May 24 (BG) Every 15 minutes, Sri Lankan state television halts its normal programming to broadcast patriotic images of women in lush tea fields at sunrise, workers building power lines, and troops standing guard, all accompanied by a soaring anthem in which a young beauty calls for the country's president to be crowned king. On the streets of the capital, billboards proclaim, "King Mahinda Rajapaksa: He saved us more..

May 24 (IANS) National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and briefed him on the situation in Sri Lanka and his talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa following the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), officials said. Mr. Narayan met Mr. Karunanidhi at his residence here Saturday evening, but declined to speak to mediapersons. more..

May 24 (IE) With the death of Prabhakaran, peace finally gets a chance in Sri Lanka. Muzamil Jaleel traces the story of the LTTE chief who 'lived—and died'—by the gun When Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakasa announced the military defeat of LTTE, saying the troops have "freed the nation from three decades of terror", his words meant only one thing: Velupillai Prabhakaran was dead. more..

May 24 (AP) Sri Lanka's president on Sunday rejected a call by the U.N. secretary-general to lift restrictions on aid delivery to overcrowded displacement camps, saying the army must first finish screening the hundreds of thousands of Tamil refugees. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's statement came in response to an appeal by Ban Ki-moon during a 24-hour visit to Sri Lanka for unfettered access for aid agencies to the camps, more..

May 25 (AT) President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday (May 24) paid homage to the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura and offered gold ornaments. The President also planted a Bo sapling at the ‘Pahala Maluwa’, a Cultural Ministry official confirmed. The Sacred Jaya Siri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura is reckoned as the oldest surviving historical tree in the world. more..

May 25 (GV) A group of men are standing in an outdoor location. They are grinning and laughing and are triumphant but most importantly of all, they exude an air of victory. The camera pans out to reveal four or so neatly arranged bodies on the grass in front of them. The men pass a dog tag amongst themselves, they finger it, look closely at it and ask an unseen photographer to take photographs. There is an air of jubilation. more..

May 25 (GV) Sorry for my delay, Nicolai. Although events have moved on dramatically in the past few days, your questions, raised in a commendably honest spirit, are relevant and deserve an answer. Please also believe me that I speak respectfully to you even when I am being blunt. But permit me first, if you will, to set the scene. Briefly surveying the Vanni landscape, we find that the ‘outcome’ that Prof. Michael Roberts and others wished for - and more..

May 25 (CT) Army commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka has called for the decimation of Eelamist forces and complete defeat for Tamil extremism. Giving an interview to state-owned television channel Rupavahini this afternoon (May 24), the Army chief also said the Tiger terrorist ideologies should be crushed. Restoration of civilian life to Northern Province would take at least three years, he said, more..

May 25 (AT) Writing in the Op-Ed page of the Daily Times (Islamabad) on May 22, on Pakistan’s war against the Taliban, Najmuddin A. Shah says: "This is a war for Pakistan’s survival. It must be fought without illusions and without yielding to the temptation to believe that one has credible and willing partners with whom a negotiated peace could be worked out." Needless to say Sri Lanka’s experience with the LTTE has been identical. more..

May 25 (LG) Patrick Fernando is considered to be the major force and, of course, the most significant voice in Sri Lankan poetry. It may seem incompatible with his profession as a tax man and a revenue specialist all his life; it is also astonishing. However, genius works and expresses itself in mysterious ways as it did in J. P. Fernando and as it does in countless others here and there. more..

May 25 (LG) Jubilation over the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the death of its leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, has gripped a majority of Sri Lankans both in that country and around the world. Most of Sri Lanka celebrated the news of the defeat of the LTTE following three bloody decades, with lighting of firecrackers and sharing of “kiribath” (milk rice) which is traditionally prepared on all joyous occasions. more..

May 25 (AP) The defeated Tamil Tiger rebels confirmed Sunday that their supreme leader was killed in the group's final battle against Sri Lankan troops. The almost mythic commander, Velupillai Prabhakaran, led a terror-driven Tamil insurrection in Sri Lanka for more than a quarter century. Last week the government declared it finally killed Prabhakaran and proclaimed victory against his Tamil Tigers, more..

May 25 (TN) The Tamil national cause cannot afford to be deviated and exploited by others through questions such as whether the LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan is alive or not or whether the armed struggle has to be continued or not. The Tamil diaspora, the only section of the Eezham Tamil community that has the freedom and means to come out with authentic voice, has a historic responsibility in telling the world what they aspire for in no uncertain terms, more..

