Dec 1 (AP) Sri Lankan soldiers have recaptured a key northern town near the headquarters of Tamil Tiger rebels 18 years after the area was seized by the insurgents, the military said Monday. Troops seized Kokavil town, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the insurgents' de facto capital of Kilinochchi, on Sunday, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. He did not give casualty details. more..

Dec 2 (IRIN) "She had a nice name, but she was not so nice to us," said S. Subraj, 30, from the Jaffna Peninsula, describing Typhoon Nisha, which affected more than 360,000 people in nine districts in northern Sri Lanka last week, according to UN and government figures. Subraj, who lives in the city of Jaffna, 400km north of Colombo, said he had never seen floods as powerful as those created by Nisha. more..

Dec 2 (BBC) UNP says the government will be forced to call a snap election The main opposition in Sri Lanka says it has decided to bring in no confidence motion against the cabinet of ministers over controversial hedging deals signed to control fuel prices. Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe told journalists in Colombo that the government has planned the controversial deals in 2005, long before the fuel prices increased. more..

Dec 2 (LD) The UNP will move a no-confidence motion against the entire government over the hedging agreement signed between Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and private foreign banks, said opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. He told the media that the cabinet-approved pact results in each Sri Lankan citizen getting into a Rs. 10,000 debt. According to him, the CPC, already Rs. 200,000 million in debt, will have to be either sold or closed down, after the hedging agreement. more..

Dec 2 (BBC) Sri Lanka's military says it has recaptured a key northern town near the Tamil Tigers' Kilinochchi stronghold. They say that troops took Kokavil, 20km (12 miles) south of Kilinochchi, on Sunday, 18 years after it was seized by the insurgents. The army said its fall meant the rebels had lost "another bastion". The pro-rebel TamilNet website has accused the air force of dropping cluster bombs at a camp for internally displaced people. more..

Dec 2 (ITN) The President will be visiting Turkey at the invitation of his counterpart Abdullah Ghul. He will hold talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several high level representatives. The talks will focus on soliciting technical and financial support to solve Sri Lanka’s housing problem. Discussions will also centre on promoting trade and industrial and cultural ties as well as tourism. more..

Dec 2 (AT) Parliamentarians from various political parties are seriously considering to present a resolution in the parliament to remove the Head of the Supreme Court /judges who have since of late delivered sentences which do not fit within the four corners of the law of the land. Regarding this move, a couple of parliamentarians spelled out to Asian Tribune that since of late, supreme court has exerted its position beyond the realm of law to send in more..

Dec 2 (BBC) Nearly 300 prisoners in Sri Lanka have marked world AIDS day by holding a procession in the capital, Colombo. The prisoners danced, sang poems and held placards aimed at raising awareness about HIV and AIDS. The march from Welikada prison to Borella junction and return to the prison was organised by the health ministry and the prison authorities. Prisoners were free to march without handcuffs and the jail guards were unarmed. more..

Dec 2 (TC) The LTTE chief Prabhakaran's usually much hyped Great Hero's Day 2008 speech on November 27 became a casualty of the daring terror strike on the same day in Mumbai. Holding the city to ransom for three days the terror story hogged headlines and only few of the Indian print media carried Prabhakaran's speech on the sidelines, while the visual media ignored it. more..

Dec 2 (TN) “Three bombs exploded first time. Second time, when the bomber returned after 5 minutes from the opposite direction, there were 3 more blasts. But, the third time, bombs exploded with a parachute effect, like an auto explosion,” said the head of the camp of the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) that came under indiscriminate attack by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) in the early hours of Saturday. more..

Dec 2 (DW) Some of you have asked us to write about the demise of the late Major Lalith Jayasinghe after a particular newspaper broke the news of his untimely death over the weekend. Here are the details of the demise of this brave warrior. Major Jayasinghe was attached to 3 Special Forces. An experienced veteran, Jayasinghe and another 7 members of the 3SF LRRP team infiltrated an area 30km north of Oddusudan on the 14th of November. more..

Dec 2 (BBC) Tens of thousands of people in flooded areas of northern Sri Lanka are without adequate shelter and need help now, the Human Rights Watch campaign group says. It has called on the government to immediately lift a ban imposed in September which stops humanitarian agencies from going to conflict areas. But the authorities say that flood waters are now starting to recede. The north of Sri Lanka is currently the scene of heavy fighting between the army and Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

Dec 2 (TC) Though there was much tut-tutting by the so-called peace lobby in Colombo, President Chandrika Kumaratunga never spoke a truer word than when she described Velupillai Prabhakaran as a megalomaniac. The man is quite plainly mad, as evidenced by this claim early on in his Mahaveera speech this year: “…the sacrifices they made have no parallel in the history of the world. No country but ours had at any time encountered such wonderful dedication as expressed in the actions of our valiant heroes.” more..

