Nov 3 (AFP) The elusive leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels paid his respects to his slain deputy and five others who died in a government air raid, as security was stepped up across the island. Velupillai Prabhakaran honoured S.P. Thamilselvan, head of the LTTE political wing, at an undisclosed location inside rebel-held territory, a rebel spokesman said. "Our national leader paid his respects to Mr. Thamilselvan, and he will be making a statement very soon on this incident," more..

Nov 4 (LBO) The Sri Lankan government has begun encouraging plastic waste recycling in an effort to prevent the material piling up along the road side and causing environmental pollution. The authorities are keen to spread the message that there's money in collecting and recycling waste. Already several businessmen have started recycling plants and the government wants to improve the collection system. more..

Nov 4 (LG) There is consensus in the published reports on the death of S. P. Thamilchelvam, chief of the LTTE ‘Political Wing’, on the following facts relating to its circumstances. On Friday, 2 November 2007, shortly after 6.00 a.m., Kfir and Mig fighter jets of the Sri Lanka Air Force bombed a target in a forested locality at Thiruvai aru, a few miles to the south of the township of Kilinochchi, identified on the basis of intelligence information, as an LTTE centre of activity. more..

Nov 4 (Reuters) Britain should look at trying ex-Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebel Karuna Amman, detained on immigration charges, for war crimes, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday. The former eastern LTTE commander is accused by rights experts of child soldier recruitment, extortion and torture both before and after he split from the mainstream rebels in 2004. Britain's Home Office said late on Friday Karuna was detained after a joint operation between the police and immigration authorities, giving no further details. more..

Nov 4 (FI) Last month saw the golden jubilee of a shameful event in the political annals of this Country. October 3rd 1957 was the day on which the United National Party organized a protest march to Kandy from Colombo under the leadership of Junius Richard Jayewardena. JR’s Kandy march as it was known played a very negative role in souring ethnic relations in the Island. more..

Nov 4 (FI) The Ceylon Workers Congress which held its party convention in Chilaw on Sunday October 28th has passed a resolution urging that a scheme on the lines of the “Hong Kong” model be set up for the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. In adopting the resolution the CWC noted that a special administrative region like that of Hong Kong coming within the People’s Republic of China was an admirable solution that has led to two systems in one nation and more..

Nov 4 (TC) LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakharan has bestowed military honours to some of his cadres who were involved in the attack on the Saliyapura Air Force Base. Apparently four different types of awards were distributed at a ceremony held in an undisclosed location of the Wanni on Thursday November 1st. According to LTTE websites the four categories were -Thamizheezha Ma’ramaa’ni Viruthu (The Bachelor of Valour Award of Tamil Eelam) for individual performance in warfare. more..

Nov 4 (TC) The mood amidst cadres and supporters of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Tigers was on the ascendant after the successful attack on the Anuradhapura air base. Thursday November 1st saw a special ceremony being held in the Wanni where tiger supremo Velupillai Prabakharan awarded four different types of military honours for those involved in various aspects of “Operation Ellalan”. But this euphoria of victory over the Air force at Saliyapura was short lived. more..

Nov 4 (AT) The permanent grin on the face of the Tiger propaganda chief and LTTE boss V. Prabhakaran’s second-in-command has been wiped off. The voice of the man who served as his master’s voice since the death of the late LTTE political commissar, Anton Balasingham, has been silenced. The man who was ‘the smiley face’ of the Tamil Tigers is dead, killed in a Sri Lanka Air Force attack on a top secret breakfast meeting deep in Tigerland in Sri Lanka’s northern province. more..

Nov 4 (LeN) The SLMM has issued a statement on the killing of S.P. Thamilchelvan expressing its concern. The same SLMM was silent when the LTTE attacked Anuradhapura airbase. Following is the SLMM statement over the killing of S.P. Thamilchelvan: Regarding the death of Mr. S.P. Tamilselvan, leader of the LTTE Political Wing The extensive military operations in the Northern region of Sri Lanka, conducted by both parties to the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of 2002, comprising land, sea and air forces have over the recent weeks reached unprecedented proportions. more..

