Apr 30 (LeN) The king of Colombo under world, "Prince" who had heavy political influence was shot dead last night in one of his houses in Bluemandal, Colombo 13. He apparently owned several houses in Colombo and he had been watching the finals at his house in Bluemandal and fallen a sleep half way of the match. His body guards had also fallen asleep after getting drunk and then an unidentified group of armed men who arrived at the house had carried out the shooting. more..

Apr 30 (LeN) A group of close associates of Mangala Samaraweera had held a special discussion on the 25th of this month immediately after Samaraweera met with president Rajapakse on the 24th at the temple trees. The discussion had taken place at one of Samaraweera's closeset friends houses and JVP parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake had first spokes regarding the issue blaming Samaraweera for meeting with the president without informing his close allies. more..

Apr 30 (Reuters) Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody said the team had the potential to build on their World Cup final appearance but refused to give any indication whether he would stay in the job to oversee that progress. "I'm not making any decision on my future until I've a chance to go back to Sri Lanka and speak to the Sri Lankan cricket board," he told a news conference on Sunday, a day after the World Cup final. more..

Apr 30 (AFP) Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody is confident that his team will be a major force in international cricket despite losing the World Cup final against Australia here. "We have made a significant progress as a group in the last couple of years and if we continue to maintain the professionalism there's no reason why Sri Lanka can't compete on a regular basis with teams like Australia," he said. more..

Apr 30 (DO) Although the World Cup ended in rather predictable victory for Australia and a rather comical end for the tournament itself - it was an entertaining game. I'm sure Sri Lankan fans will spend days analyzing where exactly they lost the game. Was it when Chaminda Vaas was skinned by Adam Gilchrist in the first three overs? Was it when Dilhara Fernando - a borderline selection - was taken apart? more..

Apr 30 (AFP) Emirates Airlines and Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific on Sunday suspended flights to Sri Lanka following a rebel air strike around the troubled island's capital. "For Emirates, the safety of its passengers is of paramount importance," a spokesman for the Dubai-based carrier said, adding that the situation would be reviewed within a day. more..

Apr 30 (HT) The Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) has a fair sized fleet of Kfir and MIG 27 jet fighter bombers and MI-24 choppers. The LTTE has only a single digit force of propeller driven Czech designed and locally assembled Zlin Z-142s. Yet, the fledgling Flying Tigers have been able to infiltrate hundreds of kilometres of government-administered territory, attack key military and strategic targets, and get back to base unscathed. more..

Apr 30 (TW) The Peace building and Development Institute in Sri Lanka in partnership with Peace building and Development Institute – International Peace and Conflict Resolution Division of American University has arranged a week long training on “Youth & Conflict: Integrating Youth in Peace building Training” at Palm Village Hotel in Uswetakiyawa. The training program was held from April 23rd to 27th 2007. more..

Apr 30 (FL) IN the first week of April, the French law-enforcement authorities conducted a series of well-planned and coordinated actions against the LTTE. Fourteen Tamils of Sri Lankan origin, suspected of being linked to the organisation, were produced at a special counter-terrorism tribunal in Paris and placed in judicial custody under a preventive detention order on April 5. more..

Apr 30 (Xinhua) The aircraft of Sri Lanka's rebel Tamil Tigers bombed two targets close to the capital Colombo early Sunday despite the government activated its air defense system, giving the government further challenge in dealing with the rebels. Group Captain Ajantha Silva, the Air Force spokesman, said the aircraft of the LTTE dropped four bombs at around 1:50 a.m. (2020 GMT) in the suburbs of Colombo. more..

Apr 30 (Reuters) Sri Lanka reaped the benefits of a professional approach indicating great future prospects after their impressive World Cup campaign ended with defeat against Australia in the final. Australia won the rain-hit game by 53 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method on Saturday for an unprecedented hat-trick of successive titles. more..

Apr 30 (BN) Sri Lankan forces raided a naval base of the LTTE after the rebels carried out their second air strike in the past month in and around the capital, Colombo, targeting oil and gas plants. A leader of the LTTE's Sea Tigers was among five people killed in the operation yesterday at Kayts Island off the northwestern port of Jaffna, the Media Center for National Security said on its Web site today. The LTTE hasn't commented on the raid. more..

