Mar 26 (JP) Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia Maj. Gen. (ret) K. Janaka C. Perera will soon leave Indonesia after serving just 18 months here. "Ambassador Perera is leaving for Colombo some time next week (this week)," the Sri Lankan Embassy's counselor, A. Dharmakulasingham, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. Perera, a non-career diplomat, submitted his credentials to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Sept. 8, 2005. more..

Mar 26 (LT) Investigations on different aspects are being carried out on this morning’s terrorist attack on Katunayake Air Force Base. Attention has been drawn to find out whether there had been any conspiracy behind the attack. The non-functioning of Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) system since 12th March this year is a main concern. more..

Mar 26 (LT) The tiger terrorists using light air crafts obtained after the signing of the so-called ceasefire agreement by Ranil Wickremasinghe, Prime Minister of the then UNP government, to launch the attack on Katunayake Air force Base indicates the depth of the doom pseudo peace process has dragged Sri Lanka states a communiqué issued by the Political Bureau of the JVP. more..

Mar 26 (Reuters) A Tamil Tiger light aircraft bombed a Sri Lankan air force base next to Colombo's international airport early on Monday, killing three airmen and wounding 16 in the first such air strike by the rebel group. Here is a chronology of deadly attacks blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), fighting for a separate Tamil homeland since 1983: more..

Mar 26 (BBC) A Scottish businessman and charity worker has spoken of the moment the international airport in Sri Lanka came under attack from Tamil Tiger rebels. Neil Butler, from Glasgow, was in the airport lounge, north of the capital Colombo, when the attack was launched. He told BBC Scotland news website: "There was quite a loud explosion and a lot of machine gun fire ... there was a crowd of people running in a panic." more..

Mar 26 (Hindu) Amid the echoes of artillery and mortar shells and an unprecedented displacement of civilians, Sri Lanka Government has conceded that the number of refugees in the east crossed 1.3 lakh on Sunday. People from all parts of the east, especially from the remaining strongholds of the Tamil Tigers, are flocking to the town leaving behind every thing they possessed. more..

Mar 26 (LBO) Colombo stocks closed down in somewhat thin trading on Monday, dragged down by jitters over the pre-dawn Tamil rebel attack on the Katunayake air force base. The market initially nose-dived on opening, then recovered, but slumped again as trading continued. The All Share Price Index ended 37.89 points or 1.32 percent down at 2,824.85 while the Milanka was down 60.69 points or 1.54 percent to 3,874.27. more..

Mar 26 (Reuters) A newly unveiled Tamil Tiger "air force" of between two and five light planes is no match on paper for Sri Lanka's dozen fighter jets, but they pose a proven threat the military would be ill-advised to underestimate, experts say. The Tigers smuggled small, propeller-driven planes into the island in pieces aboard merchant ships they owned after a 2002 ceasefire and reassembled them, analysts said. more..

Mar 26 (DN) The Navy yesterday seized two boats ferrying medical supplies to wounded LTTEers in Pallemunai, Mannar and captured two Tigers in a clear indication that the outfit had suffered heavy casualties during the current humanitarian operations by the Forces in the Mannar sector. Meanwhile, troops continued with its humanitarian mission to liberate civilians held by the LTTE as human shields in uncleared areas. more..

Mar 26 (DN) The officials of the Colombo Municipal Council(CMC)will make a house-to-house visit under the guidance of the CMC Public Health Department from March 31 to gauge how observant the residents of the city has been to the messages and instructions issued by the Council in combating deadlier diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya. more..

Mar 26 (DM) COPE Chairman Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe yesterday ruled out the need to appoint a select committee to further investigate cases of corruption exposed in its report submitted to Parliament recently. Mr. Rajapakshe also scoffed at the decision taken at the party leaders’ meeting last week to consult the Attorney General (AG) regarding the appointment of such a Committee as demanded by the UNP and JVP. more..

Mar 26 (DM) Tamil language newspaper publishers who had earlier appealed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa regarding the problems they faced in publishing and distributing their newspapers, met the President at Temple Trees last Thursday. Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa was also present at the meeting initiated by the President through the Chairman of the newspaper society. more..

Mar 26 (Reuters) A Tamil Tiger light aircraft bombed a Sri Lankan air force base next to Colombo international airport before dawn on Monday, killing three airmen and wounding 16 in the first such air strike by the rebel group. The LTTE said more such attacks by its air wing would follow, threatening to deepen renewed conflict in the island state off the toe of India. more..