Nov 4 (LR) Thamil Chelvam happened to be a unique character in LTTE. He started his youth as a barber and later joined the LTTE terrorist organization and actively involved in attacks against Sri Lankan forces. After he got partially disabled in an attack against SL army, he involved more and more in political activities, but he never hands off from LTTE military mechanism. He managed to win the heart of Piribaharan and climb up to the second rank within LTTE. more..

Nov 4 (AP) Sri Lankan air force jets bombed and destroyed an armory of Tamil Tiger rebels in the north on Saturday, the military said as the rebels mourn a top leader who was killed in a similar air raid a day before. Tamil Tiger rebels have declared four days of mourning over the death of S.P. Thamilselvan, who was killed when the air force bombed a rebel communications center Friday morning. more..

Nov 4 (Gulf) The aerial attack that killed the Tamil Tiger's main interlocutor S. P Thamilchelvam, ten days after the separatists blitzed a government air force base in central Anuradhapura, may have set off celebrations in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. But Thamilchelvam was always an easy target. Although few are allowed into Sri Lanka's de facto state, and fewer still get to enter their headquarters in Killinochchi, the command and control centre of the dreaded Tamil Tigers, or meet the man dubbed "the smiling assassin", his whereabouts were no secret. more..

Nov 4 (LT) Tiger terrorism could be defeated and the government should have confidence in the strength of the Army, Air Force and Navy to go forward emphasizes the JVP. At a media briefing held in Colombo today Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, Information Secretary of the JVP, said the government should refrain from bringing in devolution proposals to give the opportunity for the Security Forces to go forward without giving any respite to tiger terrorism. more..

Nov 4 (AT) Septuagenarian V. Anandasangaree has opposed renaming of the Navatkuli National Housing as “Mahindapuram.” He said, “I reject the proposal as counter productive and call for entirely a new Scheme if considered urgent.” Anandasangaree, President of the TULF, in a press release pointed out, “I am very much surprised at the Cabinet decision to rename the presently abandoned National Housing Scheme at Navatkuli in Jaffna as “Mahindapuram”. more..

Nov 4 (AT) Tamil Tigers in London have initiated moves to file a writ in the High Court of London seeking injunction against the deportation of Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, alias Colonel Karuna to Sri Lanka. He was arrested on November 02 2007, and detained after a joint operation conducted by the Police and the Immigration authorities in UK. He was to be deported back to Sri Lanka, according to sources in UK. more..

Nov 4 (AT) Erik Solheim, the Norwegian facilitator who was behind the drafting and the signing of the failed Ceasefire Agreement, has expressed his sympathies “to the very many left behind” by the death of Tamilselvam. He was killed in an air strike outside Killinochchi. The Ceasefire Agreement failed primarily due to the violations of the terms and conditions by the Tamil Tigers. more..

Nov 4 (NIP) In a message of hope for the anxious families of missing fishermen in the tsunami-hit Akkaraipettai, District Collector Tenkasi S Jawahar has stated that the 95 fishermen, who ventured into the sea on October 31, are safe in the custody of Lankan officials at Kangesanthurai. Speaking to this website's newspaper, he said that on the day of the incident, the fishermen had ventured into the sea in 17 boats. They should have returned early on Saturday, however they were not back as per the schedule. more..

Nov 4 (TP) The Sri Lankan government is planning to open a liaison office in Doha to step up efforts to bring more Sri Lankan construction companies to Qatar. A 30-member Sri Lankan delegation representing the construction industry in the country is currently visiting Qatar. The team is led by the Minister of Export Development and International Trade Professor Gamini Lakshman Peiris and the Minister of Construction and Engineering Services Dr Senaratne Nambukara H Rajitha. more..

Nov 4 (GDN) A MOTHER and daughter are trapped in Bahrain three years after the girl's father was deported because the child was born out of wedlock. Nagarani Chelliah, from Sri Lanka and her three-year-old daughter Reni cannot leave the country because they do not have the official documents they need. Ms Chelliah is also unable to get vital vaccinations for her daughter in Bahrain because of her legal status. more..