Dec 2 (TC) Many in the country draw an analogy of the LTTE and the blast in Mumbai last week. The general perception here is the Indian government is fully supportive of the Tamils plight – and, therefore, asserted support to the LTTE. The argument is the LTTE are “terrorists” whom the government is fighting and, therefore, public opinion demands the Indian government should be with GoSL and against the LTTE (by extension the Tamils) more..

Dec 2 (Hindu) To Chandra Schafter — who has selected Sri Lankan cricket squads, taken teams from the island to India and England as manager, and been involved in the administration, particularly with the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club in Colombo — the mix of sport and violence is all too familiar. “Sport, as it is now, is so important that if you want to create chaos it’s ideal,” he told The Hindu when he was in the city recently. more..

Dec 2 (LG) LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, his supporters and sympathisers could not have asked for worse. The 'Mumbai Mayhem' crowded out Prabhakaran's annual "Heroes Day" speech as nothing had done in the past. The television imagery of the worst ever case of recorded urban guerrilla warfare, as different from serial blasts and suicide-bombings, will remain etched in every mind for a long time. more..

Dec 2 (AT) It was during a school holiday weekend in the year 1957 that marhoom Al-Haj Dr. A.M.A.Azeez travelled to Badulla to visit his lifelong intellectual friend and a great poet, the late Abdul Cader Lebbe, who was, at that time, the Head master of the then Government Muslim Mixed School in that town. That school has now been renamed as al-Adhan Muslim Maha Vidyalaya. The name Adhan was the nom de plume of that great poet during his early days. more..

Dec 2 (AT) President Mahinda Rajapaksa who arrived in Rome on Sunday, visited the Vatican City yesterday and had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. At the private audience held at the Holy Father’s Library in Vatican, Sri Lankan President apprised the Pope about current situation in the country, especially the government’s efforts in relieving Tamil peoples in the north from the iron clutches of the separatists terrorists and more..

Dec 2 (SFG) ravelers in and out of this northern battle-scarred peninsula must endure a gauntlet of military checkpoints, where they are questioned, frisked, ordered to present travel permits and sometimes turned back. Most of these travelers are Tamils, a minority ethnic group on this tear-shaped island, although they are the overwhelming majority in Jaffna, the capital of Sri Lanka's Northern Province. more..

Dec 2 (MG) The University medical students who were transferred from the Eastern University of Sri Lanka to various other universities outside the north and the east in August 2008 are now in a quandary after the Deans of Sri Jayawardenpura, Kelaniya, Peradeniya and Colombo universities asked them to get back to the Eastern University to continue their studies. Following the shooting down of a final year Management student by unidentified gunmen on 21st August, more..

Dec 2 (MG) Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister and All Ceylon Muslim Congress (ACMC) Leader Risath Bathiyutheen said the party is prepared to contest all elections including Local Government elections in the future. He said the final decision whether to contest alone or with the Government will be decided by the Party's Supreme Council. He said the Supreme Council has unanimously decided to support the Government at the Provincial Council Elections. more..

Dec 2 (GDI) The coconut industry has provided nearly 700,000 job opportunities and brings nearly US$ 20 billion to the country annually through exports, the Minister of Plantation Industries D. M. Jayaratne said at the inauguration of the 45th APCC (Asia and Pacific Coconut Community). He pointed out that 75% of the coconuts annually produced is utilized for domestic consumption while the balance 25% is made available for kernel based industries. more..

Dec 2 (GDI) Fourteen Tamil civilians, who had been able to escape the LTTE's iron grip, have arrived to the Omanthai entry/exit point seeking the protection of security forces last morning (01). According to sources in Vavuniya, 9 males and 5 females were among the escapees. The civilians who escaped the clutches of the LTTE are residents of Vishwamadu, Pudukudiirippu and Kilinochchi, sources added. more..

Dec 2 (GDI) The Ministry of Education recruited 100 teachers to the Sri Lanka Teacher Educators Service (SLTES) recently, sixty six teachers from the Sinhala Medium and 34 teachers from the Tamil Medium. The names of 100 teachers have been released on the official website of the Ministry. The breakdowns of teachers selected are as follows: Professional subject - 20,First Language -31, Second language - 2, Art – 2, Agriculture -08, more..

Dec 2 (ITF) Many descriptions of Sri Lanka today are of the “paradise lost” variety: What was once a stunningly beautiful island with sparkling beaches and lush jungle is now a war torn country mired in a protracted ethnic conflict. The 25-year war between the government of Sri Lanka and the rebel group LTTE, which has killed 80,000 people by some estimates and displaced hundreds of thousands, continues to grind on and hinders the tropical island from ever reaching its potential splendor. more..

