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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 10:41 PM 

The three member panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon to advise him on Sri Lanka is not authorized by any decision making body of the UN.

Why aren't Tamil Tigers proscribed here too - AS Prime Minister, it's Julia Gillard's paramount duty to protect the Australian people from terrorists. Yet, under Labor policies, Australia has become the destination of choice for boatloads of Sri Lankan Tamils ("Up to half Sri Lankan arrivals have ties to Tigers", 14/7). Tamil Tiger members are attracted to Australia because, as Sally Neighbour reports, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam remains legal here, unlike in the US, Canada and the 27 member countries of the European Union where it's proscribed as a terrorist organisation. Now we learn that Sri Lankan officials estimate that between 25 and 50 per cent of Sri Lankans fleeing to Australia have connections to the defeated LTTE. Before the coming election, Gillard must explain why her government has not outlawed the LTTE. Until she does, her late conversion to tough policies on asylum-seekers will be seen as false and all about staunching the damage to Labor's vote in its heartland electorates. More than that, her pretensions to be the leader of this nation will be revealed to be hollow (The Australian : 15 July 2010).

Migrant Sri Lankan organisations send an open letter to UN chief against the advisory panel appointed on Sri Lanka - Migrant Sri Lankan organisations in many countries sent an open letter to the UN Secretary General expressing their protest over the appointment of advisory panel on Sri Lanka. The organisations have expressed their dissatisfaction on this act. They say that as a result, a threat has been posed on Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. It has also been stressed that making accusations on Sri Lanka over war crimes is a major injustice. The Secretary General has not appointed such an advisory committee on Israel, America, Britain, France, Colombia, and East Timor. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commissioner to UN Navanidanpille was engaged in activities against Sri Lanka from the beginning. She acted upon based on the decisions of NGOs and some media reports. There was no consideration on Sri Lanka on diplomatic level. Most of the countries at the UN session in Geneva have approved that no human rights violations or war crimes have taken place in Sri Lanka. More than one hundred persons have been killed in the east Timor crisis. A controversial situation had arisen in Ruwanda due to genocide and other human right violations. But the UN had not appointed an advisory panel against these countries. Although millions of Africans were displaced and not resettled, but in Sri Lanka the government was successfully resettled the displaced in the northern province within a short period. 25 Sri Lankan foreign organisations have signed the letter (SLBC : 15 July 2010).

North HSZ to remain - The government says it will continue with High Security Zones (HSZ) in the North to maintain security and in the absence of State land the government will be compelled to use private land situated at strategic locations for this purpose. Responding to a question posed by a journalist at the Cabinet press briefing today Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that when the US has military bases overseas for security purposes Sri Lanka has a right to have security zones on its own soil to maintain security. However in April this year EPDP leader Douglas Devananda assured that gradually all the High Security Zones in the Jaffna peninsula will be removed as there is no more a security threat. Speaking to Daily Mirror online Devananda had recalled that President Mahinda Rajapaksa also has a vision for the people in the Northern Province to experience the same freedom as experienced by the people in the South (Daily Mirror : 15 July 2010).

All dilapidated buildings will be restored: Highest financial allocation for North - During a public gathering in Kilinochchi yesterday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the Government's largest financial allocation for regional development went to uplift the conflict ravaged North.  The President pointed out to the public that the infrastructure that the Government had built at great cost such as Kilinochchi hospital, rail roads and A-9 road were destroyed by the LTTE.  "Now we are taking loans from the ADB and World Bank to rebuild these destroyed infrastructure for you," he added. The President assured the public that all dilapidated buildings in Kilinochchi would be restored by September.  He noted that such speedy development / resettlement was unprecedented in the context of other global experiences in the aftermath of such damaging conflicts.  The President also told the gathering that he was quite aware about the difficulties faced by them and added that he had launched the humanitarian operation as a last resort as all talks on an amicable settlement had failed.  "This is a new beginning. The troublesome past is over now. We are all the same and as such we should all join hands and rise together in our quest to achieve collective prosperity," he added.  During the occasion the President also donated funds to renovate dilapidated houses, two wheel tractors, water pumps, generators, bicycles etc too were distributed among the newly resettled. President Rajapaksa charged that certain NGOs/Organizations were collecting large amounts of foreign funds at the expense of newly resettled people in the North.  He said these organizations were embezzling monies from certain foreign nations which did not give a cent to Sri Lanka as development funds, by showing pictures of unfinished buildings (intentionally done) to their overseas sponsors (Daily News : 15 July 2010).

Fuel prices slashed in Jaffna - The Government yesterday decided to reduce fuel and kerosene prices in the Jaffna Peninsula following the Cabinet meeting in Iranamadu, Kilinochchi. The price of petrol which earlier stood at Rs 119 a litre is reduced to Rs 115.60. Diesel price has come down from Rs 75.50 to Rs 73.60 and kerosene formerly sold at Rs 54.00 is down to Rs 51.60. The Government yesterday decided to reduce fuel and kerosene prices in the Jaffna Peninsula following the Cabinet meeting in Iranamadu, Kilinochchi. The price of petrol which earlier stood at Rs 119 a litre is reduced to Rs 115.60. Diesel price has come down from Rs 75.50 to Rs 73.60 and kerosene formerly sold at Rs 54.00 is down to Rs 51.60. The price revision was effective from midnight yesterday. The Cabinet decided to reduce prices giving consent to a Cabinet paper submitted by Minister Susil Premajayantha seeking a revision of fuel and kerosene prices in Jaffna peninsula. Fuel and kerosene prices would now be on par with that in most other parts of the country. The prices in Jaffna were higher earlier mainly due to the higher transport cost (Daily News : 15 July 2010).

Mullaitivu gets Rs 170 m power supply scheme - The newly set up Mullaitivu Electricity Supply Scheme costing Rs 170 million was opened by Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday. This replaces the old electricity scheme under which the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) supplied electricity to Mullaitivu using generators, the Power and Energy Minister said in a press release yesterday. The new scheme also involved the relaying of a new high velocity distribution line from Mankulam to Kilinochchi through Omanthai by rehabilitating the old dilapidated line from Vavuniya to Omanthai. This is part of the Ministry Program to provide electricity supplies to people in the North and East under an accelerated program in line with the Mahinda Chinthana policies of catering to the welfare of people liberated from terrorist clutches. The release also said concurrently Rs 110 million had been spent to activate the 50 km electricity line along the A34 highway from Mankulam to Mullaitivu via Oddusudan. The Minister also opened an electricity supply scheme for 200 families in Mullavali almost nine km off Mullaitivu town and a supply scheme for the business community in Mullaitivu town using new transformers. The Ministry has also planned a small, medium and long term plan to improve the electricity supply scheme under the future policy and vision of Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka (Daily News : 15 July 2010).

Top priority towards eradicating poverty in North-East - The Agriculture Ministry will give top priority towards eradicating poverty in the North and East by developing the agriculture sector with the assistant of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Agriculture Deputy Minister Jagath Pushpakumara said participating in the National Stakeholder Re-validation Workshop on Pro-poor Policy Formulation held at Renuka Hotel, Colombo yesterday.  "Whenever we ask for help the FAO comes forward to help us. It is a grate opportunity for us," the Minister said. The FAO conducted a study on pro-poor policy with support from the Council for Agricultural Research Policy(CARP) and Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute with the objective to review the policies and programs of agricultural development and assess their implications for rural poverty. Based on this it suggested a package of policies for empowering poor farmers and reducing poverty at a rapid rate.  The focus of the study was on irrigation, institutions and inputs and product markets related to food crops, livestock and fisheries sector.  "We are supporting the Government's program on food production and specially support the Government to restart agriculture in North and East by developing home gardens, poultry, vegetable cultivation, paddy cultivation and horticulture in these areas, said FAO Representative to Sri Lanka Patrick Evans (Daily News : 15 July 2010).

War with LTTE only after peace bids failed: President - The global community and international agencies must realise that Sri Lanka militarily confronted the LTTE only after other avenues to resolve the ethnic conflict through peaceful means had been exhausted, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday. He told a public rally at Kilinochchi that he was even prepared to come there if the LTTE had opted for talks, but the terrorists thought otherwise. “The people in the North have suffered for more than 30 years. Who destroyed the Northern railway line? Who destroyed the Kilinochchi hospital? It is the LTTE, which brought so much misery to the people in the North and East. It is the LTTE that destroyed A9 highway. It murdered expectant mothers inside buses and killed the cream of Tamil intellectuals and Sinhala and Muslims political leaders during its destructive 30-year terror campaign,” President Rajapaksa said. He said the Kilinochchi hospital was constructed for the northern people through a Asian Development Bank loan obtained by the then government while the present government had to obtain a World Bank loan to reconstruct the Kilinochchi hospital. He said if not for the mass scale destruction these funds could have been better used to upgrade the living standards of those in the North. The president said the government’s main objective was to rehabilitate Tamil youth who had been brainwashed by the LTTE. He said even though they might have fought against the security forces the government was ready to rehabilitate them and absorb into society and thus give them an opportunity to live as law abiding citizens. Taking a swipe at certain officials and NGOs, President Rajapaksa said he had seen a large number of partly built houses on either side of the road. He said he wondered whether these officials were attempting to obtain funds from foreign sources by showing pictures of the partly built houses. The president said under the ‘Northern Spring’ project the government had carried out a huge development programme in the North and that public officials must serve their people with commitment, dedication and without prejudice just like parents treat their children (Daily Mirror : 15 July 2010).

'Shed political differences and serve the people' Sri Lanka President says - The time has come for everyone to shed political differences and join together to rebuild the lives of the people devastated by the three-decade long terrorism, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa told public officials in Kilinochchi Wednesday. Addressing the public officials in the Northern region following the historic Cabinet meeting in Kilinochchi Wednesday, the President said there is a massive development in the North today and urged the officials to commit themselves to serve the people. The President highlighted that the government has resettled the internally displaced with necessary security in a speedy manner unparallel to anywhere else in the world. "I just want to remind you that today we are creating history. This is the first time that a Head of State is addressing public officials at a location at Kilinochchi," the President noted. President Rajapaksa instructed the public officials to go to the people and identify their problems and work towards addressing those problems (Colombo Page : 15 July 2010).

Cabinet meets in Kilinochchi Capital of Prabhakaran’s dreamland Eelam: A historic meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers was held yesterday for the first time in Kilinochchi, the so called capital of Prabhakaran’s dreamland Eelam.  The weekly Cabinet meeting usually held in Colombo, this time was held in a scenic location close to the Iranamadu tank where LTTE’s Anton Balasingham landed on a sea plane some time ago.  The meeting took place in a building once used as the LTTE headquarters. It now lies in the precincts of the Kilinochchi Security Forces headquarters.  The Kilinochchi meeting marks the continuation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s policy to hold Cabinet meetings outside Colombo. Earlier, Cabinet meetings were held in Kandy and Embilipitiya.  President Rajapaksa addressing the Ministers at the start of the Cabinet meeting said that Sri Lanka today was a truly united country sans the scourge of terrorism.  He added that this was amply reflected by being able to hold a Cabinet meeting in the former LTTE stronghold.  Yesterday’s Cabinet meeting was attended by all Ministers, a fact that came in for high praise from the President at the start of the deliberations (Daily News : 15 July 2010).