Apr 30 (ISL) The LTTE activists held a vigil-demonstration in the busy shopping street in Harrow on April 27, 2007 with media glare of the LTTE’s ‘ Voice of Tiger’ radio broadcast from LTTE controlled Vanni in Sri Lanka. Only about 20 odd Tamils including kids and infirm participated. Pictorial presentation below will confirm extent of the difficulties faced by the LTTE in their campaign work in London. more..

Apr 30 (ISL) The breakaway eastern command of the LTTE, the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) confirmed 210 cadres of the LTTE have surrendered to them recently. This included an important area commander and TMVP refused to reveal the name of the commander. The TMVP Batticaloa office based Kanthan said all those surrendered have been given practical support to join their families and are being helped to secure jobs. more..

Apr 30 (LBO) Sri Lanka's inflation fell for the third month in a row in April after the Central Bank stopped printing money to finance the budget deficit and tightened monetary policy from December 2006. Consumer price increases in the past twelve months measured by the Colombo Consumer Price index fell to 16.3 percent in April from 19.5 percent in March, the government's statistics office said. more..

Apr 30 (LBO) Singapore Airlines has stopped night flights to Colombo, the airline said Monday, after the third incident involving Tamil Tiger aircraft and anti-aircraft fire from an air base adjoining the main airport. "Singapore Airlines wishes to inform all its customers and the traveling public that following a security review, effective from tonight, we will be operating our daily services between Colombo and Singapore on a revised schedule," more..

Apr 30 (cI) It might have been the longest World Cup but, despite all the organisational mishaps and lop-sided contests, it produced a worthy winner. Australia were head and shoulders ahead of the rest - no team even came close to challenging them - but a number of other individual performers stood out through the tournament. We asked members of our staff to select their best World Cup XI and there were no surprises that Australian players dominated the list. more..

Apr 30 (LT) Ten rallies and seven demonstrations will be held in Colombo to celebrate International Workers’ Day. The rally of the PA will be held at town Hall Grounds under the chairmanship of President Mahinda Rajapakse. SLFP will not hold any demonstration. However other parties of PA will come in several demonstrations and will join the rally at Town Hall. more..

Apr 30 (wsws) At a press conference in February, the Sri Lankan military boasted that it had broken up a major terrorist conspiracy. Officials played the video taped confessions of three men detained less than 48 hours earlier, admitting to being members of a previously unknown group, the Revolutionary Liberation Organisation (RLO), to having received training and arms from the LTTE and to plotting terrorist acts in the south of the island. more..

Apr 30 (GDI) Government has taken steps to expand the service of Aurvedic doctors and nurses. This programme was initiated by recruiting 282 Aurvedic doctors to the service and in near future another 303 will be recruited to fulfill the existing vacancies at island wide Aurvedic Hospitals. According to Minster of Indigenous Medicine- Tissa Karaliyadde, these newly recruited doctors will be engaged in providing community health service. more..

Apr 30 (GDI) The Pharmaceutical Society of Sri Lanka (PSSL) has introduced a set of ‘Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) Guidelines’ to enhance the pharmacists, responsibilities towards the consumer and the society. This step has been taken while recognizing that the pharmacists being the readily available health profession to advise the public on every day healthcare and as being responsible for the supply and delivery of medicines to the consumer, more..

Apr 30 (GDI) President of South Africa- Thabo Mbeki assures the Government to assist in every possible way to combat terrorism in the country. He said that the Government of South Africa would not allow the LTTE to operate his country. He made this declaration when the Minister and the EPDP Douglas Devananda along with the TULF leader V. Anandasangaree met him at his office in Johannesburg on Thursday. more..

Apr 30 (GDI) Government will be taking steps to conduct fresh investigation on the killings of 17 Aid Workers attached to the French Non Governmental Organisation Action Contre La Faim(ACF). According to the Ministry of Foreign affaires, over the past weekend, Members of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) have visited several locations in the Eastern Province including Muttur, where the killings had taken place. more..

Apr 30 (GDI) I wish to convey my warmest greetings to the working class of this country on the historic May Day. The lifeblood of a nation is its working force, every Governments responsibility and duty is to protect them, uphold their rights and give them the necessary facilities. As a political party since 1956 the SLFP has always championed the cause of the working class. more..

