya, Batticaloa on Tuesday at around 3.25 p.m, has killed him. The victim's body was found yesterday noon by the Valachchenai police. more..

Mar 10 (LM) M.H. Mohammed's son Shahul Hamid is alleged to have attacked the Chief Executive Officer of the Sri Lanka Islamic Centre for exposing the financial fraud that took place at the centre soon after the tsunami. more..

Mar 10 (RW) With much of the emergency relief needs of tsunami survivors now met, the focus shifts to what the head of a relief agency calls "the really hard part -- putting peoples' lives and their shattered communities back together". more..

Mar 10 (LNP) The Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) wants the government to take immediate action to prevent the LTTE from bolstering its military capabilities by setting up an air wing. more..

Mar 10 (SLRC) The President says there should be more women participation in governance. Addressing a national women’s day programme, President Chandrika Kumaratunga said that women had the potential to make a significant contribution to national development coming out of the traditional confines. more..

Mar 10 (DN) Colombo High Court Judge Rohini Perera issued a warrant on the Indian astrologer Guru, Swamiji Krishor Sastri who has been indicted on charges sexually harassing a Woman Police Constable, to be present before Court on March 22 2005. more..

Mar 10 (VOA) A Sri Lankan couple, and their four-month-old baby, paid a visit to Capitol Hill Wednesday as part of efforts by U.S. legislators to fight woman and child exploitation in the wake of disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunami. more..

Mar 10 (Xinhua) The Tamil Tiger rebels undertook a European tour Thursday aimed at seeking direct assistance for post-tsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation, rebel sources said. A 12-member delegation of the LTTE headed by its political wing leader SP Thamilselvan departed the Colombo International Airport Thursday morning more..

Mar 10 (AFP) Sri Lanka's peace broker Norway was hopeful of clinching a deal between the Colombo government and the Tiger rebels on jointly handling tsunami relief aid, the guerrillas said. The rebel LTTE held talks with Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim in London Wednesday more..

Mar 11 (DJ) Post-tsunami reconstruction in Sri Lanka may contribute to higher inflation and further pressure government finances, the International Monetary Fund said. "Staff has advised the authorities to be mindful of the limits to implementation capacity and potential inflationary pressures as reconstruction efforts proceed," more..

Mar 11 (TN) "Desperate to retain its portfolios, having nothing to show for what it has so far achieved by being in government, haunted by the nightmare of 1970-1975 coalition politics that nearly destroyed the LSSP and CP, the JVP is now floundering, it is drowning in very shallow water. more..

Mar 11 (TN) Crowds blocked the Jaffna-Pt. Pedro main road Thursday afternoon and stoned the Sri Lanka army’s (SLA) Villu Mathavady camp at Neervely after four soldiers from the SLA unit allegedly attempted to molest a 63 year old woman in the area. more..

Mar 11 (IANS) Not many Indian diplomats get the honour of having a book re-launch being hosted by no less than the host country's foreign minister and that too to a full house. And this is what happened in the Sri Lankan capital Wednesday evening when Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Menon Rao's collection of poems, "Rain Rising", was re-launched. more..

Mar 11 (LM) The recent incident in Pulmudai involving the Army, and the conduct of law enforcing authorities and Civil administration officers, compels one to think very seriously, whether these responsible entities are attempting to create more ethnic clashes instead of playing their respective roles in the Security of the Nation, Law and Order and proper governance. more..

Mar 11 (GP) Soon after the tsunami hit hundreds of journalists from all over the world descended on Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Both these countries face serious challenges of secessionist movements. While rebels in Aceh want a separate nation, the LTTE in Sri Lanka are demanding interim administration for the areas that are under their control. more..

Mar 11 (LBO) The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce is putting Rs 6 mn from its disaster relief collection to rehabilitate tsunami destroyed small time businesses. "The bigger businesses have Rs 5 bn allocated to help them get back on their feet. The really small ones haven’t got much help yet," more..

Mar 11 (LBO) Businesses in developing countries are increasingly getting into the intellectual property rights game but Sri Lanka is still lagging behind. Only 315 patent applications were made in Sri Lanka last year and nearly half were by foreign companies looking to sell their products in the local market. more..

Mar 11 (BBC) A businessman has begun an appeal to build a new school for 300 children in a Sri Lankan community devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami. Esmor Davis, 59, from Buckley in Flintshire, aims to raise £150,000 to fund the work in Bettigola. more..

Mar 11 (HT) There has been no agreement on a joint government-LTTE mechanism for conducting post-tsunami reconstruction work in the Tamil-speaking North Eastern Province of Sri Lanka because the rebel group is asking for extra-constitutional powers for the mechanism. more..

Mar 11 (TN) The government of the Netherlands has come forward to finance the lifting a dredger, Diya Kowulla, of the Sri Lankan Ports Authorities from Galle quay. The dredger was stranded in the Galle quay when the tsunami waves hit the country on December 26. more..

Mar 11 (TN) Three Indian naval ships have arrived in Colombo to provide sea training for Sri Lanka naval (SLN)cadets exposing them to various naval operations at sea, under India-Sri Lanka "Training Exchange Programme," said a press release from Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka issued Thursday. more..

Mar 11 (AP) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have admitted to having an airstrip in the northern territory that they control amid government fears that the guerrillas are acquiring air power, a pro-rebel website reported on Thursday. more..