Twenty year development plan for Jaffna

Some random thoughts about the UN International Advisory Panel - By Dr. Lakshman Marasinghe,Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada - I have been back at home to witness and read the media coverage regarding the appointment of an International panel by the Secretary General of the UN to advise himself on matters pertaining to the ending of a 30 year internecine armed conflict in a member State- Sri Lanka. These are some random thoughts that I do wish to express through your columns. At the very outset I am reminded of the fact that the panel appointed was not an internal panel drawn from within the Secretariat but is a panel where its members so appointed were drawn from outside it. Therefore this is not a part of any internal enquiry but an international enquiry which the Secretary – General had himself launched without any reference to the Security Council. In my understanding of the Charter Chapter VI and in particular Articles 33, 34 and other relevant Articles of that chapter require the authorization of the Security Council for the Secretary-General to cause an investigation into the internal affairs of a member State. However, The Secretary-General states that the charter does not apply to the empanelling of a panel merely to advise him. That is quite obviously a matter that could be disputed as the panel was not appointed to advise on something outside the concerns mentioned in Articles 33 and 34 of the Charter, such as the prevailing weather patterns over Sri Lanka. However, as the mandate of the panel so appointed was to render advice of a particular fact which is a concern of Article VI of the Charter, it somehow befuddles my own mind when I begin to imagine this International Panel rendering its advise without making any kind of investigation into internal affairs of a member state (Daily Mirror : 14 July 2010).

UN panel not authorized - The three member panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon to advise him on Sri Lanka is not authorized by any decision making body of the UN, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York Dr. Palitha Kohona said. In an emailed response to a question posed by Daily Mirror online Dr. Kohona said that the move by the UN Chief to appoint the panel sets precedent as it is not authorized. He also noted that a similar move on Sri Lanka was resoundingly rejected by the UN Human Rights Council last year. UN Secretary-General Ban ki-moon had earlier reiterated that the three member panel appointed by him on Sri Lanka has been set up to advise him with regard to taking forward the objectives of the Joint Statement of 23 May 2009 between Sri Lanka and the UN and is not an investigative body. The Secretary-General had said the strong reaction to his establishment of the panel of experts on accountability in Sri Lanka is not warranted. (Daily Mirror online : 14 July 2010).

Real terrorists enter via airports, not on leaky boats - So some asylum seekers are terrorists are they? Well yes, according to The Australian today. But for a host of reasons we should be very cautious in accepting the veracity of those who make claims that people fleeing conflict are in fact zealous members of terrorist organizations. According to Sally Neighbour, who writes on terrorism issues for The Australian, "Sri Lankan officials" have told a Defence analyst Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe that "between 25 and 50 per cent of Tamils fleeing to Australia have connections to the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)." "DeSilva-Ranasinghe said that during a recent visit to Sri Lanka, two government ministers and several other officials, including Catholic Church staff with deep ties in the Tamil community, told him 25 per cent was at the lower end of their estimates. The people I spoke to constantly said 50 per cent," he told The Australian," Neighbour writes in her front page splash. Mr. DeSilva-Ranasinghe's views should not necessarily be accepted as gospel. After all he made the extraordinary claim in the same paper on 7 April this year that "there is strong evidence that since the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009 Sri Lanka has moved towards stability and inter-ethnic reconciliation, rather than widespread or institutionalised persecution of its Tamil population." This is certainly not what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says in its latest country assessment of Sri Lanka, issued on July 5. While noting that steps are being taken to normalize the country the report also notes that detention without trial, torture of suspects, rape and other forms of sexual abuse of women and children is happening and that there is "severe overcrowding and lack of adequate sanitation, food, water and medical treatment" in prisons. Hardly a rosy picture! As to whether or not there are terrorists on leaky boats trying to get to Australia, one might want to consider a recent case in Canada where a similar claim was made about a group of 25 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who were detained last October after arriving on a boat in Vancouver by the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) because they had been told the men were members of the Tamil Tigers (ABC News : 14 July 2010).

Half of Sri Lankan arrivals have ties to Tigers - AS many as half of Sri Lankans seeking asylum in Australia are suspected of being former fighters, operatives or supporters of the Tamil Tigers. The Tigers have been designated a terrorist organisation in many countries but not in Australia. Sri Lankan officials estimate that between 25 and 50 per cent of Tamils fleeing to Australia have connections to the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Defence analyst Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe said that during a recent visit to Sri Lanka, two government ministers and several other officials, including Catholic Church staff with deep ties in the Tamil community, told him 25 per cent was at the lower end of their estimates. "The people I spoke to constantly said 50 per cent," he told The Australian. Mr DeSilva-Ranasinghe says former Tamil Tiger members are attracted to Australia because the LTTE remains legal here, unlike in the US, Canada, Britain and 27 EU member countries, where it is proscribed as a terrorist organisation.  He said this was an anomaly that should be rectified by Canberra adding the LTTE to its list of banned terrorist groups. "You've got people here who've essentially been radicalised, who've fought and (may have) committed acts of terrorism, and they've come here without any sense of being rehabilitated," he said. Since the surge in boat arrivals started in late 2008, 1100 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers have arrived in Australia. Of these 325 have been granted visas, 85 have returned and the rest are in detention. Last week Julia Gillard lifted the freeze on processing Sri Lankan asylum applications, after the UN High Commissioner for Refugees issued new guidelines on the handling of Tamil claims. The UN said that improvements in the security situation in Sri Lanka since the 26-year civil war ended in May last year meant there was no need to provide automatic protection to Sri Lankans leaving the country. Rather, it said, their claims should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. However, the new UN guidelines say individuals deemed to be at risk in their homeland require "a particularly careful examination" of their asylum claims. Those classified among the UNHCR's "potential risk profiles" include "persons suspected of having links with the LTTE". Mr DeSilva-Ranasinghe says the UN's recommendation that Tamil Tiger fighters be given refuge is "ridiculous" (The Australian : 14 July 2010).

UNSG’s panel on SL a violation of UN charter - Sajith - UNP Parliamentarian Sajith Premadasa said yesterday that the three-member panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to look into the accountability issues during the last phase of war against the LTTE was a gross violation of the UN Charter. Addressing a press conference at the Opposition leader’s office, Premadasa described it as an attempt to interfere in the sovereignty of a member country. Article 2:7 Chapter 1 of the UN Charter clearly outlined that the UN body should not meddle with internal affairs of a member country, he said. "United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s panel tries is to intervene in an internal affair of Sri Lanka," he said. The UN could intervene in domestic affairs of a member country only in matters concerning peace and security. The Charter, in Article 7, warrants such an intervention if the issue at hand became a threat to world peace and security, but even then, the UN should take prior approval from the Security Council, Premadasa said. He said that the UNSG was nothing but an international bureaucrat who represented an organisation funded and nurtured by the international community. So, there should be left no room for him to act according to his whims and fancies. "There are protocols to be followed, and it’s mandatory for Moon to follow them," he said. The EU had granted the GSP Plus preferential trade facility to Sri Lanka in 2005 unconditionally, Premadasa said. After Sri Lanka defeated a terrorist organisation, conditions had been imposed in return of an extension of the trade facility. The EU too had attempted to intervene in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka in the guise of continuing the GSP Plus concession, he said (Island : 14 July 2010).

UN is not clean. There are skeletons in their cupboards - By Malin Abeyatunge, Melbourne, Australia - Hunger strike by a patriotic political front NFF lead by a Minister of the cabinet Wimal Weerawansa (he had since given resignation to save face of the Government and now it is reported that Wimal and his party colleagues have given up the hunger strike after President Rajapaksa’s intervention) against United Nation Secretary General (UNSG) Ban-Ki--Moon’s interference in Sri Lankan domestic affairs had hit the head lines in the world print media. UN as well as its UNSG are perturbed over the peaceful demonstrations opposite the UN Office-Colombo (UNOC) by NFF. It’s sacrosanct of the UN Charter to protect the Right for “Freedom of Expression”. That’s what the protestors were doing against UNSG Ban-Ki-Moon. So, why should either UN or Ban-ki-Moon or its officials make such a hallabaloo when UN is there to  protect ‘Human Rights” one of which is freedom of expression. Surly, LTTE supportive Tamil Diaspora had demonstrations and protest umpteen number of times opposite the UN Office in Geneva over the years inconveniencing public but  did UNO  record any objections during these protests?  How come they didn’t utter a word against those demos and protests? I doubt that UN is free from immunity that no one or country should protest against UN wrong doings if any. Already Nepal has found fault with the UN that UN is trying to interfere with the negotiations that’s taking place with Maoists outfit. UN should practice what it preaches and allow the protesters to manifest their anger against Ban-k-Moon’s unilateral decision on Sri Lanka,  in a peaceful manner. The protesters were not after any personal vendetta against Bank-Moon. It is a protest of his arrogance to appoint a three member panel without the approval/consent of the UN Security Council or UN Human Rights Council ignoring all that protocol. He has no doubt  become a puppet of  some western countries, Human Rights Organizations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, ICG and  the Tamil Diaspora who had infiltrated into UNO’s inner circles who are heads of many UN Agencies (Sri Lanka News Online : 14 July 2010).

Asylum claims: Lankan surgeon welcomes Aussie Govt's decision - A Tamil veterinary surgeon practising in Melbourne has supported the Australian Government's decision to freeze the processing of asylum claims from Sri Lankans saying the situation in Sri Lanka has improved greatly. Dr Noel Nadesan said he did not believe any Sri Lankan refugees could hold legitimate fears for their life. Rather than providing asylum, he would like to see the Australian Government doing more to aid and repatriate former refugees. Dr Nadesan also offered an insight into Australia's Tamil community, saying that LTTE representatives who were sent to the negotiating table during the war, many of whom were living in Australia, were "imbeciles." In March last year, in an article titled "Let my people go in peace." Dr Nadesan wrote: "We have looked the other way when our entire leadership was liquidated, not by the Sri Lankan Government but by our own people." Dr Nadesan said Julia Gillard's decision to try to shift asylum-seekers to East Timor, or Manus, or some other offshore destination, did not appear different to John Howard's Pacific Solution. "It doesn't fit into the principle of giving protection. It is a political decision to process people away from the mainland," he said (Daily News : 14 July 2010).

Twenty year development plan for Jaffna - A 20 year plan to develop the Jaffna Municipal Council area has been drawn at a meeting at the Jaffna Municipal Council. Jaffna Mayor Y Patkunarajah presided at the meeting. Jaffna Government Agent K Ganesh, Police officers, Jaffna Municipal Council members and Government department heads were present. The plan which will cost Rs. 37,898 billion will be implemented in three stages commencing this year. Development of Duraiappa Stadium, construction of Cultural Development Centre, development of Jaffna Teaching Hospital, construction of international cricket ground at Kalundai, construction of Northern Province Governor's office and residence, reconstruction of Jaffna Railway station, development work at Jaffna bus stand and Jaffna main market, construction of prison house in Jaffna, a housing scheme for low income group at Navanthurai and reconstructing damaged houses for the homeless and reconstruction of Vannankulam and Pullukulam in Jaffna are some of the development plans in the report prepared by the Jaffna town Development program division (Daily News : 14 July 2010).

Demining process expedited - The Government has expedited the demining process in a bid to complete the resettlement in the Mullaitivu, Mannar, Killinochchi and Vavuniya districts . Special focus has been given to the Mullaitivu district. The Economic Development Ministry has provided all infrastructure facilities including demining machines to military personnel involved in these activities. A land area of 1,111 square kilometers has already been cleared of mines and booby traps by soldiers using mechanical and manual methods. Over 1,050 soldiers have been deployed for these activities. The Economic Development Ministry has provided 29 Flail machines to detect land mines and other unexploded devices in areas formerly held by the terrorists. Eight sniffer dogs have been trained to detect land mines and booby traps in areas where the mechanics cannot be deployed. Several international organizations in coordination with a local organization have been involved in the demining in selected areas in the Northern province. These organizations have deployed more than 2,100 officers in the demining activities. The Government allocated Rs 2,180 million for the demining last year and conducted 17,654 workshops to educate people in the areas dotted with land mines and booby traps with the assistance of UNESCO (Daily News : 14 July 2010).