Dec 2 (CI) Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, has denied that overconfidence of playing against weak opponents resulted in his disappointing form during the one-day series against Zimbabwe. Though Sri Lanka swept the series 5-0, Jayawardene scored just 19 runs in four innings at 4.75, with a highest of 15 in the first ODI in Harare, and ducks in the last two games. more..

Dec 2 (LeN) The runners of the defense website should know that I am neither part of LTTE nor the government but part of the democratic opposition of Sri Lankan parliament. The tantrums of the Defense web runners are obvious. I am portrayed as a separatist. This web is there to discredit all those parties who are not part of the government. It sheds mud on all those in the spheres of politics, media and civil society who do not follow the government agenda blindly. more..

Dec 2 (PISL) The Chief Minister of the Eastern Province has approved plans for an inter-provincial sports and cultural festival to be held in Batticaloa. This is the latest in a series of events being organised by the Peace Secretariat to promote interaction between young people from different communities and regions of the country under the Sports for Peace initiative. The festival will include cricket, football and volleyball competitions, as well as dance and musical shows. more..

Dec 2 (LNP) Journalists have strongly protested against the views expressed by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe to a Daily Mirror journalist in a threatening manner. The incident took place at a media briefing at the Opposition Leader s office at Cambridge Terrace this morning. Responding to a query raised by the journalist of the Daily Mirror newspaper, Mr. Wickramasinghe had responded in a threatening manner. more..

Dec 2 (LNP) In a dying declaration, Prabhakaran writes his own obituary in praise of himself. He throws a dead rope to the international Tamil community to carry out a rescue operation. The cornered, make believe king of Eelam, once hopeful of extending imaginary borders to encompass a Greater Tamil Nadu, dispatches an SOS from his shrinking kingdom before it passes into oblivion. His ghost writer presented a script which became worthless at the time he read the contents. more..

Dec 2 (SAMN) The Supreme Court Monday ordered the cancellation of the gazette notification on environmental conservation levies on all bulbs exceeding 40 watts, motor cycles and motor cars with internal combustion engines and television broadcasting and telephone transmission towers. But the levy on cellular phones will continue. President’s Counsel Manohara de Silva stressed the need for a mechanism to dispose of the hazardous waste material found in discarded mobile phones. more..

Dec 2 (SAMN) Medical officers who returned to Colombo from the Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Mannar, Vayuniya and Medwachchiya hospitals following the killing of Dr. Palitha Padmakumara in Batticaloa on November 23 will return to their stations on December 4. Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge told the GMOA that the Ministry has agreed to provide adequate security and sort out accommodation problems of all doctors serving in the North and East. more..

Dec 2 (SAMN) Nugegoda Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Wasantha Jinadasa Monday allowed an application by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probing the massive financial racket alleged to have been carried out by the “Sakvithi Ranasinghe Construction Company” to pursue the bank accounts of the main suspect Sakvithi Ranasinghe, who is alleged to have left the country. more..

Dec 2 (SAMN) Around five percent of teachers who had themselves screened for breast and cervical cancer at St. Joseph’s College Bandarawela two months ago were detected with the disease and 20 per cent of the positive cases were in the first stages of the affliction. Five hundred teachers were tested in Bandarawela. Another screening programme had been conducted in Mahiyangana on Sunday (30), where there were 100 teachers who had come for screening, more..

Dec 2 (DN) Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara told Parliament yesterday that steps would be taken to preserve the documents submitted to the COPE as evidence regarding the Crude oil hedging agreement of the Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation (CPC). The Speaker was responding to a privilege matter raised by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who claimed that there is a move to destroy the documents of the crude oil hedging agreement. more..

Dec 2 (DN) The Government will introduce large-scale landfills and composting projects to manage waste disposal in cities from next year. The Director General, Pasan Gunasena yesterday said, they are acquiring lands for setting up landfills to regularise solid waste disposing in keeping with its waste management programme, Pilisaru. "Steps will be taken to introduce fifteen large scale composting projects and 29 mini composting projects alongside with the landfills," more..

Dec 2 (Island) The fate of the civilians trapped in the Vanni is a matter of serious concern. These concerns relate not only to their physical safety but also to humanitarian issues concerning food, clothing and shelter. In this regard the physical counts of the numbers of civilians cited are significantly different. For instance, the latest report of the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) (UTHR-J) states: more..

Dec 2 (RW) Another 50 truck convoy left Vavuniya yesterday carrying 350,000 packets of essential items for displaced civilians in non liberated areas of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, according to the Commissioner General of Essential Services S.B. Divaratne. The convoy, which left Omanthai around 10.30 am, was carrying food and other essentials provided by the Indian Government and distribution was scheduled to begin from Pudikudirippu yesterday itself, he added. more..