May 25 (BBC) Tamil Tiger rebels have admitted for the first time that their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead. A statement issued by the Tigers said their "incomparable leader" had "attained martyrdom" and declared a week of mourning. A spokesman for the group also told the BBC that it would now use non-violent methods to fight for Tamils' rights. Sri Lanka's army last week released pictures it said showed Prabhakaran's body after its final offensive. more..

May 25 (LT) The adversaries in the war against tiger terrorism were patriots and traitors and in the economic development too this division exists says President of PNM Ven. Dhambara Amila Thero. Speaking at a seminar held at Mahaweli Centre under the theme ‘The collapse of Eelam dream and the future of Sri Lanka’ Ven. Dhambara Amila Thero said patriots cannot sell national resources, carry out waste and fraud and ask for commissions. more..

May 25 (KT) The decisive defeat last week of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers shows there are important exceptions to the rule that conventional armies cannot defeat guerilla forces. Chechnya, Angola, and Ukraine in the 1950’s were other examples of isolated guerilla movements that were eventually crushed by greatly superior forces unrestrained by concerns for civilian casualties or 
human rights. more..

May 25 (Times) From the air, the battle zone reveals itself one clue at a time — the scorched patches of earth, the blasted palm trees, the burnt-out skeletal houses. Then the helicopter banks sharp right over the green lagoon and a blaze of white sand appears — to the gasps of the first outsiders to glimpse the beach where the Tamil Tigers made their last stand. Sri Lanka’s no-fire zone is a scene of such utter devastation it mocks its very name. more..

May 25 (Times) “We are in an open jail,” Kumar whispers, his skinny shoulders shaking as he looks around to check who is watching “Help us, we want to be free.” He is one of about 200,000 Tamil civilians being held against their will behind the razor-wire coils that surround Manik Farm, the largest displacement camp in Sri Lanka — one of the largest in the world. Camp is not the word its inmates use for it. more..

May 25 (AT) "I still hope I will return some day to do a biography of Pirabhakaran. That’s one of the few remaining unfulfilled dreams I have left in my life. I have no doubts that he is the most important guerilla leader of our times." Says former Indian South Asia Bureau Chief of CNN Ms. Anita Pratap when she was interviewed by a pro-LTTE website 10 months back (July, 15th 2008). more..

May 25 (UN) Addressing the aspirations and grievances of all communities, as well as finding a lasting political solution, is essential for long-term development in the wake of the end of the long-running conflict between Sri Lankan troops and separatist rebels, according to a joint statement issued by the Government of the South Asian nation and the United Nations. more..

May 25 (G&M) For diehard followers, the almost mythic commander who led a terror-driven Tamil insurrection in Sri Lanka still lives — despite persuasive evidence to the contrary. This week the government declared it had finally killed Velupillai Prabhakaran and proclaimed victory against his Tamil Tiger rebels, crushing a 25-year rebellion that the United Nations estimates had cost between 80,000 to 100,000 lives. more..

May 25 (PTI) UN chief Ban-ki-Moon has warned Sri Lanka that "history could repeat itself" if issues of reconciliation and social inclusion are not dealt with, even as he demanded "unimpeded access" to aid agencies to the camps that houses 300,000 displaced Tamil civilians. "Moon said if issues of reconciliation and social inclusion are not dealt with, history could repeat itself," the UN said in a statement more..

May 25 (Xinhua) The Sri Lankan government had told the United Nations that it will reintegrate former child soldiers into society as productive citizens in view of the conclusion of the island's long drawn-out civil war, the presidential office said Sunday. In a joint statement issued Saturday at the conclusion of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's two-day visit to the island, the two sides recognized that the large number of former child soldiers more..

May 25 (GDI) At the invitation of the H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, H.E. Ban Ki-moon paid a visit to Sri Lanka. During the course of his visit, he held talks with the President, Foreign Minister as well as other senior leaders of Sri Lanka. During his stay, he also consulted other relevant stakeholders, members of the international humanitarian agencies and civil society. more..

May 25 (TS) Before we judge the street protests of the last few weeks by Tamil Canadians in Toronto, we have to be very careful because the issue is sensitive and complex. There is the human tragedy of people helplessly witnessing the massacre of their relatives in their home country. We have the alleged violation of human rights by Sri Lankan troops. There is the political debate about the right of Tamils to create their own country and more..