Lankans protest in Geneva - A group of Sri Lankans staged a protest outside the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday calling on UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon to dissolve the three member advisory panel he appointed on Sri Lanka. Daily Mirror online sources in Geneva who witnessed the protest said that among the handful of Sri Lankans who staged the demonstration outside the Geneva UN office were some Sri Lankan journalists living in exile. Similar protests against the UN Chief are expected to be held in New York, Britain, Germany, Italy and several other countries, the National Freedom Front had said this week. (Daily Mirror online : 14 July 2010).

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) opened its Northern Provincial Office in Jaffna

WHERE DOES INDIA STAND? - By Gomin Dayasri - India is Indira, has changed to Sonia is India. Ironically Italian, Intelligently Indian, she held the key to India Gate at an opportune moment for the fate of Sri Lanka. Coming from the land of godfathers where avenging death is a sacred article in their code of honour, no pardon was forthcoming to Prabhakaran amidst a thousand apologies under rule of the Indian Congress in the court of Sonia Gandhi. Fury of a woman for a death of a husband, deeply ingrained in the folklore of India and its celluloid cinema culture, was not a bargaining factor for any ruling Congressman, many deeply indebted to her. India’s enigmatic diplomacy in furtherance of sub continent dominance is to contain its neighbours with fractured societies. India suffers from internal divisions; pathologically desire those on the borders must endure the same fate. Suspect is India, in the neighbourhood of malevolent supremacy; LTTE tuned by India was to keep Lanka on a checkmate position. The original script required revision, as its fissiparous nature was unhealthy of being infectious in India and the assassin of a princely leader of a dynasty received no mercy. Outward hostility blended with inward tolerance, would have been the policy towards the LTTE but for the grief of a widow and for the pride of India (LankaWeb : 13 July 2010).

WHAT IS GOING WRONG? - By Gomin Dayasri - We are suddenly in the international incinerator, after successfully navigating in troubled waters during times of war, when the weather was far more cyclonic. The US State Department despatched a tomb with over 300 charges on war crimes while we snuggle to cuddle its head, Hillary Clinton; European Union decided to draw the curtain on GST + after listening to the pleas of every Tom Dick and Harry from Colombo. UN Secretary General appoints a team of three to advice on Sri Lanka after we (unlike India that denied entry) lavished hospitality from Alston to Arbour, and are now preparing tamely to concede more and more on the 13th Amendment, after holding to our options when we were weaker. There are two distinct epochs- War Zone during Pre General Elections as against Peace Zone during Post General Elections. Therein lies the difference- government under threat, brilliant in the management of many aspects in the war with a marginalized majority to a government, woefully inadequate in times of peace living in bliss, on a cushioned near 2/3 majority. Is it the Orwellian Ministry of Truth’s War is Peace? Living on laurels is like sleeping on a pillow with a reptile underneath. People forgot and forgave the government for any misdemeanour for the greater good of winning the war and expressed their gratitude in abundance at two elections. It means a 23 year cycle (until 2017) with a 2/3 majority in the final lap for a single regime surpassed only in Japan in the democratic world. Indeed, that counts for 16 of the said 23 years, with a war, against the UNP believed to be impliedly in collusion with the terrorists, in the mind of the majority and the JVP after the seismic shift sounds more like NGO clones. The people, waited patiently for the government to reciprocate their gratitude but the evening thunderbolts from the televised news desks of rising prices makes the rupee, worthless than waste paper (LankaWeb : 13 July 2010).

Ban Ki Moon’s Expert Panel & revisiting the real Human Rights culprits - by Shenali Waduge - It is not without reason that Ban Ki Moon is being vilified for degrading his role as the custodian of world peace, not that other UN Secretary General’s have faired any better but it is becoming increasingly clear that the UN & its officials are becoming agents of Western imperialism. Sri Lanka in particular fresh out of a terrorist conflict now finds itself being terrorized by the UN with neo-colonists eyeing to use Sri Lanka’s strategic importance to their benefit in the Asian sub-continent. The predicament Sri Lanka currently faces ironically encompasses the terror reign of the LTTE for a nation whose people are trying to rebuild their lives in peaceful coexistence are being told to go back to the past instead of looking at the future. Does the UN need to be wasting time, resources & money for such useless endeavors? UN Secretary General’s Press Release (SG/SM/12967) of 22nd June 2010 issued by the Dept of Public Information-New York states in its headline: ”Secretary General names Panel of Experts to advise on accountability for possible rights violations during Sri Lanka conflict” A joint statement was issued by the UN Secretary General SG/2151 on 26th May 2009, following his visit to Sri Lanka on 23rd May. From this joint statement the following is apparent : (LankaWeb : 13 July 2010).

Tamil who turned against Tigers urges more aid to repatriate refugees - IN Australia's Tamil community, Noel Nadesan has been, by his own reckoning, the No 1 enemy of the Tamil Tigers. He is an outspoken critic of the war in Sri Lanka who said the "glamour and the glory" of the separatist struggle had disappeared, leaving only "the grim suffering of our people". Dr Nadesan was the Tamil who turned; the founder of a Tamil medical unit supported by the Tamil Tigers in the 1980s who believed violence was necessary, but who came to believe that the separatist dream of Tamil Eelam was a dangerous delusion and its leaders sadistic terrorists. A veterinary surgeon in Melbourne, Dr Nadesan established an Australia-wide community newspaper, Uthayama, printing 10,000 copies a month for 13 years. He used it to urge peace in Sri Lanka. More than once the paper was burned in protest by supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.   In March last year, he led a diaspora delegation of Tamils living in seven countries into talks with the Sri Lankan government. He is helping to establish a hospital in his family's village. Dr Nadesan backs the federal government's decision to lift the freeze on the processing of asylum claims for Sri Lankans. He said yesterday the situation in Sri Lanka had improved greatly since the end of the 26-year war on May 19 last year, with many opponents of the government now released from prison. He said he did not believe any Sri Lankan refugees could hold legitimate fears for their life. Rather than providing asylum, he would like to see the Australian government doing more to aid and repatriate former refugees. Dr Nadesan also offered an insight into Australia's Tamil community, saying that LTTE representatives who were sent to the negotiating table during the war, many of whom were living in Australia, were "imbeciles" (The Australian : 13 July 2010).

Is Sri Lanka a culprit or a victim? By Dr. Edward Perera – Chairman of the Hela Abhimana Foundation in Germany and the Executive Committee Member of Global Sri Lankan Forum in Canada. (The following is Dr. Edward Perera’s text of the handout to be distributed at today’s mass protest in Geneva. The contents of this handout is fully endorsed by Douglas Wickramaratne – President of Sinhala Association in UK, Lenin Benedict – Executive Committee Member of Global Sri Lankan Forum in Canada, Janaka Alahapperuma – President of British Sri Lanka Forum, Saman Mannapperuma – President of Global Sri Lankan Forum in France, Mrs. Chirasri Udugampola – President of Sri Lankan Diaspora and Global Sri Lankan Forum in Switzerland.) There is a special reason to select this particular topic. In a situation, in which the whole world is observing what is taking place in Sri Lanka, this attempt could be a small contribution dedicated to the truth. In a conflict situation where two divided parties claim they themselves to be honest, a third party could end up with a deep ambiguity. In order to avoid this uncertainty in the process of understanding and evaluating the events, a kind of rational explanation would be essentially useful. When we talk about Tamil speaking people in Sri Lanka, they are not purely a nation or a race. The mother language of Sri Lankan Muslims is also Tamil and many Sinhalese living in North West and East of Sri Lanka use Tamil in their day to day activities. If anybody feels that there should be a separate land, so-called Eelam for the Tamil people living in Sri Lanka, the idea can only survive in a dream world due to: (Sinhale Hot News : 13 July 2010).

Security for Chennai HC - The Tamil Nadu government has provided security for the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai which has come under threat from pro-LTTE elements and various other groups including Tamil political parties opposing the Sri Lankan government. In the latest threat a Tamil Nadu political party has demanded that the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai be closed over alleged attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy. The Sri Lankan Navy has however vehemently denied the charges. Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai V. Krishnamoorthy told Daily Mirror online that with the end of the war Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu have begun to return to the island voluntarily. The Deputy High Commissioner said that so far there is no organized program to send the refugees back to Sri Lanka but a large number of refugees have returned voluntarily. (Daily Mirror online : 13 July 2010).

Cabinet meets in Kilinochchi today - This week's Cabinet meeting will be held in Kilinochchi today (14) at the Security Forces headquarters. It will be presided by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This is the first time a Cabinet meeting is being held in the Northern Province. Cabinet meetings would be held in the outstations in the future, too, government sources said. After today's Cabinet meeting, President Rajapaksa will hold a discussion with the ministers on the development activities so far carried out in the district since the end of the war against the LTTE. The President is scheduled to address a public rally at Iranamadu in the afternoon (Island : 13 July 2010).

‘Peace dynamics’ and national treachery - By S Akurugoda, Melbourne, Australia As per a news item appeared in a local news paper last week, the Sri Lanka government strongly disputed a move by UNSG Ban-Ki-moon to link the closure of UNDP Regional Office in Colombo with the on-going dispute over his hotly disputed bid to delve into alleged war crime charges. Sources alleged that UNSG had made an obvious bid to deceive the international community as part of a plan step up pressure on Sri Lanka. This was nothing but a propaganda campaign to tarnish Sri Lanka’s image, the report said, adding that the UN should inquire into UNSG’s conduct. Few months after the elimination of the LTTE terror from our soil, we had every reason to believe that the US and their notable allies were rapidly making a case of war crimes against Sri Lanka on the basis of the conduct of her armed forces as well as political leadership. One of the motivations of this action is to cover-up their own continuing armed conflicts on large scales, involving major humanitarian catastrophes and causing the death of large numbers of civilians due to military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and in some areas of Pakistan. Two self appointed analysts of ‘Sri Lankan conflict and peace dynamics and think tanks’ from Colombo were also said to be a party to the US move. What these ‘peace vendors’ basically said at a meeting, in Washington D.C. with former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Robert Blake, was what Blake wanted them to say. On 28th August 2009, the said duos were reported addressing a close-door meeting convened by the US Institute of Peace (USIP). Another notable participant of this discussion was Teresita Schaffer of The Centre for Strategic and international Studies, one of the former US Ambassadors to Sri Lanka, who was very critical of the Sri Lankan government during her tenure of office in Sri Lanka.  On 25th August 2009, just few days before the commencement of the said close-door meeting, Channel 4 Television in UK telecasted an unauthenticated video showing the alleged extrajudicial execution of a Tamil prisoner by the Security Forces in Sri Lanka. The video is alleged to have been made by the propaganda unit of the LTTE and released to the Channel 4 by a group calling itself ‘Journalists fro Democracy in Sri Lanka’ (Sri Lanka News Online : 13 July 2010) 

‘Rajarata Rajini’ express train upto Omanthai soon - The transport ministry yesterday said that the ‘Rajarata Rajini’ express train woulds be able to ply up to the former LTTE strongpoint - Omanthai, in Vavuniya within the next month. Deputy Transport Minister Rohana Dissanayake said with the completion of laying of the railway tracks, steps will be taken to run the train up to the Omanthai station, although it will take some three months to complete the building of the railway stations. The train is now plying from Matara to Thandikulam, in Vavuniya. “We have completed the building of some seven kilometres from the eleven kilometres long track from Thandikulam to Omanthai. ”The building of the Omanthai railway station commenced in July last year, but there was a delay,” the minister added (Daily Mirror : 13 July 2010).

