Jan 21 (Reuters) War scared Muslim refugees make shelter at Jinnanagar village in Trincomalee, eastern Sri Lanka. Unnerved by fears that civil war may resume, perhaps within weeks, tension between communities is spiralling in Sri Lanka's northeast more..

Jan 21 (BBC) A year ago, there was some hope that the tsunami which wrecked the island would bring the Tamil Tiger rebels and the government closer. Many thought that the two sides could work together, perhaps through an aid-sharing deal, and try to overcome years of mistrust. more..

Jan 21 (TP) The Sri Lankan community in Qatar will celebrate their country's National Day with week-long events taking place from February 2 to February 8. The Sri Lankan Week is being organised jointly by the Sri Lankan embassy, the Sri Lankan Coordinating Committee (SLCC) and the Sri Lankan Air Lines. more..

Jan 21 (TN) The Government not only failed to carry out proper investigations into the assasinations of reputed Tamil leaders, parliamentarians, journalists and activists, but it has also failed to take appropriate actions to prevent the recurrence of such crimes against the ordinary Tamil civilians, more..

Jan 21 (PIS) Tamil political parties which attended Thursday''s All Party Conference (APC) lauded President Mahinda Rajapakse''s sincere commitment towards resolving the ethnic problem through the negotiatory process and expressed optimism that peace talks will be back on track before too long with the unanimous support the President received from all participants. more..

Jan 21 (ISL) Mr. Sampanthan finished with his meeting his friends of the new Tamil Alliance, and returned home. He was glad the Press Conference at which the Tamil Alliance announced its new policy was over. He was particularly happy at the manner in which he fielded the questions asked , especially by some Indian journalists. more..

Jan 21 (PIS) The government will go all out to prevent the country from sliding back to war despite LTTE provocations, President Mahinda Rajapakse said yesterday in Colombo. He said he would take all possible steps to protect the security personnel and civilians against LTTE attacks without returning to war. more..

Jan 21 (SLA) Group of LTTE cadres have attempted to kill Police personnel at the Police post in MAHAVILACHCHIYA, MANNAR firing with small arms on Thursday (19) night around 11.15 p.m. Having seen the LTTE attempt to direct fire towards the Police post, Home Guards on duty have opened fire at the Tamil Tigers forcing them to flee the area. more..

Jan 21 (SLA) ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY (1,340) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 13 January 2006 and 19 January 2006. Those consignments had reached areas in KILINOCHCHI and MULLAITIVU districts via OMANTHAI and UYILANKULAM Entry/Exit points. more..

Jan 21 (LeN) The Deep Penetrating Unit of the SLA had breached the LTTE security cordon to set off a major blast in a place off Adampan in Mannar early this (Saturday) morning. The target is said to have been LTTE spokesperson Thamil Selvam, but all information sources indicate Thamil Selvam had not been there at the time of the blast. more..

Jan 21 (TW) In the past two weeks, many families in Sri Lankan government-controlled areas have begun fleeing to Tamil Tiger-controlled regions - with good reason: casualties are mounting rapidly amid retaliatory violence by the increasingly hard-pressed Sinhala-dominated military against local civilians. more..

Jan 21 (TW) The situation in the country today has deteriorated to an extent that every day between one to fifteen members of the security forces are being killed by the LTTE. In Batticaloa a grenade has been flung into the compound of the international ceasefire monitors and destroyed an SLMM vehicle. more..

Jan 21 (TW) The law of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), signed in February 2002 by the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government, has been superseded by the law of an undeclared war. Gunfire, grenade and claymore mine attacks and explosions in the North-East have become the order of the day. more..

Jan 21 (TW) Trincomalee and its environs continued to be caught up in a vicious cycle of violence as various agencies engaged in sporadic attacks and counter-attacks. While the armed forces were at the receiving end of Tiger - sponsored violence civilians particularly Tamils suffered at the hands of security forces and other sinister state - aligned elements. more..

Jan 21 (LM) President Mahinda Rajapakse has requested the Chief Justice, Sarath N. de Silva, to appoint three sitting judges to serve on the Commission to be appointed to probe allegations made against the Chief of Defence Staff and former Navy Commander, Admiral Daya Sandagiri, according to sources. more..

Jan 21 (LM) The hartal programme which was held for three consecutive days at Akkaraipattu town continued for the fourth day yesterday paralyzing all daily operations of both public and mercantile establishments. All shops and boutiques were closed during the day with public transportation held up. more..

Jan 21 (ANN) Warmonger, fanatic, racist, chauvinist and extremist are some of the labels that the peaceniks will promptly stick on anyone who may utter such words in this country, where a battered peace process is limping along on borrowed crutches. more..