May 25 (Guardian) Lying howling on a torn mattress, in a cot by a window overlooking the Sri Lankan ­capital, Colombo, the wounded toddler was a pitiful sight. A female relative fretted, trying to calm the girl down as the medics worked around her. The 18-month-old had been shot in the stomach in the final stages of the fighting in the north-east of the country and there was an ugly line of stitches across her abdomen where more..

May 25 (Guardian) The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday visited a mass displacement camp packed with Tamil civilians as he appealed to Sri Lanka's triumphant government to "heal the wounds" after three decades of civil war. As he surveyed the beleaguered and shell-shocked refugees held there and as the army searched for Tamil Tiger fighters among them, he would not have found time to talk to Sopika, aged 10. more..

May 25 (LBO) Sri Lanka is to lobby Lloyds of London to remove a war risk tag on the country which is pushing up insurance premium following defeat of Tamil Tigers by the military last week, a media report said. The Island newspaper said Sri Lanka is classified as a 'region of war' by Lloyds, forcing ships calling at the island to pay an additional war risk premium. Sri Lanka will soon approach Lloyds Register of London with a request to review more..

May 25 (TS) Tamil MPs from both sides of the political divide joined hands with hundreds of people in Batu Caves to condemn the killing of Tamil civilians in the war in northern Sri Lanka. They condemned the civilian casualties in the battle between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE. Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk M. Saravanan said yesterday the rally was not to support any militant group but to show concern for innocent civilians. more..

May 25 (LG) Sri Lankan Australians, numbering some 150,000, are gravely concerned about suggestions from certain quarters to give temporary protection visas to Sri Lankan Tamils who claim to be refugees of the war that ended recently. Our political leaders better think twice before making a decision. Sri Lankan government has categorically declared that all the war-affected citizens will be resettled in their villages within six months. more..

May 25 (LG) So, with the war in Sri Lanka now over and the Tamils having been crushed and brought to their knees, I'd like to ask just one question: Are we happy now? With the Tamils' decades-long struggle for self-determination quashed and their dreams of an independent homeland shattered, are we fully satisfied? Should we give ourselves a pat on the back? Because there's no denying that this result is largely due to us here in the freedom-loving West. more..

May 25 (LG) The end of nearly three decades of conflict this week also brought other good news to Sri Lanka and the business community. On Thursday, an IMF spokesperson told reporters in Washington that the proposed $1.9 billion loan talks with the Sri Lanka government are on track and "at an advanced stage in the discussions with the authorities.” “We do not have a definitive scheduled executive board but more..

May 25 (AT) Minister of Tourism Milinda Moragoda left for Iran on Sunday, May 24, with a view to examining potential for increasing tourist arrivals from Iran to Sri Lanka and improving cooperation in the field of tourism. He was accompanied by a private sector delegation representing several leading Sri Lankan companies engaged in the hospitality industry, both travel and hotel sectors. more..

May 25 (GV) Spontaneous street parties broke out, fireworks crackled in the air and strangers offered flowers to soldiers to celebrate the news in Colombo – Asia’s Idi Amin was no more! One of the Indian subcontinent’s longest wars was at an end. The day before, street parties in New Delhi had celebrated the victory of the Congress Party in the elections that marked the maturing of Indian democracy and more..

May 25 (PISL) Though the Government has been coping satisfactorily, with the assistance of its humanitarian partners, with the recent huge influx of IDPs, the demand for basic necessities has increased dramatically. The Peace Secretariat has therefore been assisting efforts to collect and distribute such necessities through mechanisms that supplement ongoing programmes. more..

May 25 (PISL) The last week has seen a spate of articles alleging atrocities in the welfare camps in which most of those rescued from the LTTE are now housed. The most recent of these is by someone called Gethin Chamberlain, who has claimed that 'Detainees in one of the camps told this reporter that a number of women Tamil Tigers have been murdered after surrendering to the authorities. more..

May 25 (LNP) Qatar Airways is exploring the possibility of increasing the frequency of daily flights to three in Sri Lanka with the dawn of the peace and normalcy here, said its Regional Manager Rajeewa Jayaweera. With the current peaceful situation in Sri Lanka we are now closely and seriously looking at new opportunities to launch the third flight connecting USA, Jayaweera told Daily News Business. more..

May 25 (LNP) Lanka IOC PLC, the marketer of petroleum fuels and lubricants introduced Nitrogen Gas instead of the standard air to inflate vehicle tyres. Chairman, Lanka IOC S.V. Narasimhan said Nitrogen gas has been used to inflate the tyres of racing cars, aircraft and heavy commercial vehicles due to its many benefits. It is for the same reason that the world is now moving towards using nitrogen gas for normal passenger cars and 2-3 wheelers. more..