Nov 4 (PTI) Condemning Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for "eulogising" LTTE political wing secretary Thamilselvan, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa on Saturday night demanded the dismissal of his government for violating the Constitution by supporting the banned Sri Lankan outfit. In a statement here, she said Karunanidhi's "action of praising Thamilselvan", was unconstitutional as the LTTE was banned in India and its leader V Prabhakaran was a proclaimed offender in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. more..

Nov 4 (AT) Severely castigating the incumbent administration of this South Asian nation led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose administration is facing a severe armed terrorist threat from the Tamil Tigers to rupture the country’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and the democratic system while making a balancing act to safeguard the civil liberties, the Senator, while making the ‘state player’ responsible for human rights violations, gives more..

Nov 4 (Hindu) The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), mandated under the 2002 Norwegian-brokered Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) to watch the ground situation, has said that the death of the LTTE’s political wing chief, S.P. Thamilchelvan, in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombing could only further escalate the conflict even as the Mahinda Rajapaksa government justified the killing. more..

Nov 4 (ISL) LTTE Leader Veupillai Pripaharan has released a statement to the media lamenting the loss of Suppayya Paramu Thamilchelvan (43) killed in an Aerial Attack by SLAF Ground Attack crafts from Number 10 and Number 05 Fighter Squadrons, ironically the same squadron the Tigers attempted to destroy at Katunayake on 24th July 2001 and again on 26th March 2007. Both attacks were planned by Velupillai along with Pottu Amman and Balraj. more..

Nov 4 (LG) "Many governments in the past have lived with an illusion like a current government in Sri Lanka; General Ashok Kumar Mehta spoke his mind clearly on Sri Lanka’s crisis nightmare in an exclusive interview with Sri Lanka Guardian. We spoke to Gen. Mehta and he freely shared his view with us. Q. What do you think of the new political and military developments in Sri Lanka between Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE? more..

Nov 4 (NN) Sri Lanka clinched the title of Surya Nepal 9th SAARC Golf tournament leapfrogging Nepal in the match play format. Sri Lanka won two matches today and halved one to cumulate 5 points against Nepal's 1. The winning match was awarded two points and one point each for a halved march. Nepali Rupak Acharya and Sri Lankan K Pravakaran played a stalemate in the 18th hole game but Sri Lankan Mithun Parera leapfrogged Nepalese Ravi Khadka in 17th hole. more..

Nov 4 (AT) Velupillai Prabhkaran, Leader of the Tamil Tigers was highly critical for the failure of the Sri Lanka Government to find a peaceful resolution to Tamil national question, despite the repeated and continuous calls from the international community. In his condolence message for the death of his “peace dove…, with a beautiful smile, he alleged so far no goodwill has been seen forthcoming from the Sinhala nation. more..

Nov 4 (AFP) The killing of a top Tamil Tiger rebel in a Sri Lankan government air raid is likely to strengthen hawks on both sides of the bitter ethnic divide and herald more violence on the troubled island, analysts say. The already dim hopes of salvaging a moribund peace process took another blow with Friday's slaying of chief rebel negotiator S. P. Thamilselvan, said Sunanda Deshapriya, director at the Centre for Police Alternatives think-tank. more..

Nov 4 (ISL) The recent LTTE attack in Anuradhapura is an example of Force Multiplication in 4th Generation War. The 21 Black Tigers acted as a Force Multiplier for the Tigers, shifting the Center of Gravity of the War. If the Sri Lanka Government is to overcome this threat, it must identify and use its Force Multipliers to good effect. They must also transform themselves from waging a 3rd Generation War (3GW) to a 4th Generation War (4GW or Counter-Insurgency). more..

Nov 4 (ISL) The Akhila Ilankai Tamil United Front (AITUF) is concerned that confusion has been created in the minds of Tamils in Sri Lanka and abroad as a result of statements issued by certain ill-informed Tamil politicians regarding the United National Party’s stance on the resolution of Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem. Certain sections of the media too have contributed to that confusion. more..

Nov 4 (CI) Performances in tour games should not be used to dismiss a team's Test chances, but the batting displays from the Sri Lankans against Queensland have provided plenty of concern. The top and middle orders struggled in both innings before help came from lower down, and it was the bowlers who frightened the hosts again as they sneaked home by four wickets. With Queensland needing 142 for victory, Farveez Maharoof surged through the first three batsmen and more..