Dec 2 (AT) Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hussein A. Bhaila has told Parliament that a scheduled SriLankan Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Colombo was diverted to a military airbase in Thailand yesterday to evacuate 110 Sri Lankans who had been stranded in Bangkok, following the closure of the main airports there, consequent to the current unrest in the Thai capital. Making a Statement on the floor of the House today more..

Dec 2 (NRC) It is with profound sadness and shock that the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Sri Lanka announces the killing of their staff member A. Vigneswaran. Unidentified men entered Vigneswaran’s home on the evening of November 27th and forcibly took him to a nearby decommissioned IDP-site, where they shot him. Vigneswaran was later taken to a nearby hospital but pronounced dead on arrival. Motivation for the killing is unknown. more..

Dec 2 (LD) Veteran actress, Malani Fonseka is to receive the Rajatha Mayura award at 39th International Indian Film Festival tonight (Nov. 02nd), for her role in the film 'Akasa Kusum', directed by Prasanna Withanage. Speaking to 'Lanka Dissent', a senior official of the State Film Corporation said that a cash prize of Rs. 4,500,000 would also be awarded to Ms. Fonseka, and that a special reception has been organized at the airport on Dec. 04th to receive her. more..

Dec 2 (LP) The Aesthetic Centre in the Western Province is due to open on the 04th of December. The centre consists of two theatres and two auditoriums and this was build by the cost of Rs 125 million. Another Rs 54 million was allocated for the development of the infrastructure facilities of the centre. The centre will assist the youth to improve their abilities in sculpture, dancing, singing, announcing and many other fields, as the centre will conduct courses in the various fields.

Dec 2 (LD) A Chef working in Bermuda and was on holiday here, had been abducted last night from Kerawalapitiya. Mr. Perry Anthony Mark, a 46 year old Burgher gentleman has been visiting his sister's place and had come out to buy cigarettes, when he was bundled into a white van, says a relative. Mr. Mark has been employed as a Chef with Tommo's Tavern in Bermuda. His brother in law, Mr. R. de Silva says a complaint had been made with the Wattala police station, this morning.

Dec 2 (Island) Vinyagamurthi Muralidaran (aka Karuna), UPFA National List member, told Parliament yesterday (1) that the LTTE leader Prabhakaran was not known to most people who try to defend his actions. He was not the sole representative of the Tamil people. A very few of the Tamil people lived in the Wanni and he was keeping them against their wishes as a human shield. more..

Dec 2 (DM) The Supreme Court yesterday allowed a motion seeking permission of the court to appoint Retired Maj. General Asoka Thoradeniya as the new chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. The motion said the appointment was made since the Treasury Secretary had more work, and Maj. Gen. Thoradeniya was appointed with concurrence of the Secretary to the President. The Supreme Court last Friday suspended Asantha de Mel from the post of CPC Chairman and more..

Dec 2 (DM) Investigations were directed at finding whether the LTTE was in any way involved in the terrorist attack on Mumbai, the commercial hub of India, but with evidence pointing towards Pakistan based militants any LTTE involvement was ruled out, a high ranking Indian official said. The New Delhi based Indian Foreign Ministry official told the Daily Mirror yesterday that India had looked at a possible LTTE connection into the attacks especially after Pakistan publicly said such a connection was possible. more..

Dec 2 (LD) Two children and their mother are among four people hacked to death in Padaviya. The other is a child, a neighbour of the murdered family, police said, adding that the head of the family is said to be a soldier. Their bodies were found last night (Dec. 02nd) from a house at Maithripura. Police believe they had been killed about a day earlier.

Dec 2 (TZ) President Mahinda Rajapaksa was scheduled to arrive in Ankara late on Monday for a three-day official visit at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül. In addition to Gül, Rajapaksa will hold talks with both Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today before traveling to İstanbul tomorrow. "I'm looking forward to improve our relations with Turkey. I believe that these relations will continue at the highest level via my visit," more..

Dec 2 (AT) President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in Ankara late on Monday on an official visit at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül. President Mahnda Rajapaksa and Shirantha Rajapaksa were received by Kemal Onal Governor of Ankara at Ankara Esenboga International Airport when he arrived yesterday evening from Rome. President whilst in Turkey will hold talks with President Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, more..

Dec 2 (Dawn) The ethnic conflict which has plagued Sri Lanka for the past 25 years would not end even if LTTE supremo Vellupillai Prabhakaran dies in the near future, according to a former official who has 50 years’ experience of working in senior administrative positions. Mr Weerakoon, who has a distinction of serving as adviser to seven prime ministers and three presidents, was a key figure in negotiations between the government and the Tamil Tigers when more..