Concessionary housing loan programme for the North - The concessionary housing loan programme for the benefit of the displaced people in the North was launched in Kilinochchi at the ceremony held to commence the reconstruction of the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) Kilinochchi district office building by the Chairman of NHDA, Jayantha Samaraweera, with the participation of officials and people of the area. The Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities, Wimal Weerawansa had instructed the NHDA to complete this work within four months, the chairman of the NHDA said. The construction of the office building will be carried out by the National Equipment and Machinery Organization which is an affiliate of the NHDA, at a cost of Rs. three million utilizing the raw material and skilled masons of the Kilinochchi area. Fifty families of the area were selected for loans under this pilot project. Each selected family will be provided with Rs. 325,000 on concessionary interest. The plots of lands for the selected families will be given by the Government agent of Kilinochchi. These plots will be provided with all infrastructure facilities such as access roads, water supply etc. the NHDA said. The houses will be designed taking into consideration the wishes of the house holder and the technical know-how will be supplied by the NHDA. The total cost of the housing programme will be Rs. 16.25 million. The construction will be completed within 4 months (The Island : 13 July 2010).

Tamil director arrested - Tamil Film director and founder of Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam Seeman was arrested in Chennai today for his alleged inflammatory speech at a protest meeting recently. Taking part in a protest meet organised to condemn the Sri Lankan government in Chennai a couple of days ago, Seeman had reportedly delivered a speech against which a police complaint was filed. A case was filed against him under Sec IPC 153 for inciting violence. This morning Seeman came to the Chennai Press Club where he was arrested by the police. Speaking on the occasion, Seeman however denied making such a speech (Daily Mirror : 13 July 2010).

It is time to "impeach" Ban Ki Moon for destroying the United Nations.

Australia’s Headache, Asylum Seekers - by Vajeera Warnakulasuriya, Melbourne - The Prime Minister of Australia Hon.Julia Gillard, Dear Prime Minister, Australia’s Headache, Asylum Seekers - Today the Government is compelled to find a solution for this burning question on humanitarian grounds, this has taken priority while other important issues that really matter to the public at large has taken a back step. With the increase of boats arriving to Australia, the Opposition and the media accuse the ALP government’s weakness in the operation of assessing processes set out from the outset. The crucial difference in the situation between last government and this has been forgotten, ignored or missed by all sides! During the last government there was a conflict between the Sri Lankan Government forces and the LTTE Terrorist movement for nearly three decades. Opportunistic wealthy Tamils and those who had financial backing by the Tamil Diaspora had incessant movement by illegal boats at an easy pace, because they never believed this conflict will ever be stopped with the annihilation of the LTTE. All those who managed to set sail were economic migrants who cashed in on the situation under the pretext of bogus hindrances perpetrated on them by the Government and the Sinhalese. Back then there was no urgency, as they could play the same card backed by the corrupt UNHCR officials (there were a considerable number of Tamils working for both UNHCR & the Australian Embassy) when ever a boat set sail. With the unexpected end of the conflict the Tamil Diaspora knew time is running out to play the same card and help to get as much as Tamils to migrate to the West by illegal means. When you cry Wolf, Wolf repeatedly the outcome is well known! (LankaWeb : 12 July 2010).

Former LTTErs to get more jobs - Prime Minister DM Jayaratne yesterday said that the Government will provide more than 3,000 jobs to youth in the Killinochchi and Mullaitivu districts who have had direct contacts with the LTTE. He said that the defence authorities have identified more than 10,000 people who were closely associated with the LTTE and a special program would be implemented to solve their problems. The Prime Minister was addressing the Government officials in the Vavuniya district at the Vavuniya District Secretariat yesterday. He said the Government expects to obtain foreign assistance for the development of every sector in the Province. “We have already commenced discussions with several countries to get their assistance for the development of each and every sector in the Northern Province”, he added. Prime Minister Jayaratne stressed that the Indian Government extends its support for the development of the fisheries harbour in the Northern Province. He said throughout the history the Maha Sangha have played a pivotal role for the protection of the country. They gave much wanted courage to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to fight terrorism by organizing the people who truly love their Motherland. The Prime Minister stressed that they would drew a master plan regarding the development of all places of religious interest at Grama Niladhari and Divisional Secretaries levels (Daily News : 12 July 2010).

Where is Seeman?  - The Police have launched a search for filmmaker and Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam chief Seeman, for allegedly making an inflammatory speech on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue in Chennai on Saturday. “When a police team went in search of him, Seeman was not at the house. His mobile phone too was found switched off. We are looking for him,” a senior police officer was quoted saying while Seeman’s lawyer insisted that his client was not on the run. Speaking at a demonstration against the island government’s alleged atrocities against Tamils, in Chennai Saturday, the director reportedly came down heavily on countries opposing the UN panel set up to probe allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka. It is also said that Seeman, who is a pro-LTTE activist, demanded that Sri Lanka should refrain from using Chinese prisoners in reconstruction projects in the war-hit areas and made some inflammatory remarks (IndiaGlitz, Monday, July 12, 2010).

More soldiers receive houses amidst row over repayment plan for Ipologama housing recipients - The government says no political issue should be made of its on-going efforts to provide houses to the armed forces personnel, disabled combatants and to the families of those killed in action. Lakshman Hulugalle, Director General of Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) says the Opposition seems to be making a bid to disrupt the housing project. Hulugalle and Major General Prasad Samarasinghe, former Military Spokesman say the government will continue with the project aimed at building 700 houses in many parts of the country, Addressing the media at the MCNS last Friday (July 9), DG Hulugalle announced the completion of 25 housing units in the Kandy District under the first phase of the 700 housing unit project. President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday handed over the housing units built in Kandy at a cost of Rs. 22 million (Island : 12 July 2010).

CB Opens fourth provincial office in Jaffna - The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) opened its Northern Provincial Office in Jaffna recently. The provincial office was declared open on 4th July under the patronage of G.A Chandrasiri. The newly opened Provincial Office, the Central Bank's forth provincial office, would be fully functional within the next couple of months, and it would provide fullest advantage to the community in the Northern region. The Provincial Office will conduct surveys of the progress in the region, while it will be extending assistance for the banks in the region. Religious Dignitaries, Dr. Mrs. Ranee Jayamaha, Advisor to HE the President on Banking, Mr. K.G.D.D. Dheerasinghe, Senior Deputy Governor of Central Bank, Mr. P.D.J. Fernando, Deputy Governor of Central Bank, and other Senior Officials of the Central Bank, Mr. K. Ganesh, Jaffna Government Agent, Major General Mahinda Haturusinghe, Jaffna SF Commander, Mrs. Yogeswary Patkunarajah, Hon. Mayor of Jaffna Municipal Council, Mrs. P. Sivalingam, Regional Commissioner, Jaffna, Senior Officials from the Banks in the Northern Province, and Commercial and Industrial Representatives were also present at this event (sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 12 July 2010).

We are not against THE UN, only the panel of Ban Ki-moon: PM - Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne said that Sri Lanka was only opposed to the panel that had been appointed by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to advise him on human rights situation in Sri Lanka and not against the UN Organization as a whole. He pointed out that the UN Secretary General could not take such a decision against a sovereign state. He was speaking at a discussion held at the Vavuniya District Secretariat on Saturday (10) to discuss the renovations to be undertaken on places of religious worship in the North devastated by the war. “Death is inevitable in any war and it is not just the soldiers who die in these battles but civilian casualties too cannot be avoided. A recent example of the uncetainties of war involved the Americans and the bombs dropped by them aimed at Afghanistan which actually fell in Pakistan killing thousands of people. If Mr. Ban Ki- moon wants to appoint panels to inquire into war atrocities he should concentrate on America before turning his guns on Sri Lanka,” the Prime Minister said adding this was not the time to pressurize Sri Lanka when peace has just dawned in the country. Minister Jayaratne, chaired the meeting held at the Vavuniya Urban Council Cultural centre. He then had handed over cheques to religious leaders belonging to various faiths whose building had been damaged or destroyed during the war with the LTTE so that they could begin restoration work immediately (Daily Mirror ; 12 July 2010).

Eastern provincial athletic meet at Trincomalee - The Eastern Province Athletic Meet was commenced on 6th July at the Mc Heyzier Stadium, Trincomalee, participating hundreds of school athletes representing all the school in the province. Governor of the Eastern Province, Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama was the Chief Guest at this event. Secretary to the Ministry of Education, officials from the Department of Education, Trincomalee and large number of teachers and students representing the schools of the province attended at the event (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 12 July 2010).

Civilians allowed entry to Palaly HSZ for annual pooja at Vasavilan kovil - Gnanavairavar Hindu temple at Vasavilan south within the Palaly High Security Zone (HSZ) Jaffna held its annual Pooja on Sunday 4th of June after many years with participation of a large crowd of devotees residing in neighbouring areas. The kovil remained isolated in absence of civilians due to security restrictions however in response to a request made by Chief Kurukkal, Commander Security Forces-Jaffna Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe took steps to relax the restrictions for devotees aspiring to recommence their religious performance at the Gnanavairavar Hindu temple. Prior to commencement of the ceremony, Army troops of the 515 Brigade cleaned the kovil building, its surrounding and the access route to make the place suitable for veneration. Further, Army arranged water and other necessary facilities at the kovil premises for civilians entering the HSZ for religious purposes. Army officers and other ranks serving in the area were present during the ceremony (sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 12 July 2010).

Top UN officials’ contradictions

Liberal Party Statement on Sri Lanka – July 8,2010 - By Ira De Silva, Canada - I have just read your statement on the Liberal party website. To be honest, I do not read anything published on your “party website” – this outlandish statement was sent to me by an “offended” Canadian. My comment to you is that the appointment of this panel is NOT a step forward and is causing resentment at every level of the entire population in Sri Lanka. According to reports from Sri Lanka it has served to unite the people of Sri Lanka in support of the government and against the UN and the western countries who are pushing for the “panel” ignoring their own violations of human rights, indiscriminate killings and the creation of refugees in other countries. What is disheartening is that actions such as this panel, set up at the dictates of the west, is pushing Sri Lanka away from it’s traditional allies such as Canada. Although you may have various degrees from universities and the masses in Sri Lanka do not, they are still aware of the following: This panel is not a UN panel but a panel created by the Secretary General without legitimate authority in violation of the UN Charter and the rights of individual members of the UN. Contrary to the Charter, it seeks to interfere in the internal matters of a member state (LankaWeb : 11 July 2010).

Statement by Canada’s Liberal Party on the UN panel on Sri Lanka - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - Dear Michael and Bob: You two have incensed me with your ‘Statement by the Liberal Party of Canada on the appointment of a UN panel on Sri Lanka’. *See who is talking! -You Liberals brought misery to all Sri Lankans for 13 long years by letting the Tamil ‘Snow’ Tigers in Canada collect two million dollars a month for 13 years to stuff their war-chest to buy sophisticated war weapons, which contributed to the terrorists shipping 11 ship loads of weapons during the ‘Ceasefire’ period between February 2002 and January 2008, to prolong that unnecessary war and killing the innocent civilians in the thousands. By doing just that you forfeited your right to speak on Sri Lanka and tell them what to do (LankaWeb : 11 July 2010).