Apr 30 (Reuters) Sri Lankan stocks fell on Monday and the rupee hit a new life intraday low as investors fretted after the Tamil Tigers targeted oil facilities near the capital in a weekend air raid, traders said. The Colombo All Share index closed 0.47 percent weaker at 2,811.29 points. The market has retreated in recent weeks from an all-time closing high of 3,016.42 hit on Feb. 13. more..

Apr 30 (TS) As a boy, Thomas Weereratna would sit on the family porch in Sri Lanka and watch his elder sister leave for school while he stayed home in his mother's protective embrace. "I was upset because I couldn't attend school like other kids," Weereratna, now 37, recalls through a sign interpreter. "My mom was afraid I'd get hurt because I was deaf." more..

Apr 30 (TN) Avissawella High Court Monday allowed the bail application filed by Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, sacked minister of the UPFA government and instructed the Kaduwela Magistrate to release him on cash and surety bail. Mr.Nihal Silva, High Court Judge said in his order that no substantial evidence had been submitted to Kaduwela magistrate court under the Section 381 of Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to remand Mr.Sooriayarachchi, legal sources said. more..

Apr 30 (LNP) A veteran Indian analyst yesterday speculated that the LTTE may have launched Sunday air intrusion to avenge an SLAF attack on a gathering of LTTE personnel including leaders. B. Raman, a retired additional secretary, Cabinet Secretariat and a director at the Chennai-based Institute for Topical Studies said that it would appear that as the people in the LTTE-controlled areas, including many leaders of the LTTE, were watching the ICC World Cup Final between Australia and Sri Lanka, more..

Apr 30 (LNP) The main Opposition UNP, while vehemently condemning Saturday`s LTTE air attack on Colombo, said it would do its utmost to relieve the nation from the great dangers it was facing today from frequent air attacks. The party criticized Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa for not taking adequate steps to secure the Sri Lankan air space effectively. more..

Apr 30 (LNP) The most striking similarity between the Sri Lanka cricket team and the national military, as we have pointed out in these columns previously, is that they fare extremely well over a long period of time and then falter at a crucial hurdle due to lapses, which are easily avoidable. Mahela and the boys lost on Saturday, dashing the hopes of their fans. Not all the deities, whose blessings cricket lovers invoked here in the run up to the grand finale, could help them win. more..

Apr 30 (LNP) Ayio, Yahaluweni. Still a little bleary-eyed and tired today? Not too surprising is it? Well, what do you expect? Sitting up all hours, and while they did their best and the winds of destiny didn`t quite favour Mahela Jayawardene`s side this time, there is a next time. While maybe not for all those who played in this World Cup final in Barbados, but for some of them at least there will be a second chance. more..

Apr 30 (UNI) Close on the heels of recent recovery of a box containing five live cartridges used in ships, an empty rocket launcher was recovered by the officials off the Rameswdaram Coast near Antoniyar Koil on Monday. Police sources said the fisherman was working from the shore using a fishing rod following a 45-day ban on mechanised boat fishing when he netted the rocket launcher. more..

Apr 30 (AB) Emirates is expected to resume flights to Columbo today, following rebel attacks near Sri Lanka's capital 48 hours ago. The airline's flights were suspended shortly after Tiger rebel planes dropped four bombs on oil facilities close to the city. But spokeswoman Radhika Markan told Aviation Business that Emirates flights to Columbo should resume later today. more..

Apr 30 (SAMN) The country’s working class, which should traditionally stand united on May Day, is apparently divided over the celebration of International Labour Day that commemorates those who fought for labour rights in the past and which day is normally marked on May 1. Some of them have chosen to celebrate the day on April 30. The PA and the JVP who claim the lions’ share of the working class membership have decided to celebrate May Day today with Wesak Poya falling on May 1, more..

Apr 30 (SAMN) A search operation conducted by the CID last Monday on the residence of TNA Parliamentarian, Sri Kantha has sent shock waves among the Tamil MPs as the allegations were of a very serious nature, a TNA member said. The CID armed with a search warrant raided Sri Kantha’s Parliamentary Quarters for his alleged links with the LTTE. The CID had informed the residents that the police had reliable information to the effect that more..

Apr 30 (SAMN) The Philatelic Bureau of the Department of Posts will issue two new commemorative stamps to mark Sri Lanka’s entry to the World Cup finals. The first cancelation of the stamp will take place at the Postal Headquarters, D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo 10 today. The designing and production of the stamps were finalised within two days, a release said. more..