Jan 21 (ISL) Peace is something that most of us earnestly desire, and none more so than the ordinary people of this country, who one way or the other, have suffered the most. Yet the path is so perilous and the cost of wrong conceptualisation, shoddy groundwork and wrong decisions most tragic for those who have the least ability to influence decisions made. more..

Jan 21 (SAMN) Political parties are to approve a substantial salary increase for parliamentarians with Prime Minister receiving a Rs 12,400 increase, the largest increase envisaged under the proposed raise. The Island learns that there is a proposal to double the 500 rupee parliamentary allowance given to members. more..

Jan 21 (SAMN) Sri Lanka will receive an unprecedented exposure in the American capital market primarily and in 94 other countries, consequent to the strategic alliance between Asia Capital / Asia Securities and Auerbach Grayson & Company Incorporated, Managing Director of Asia Securities Asanga Seneviratne said more..

Jan 21 (SAMN) The Colombo Municipal Council has decided to raise the quarterly rates of four wards in the Colombo city this year. Accordingly the increase in rates and taxes would affect Kirula, Kirulapone ward 1, Kirulapone ward 2 and Parmankade east ward. more..

Jan 21 (LNP) The Korean Government has pledged US 2.3 million to elevate the standard of the Jaffna Technical College, one of the Technical Colleges of the Department of Technical Education and Training under the purview of the Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training. more..

Jan 21 (LNP) A group of politicians and rice millers are alleged to have prevented paddy and rice stockpiled at government stores being released to the market in non harvesting seasons, farmer sources alleged. They said this is the main cause behind the current skyrocketing of rice prices as the retail price of a kilogram of normal white and reddish rice are about Rs. 30 - 35 per kg. more..

Jan 21 (LNP) The Tamil National Alliance(TNA) has requested President Mahinda Rajapakse to ensure the protection of its members following the killing of Batticaloa District parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham. The TNA which met Rajapakse earlier this week had expressed concern over the killing of Pararajasingham in a government controlled area. more..

Jan 21 (DN) THE Bishops of Jaffna and Mannar, the regions which have experienced the worst form of violence during the past one month, have welcomed the All Party Conference (APC) convened on Thursday by President Mahinda Rajapakse in view of resuming the peace process. more..

Jan 21 (IPS) As the four-year-old ceasefire in Sri Lanka is on the verge of crumbling, the United States has offered to strengthen its military assistance programmes and increase training for government forces if the country's rebel group resumes its separatist war in the northern and eastern provinces. more..

Jan 21 (IANS) Canada's Conservative party will outlaw Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas if voted to power in Monday's elections. The National Post quoted the party's deputy leader and public safety critic Peter MacKay as saying that a Conservative government would add the LTTE to Canada's list of outlawed terrorist groups. more..

Jan 21 (HT) If the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, the 15 political parties of South Sri Lanka, and the LTTE agree on one thing — it is that peace talks are an urgent need. But chances of talks actually taking place in the near future are dim because there is no agreement on what to talk and where to talk. more..

Jan 21 (AFP) Sri Lanka are unfazed by the latest efforts of pace bowling sensation Brett Lee and will face Australia in one-day triangular series match boosted by the return of opener Sanath Jayasuriya, coach Tom Moody said. "Our guys have faced quick bowling before with (Pakistan's) Shoaib Akhtar and (New Zealand's) Shane Bond recently," Moody said Saturday. more..

Jan 21 (AFP) Sri Lanka's business leaders asked the government to turn the country into a de facto federal state in a bid to end decades of ethnic bloodshed. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said Saturday the Indian federal system of government should serve as a model for devolution of power in Sri Lanka where Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for an independent state. more..

Jan 21 (AP) Two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and a police officer was injured Saturday in a shootout at a checkpoint in northern Sri Lanka, the military said. The rebels opened fire when police at the checkpoint in Vavuniya district tried to search them, military spokesman Brig. Athula Jayawardena said. more..

Jan 21 (AN) The parish of Wadduwa, one of the areas in southern Sri Lanka hit by the tsunami, received 34 homes from the archdiocese of Colombo. On January 18th, His Grace the Archbishop Oswald Gomis blessed and handed over the homes to the tsunami affected families, Catholic and Buddhist. more..

Jan 21 (Reuters) Tamil Tiger rebels will return to war unless progress is made soon in the island's deadlocked peace process, a senior rebel said just days ahead of a visit by Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim. Solheim has warned the island not to expect too much from a visit aimed at rebuilding an almost-destroyed 2002 ceasefire. more..