Mar 26 (IANS) India views with serious concern the air attack on Sri Lanka's only international airport by the Tamil Tigers, a giant leap for an insurgent group that has again proved its unlimited resilience even amid severe adversities. It is the first time a rebel outfit in the world has carried out an aerial attack without external support. more..

Mar 26 (AFP) The first ever air attack by Tamil Tiger rebels is a psychological setback to Sri Lanka's military but could cause an even bigger blow to the island's economy, analysts said Monday. In the daring strike, the LTTE used two light fixed-wing aircraft against the Katunayake airbase, the home of Sri Lanka's supersonic jet fleet -- and managed to get away without a scratch. more..

Mar 26 (AFP) Sri Lanka launched two investigations into security lapses that led to the first ever Tamil Tiger air raid against the island's main military base, where three airmen were killed and 16 wounded, officials said. The air force appointed a five-member team to probe lapses that led to the night attack against the highly-guarded Katunayake airbase where the military maintains its fleet of supersonic jet fighters. more..

Mar 26 (AP) Tamil rebels launched their first airstrike in the nearly quarter-decade conflict with Sri Lanka's government, using at least one small plane to bomb an air base outside the capital Monday and killing three airmen, officials said. Tamil Tiger rebels said the overnight raid, which also injured 16 personnel at the base about 20 miles northwest of Colombo, was aimed at halting what they called "indiscriminate" aerial bombing of Tamil areas and warned of more attacks. more..

Mar 26 (HT) The LTTE used a small fixed wing aircraft to bomb the Sri Lankan Air Force's main base in Katunayake, north of Colombo, on Monday. Group Captain Ajantha Silva told Hindustan Times over the phone that the aircraft had dropped two bombs on the airbase at 12.45 am killing three airmen and injuring 16 other servicemen. Four were in a critical condition. No aircraft on the ground was damaged, Silva claimed. more..

Mar 27 (LeN) The government charges that carelessness of the UNP and revealing information about MIG air craft by Sripahti and Mangala assisted the LTTE to launch this mornings attack on the Katunayake Air Force base. Addressing the media at the media centre for national security this evening minister of media Anura Priyadharshana Yapa and Minister Jeyeraj Fernandopulle made the above charges. more..

Mar 27 (LeN) It is being reported that there is a huge secret behind the sudden Migration of JVP internal leader K. Gunarathnam alias "Kumar Mahaththaya" and his family. It is being said that Kumar who played a massive role in decision and making of the JVP from behind the scene and had fled to Australia recently as the CID had launched investigations to arrest him on orders made by Ghotabhaya Rajapakse. more..

Mar 27 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has been dealt a further blow by the daring Tamil Tiger rebel air strike on the Katunayake air force base officials and market analysts said, though most are insisting that tourism, while down, is not out. "It’s been a good experience," Lee Carlton, a visitor from the UK told LBO at the airport just before leaving the county. more..

Mar 27 (LBO) Indian budget carrier Air India Express (AIE), which started operations to Sri Lanka Sunday, will continue its Colombo-Chennai run, and look to add frequencies from Delhi and Mumbai later this year, officials said. "Our morning flight arrived with a full load and left with a full load," Kishani Ganegoda, Director of Millenium Transport, a Hayleys group company that is the general sales agent to the airline told LBO. more..

Mar 27 (AT) Let’s have some perspective here. Dramatic and skillful as it is, the Air Tiger attack was successful in psychological and symbolic terms, not in material ones. They could not hit the vital assets of the Sri Lankan air force, nor, more importantly, could they manage a decapitation strike on our political or military command centers and leadership. more..

Mar 27 (GDI) The LTTE’s first ever air attack on the Katunayake Air Force base in the wee hours of this morning aiming at the MIG27 aircrafts became a utter failure due to the timely taken appropriate action of the Air Force, Government Cabinet Spokesman Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said. Minister added that in the past weeks, few highly responsible people were trying to reveal extremely classified information on MIG27 aircrafts by throwing false allegations against the Government and more..

Mar 27 (GDI) Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake handed over the first set of loan documents to journalists at the ‘Temple trees’ this morning. Nearly 75 media personnel received loans to by media equipment or motor bicycles at the ceremony which was attended by Minister of Minister of Mass Media and Information Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Minister of Mass Media Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, more..