Nov 4 (CI) Sri Lanka's batsmen stuttered during the four-wicket loss to Queensland in their final warm-up before the first Test on Thursday and Mahela Jayawardene, the captain, was limping with a sore heel. While Jayawardene insists the lingering injury will not be a problem at the Gabba, the troubles of the run-makers might not be as easy to fix. The Sri Lankans' top order failed in both innings - the wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene and the No. 9 Chaminda Vaas saved any major embarrassment with half-centuries more..

Nov 4 (SAMN) At least 675 schools around the country have already been closed and another 1500 schools are facing closure, a survey conducted by the lawyers for Human Rights and Development disclosed. The highest number of affected schools was noted in more developed, densely populated and urbanised Western Province, which amounted to 145. Also, 130 schools were closed in the Southern Province, 102 in the North-Western Province, and Kurunegala District has seen the close down of 87 schools. more..

Nov 4 (SAMN) The already simmering cost of living is slated to boil over with the government imposing a sewerage tax, compelling the public the pay every time they flush the toilet. The sewerage service charge on toilets, currently imposed on a few areas has now been extended to cover residences, government institutions and private buildings including charitable organisations and religious places in all areas where the sewerage systems are maintained by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board. more..

Nov 4 (SAMN) Security in the City of Colombo was tightened following the shooting of OIC Crimes Harbour police, Inspector Pathirathna (36) who succumbed to his injures Saturday morning at the Colombo National hospital. SSP Colombo North, Jayantha Kulatilleka has deployed a special team to apprehend the killer on the instructions of IGP Victor Perera. Inspector Pathiratne was shot by an unidentified assailant wearing a helmet around 9.45 p.m. on Friday near a supermarket at George R. de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 13. more..

Nov 4 (SAMN) A small village community in Matale produces tea packs made out of reed under a regular Rs 2 million monthly contract -- in a-too-good-to-be-true story -- thanks to the efforts of Bio Foods (Pvt) Ltd. The Kandy-based company founded by former Tea Research Institute (TRI) Scientist Dr Sarath Ranaweera is Sri Lanka’s biggest organic food producer and amongst the best in the world with turnover this year likely to reach 5 million Euros (Rs 800 million). more..

Nov 4 (LNP) Director General, Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalle said that the successful air strike on Friday, targeting six LTTE terrorists including Tamilselvan, proves that the only aim of the Air Force is to `end the war` and not to launch attacks on the Tamils. The Air Force directs air strikes at LTTE training camps, weapons dumps, Black Tiger Camps, Sea Tiger bases and in support of ground troops. more..

Nov 4 (LNP) JVP heavyweight Wimal Weerawansa, MP, yesterday warned the Rajapaksa`s government of a fresh attempt by the so-called international community to provide what he called "a lifeline to the LTTE." He asserted that the international community had shamelessly come to the LTTE`s rescue at critical stages when it faced irreversible defeats. Paying a glowing tribute to the SLAF for delivering a knock-out blow to the enemy in the immediate aftermath of the Anuradhapura debacle, he urged the government to step-up the offensive. more..

Nov 4 (LNP) The Global Competitiveness Report has ranked Sri Lanka at number 70 out of 131 countries. Last year Sri Lanka was ranked 81 out of 122 countries. This is a good indication that Sri Lanka is becoming competitive globally, said the Chief Economist at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Gayathri Gunaruwan at a seminar organised by the CCC on the topic `How Competitive is Sri Lanka for Business`. more..

Nov 4 (LNP) It would be as foolish to think that the war is won on the basis of Friday`s elimination of S.P. Tamilselvan, the public face of the LTTE, by a Sri Lanka Air Force bomb as to have believed that all was lost two Mondays ago when the Tigers carried out a devastating attack on the Anuradhapura airbase. These are the ups and downs of war and must be treated as such. Tamilselvan will be replaced and the LTTE will have somebody else functioning as head of its political wing and chief negotiator if and when peace talks resume. more..