Jan 22 (SLA) ANOTHER EXPLOSION DETONATED BY THE LTTE injured two more soldiers Saturday (21) around 8.30 p.m. in TRINCOMALEE town. Explosives wrapped inside the parcel that was left beside a road suddenly exploded when troops on piquet duties were checking it. more..

Jan 22 (SLA) ON INFORMATION received from a civilian, Special Task Force (STF) personnel have recovered eight claymore mines, 370 rounds of Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG) and 369 rounds of T-56 hidden under the bushes in the TAMIELYAYA area, AMPARA on 21 January 2006 around 10.20 a.m.. more..

Jan 22 (SLA) ON INFORMATION received from a civilian, Special Task Force (STF) personnel have recovered eight claymore mines, 370 rounds of Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG) and 369 rounds of T-56 hidden under the bushes in the TAMIELYAYA area, AMPARA on 21 January 2006 around 10.20 a.m.. more..

Jan 22 (SLA) A PERSON NAMED KARADI alias RAMAIYA SUBRAMANIYAM KRISHNAKUMAR (21) was shot dead by unidentified pistol men, suspected to be from the LTTE rival group on 21 January 2006 around 6.30 p.m. near the MAMANGAMA Kovil in BATTICALOA. Inquiries revealed that he was an LTTE cadre. more..

Jan 22 (LBO) NGOs charged that lack of coordination by one central agency was slowing down reconstruction after the tsunami. Although government set up TAFREN which is now called RADA to be the main body helping reconstruction it does not maintain a central database to help NGO’s and others find out who has been helped and who has not got anything yet. more..

Jan 22 (LBO) Sri Lanka's power utility is heading into the dry season with its reservoirs full, translating into savings on expensive thermal bills and no power shortages on the cards. more..

Jan 22 (LeN) The United National Party has decided not to extend any support to the government peace bid and walk away from the agreement reached with the government if it tried to coax UNP parliamentarians to join the government by offering minister posts and other perks. more..

Jan 22 (ISL) The activities of the organization, Reporters Sans Frontiers, which claims to stands for all journalists in the world needs to be analyzed on its conduct regarding Tamil journalists. For this, we analyze parallel reports made by the organization on deaths of a pro-LTTE and anti-LTTE journalists in the Northeast. more..

Jan 22 (ISL) In 1991 Sabalingam published a well-finished volume of articles I had written for the Sunday Island. From then on he pressed me to write a thoroughly researched, authoritative account of the beginnings and development of the Tamil militant movements. more..

Jan 22 (ISL) According to sources from Navy, a ship carrying powerful weapons completed its mission to the LTTE with out any resistance from the Sri Lankan forces. Sources added that weapons including powerful missiles capable of heavy damaging the Sri Lankan air force in the next Eelam war. more..

Jan 22 (ISL) President Mahinda Rajapakse and the Sri Lankan Peace Secretariat had taken all steps to provide VIP facilities to Anton Balasingham - LTTE's Chief Negotiator while his trip to Sri Lanka to negotiate peace talks. more..

Jan 22 (ISL) The President Mahinda Rajapakse had personally requested Wimal Weerawansa to refrain from campaigning publicly against Norway and the ceasefire, according to inside sources from the government. President had also promised JVP that he will update the party of all developments on the peace process. more..

Jan 22 (ISL) Senior leader of the LTTE and a former EROS commander V Balakumaran said that it is the utmost duty of all Tamils living in the country to take military training from LTTE to fight “many enemies” of the Tamil people.He said this during a military training conducted at the general stadium in Kilinochchi on last Tuesday. more..

Jan 22 (AT) The Sri Lankan government has openly violated the Constitution by transferring the powers vested upon the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Police Commission to the Ministry Secretaries, Department heads and the Inspector General of Police, after the lapsing of the above commissions in December 2005. more..

Jan 22 (AT) A Total War - that seems to be the Tigers’ strategy. This limitless war will be unleashed not only on the Sri Lankan state but also on the Tamil people of the North and the East. This war, irrespective of its duration and outcome, would cost Sri Lanka much; the cost to the Tamil people would be immeasurably greater. more..

Jan 22 (LT) SLMM has begun an investigation into the explosions that had taken place at Adampan area in Mannar last morning. They had inquired from the tiger leaders in the area and from the officials of LTTE peace secretariat but the tigers have denied any explosion in the area. more..

Jan 22 (CI) Australia suffocated under a massive total set up by Sanath Jayasuriya's century-making return from a shoulder injury as Sri Lanka sealed their second win of the VB Series. Jayasuriya's brilliant 114 from 96 balls bounced the tourists to a massive 7 for 309 and while Australia felt in touch on a couple of occasions they were unable to conquer the unusual situation and lost by 51 runs. more..