Ki-moon chopping the UN to spite Colombo? - by Malinda Seneviratne - A few days ago, I got an email, a note that had been blogged on a website. It was titled ‘Quo Warranto Mr. Ban Ki-moon’. The author calls himself ‘Vichara’. Inquiries indicate that it has not been published anywhere. The spur of course is UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of a panel of experts to advise him on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Now, as many, including myself, have pointed out, while Ki-moon calls it an advisory panel, some of the panelists have already re-worded their brief to read ‘investigative’. There are other objections, including the fact that Ki-moon has been selective in the matter of seeking advice, for he has neither appointed any such panel to advise him on Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza (for example), nor shown any expertise himself, not to require such experts to brief him on relevant issues. But first, let me share Vichara’s views. ‘Qui Warranto?’ asks Vichara, or ‘What authority?’ Vichara cites Article No 1 of the UN Charter, the one about maintaining international peace and security, and therefore, the need to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace, suppression of aggression etc. This, Vichara points out, correctly refers to international disputes. He shows, moreover, that Article 7 is a limitation clause, and prohibits the UN from intervening in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of any State, or require members to submit such matters to settlement. The right/responsibility to protect crusade is thus an exercise in correction, what some people believe is this impotency-generating clause, although one observes that the powerful never required any such ‘authority’ to bomb and maim in the name of world peace, or upholding justice, and that, the UN has, by and large, acted as accessory after the fact of genocide (Nation : 11 July 2010).

UN and EU riding together - by Eymard de Silva Wijeyeratne - Hurling personal insults at Ban Ki Moon, Louise Arbour, Lyn Pascoe and Bernard Savage, with the use of puns on their names, is not a solution to the problem that Sri Lanka faces. Yet, the conduct of these foreign functionaries and many others including Mr. Robert Blake, former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and David Miliband leaves room for us to query their motivations in condemning Sri Lanka’s military defeat of the LTTE. Their current attitude must be examined in conjunction with their earlier position that the LTTE was invincible. Though the government of Sri Lanka should exercise restraint in dealing with these questionable interventions, the citizens of Sri Lanka enjoy the inalienable right (necessarily human) to condemn moral turpitude that parades itself under the guise of a rubric of divinely ordained righteousness. The decision of the EU to withdraw the GSP + concession is not based on a rational and fair analysis based on purely trade-related considerations. It is a deviously contrived argument used by a colonial mentality that is hell-bent to act in concert with the United Nations, the United States, The Dublin Tribunal, the International Crisis Group (ICG), the Diaspora domiciled in Europe and the US, the local self-disinherited Diaspora who are ever ready to sell their birthright for a mess of pottage, and NGOs both foreign and local. The insidious aspect of this intervention is that it implicitly declares a preferential option for the LTTE, with total disregard for Sri Lanka’s sovereignty (Island : 11 July 2010).

UNSG’s Panel on Sri Lanka - by Mahinda Gunasekera - Hon. Michael Ignatief, MP Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party; Dear Mr. Michael Ignatief, UNSG’s Panel on Sri Lanka - With reference to the statement made by you in Shanghai supporting the appointment of a UN Panel on Sri Lanka which has been published in the Liberal Party’s website on July 8, 2010, and your concern for Canadian families whom you state were deeply affected by the conflict in Sri Lanka which ended last year. Let me at the outset point out that it is not a UN Panel but a Panel appointed by the UN Secretary General on his own initiative exceeding the powers vested in him by the UN Charter, without the sanction of either the General Assembly, Security Council or the Human Rights Council. In fact, matters relating to the conflict were discussed in the June 2009 sessions of the UNHRC in Geneva and a decision was taken by a vote of 29 to 12 to not intervene in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka pertaining to the military action taken against the designated terrorist group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also known as the Tamil Tigers. Furthermore, Sri Lanka is an independent, sovereign member state of the United Nations which has appointed its own quasi-judicial ‘Commission on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation’ to look into the last seven years of the conflict. The eight member Commission is comprised of distinguished citizens with four drawn from the majority Sinhalese community and two each from the two main minority groups, namely, the Tamil and Muslim communities. Sri Lanka as a sovereign, independent country has the indisputable right under the UN Charter to act in its best judgment on issues dealing with internal matters especially where they relate to maintenance of peace and security. The UNSG’s move is tantamount to pursuing an interventionist role against a member state, and done in bad faith without proper authority (LankaWeb : 11 July 2010).

Ki-moon chopping the UN to spite Colombo? - by Malinda Senevitathna - A few days ago, I got an email, a note that had been blogged on a website. It was titled ‘Quo Warranto Mr. Ban Ki-moon’. The author calls himself ‘Vichara’. Inquiries indicate that it has not been published anywhere. The spur of course is UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of a panel of experts to advise him on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Now, as many, including myself, have pointed out, while Ki-moon calls it an advisory panel, some of the panelists have already re-worded their brief to read ‘investigative’. There are other objections, including the fact that Ki-moon has been selective in the matter of seeking advice, for he has neither appointed any such panel to advise him on Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza (for example), nor shown any expertise himself, not to require such experts to brief him on relevant issues. But first, let me share Vichara’s views. ‘Qui Warranto?’ asks Vichara, or ‘What authority?’ Vichara cites Article No 1 of the UN Charter, the one about maintaining international peace and security, and therefore, the need to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace, suppression of aggression etc. This, Vichara points out, correctly refers to international disputes. He shows, moreover, that Article 7 is a limitation clause, and prohibits the UN from intervening in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of any State, or require members to submit such matters to settlement (Nation : 11 July 2010).

Govt assures security at UN offices - The Government has assured security at the UN Head Office in Colombo and its other agencies. No security concerns have been raised due to the protests by the National Freedom Front (NFF).  Protesting against UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s advisory panel to look into accountability issues during the last stages of the military operation to crush the LTTE, Minister of Housing and Engineering Services Wimal Weerawansa is on a fast unto death campaign. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the Sunday Observer that there was no issue of security threats to the UN Offices or its staffers.  “The Government had protected UN officials working in the North and the East during the military operation. We gave them the fullest security protection during those difficult days. Now there is no such security threat in the country,” he said.  Rajapaksa said that the campaign was a peaceful protest and that such protests were held even in front of the UN Head Office in New York. “ There is no reason to think that the security at UN offices and that of its staff are at stake”, he said.  The Defence Secretary said that he had alerted the UN Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne to inform him about any security concern but there was no such complaint.  “The protest was peaceful and the protestors did not disrupt the day-to-day work of the UN offices”, he said adding that security at the UN and of its staffers has been fully guaranteed (Sunday Observer : 11 July 2010).

Sequel to Sri Lanka’s vehement opposition: Top UN officials’ contradictions - Several top officials of the United Nations (UN), including its Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, have conducted themselves in a questionable manner, contradicting their own statements after Sri Lanka vehemently objected to the UN’s decision to appoint a three-member committee on alleged war crimes. Though the UN founded in 1945 aimed at facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achieving world peace, Ki-moon and certain UN officials here and abroad have conducted themselves in a highly questionable manner during and after Sri Lanka’s relentless battle against terrorism. Following the fast unto death campaign by National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa and the peaceful protest close to the UN office in Bauddhaloka Mawatha near Thunmulla Junction, certain UN officials made desperate attempts to link the developments in Colombo with a previous decision to close the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office in Sri Lanka. The Government strongly disputed a move by Ki-moon to link the closure of the UNDP Regional Office in Colombo with the protests against the UN in Colombo over his arbitrary decision to delve into alleged war crime charges against Sri Lanka’s valiant Security Forces (Sunday Observer : 11 July 2010).

Prabhakaran’s mother can visit Tamil Nadu for treatment - The Madras High Court has granted unconditional permission to Parvathi Velupillai, mother of the late LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, to visit India for medical treatment. Since being denied entry to Tamil Nadu in May, Mrs. Velupillai, 79 years, has been hospitalised in Velvettithurai, Jaffna. She arrived in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on April 16, from Malaysia, but was denied a visa. According to her guardian, former Member of Parliament N. K. Sivajilingam, Mrs. Velupillai’s condition has not improved since she entered hospital two months ago (Sunday Times : 11 July 2010).

Malaysians of Jaffna origin hail peace-building measures - Malaysian Tamils of Jaffna origin have praised the peacebuilding measures under way in the Jaffna peninsula. A 30-member group of Malaysian Tamils of Jaffna origin toured Jaffna and observed the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities carried out in the region. They also held a meeting with the Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe who briefed them on the post-conflict situation in the peninsula. Maj. Nanayakkara told the Sunday Observer that the 30-member Malaysian Tamils of Jaffna origin were the third generation in Jaffna and they visited the land of their forefathers after decades. Dato Kanagaratnam, a lawyer by profession led the Malaysian team which included those serving in the Malaysian Armed Forces and professionals in various fields along with members from the business community. The Malaysians also held talks with the Government Agent Jaffna K. Ganesh and gathered information on making investments in Jaffna. They also visited the sites of religious worship and other prime landmarks in the peninsula."The Malaysian delegation also presented 4,000 books to the Jaffna Public Library and walked around the refurbished Jaffna library building," Major Lal Nanayakkara said. The delegation showed great satisfaction over the post-conflict peace building efforts, Maj. Nanayakkara said (Sunday Observer : 11 July 2010).

Australia gets tough with asylum seekers - The new Australian Government has warned that bogus asylum seekers would be deported according to reports from Australia. Sri Lankan Tamils who attempted to enter Australia by illegal means are being held at the Tamjung Pinang detention centre in Indonesia months after their boat was seized by the Indonesian authorities. The Australian Government of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took a tough stance against asylum seekers and according to the Australian Immigration Department 1,050 people were adversely affected by the visa freez on Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers. Of the 1,050 asylum seekers 866 were Afghans and 184 were Sri Lankans. Earlier, the new Australian Prime Minister Ms. Julia Gillard called upon the East Timor and New Zealand to help in setting up Centres for asylum seekers. However, there was a negative response from both countries, informed sources said. The Australian Prime Minister has also unveiled plans to curb illegal immigration, while considering the appeals by genuine asylum seekers, the sources said. Under the new coalition policy an asylum seeker who deliberately destroys his or her identity documents is not a refugee. It also makes it tougher for asylum seekers who arrive by boat to be resettled in Australia the sources said (Sunday Observer : 11 July 2010).

Hasalaka Hero alias Corporal Gamini Kularatne: Gallant hero defends Elephant Pass - The saga of Corporal Gamini Kularatne alias Hasalaka Hero may be familiar to everyone in the country as the nation remembers him after the great victory achieved by our heroic troops against the LTTE in May 2009. People now can see the place where this hero sacrificed his life in Elephant Pass and the monster bulldozer that overran the Elephant Pass camp in July 1991, since the place is now accessible to all. But his death would have been just another one if his colleague, Rifleman Rovel did not see the supreme sacrifice he made on July 13, 1991 and told it to Major Karunaratne who was in charge of the Elephant Pass camp at that time. The isolated battle they fought for almost 24 days without any outside support goes down in history as one of pitched battles the Sri Lanka Army had fought against the LTTE during the three-decade conflict. 19 years after that valiant battle was fought in Elephant Pass, Major General (Retd) Sanath Karunaratne, now the Chief Security Officer of the Port Authority, recalls the saga to the Sunday Observer in memory of Corporal Gamini Kularatne and all those who sacrificed their lives in that great battle to defend Elephant Pass camp. The date July 9, 1991 was a significant date for the troops in Elephant Pass camp. Around 9 pm after dinner Commanding Officer of the 6 Sinha Regiment battalion deployed in Elephant Pass, Major Sanath Karunaratne, his second in command (2IC ) Major Lalith Buddhadasa, Artillery Officer Captain Dhamma Mudunkotuwa and Adjutant, Captain Ramesh Fernando were playing cards in their command post (Sunday Observer : 11 July 2010).