May 25 (LNP) That the international media are functioning as hired guns of some western governments, hell bent on giving this country a bad name for the crime of having demonstrated to the world that terrorism could be neutralised militarily, is evident from yesterday`s CNN report on UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon`s visit to Sri Lanka. Under a screaming headline on its website, Ban tells CNN: Sri Lanka sites for the displaced 'appalling', more..

May 25 (Bernama) It is unlikely for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to stage a comeback in Sri Lanka to champion the Tamil minority's cause, says a top Tamil minister. Douglas Devananda, Minister of Social Service and Social Welfare in President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, said no one could resurrect the militant group, which was once a feared terrorist outfit in the world. more..

May 25 (TC) The degree of denial of Prabhakaran’s death within the expatriate Tamil consciousness is the best evidence of the pathology of Tamil ultra-nationalism. Rohana Wijeweera’s followers were fanatics, but when their leader was gone, they did not go into mass denial. The hardcore elements of the Tamil Diaspora really have to get their heads around it: Elvis has left the building. The Sun God has set, and his son won’t be rising either. more..

May 25 (GDI) The Kelaniya University will conduct an educational exhibition “Kalyana Darshi” to mark the silver jubilee from 28th may to 30th May, Vice Chancellor Prof. Sarath Amunugama said today at a special media briefing. The University of Kelaniya has its origin in the historic Vidyalankara Pirivena, founded in 1875 as a centre of learning for Buddhist monks. With the establishment of modern Universities in Sri Lanka in the 1940s and 1950s, more..

May 25 (LT) The government has decided to temporarily close down several schools in Uva Province due to adverse weather conditions prevailing in the area. Chief Minister of Uva PC Vijithemuni Soyza said the decision has been taken for the protection of school children. Several schools in Bibile and Welimada have been temporarily closed. Meanwhile, students of primary classes in Gemunupura MV at Delta area in Kotmale have been removed due to warnings of earth slips. more..

May 25 (LT) All TNA Parliamentarians should resign from their parliamentary seats says Leader of TULF Ananda Sangaree. He further said Parliamentarians of the TNA had been advocating the view point of the tiger terrorist organization and as the LTTE has been defeated the TNA Parliamentarians too should resign. The TNA Parliamentarians who had met the Indian delegation that visited Sri Lanka recently had expressed their willingness for a political solution and more..

May 25 (AT) "To deliver a health message effectively and in confidence it should consist of 3 significant factors, viz. authoritative, comprehensive and clear. The nature has gifted the human brain with science to be authoritative, religion to be ethical and art to address the wisdom with our feelings. If we use all these factors we may deliver a strong message to the society”, said Professor Carlo Fonseka, more..

May 25 (LeN) The international news analysts can see that several British newspapers have engaged in a media battle against Sri Lanka. It is no secret that a number of Western countries led by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband tried their best to save the LTTE leaders in the last few days of the thirty-year war. These countries are again attempting to put Sri Lanka in trouble again saying that Sri Lanka will be tried for war crime charges. more..

May 25 (CT) Secretary of the Democratic Left Front Vasudeva Nanayakkara wants the government to immediately address the root causes of the national conflict, after the war victory that eliminated the LTTE. A statement by him said the government should provide a political solution that fulfills the rights of the Tamil community. A new constitutional amendment is needed to practically implement the legal provisions already in place, more..

May 25 (TS) Malaysia has expressed support for a draft resolution introduced by Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, in line with Malaysia's policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman said the members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the HRC had also expressed support for the Sri Lankan draft resolution based on the same principle. more..

May 25 (CT) The gazette notification for the conduct of local government polls for Jaffna municipal council and Vavuniya urban council will be issued later today (May 25), said minister of local government Janaka Bandara Tennakoon. The minister said he has already signed the document.Minister Tennakoon this morning chaired a meeting of top-level officials to discuss the conduct of polls in Northern Province. more..

May 25 (DN) I will never allow the bifurcation of the Motherland which was united after defeating divisive separatists, pledged President Mahinda Rajapaksa last Saturday at the Sri Dalada Maligawa premises. He was addressing the ceremonial gathering on the occasion of the conferment of the honour Vishwa Keerti Sri Sinhaladhishwara on him jointly by the Karaka Sangha Sabhas of the Malwatta and Asgiriya Chapters of the Siyam Maha Nikaya more..