Mar 27 (IPS) The unjustified four-month incarceration of female journalist Munusamy Parameshwari under anti-terrorist laws is being seen here as an example of the repressiveness that she was reporting on. Parameshwari, 23, was released last Wednesday, after the attorney general's department informed the country's Supreme Court that there was no evidence to press charges against her. more..

Mar 27 (IPS) The number of displaced persons within Sri Lanka is increasing, and the international community does not have access to that population, said the representative of the United Nations secretary general on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Walter Kälin. "There have been reports of internally displaced people in Sri Lanka being forced to return to their homes, although I cannot confirm these reports," more..

Mar 27 (AT) The news that two flights belonging to Tamileelam Air Force for the very first time flew into Colombo bombing and heavily damaging the Sinhala Air Force base and returned back to base has brought boundless joy and happiness to the Tamils living all over the world. In a statement P. Nedumaran,leader of the Tamilar Desiya Iyakkam of Tamil Nadu, pointed out that for the last five years, Liberation Tigers very strictly adhered to the Ceasefire Agreement. more..

Mar 27 (AT) A special Committee has been appointed to probe into the LTTE’s air raid on the Sri Lanka Air Force base in Katunayake yesterday early morning. Addressing the press briefing held at the Media Centre for National Security, Media Minister Anura Priyadarshan Yapa answering to the queries by journalists whether the SLAF air defence system was operational at the time and as to why the LTTE's light aircraft was not shot down, more..

Mar 26 (ISL) The first ever raid by the LTTE air force carried out on Katunayake military air base, 23 Km from Colombo in the early hours of Monday, 26 March 2007 was not unexpected. However, that does not minimise its importance. According to the Sri Lanka air force spokesman, a light aircraft made a sneak raid around 12.45 am and lobbed two 'explosives' on a hangar killing three airmen and injuring 15 others. more..

Mar 27 (ISL) The Tamil Eelam Air Force (TAF) of the LTTE, which has been in existence for at least nine years without the Sri Lankan intelligence having the least idea about its location and capability, went into action for the first time since its creation in the early morning of (12-45 AM) March 26,2007. It was a conventional air attack and not a suicide mission. more..

Mar 27 (Hindu) Tamil Tigers on Monday warned of "further air attacks in the near future," hours after they targeted the main base of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), 30 km from the capital and in the vicinity of the only international airport of the island nation. In a statement posted on the LTTE's web site, its military spokesperson categorised the operation as "not only pre-emptive but also to safeguard" people in Tamil Eelam from "indiscriminate bombing" by the SLAF. more..

Mar 27 (AT) The technology demonstrator, the LTTE prefers to term its aerial raid on Lankan air force facility adjoining Colombo's Bandaranaike air port, has prompted India to keep its air defence system in Tamil Nadu and adjoining states in a state of high alert. A considered view here is that LTTE air power display adds a new dimension to the ethnic 'war' in the island nation. more..

Mar 27 (TN) President held an emergency meeting of the country’s security leadership Monday as the government imposed a total blackout on the Liberation Tigers' bombing raid on Katunayake, the island’s main airbase in the early hours. Whilst the government says only two helicopter gunships were slightly damaged, airmen coming off duty told reporters in Colombo that several SLAF jet bombers were put out of action by fierce fires which broke out in the hangars struck by the LTTE aircraft. more..

Mar 27 (BBC) Whatever you may think of their goals and methods, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have always been innovative. It was they who refined the suicide bomber, and used them to devastating effect. And what other insurgent groups can boast a naval wing? The rebels have boats armed with guns, known as the Sea Tigers. Now they have confirmed what Sri Lanka's government had suspected for a long time - they have an air capability too. more..

Mar 27 (BB) Sri Lanka's government said a bombing raid by the LTTE on an air force base near Colombo is evidence the rebels have an air unit that poses a threat to the country and neighboring India. "The LTTE is the only terrorist group in the world to have air capability," Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, the minister for trade, commerce and highways, said at a news conference yesterday in Colombo, more..

Mar 27 (CI) Sri Lanka A took a firm grip on the match by reducing Bangladesh A to 201 for 7 on the second day at the Colombo Cricket Club ground. Sri Lanka A were dismissed for 396 earlier in the day and were poised to gain a significant first-innings lead. Resuming on 296 for 5 on the second day, Kaushal Silva and Upul Chandana extended their overnight partnership to 103. more..