Lankan forces never committed war crimes - PM - Sri Lanka does not in any way oppose the United Nations nor its activities. What we oppose is the UN Secretary General's unilateral decision to appoint an advisory panel on Sri Lanka, said Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne in Vavuniya. He stressed that the Sri Lankan Forces had never committed war crimes in their effort to liberate thousands of civilians who were forcibly held by the LTTE terrorists. The Prime Minister was addressing the Government officials in the Vavuniya District Secretariat after launching the national program to develop the places of religious worship in the Northern province. Prime Minister Jayaratne said the country can not give into the pressure of an individual. "The NGOs which accused the Government of committing war crimes during the last stage of the battle against terrorism do not have proper evidence to prove that the Security Forces committed war crimes. "The people of this country should be united to defeat all forces that stand against the country protect the country's dignity, he said. He asked why the UN Secretary General failed to look into war crimes perpetrated by the US by shelling Pakistan. Hundreds of people were killed when the missiles aimed at Afghanistan's terrorist targets fell into the Pakistani territory" , he added. He stressed that the resettlement of 40,000 people would be completed within next six months provided that the area where these people are to be resettled is cleared of mines. The Premier added that the delay in resettling the people is that they want to live in their original places in the Mullaitivu district. He added that these areas are heavily dotted with mines and a great effort is being made by the military and other organisations to clear mines and booby traps from this areas soon (Sunday Observer ; 11 July 2010).

Govt rejects allegations of Navy harming Indian fishermen - The Government has vehemently rejected the Tamil Nadu-based allegation that the Sri Lanka Navy opened fire at the Indian fishermen in Lankan waters. Media Minister and Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said such allegations were brought up to sabotage the goodwill between Sri Lanka and India. "These allegations are baseless and we can reassure that Sri Lanka Navy personnel had not opened fire at any Indian fishermen", he said. Minister Rambukwella who visited India with President Mahinda Rajapaksa last month said the issue was discussed at length at their meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "President Rajapaksa had specifically explained the measures taken by the Government to safeguard the fishermen of both countries. He also discussed the implementation of a joint strategy to ensure their safety and to solve their issues", he said. According to Minister Rambukwella, both leaders had agreed that the issues were getting aggravated after Sri Lanka relaxed the fishing restrictions imposed during the military operation against the LTTE. "There are no fishing restrictions and fishermen from both countries are actively engaged in fishing. They are not bothered about territorial waters and restrictions and only want a good catch. It is time for both countries to work out a strategy to prevent such issues", he said (Sunday Observer : 11 July 2010).

UN chief should disband the so-called "Advisory Panel"

Ban Ki Moon ensure LTTE atrocities are investigated first - by Shenali Waduge - If throughout thirty years the UN Secretary General is clueless of what has been happening in a member country called Sri Lanka, it may be best that he first ask his expert panel to investigate & apprise him of all LTTE atrocities first. Given that the LTTE is a terrorist organization, banned in all the major countries of the world & listed in the UN list of shame, it is only fair that the UN Secretary General is fully aware of all of the atrocities committed by the LTTE. It is nevertheless surprising that the UNSG has no knowledge of these heinous crimes committed by the LTTE or maybe these documents are missing. Given that his speeches are being written by another & these carry various erroneous statements similar to the one about the UN envoy in Sri Lanka being recalled & the closure of the UNDP office in Sri Lanka following the fast unto death by a Sri Lankan minister, we too wonder exactly what the UNSG knows about the situation in Sri Lanka during the LTTE terror reign & the post-LTTE where peace has prevailed, displaced have been resettled & introduced to new lifestyles, LTTE soldiers have been rehabilitated & the Government even arranging marriages for those ex-combatants & even arranging housing for these newly weds. Can any Government fresh out of a conflict situation boast of such visible changes…where people today can travel freely without free of suicide attacks, roadside bombs, curfews etc. (LankaWeb : 10 July 2010).

Ban Ki-Moon betrays his agreement with President Rajapakse - by H. L. D. Mahindapala - UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, was warned earlier by Sri Lanka that any interference by foreign agents will exacerbate the delicate political atmosphere prevailing in the immediate and sensitive aftermath of the post-Vadukoddai War. When he met President Mahinda Rajapakse soon after the War ended in May 2009 it was agreed in a Joint Statement (issued on May 23, 2009) that the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) will set up a mechanism to look into what went wrong and how to remedy any past mistakes. As stated by Ban in his latest statement the “objectives (of the Joint Statement) include the further fostering of reconciliation and related issues as well as reflecting the commitment by Sri Lanka to the promotion and protection of human rights and the importance of accountability in order to continue the strengthening of peace and development in that country. The United Nations recognizes that the responsibility in this regard is that of the Government of Sri Lanka.” Accordingly, President Rajapakse fulfilled his part of the agreement by setting up the Commission on Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation (CLLR) (LankaWeb : 10 July 2010).

Ban Ki Moons as the UN Secretary General should not act on the dictates of a few member States, as he takes authority from all member States - By Charles.S.Perera - Now we know who were behind Ban Ki Moons ‘ move against Sri Lanka to appoint a three-man Panel to advise him whether there had been violation of human rights by the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka in the last phase of its military operations against the terrorists. Germany, UK, France, USA, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Romania, Norway and EU are obviously the prime movers of the idea of a Panel to Ban Ki Moon. These same countries voted against the resolution submitted by Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the 27 May, 2009. Very Strangely in Tamil Nadu a political party Hindu Makkal Kachi also has protested against the President Mahinda Rajapakse, for not allowing a UN Probe. Like minded people flock together ? In the statement issued by the Colombo based diplomatic Missions of the nine countries and EU, it is state that the manifestation before the UN Office in Colombo is “harmful to Sri Lanka’s reputation “ in the world. But what have these countries done to enhance the reputation of Sri Lanka which got rid of a ruthless group of terrorist by its own strategies netting in the terrorists leadership which every one thought was “invincible “, and carried out a tremendous rescue operation to bring in thousands of Tamil Civil population kept as a human shield by terrorist (LankaWeb : 10 July 2010).

Ban clarifies panel mandate - UN Secretary-General Ban ki-moon has reiterated that the three member panel appointed by him on Sri Lanka has been set up to advise him with regard to taking forward the objectives of the Joint Statement of 23 May 2009 between Sri Lanka and the UN and is not an investigative body. In a new statement released from New York, the UN Chief said that the Panel itself will advise him on the modalities, applicable international standards and comparative experience relevant to an accountability process. It will be a resource available to assist the Government of Sri Lanka and the Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation in applying the international best practice in this regard, he said. “These objectives include the further fostering of reconciliation and related issues, as well as reflecting the commitment by Sri Lanka to the promotion and protection of human rights and the importance of accountability in order to continue the strengthening of peace and development in that country,” he said. The Secretary-General believes the strong reaction to his establishment of a Panel of Experts on accountability in Sri Lanka is not warranted and called on the government to take urgent action to normalize conditions around the United Nations offices in Colombo so as to ensure the continuation of the vital work of the Organization to assist the people of Sri Lanka. (Daily Mirror online : 10 July 2010).

Nothing against UN – Ven Elle Gunawansa Thera - Only opposed to Advisory Panel:  Sri Lanka has nothing against the United Nations Organization. It is only opposed to the so-called Advisory Panel appointed by its Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at his own whim, Ven Elle Gunawansa Thera said. Ven Gunawansa Thera said Sri Lanka is not ungrateful to forget the financial assistance provided by the UN to uplift the living standards of poor and under privileged community in rural areas. UN assistance specially focused at the poor children would always be appreciated by all citizens in this country. Ven Gunawansa Thera was speaking at a media conference at Sawsiripaya auditorium yesterday organized to support the fast-unto-death campaign staged by National Freedom Front Chairman Wimal Weerawansa. It has been very clear that the appointment of his Advisory Panel is on the needs of worldwide LTTE sympathizers who supported separatism right throughout. “We cannot give into their desires,” the Thera stressed. He said that he was unhappy about the action of other political party leaders for not supporting the anti-Moon campaign launched by Weerawansa. The people will realize who the real patriots and non-patriots are, he said (Daily News ; 10 July 2010).

Exclusive interview on UN compound row We believe in working with global community, says Gota - Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says Sri Lanka remains committed to the UN ideals and strongly believes in working with the international community in a post-LTTE era, contrary to the perception among a section of the global community. The outspoken official, who is widely credited with spearheading the overall military strategy against the LTTE, says the time is ripe for a partnership for progress. Eradication of LTTE terrorism at a tremendous cost to the country, he said, had given all stakeholders an opportunity to work in unison for one goal. In a candid exclusive interview with The Sunday Island where he pulled no punches, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa accused an influential section within the UN of exploiting the ongoing protest outside the UN compound at the Bauddhaloka Mawatha compound to undermine Sri Lanka. Could they be so naïve to blame the closure of UNDP Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific situated at the Independence Avenue on the ongoing protest at Bauddhaloka Mawatha? An irate Rajapaksa said that the Colombo-based diplomatic community and the Sri Lankan government had been aware of the decision to shift that office to Bangkok for some time. Asked whether the government take up this issue with the UN, a smiling Rajapakasa pointed out that UN Office of the Resident Coordinator had rectified the erroneous statement attributed to the UNSG (Island : 10 July 2010).

Ban Ki Lands on Moon to Scrutinize Sri Lanka’s War Crimes - by Asoka Perera, PhD, Toronto, Canada - The appointment of three member UN panel by Secretary General of United Nations instantly reminded me the similar panel appointed by former Secretary General Kofi Anan to investigate the possession of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq by UN security council just after the 9/11 incident in USA. As a measure of countering global terrorism, UN Security Council was supported by member states to carry out the mission led by US and UK. Panel returned after fact finding mission in Iraq empty handed, but the hidden agenda of US and UK in demolishing Iraq regime continued to follow on the tract that US and UK have already agreed upon. Mission accomplished, American puppet was installed in Iraq and now operation continues in Afghanistan under the pre-text of capturing Bin Laden. This incident clearly indicated that UN panels are not truly appointed for fact finding or advisory purposes when it comes to terrorism matters, but to gradually destabilize and finally demolish the sovereign states whose states policies are not in line with west agendas. West led by US and UK demand other individual states either supportive of their agenda or stay neutral (Lankaweb : 10 July 2010).

UN chief should disband Advisory Panel - Govt - The Government’s stance is UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should disband the UN special advisory panel as it is baseless to appoint such a panel. The UN has to reconsider this issue, Ministers Maithripala Sirisena, Nimal Siripala de Silva and Prof GL Peiris said yesterday. The Ministers addressing the media at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Head Office said Sri Lanka maintains a good rapport with the UN and other countries. “As Sri Lanka is also a member of UN we are bound by agreement on safeguarding human rights. Sri Lanka as an independent country has proved that human rights of every citizen has been protected to the maximum,” they said. Several countries including China and Russia have exerted pressure on Ban Ki-moon to disband the special advisory panel appointed by him on his own accord. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party has always maintained a balanced foreign policy. The Non-Aligned Summit was also held in Sri Lanka as a result of this, Minister Sirisena said. Prof Peiris said the UN office in Colombo is not closed and office activities are carried out by its staff. All activities carried out by the UN office in Colombo continue. UN Sri Lanka Representative Neil Bhune has been told to come to the UN Headquarters for discussions, the Minister said (Daily News : 10 July 2010).