Nov 4 (LB) Police was tipped off of the presence of the Black Tigers hours before the pre dawn attack on the Anuradhapura Air Force Base, but failed to track down the attackers, LAKBIMAnEWS learnt. Deputy Inspector General of Police, North Central, Jayantha Jayasinghe had received a telephone call at 8 pm on Sunday night (21) from an alert villager who alerted him of the presence of an unidentified group in the vicinity of Nuwara Wewa. more..

Nov 4 (LB) A question mark hangs over the President’s decision to retain Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Brussels, K J Weerasinghe, after Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama raised the issue again at last week’s Cabinet briefing. “We are not sure what’s happening,” a Foreign Ministry source said on condition of anonymity. “We know the President instructed that K J Weerasinghe be retained in Brussels but it’s not in the Cabinet minutes. So, we don’t know if Weerasinghe is staying on or coming back.” more..

Nov 4 (LB) Cabinet last week discussed the withdrawal of ABC Networks’ media licence. President Mahinda Rajapaksa explained to his Ministers that he had been planning to introduce censorship on reporting of military operations and weapons procurement. “It’s obvious that they are conspiring to rouse the public,” the President said. “A gazette has been issued to introduce censorship but other media institutions have performed their duty well. So I decided to withdraw the censorship.” more..

Nov 4 (LB) The demise of the smiling assassin, the man with a Cheshire aircat grin that’s perpetually emblazoned across his face, is a subject we tackle elsewhere in these pages. (Pl see page 8) But what is the political fallout - if any — of the death of SP Thamilchelvan the so-called political wing leader of the Tamil Liberation Tigers? Militarily, Thamilchelvan’s death is considered a valuable coup no doubt. The MOD lost no time in confirming his death in an Air Force blast, Friday. more..

Nov 4 (SO) All fertile lands, which are not being used by its owners due to various reasons will be converted into profit making agricultural lands under a program to be initiated by the Agricultural Ministry. The program will run parallel with the recently launched Government's `Waga Sangramaya,' in collaboration with Divisional Secretariats islandwide. "Under this program, officials will ask the owners of such lands whether they are prepared to utilise them for agricultural purposes or wish to hand them over to these interested to cultivate essential agricultural items on a temporary basis," more..

Nov 4 (SO) The National Development Trust Fund (NDTF) under the ministry of Finance will extend its poverty alleviation projects Islandwide. A program is being implemented to assist resettlers in the eastern province to commence economic activities which will improve their livelihoods. The NDTF provides micro loans through Partner Organisations (PO) to the poorest segment of the society without collateral for self-employment projects. more..

Nov 4 (SO) This is the most heinous crime committed in the country for the first time by three deaf and dumb young persons because of their passion for motor racing. Piyal Fernando (42) was a persevering and a hard working man who was employed in an office of a garment factory situated in Kelaniya. He was devoted to his job and through hard work rose to the position of a stores Manager. Fernando had little time to relax after work. He was a married man. more..

Nov 4 (NS) Labelling the traditional Budget debate a ‘futile effort,’ Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Wijedasa Rajapakse has classified Parliament as a ‘cistern,’ instead of it being the fountain of law in Sri Lanka. Rajapakse, addressing a gathering of the Sri Lanka-America Society, also went on to note that the Budget debate was a complete waste of time for Parliamentarians, media and the public, because the final outcome is predetermined by those who draft the Budget. more..

Nov 4 (NS) The UNP yesterday said that they handed over a letter to the Speaker, W.J.M. Lokubandara, against a decision to appoint ministers as chairmen to handle the parliament select committees, which will probe the controversial MiG deal and the alleged financial transaction with the LTTE in 2005. Chief opposition whip Joseph Michael Perera yesterday told The Nation that he had handed a letter to the speaker and informed him personally of their disapproval against these appointments. more..

Nov 4 (Sify) The recent strike by the Sri Lankan Air Force that has led to the killing of SP Thamilchelvan, the head of the Political Wing of the LTTE along with five other LTTE cadres, does not augur well for the island nation. Thamilchelvan, widely believed to have been Prabhakaran’s deputy, was the visible face of the LTTE ever since the death of its ideologue Anton Balasingham and had been interacting with foreign interlocutors and journalists. more..