Apr 30 (SAMN) A method of field establishing paddy “Seedling Broadcasting or Parachute Method” was introduced by the Rice Research and Development Institute, Batalagoda is being popularised among the paddy growers of Ampara district. The officials headed by the OIC of the Seed Certification Service of Ampara M. I. Nazeer, the Department of Agriculture are behind this move and providing the guidelines and methods so as to encourage the farmers in this novel method of seedling. more..

Apr 30 (DN) The BOI approved 119 proposed projects with a total investment of Rs 209 billion last week by accelerating their process of granting BOI approvals for the proposed projects. Speaking on the occasion to hand over letters of BOI approval for these projects Minister of Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development Dr. Sarath Amunugama said that BOI now provides approval for proposed projects within a short period of time. more..

Apr 30 (DN) The Sri Lankan cricket team will arrive in the island on Thursday following their fruitful campaign in the ninth edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup tournament in the Caribbean. Mahela Jayawardena’s team which emerged runners-up in this tournament are expected to touch down at the Bandaranaike International Airport on flight EK 348 via Dubai at 9.15 a.m. more..

Apr 30 (DM) Eight civilians in Wellawatta were injured in the mayhem that broke out following the LTTE aerial attack early last morning. One of the injured persons, Tambaiah Aiyar Dharmapalan (50) of Fernando Rd, Wellawatta, explaining his harrowing experience to ‘Daily Mirror’ from his hospital bed at the Accident Ward of the Colombo South Hospital said, “I was watching the Cricket World Cup final when lights went off around 1.30 a.m. with the sound of an explosion. more..

Apr 30 (DM) Maithripala Sirisena, Minister of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services said due to its significant impact on human security and environmental protection, the safety of dams in Sri Lanka needed to be treated as an issue of urgent priority. Minister Sirisena said, that dams in the Sri Lanka are suffering from various structural deficiencies and shortcomings in operation and monitoring. more..

Apr 30 (Hindu) The Tamil Nadu Government will consult the Centre before deciding on initiating action against outfits and political leaders supporting the LTTE, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi informed the Assembly on Saturday. Expressing shock at the complicity of the LTTE in the abduction and killing of fishermen belonging to Kanyakumari district last month, he said the Government would take immediate steps to secure the release of 12 fishermen reportedly detained by Sea Tigers. more..

Apr 30 (HT) They are like David and Goliath. The Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) has a fair sized fleet of Kfir, MIG 27 and Y-8 bombers, MI-17 and MI-24 choppers, and AN-32 transport aircraft. In contrast, the LTTE's air arm, christened Tamileelam Air Force (TUF), is a puny, single digit fleet of propeller-driven and locally assembled Zlin Z-142s of Czech design. And yet, the fledgling Flying Tigers have been able to infiltrate hundreds of kilometres of government-held territory, more..

Apr 30 (AP) Government troops killed 11 Tamil Tiger rebels in two clashes in northern Sri Lanka, officials said Monday, a day after the Tigers bombed fuel facilities near the capital. Rebels fired on a navy ground patrol in the first incident, triggering a clash that killed five of the insurgents Sunday near a Hindu temple on Kayts Island, an officer at the defense ministry's media center said on condition of anonymity, citing policy. more..

Apr 30 (Reuters) Tamil Tigers warned on Monday their nascent air wing would launch more aerial attacks after a weekend raid on oil facilities near the capital, as the military claimed it killed 14 insurgents overnight. Royal Dutch Shell's local arm said it had temporarily closed its main storage facility 12 miles north of Colombo after Sunday's pre-dawn raid damaged its fire fighting system. But the British-Dutch oil major said its storage tanks were intact and that supplies had not been disrupted. more..

Apr 30 (AFP) Sri Lankan police stepped up security in the capital Monday as political parties prepared to stage May Day rallies a day ahead of the rest of the world, officials said. The May Day rallies were advanced to April 30 because the international labour day coincided with the most important Buddhist festival known as Wesak, celebrated on the fifth full moon of the year, a government official said. more..

Apr 30 (HT) Sri Lanka's ruling party, SLFP, is likely to propose that power be devolved to district councils rather than the provincial councils as is the case now, according to media reports. There is also an offer to replace the present executive presidency by an executive prime minister, responsible to parliament. The SLFP's proposal is expected to be announced on May Day, more..