Mar 27 (SLE) The LTTE, also known as Tamil Tigers, launched an aerial attack on the Air Force base in Katunayake, in the early hours of March 26, 2007. This attack came in the aftermath of major defeats suffered by Tamil Tigers in the east at the hands of the security forces and devastating losses within three weeks, of three ships that were sunk by the Sri Lanka Navy along with arms and ammunition and other military hardware they were carrying for the Tamil Tigers. more..

Mar 27 (wsws) Three Sri Lankan airforce personnel were killed and 16 wounded in an attack by the LTTE in the early hours of Monday morning on the main airforce base at Katunayake, north of Colombo. The LTTE used light aircraft for the first time in more than two decades of civil war to drop several bombs on the base, which is adjacent to the country’s only international airport. more..

Mar 27 (LBO) Sri Lanka needs more monetary tightening and a smaller budget deficit to improve its economic fundamentals and bring inflation down, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday. “We do think monetary policy would have to be tightened further,” ADB Country Economist Johanna Boestel said. more..

Mar 27 (LBO) Sri Lanka's state investment promotion body which runs industrial parks said they were not affected by a Tamil Tiger air raid, including one near the targeted air base. The Board of Investment (BOI) runs two large industrial parks in Katunayake near the airport and in Biyagama as well as a number of smaller parks scattered around the country. more..

Mar 27 (GDI) The President Mahinda Rajapaksa called for an emergency meeting with the leaders of political parties represented in Parliament in the aftermath of the aerial attack on the Air Force Base at Katunayake by the LTTE terrorists to discuss the issues related to the incident and follow up action. more..

Mar 27 (GDI) Number of civilians injured due to the LTTE suicide attempt at Chenkaladi, Batticaloa increases to eighteen, Media Centre for National security informs. The number of civilians came in for medical treatment to the hospital has been on the increase and the reports indicate that the current figure is eighteen. more..

Mar 27 (CI) Having enjoyed their lone World Cup triumph on the subcontinent, Sri Lanka have frequently flattered to deceive away from it, but there's a growing feeling that they might be the team to upset Australia's applecart on this occasion. Having thrashed India to get into the Super Eights undefeated, the first real test of their Cup-winning mettle comes against South Africa on Wednesday, and Mahela Jayawardene is convinced that the team's ruthless streak will stand them in good stead against a side ranked No.1 in the world. more..

Mar 27 (CI) South Africa and Sri Lanka will be entering new territory when they meet in the Super Eights at the Guyana National Stadium on Wednesday. The match is the first of any consequence to be played at the ground, which is outside the capital Georgetown, where workers are still battling to get everything ready. Rain prevented both teams from practising on Monday and the pitch remained under cover. more..

Mar 27 (ANN) This time round, LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran has pulled a different rabbit out of his camouflaged hat. Two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam aircraft flew over the Katunayake Airbase yesterday (Mar 26) morning and dropped improvised explosive devices, which evoked one’s memories of the crude bombs that the Sri Lanka Air Force used to drop on LTTE targets in days of yore. Three airmen died and sixteen more sustained injuries in the blast. more..

Mar 27 (LT) No official statements have been issued by any member of international community condemning the air attack carried out by tiger terrorists on the SLAF base at Katunayake. Tiger terrorists dropped two bombs from light air crafts on a hangar of the SLAF base in the early hours on Monday killing three airmen and injuring 17. more..

Mar 27 (ISL) The United Kingdom based Tamil Democratic Congress has appealed to the Sri Lankan government and the international community to redouble their efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sri Lanka. The appeal stated: The LTTE’s air raid on the Colombo airport is aimed to set emotions run high in Colombo to find a military solution to the conflict. more..

Mar 27 (LNP) Although low flying LTTE aircraft which carried out yesterday`s attack on Katunayake SLAF base escaped detection by radar, they failed to hit the intended targets, the Israeli built Kfirs and the recently acquired Ukrainian MIG 27s due to the SLAF being on a heightened state of alert following unconfirmed reports of sightings of unidentified aircraft about a hour before the attack. more..

Mar 27 (LNP) The LTTE yesterday claimed that `Colonel` Shankar alias Vythialingam Sornalingam, an ex-aeronautical engineer with Air Canada with an engineering degree in aeronautics from Hindustan Engineering College in Tamil Nadu formed the Air Tigers. Liberation Tigers credit the formation of the Tiger air-wing (Vaanpuligal) to Colonel Shankar alias Vythialingam Sornalingam, an old boy of Hartley College, Point Pedro. more..