EX-LTTE CHIEF“KP”: THE TIGER WHO CHANGED HIS STRIPES - The tiger, they say, does not change its stripes. The leopard too won’t change its spots. This inability or refusal to change is certainly true of the four –legged felines. There are some – perpetually paranoid- who would say this is applicable to the near extinct two–legged tiger in Sri Lanka too. “Once a tiger always a tiger.”In fact there is a proverbial saying in Tamil “Puli Pasithalum Pullai Thinnaathu”(even when hungry the tiger will not eat grass). Whatever truth these sayings may seek to convey, the reality in Sri Lanka is that of many members and ex-members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) changing their stripes. Ferocious felines are transformed from carnivores into herbivores. The most famous examples of this successful transition were until recently Vinayagamurthy Muraleetharan alias Karuna and Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan. The former is a Parliamentarian and Deputy minister while the latter is Chief minister of the Eastern Provincial Council. There are also innumerable instances of nondescript Tigers cadres dropping out of the movement and embarking on a new , violence free family life. Thousands of former Tigers have sought refuge in foreign countries. Most of them lead quiet, dignified lives contributing immensely to society at large. The latest and brightest star on this firmament is Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP. The man who was at one time the chief arms procurer of the LTTE went on to become the international chief of the Tigers. After the demise of Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, KP succeeded him on grounds of seniority. In a re-structured LTTE Pathmanathan alias KP was appointed the “Thalaimai Seyalar” or chief secretary. This post was akin to being leader.This elevation did not come easily as an overseas cabal led by Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan opposed it bitterly. However KP’s moment of glory as head of the LTTE was very brief. In a sudden operation amounting to an “extraordinary rendition” Pathmanathan was apprehended in Malaysia and transported to Sri Lanka last August. He has been a “guest” of the Rajapaksa regime since then (Daily Mirror : 10 July 2010).

IT IS TIME TO “IMPEACH” BAM KI MOON FOR DESTROYING UNITED NATIONS - By Hasaka Ratnamalala - United States and some countries at European Union, collaboration with Secretary General’s office are trying to find new ways to interfere the sovereignty of member nations. This time UNSG Ban Ki moon is directly acting as a puppet of some western Nations; further more he and his backers are demanding the Sri Lankan government to violate the freedom of expression of Sri Lankans by banning protests against Ban Ki Moon. A protest which started by Wimal Weerawansa a Sri Lankan patriot few days ago is a peaceful “Satyagraha” against Ban Ki Moon for appointing a panel of three to advise him on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. But some pro western political pundits claim, that these types of things have to be resolve diplomatically. Yes, but the question is did Mr. Ban Ki Moon has left any room for diplomacy? Sri Lanka’s top diplomat at UN Dr. Kohana who happened to be the former chief protocol officer of United Nations and claims that Ban Ki Moon is trying to create a “precedent” to create an alternate way to interfere sovereignty of member nations. Dr. Kohana who is an authority on UN laws is in the view that Ban Ki Moon is acting unlawfully, what other evidence we need that the doors are closed for diplomacy (HR Blog on Sri Lanka : 10 July 2010).

Protests and the United Nations - The people of Sri Lanka are enraged at the appointment of a Panel of Experts by the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) to advise him on Sri Lanka. Civil society organizations, political parties and the Government have expressed their displeasure and disapproval of the measure. In doing so the UNSG has been influenced by certain officials of the UN whose partisan attitude towards Sri Lanka is well known. The fact that the UNSG has thought it not appropriate to constitute and seek advice from similar panels when there were large scale violations of human rights, even amounting to genocide, committed by powerful members of the UN makes one wonder whether he is also biased against Sri Lanka. Going by official records of the UN there has been no adverse decisions taken by any of its official bodies such as the Security Council, the General Assembly or the UN Human Rights Council. In fact the latter has made a strong approval of the conduct of Sri Lanka when there were attempts to pass resolutions against Sri Lanka in that body over the conduct of the Humanitarian Mission of the Armed Forces (Daily News : 10 July 2010).

Protest against UN panel: Call for Int’l writers to muster support - The Janatha Lekhaka Peramuna representing writers, artistes and intellectuals has requested the Asia-Africa Writers Association and the Asia-Africa Solidarity Association based in Egypt to muster support among its membership in Asian and African countries to protest against the three member advisory panel appointed by the UN Secretary General to advise him on human rights violations in Sri Lanka during the final stage of the humanitarian operations to liberate people from terrorism. The memorandum signed by its General Secretary Gunasena Vithana has said the panel has been appointed by the UN Secretary General at his own will without the consent of the UN Organization to satisfy the whims and fancies of international forces arraigned against Sri Lanka (Daily News : 10 July 2010).

Protests and the United Nations - The people of Sri Lanka are enraged at the appointment of a Panel of Experts by the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) to advise him on Sri Lanka. Civil society organizations, political parties and the Government have expressed their displeasure and disapproval of the measure. In doing so the UNSG has been influenced by certain officials of the UN whose partisan attitude towards Sri Lanka is well known. The fact that the UNSG has thought it not appropriate to constitute and seek advice from similar panels when there were large scale violations of human rights, even amounting to genocide, committed by powerful members of the UN makes one wonder whether he is also biased against Sri Lanka. Going by official records of the UN there has been no adverse decisions taken by any of its official bodies such as the Security Council, the General Assembly or the UN Human Rights Council. In fact the latter has made a strong approval of the conduct of Sri Lanka when there were attempts to pass resolutions against Sri Lanka in that body over the conduct of the Humanitarian Mission of the Armed Forces (Daily News : 10 July 2010).

‘Self deception and waiting for unidentified enemy’ - Shanie writing under above title in THE ISLAND of 3 July, leaving apart the literary jargon quoted out of context, says: ‘Now that the LTTE is vanquished, new enemies have to be created to find a fear substitute’, quoting as an example where ‘the Defence Secretary wants the former Army Commander hanged, if he gives evidence against the government.’ The Defence Secretary was only responding to BBC HARD TALK presenter’s revelation that former Army Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka (SF) is ready to testify before a war crime probe implicating top military officials as revealed in a clandestine telephone conversation that he (news presenter) had with SF. In the first place, it was improper on the part of SF to have engaged in a clandestine talk with a foreign media like BBC that is biased against our country. Secondly, it is not known as to what other vital information he may have passed to the news presenter. On an earlier occasion, SF had reportedly passed out details of the place he was kept detained (Island : 10 July 2010).

Minister Wimal Weerawansa is engaged in a fast unto death opposite the UN office in Colombo.

Ban Ki-Moon is dragging UN down to his level-Part II - by H. L. D. Mahindapala - Tensions between Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General (UNSG) and Sri Lanka are rising. Consequently, the gulf between the two is also widening. Ban, in particular, is hardening his stand hoping to impose his will on Sri Lanka. Publicly he claims that the UN has the expertise to handle conflict situations but his actions reveal that he is as incompetent as some of his predecessors in handling simple issues that confront the UN. Take the current situation in Colombo. Reacting to public protests at the UN office in Colombo Ban declared that he has decided to (1) recall the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr. Neil Buhne, to New York for consultations and (2) close the UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo. Then, climbing the pedestal of a morally righteous preacher, he added: “The Secretary-General calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to live up to its responsibilities towards the United Nations as host country, so as to ensure continuation of the vital work of the Organization to assist the people of Sri Lanka without any further hindrance.” After creating the problem in the first place of appointing a three-man panel against the will of the Sri Lankan people and the government, he now claims that his intention is “to assist the people of Sri Lanka.” Leaving aside the public protests against the UN in Colombo, the general public opinion in Sri Lanka is decisively against interference in the domestic affairs by any foreign agents. This was public knowledge and if Ban was a competent peace-maker, genuinely trying to cool down feelings instead of inflaming them, he should have known not to provoke and exacerbate the political environment of a sensitive nation trying to recover from a 33-year-old war – a war perpetuated mainly by foreign funding, foreign interference and bogus theories promoted by I/NGOs and foreign offices (LankaWeb : 9 July 2010).

Tamil link to Perth credit card skimming - Sri Lankan Tamils were largely behind credit card skimming crimes that had cost about 6000 West Australians more than $6.5 million from EFTPOS machines, Assistant Commissioner Nick Anticich said yesterday. And there are concerns that funds raised in such operations could be diverted to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly known as the Tamil Tigers and listed by a number of countries as a terrorist organisation. Speaking at the Australian Association of Crown Prosecutors conference, Mr Anticich identified skimming crimes involving EFTPOS and automatic teller machines and identity theft as emerging crimes committed by organised crime outfits. Since December, WA Police have launched two major investigations into EFTPOS skimming involving two syndicates in Perth. Seven people have been charged and are before the courts, with one of the accused wanted in Canada over similar charges . "This form of skimming is predominantly perpetrated globally by persons of Tamil ethnic origin," Mr Anticich said yesterday. "Of the 20 persons arrested for offences regarding this crime type in Australia, 19 are confirmed to be of Tamil origin." In Canada and Britain, members of the Sri Lankan community were compelled to participate in credit card skimming operations under threats of violence to family members who remained in the war-torn nation. In those cases, funds gathered by the skimmers were diverted to the LTTE. There is no evidence to suggest that money obtained in credit card skimming operations in Australia has been diverted back to the LTTE or that those charged in the WA investigations are linked to the LTTE . Australia does not list the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. The LTTE waged a bloody civil war against the Sri Lankan army but was crushed in May last year. Both sides were accused of atrocities during the long-running conflict. Despite the military defeat, security experts believe that the LTTE continue to raise funds across the world and may one day re-ignite its push for an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka. Mr Anticich told delegates that skimming operations involving ATMs were predominantly committed by persons of Bulgarian and Romanian ethnicity. Such cases have been isolated in WA. He added that WA Police was leading the formation of a joint agency identity crime strike team that would involve the Australian Federal Police, Customs and Border Protection and the Immigration Department (The West Com : 9 July 2010).

UN contradicts UN again - Just hours after the UN office in Colombo said that the closing down of the UNDP Regional Center in Sri Lanka was not linked to the protests outside the UN in Colombo, UN Associate spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York a short while ago that both were linked. He said that a decision was earlier taken to scale down the activities of the UNDP Regional Center in Sri Lanka but following the protests in Colombo the UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon had decided to completely shut down the UNDP Regional Center. “The decision to close down the UNDP Regional Center in Colombo was taken as a direct response to the situation affecting our main UN compound (in Colombo). Prior to this a discussion was held with the Foreign Minister to downsize the operations. However in light of the announcement by the Secretary General we are now closing that Center outright,” Haq told reporters a short while ago. Earlier in the day an official at the UN office in Colombo told Daily Mirror online that preparations were underway for several months now to close down the UNDP Regional Center in Sri Lanka and it was not linked to the protest. “To my knowledge it (closing the UNDP Regional Center) has nothing to do with this current issue because it has been on the cards for several months. It is not a new move. This UNDP Regional Center was located earlier in Kathmandu but because of the worsening security situation there during that time, the decision was taken to shift the Center to Colombo somewhere in 2006 or 2007. However within the last year a decision was taken, taking into consideration some administrative and financial concerns to downsize the regional center and to shift the main functions to the Bangkok office. This is not a new move as it has been on the card for several months,” a UN Colombo official explained. (Daily Mirror online : 9 July 2010).

The UN-Neocolonial partnership - by Shenali Waduge - Replacing colonialism today is neo-colonialism & its offspring economic liberalism. Facilitating modern forms of “interventions” upon sovereign nations is the United Nations whose laws, protocols, conventions etc have been designed to legalize & necessitate these actions. To execute these pogroms are terminologies like “responsibility to protect” ‘human rights”, “press freedom” & even “terrorism” which all eventually leads to approval for foreign presence & eventually enable these states to have their country “looted” of its natural resources. Further strangulating these nations are internationally “approved” institutes like the World Bank, IMF with their “structural adjustment programs” wherein countries are made to compromise & open up their markets wherein western nations suck out countries of its riches. Ideally, suited are puppet Governments to advance western interests but in countries where leaders have shown astuteness or signs of bravado to stand against western dictates, their weak areas are targeted & this is where Sri Lankan citizenry must be alert to ensure that the country’s leaders to do stray nor allow the country to be compromised. All facets of neo-colonial activity is what prevails in modern trade, international laws & diplomacies (LankaWeb : 9 July 2010).

Ranil urged US Govt to pressurise Sri Lanka - Prof Peiris - External Affairs Minister Prof GL Peiris told Parliament yesterday that Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has requested the United States to pressurise the Sri Lankan Government to publish an 'Incident Report' on alleged human rights violations and that war crimes took place during the last phase of the humanitarian operations to rescue people from the LTTE.  Making a speech during his Ministry's vote during the committee stage of budget 2010, the Minister said this request by the Opposition Leader had been published in the US State Department publication titled Sri Lanka:  Re-charting US strategy after the war prepared by the Committee on Foreign Relations of the US. The committee working on after the war situation has recorded their observations in this report. He quoted the following paragraphs from the report: "Many Sri Lankan Government officials seemed surprised by the barrage of international criticism and intense public scrutiny they received following the war.  They had expected instead, praise for defeating a notorious terrorist group which pioneered suicide bombing techniques and assassinated Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and space to make to a post conflict environment.  The Opposition Leader takes a different view. United National Party and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said the United States was on the right track in publishing the "Incident Report" and should "keep pressure on the Government." (Daily News : 9 July 2010).

Mr Ban Ki Moon wants to be the King of the world – Abuse of power in UN - by Ben Silva - Attention of Mr Ban Ki Moon Secretary General UN; Mr Ban Ki Moon wants to be the King of the world - Abuse of power in UN - The former South Korean foreign minister has got power into his thick head. He appears to be manipulated by Tamil women in UN. He now want to extend his weapon (no pun) and power to satisfy the Tamil women in UN manipulating him. He appears to use UN as a weapon against Sri Lanka, although UN member nations have voted in favour of Lanka, on a human rights issue. Some say, UN is a corrupt, worthless organization [1], that does not work. Mr Moon wants to be above the sovereignty, people, and the President of Sri Lanka and wants to take charge of the and law and order situation in Sri Lanka. He believes that he is a better judge of the situation in Sri Lanka than the people of Sri Lanka or the Present who was elected with an overwhelming majority. This is indeed a deadly threat to world peace and should not be allowed to happen. Already, Mr Moon’s stupid decisions are causing violence and instability in Sri Lanka. As this idiot cannot think for himself, he wants a puppet panel to advice him. He has completely ignored the far more violators of HR, such as the killing of over one million people in Iraq due to an illegal war to rob Iraqi Oil assets by a few Western countries, the same countries that hound Sri Lanka now. Sri Lankans are glad GOSL did not give in to bulling by Mr Moon who appears to be a puppet of Western and Tamil imperialism, manipulated y Tamils in UN (LankaWeb : 9 July 2010).

KANGAROO COURT OF DR BAN KI MOON- EPISODE NO.2 (Appeal to Mr Marzuki Darusmaan to respect Indonesians and resign) - By Dr M D P DISSANAYAKE - As reported by the writer in an earlier article to Lanka Web, the United Nations charter has authority to expel a member nation, but it has no provision for a member nation to voluntarily withdraw from its membership. Despite its governing rules, in 1965, courageous first President Sukarno of Indonesia withdrew its membership from the UN, protesting Malaysia’s membership in the UN, and thus became the first country to leave UN even for a brief period. UN learnt its first lesson from an Asian leader. After 45 years, an imminent Indonesian son Mr Marzuki Darusmaan has accepted the offer of Mr Ban Ki Moon to head the Chairmanship of the Panel to investigate any war crimes against Sri Lanka.. After several months of hard labour, Mr Ban Ki Moon (BKM) has delivered his ill-fated baby, by appointing panel headed by Mr Marzuki Darusmaan of Indonesian Golkar Party. The international condemnation against this panel was spontaneous and now gathering further momentum in large scale at home in Sri Lanka and overseas. During the period of war against Terrorism in Sri Lanka, Indonesia was one of the countries constantly supported the government of Sri Lanka. Two Hundred and twenty millions in Indonesia are great fans of Sri Lanka. In fact with my experience in Indonesia for nearly 20 years, Indonesians can be regarded as the world’s best bunch of people. They may be poor, but would not steal wealth of others. They may not be Buddhists, but would not tell lies. They may be poor, but will not kneel down to American power houses to get their Nasi Goreng ( fried rice). They may be poor but will not hesitate to fight, demonstrate in front of US embassy, UK embassy or UN head offices (LankaWeb : 9 July 2010).

Sri Lanka says UN chief 'acted in haste' with envoy recall - Sri Lanka said Friday that UN chief Ban Ki-moon had "acted in haste" by recalling his top envoy on the island in response to angry protests over a UN war crimes panel. Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said the government had told Ban's chief representative Neil Buhne that the days of protests outside the main UN office in Colombo would end on Friday. "Given that background, the UN secretary-general acted in haste by asking Mr Buhne to come to New York," Peiris told parliament, adding that his government "regretted" the move. However, the sit-down protest outside the main UN compound dragged into the night on Friday with no sign of ending. The UN's main office in Colombo has been virtually under siege since Tuesday from demonstrators demanding that Ban halt a UN probe into alleged rights abuses during the final stages of Sri Lanka's civil war (Yahoo News : 9 July 2010).

Peaceful protests are legal; we seek to end crisis - GL - While asserting that the government was seeking an early end to the crisis resulting from the protest outside the UN office in Colombo, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said yesterday that the government had no authority to clamp down on a peaceful demonstration. He said it was lawful to have peaceful protests and demonstrations. “We will not curtail such fundamental rights. We cannot use force to disperse a lawful demonstration,” he said, adding that it was a right recognized by the UN as well. However, Prof Peiris said, it was the duty of the government to protect the sanctity and dignity of diplomatic precincts. As a result, he said, the security of the premises of the UN office had been strengthened now. He said that he had contacted the UN Headquarters in New York and assured them of the safety of the office in Colombo and its employees. Earlier, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said the country would face dire consequences as a result of this incident -- which involved a Cabinet Minister. “When the LTTE was defeated last year, I was in Europe. I was given special protection at that time. Those countries ensured adequate security to our diplomatic missions there,” he said. Mr. Wickremesinghe said, “A Cabinet Minister is involved in this case. The Cabinet should take collective responsibility. Sri Lankans may have problems in obtaining visas to visit these countries in the future.” (Daily Mirror ; 9 July 2010).

An Independent Afro-Asian UNO to replace the Western dictated UNO?

Sri Lanka minister begins 'fast' outside UN office - A Sri Lankan minister says he has begun a hunger strike outside the UN's Colombo offices demanding that it stop its probe into alleged war crimes. Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa's announcement follows two days of demonstrations outside the office by protesters angry over the inquiry. The government denies its troops committed war crimes. But some foreign governments and international organisations say there is evidence to the contrary (BBC : 8 July 2010).

I'll be the first to be in trouble if false evidence is given - Gen. Fonseka - MP Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the former Army chief, says he, and not ''those jokers making a false front against Ban ki-Moon'', will be the first to fall into trouble if false evidence is given in support of allegations that war crimes had been committed in Sri Lanka. Speaking to the media at the Parliamentary Complex today (July 08), he made references to the fast-unto-death launched by NFF leader and cabinet minister Wimal Weerawansa against the UN-appointed panel on the island. Gen. Fonseka reiterated that he, as the commander who had led the forces in the fight against the LTTE, would be fully accountable to everything that had taken place during the war. No war crimes had been committed and the battle was conducted in accordance with international norms, he said, adding that ''jokers were trying to give the impression that such things had actually taken place.'' (Colombo Today : 8 July 2010).

Sri Lankan Minister On Hunger-strike Demanding End To UN Probe - A Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister, bitterly critical of the United Nations, went on an indefinite hunger-strike on Thursday outside the U.N. offices in the capital Colombo to protest an inquiry into alleged war crimes. Construction & Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa joins other protesters who have been holding demonstrations for the past two days there urging the U.N. to drop the probe. Weerawansa, who is also leader of the ruling National Freedom Front party, was opposed to a three-member panel appointed by the U.N. to investigate the alleged killings of civilians by troops during the 25-year-long civil war that it fought against separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). He has threatened to "fast till death" unless the accusations of war crimes are withdrawn and the U.N. panel abolished (RTT News : 8 July 2010).

Mr. Solheim, you cannot hide behind your cunning foxy smile - By Malin Abeyatunge, Melbourne, Australia - On March 12, 2000, I wrote a small letter to Sunday Observer titled, “SCREEN PEACE TALK FACILITATORS” which may be the first letter by an ordinary citizen against Norway peace facilitator now known as infamous Eric Solheim. I reproduce herein this letter. “How soon we forget our enemies? A few years back Norway and the other Scandinavian countries became “Safe Haven’ for the LTTE sympathizers.. They smuggled themselves into those countries, obtained refugee status and started their terror campaign in those countries including Norway promoting the Eelam Cry and tarnishing the good image of Sri Lanka. Thet hen governments took no actions of these terrorist supporters and instead morally supported their campaign including NGOs some of which were operating in Sri Lanka under the disguise of so called humanitarian projects. Therefore, we should not accept any facilitator prima facie without investigating their credentials. This should also apply to the Norwegian representative who is now in Sri Lanka to facilitate peace talks (I purposely did not name the person). His credentials and any hidden agenda need to be investigated first before allowing him to approach the LTTE for any kind of facilitating. The best that the Norwegian representative can do is to persuade the Norwegians government to help the Sri Lanka government to wipe out the cancerous LTTE terrorism Completely”. Well the person behind this is infamous Eric Solheim and what happened after that with his dealings with the LTTE are very well known to the Sri Lankan public. That’s why we treat him as an enemy on par with the dead LTTE leader Prabhakraran. He has now the audacity to come clean with the Sri Lankans on the interview given to the Sunday Times. It was reported quote “ Former peace facilitator and International Development Minister Erik Solheim told the Sunday Times in an interview, “We called upon the LTTE to come to an organized stop (or surrender). If it had happened, thousands of lives would have been saved. The war would have ended under the supervision of the UN, the United States, India or someone else. However, the LTTE rejected that call.” War against LTTE could have ended in year 2000 with a right leadership if not for Solheim and the gang who initiated Peace Talks, granted CFA in order to give currency to LTTE terrorism and their cry for Eelam (Sri Lanka News Online : 8 July 2010).

No war crimes committed in Sri Lanka - SF - Former Army Commander and DNA Leader General Sarath Fonseka yesterday vehemently denied the allegations that war crimes had been committed during the last stages of the military operations in the Vanni. He said that had war crimes been committed in Sri Lanka, he would have been the first person to get into trouble. He was answering queries by journalists about government’s allegations that he (Fonseka) was planning to give evidence before a UN experts panel set up to investigate war crimes in Sri Lanka.  "I have consistently maintained that the war was conducted according to internationally accepted norms. No war crimes were committed," he told a press conference at the Parliamentary complex.  He said that there were jokers who had spoken yesterday as if they had conducted the war.  "I take the full responsibility for all what happened during the war," the former Army Commander said (Island : 8 July 2010).

Without visas Ban Ki-Moon is heading nowhere - Part 1 - by H. L. D. Mahindapala - The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, and Sri Lanka have locked horns and are fighting it out in the diplomatic, international and national arenas. Right now Sri Lanka has a sizeable battle on its hands in the international arena. Though it has formidable friends in Russian, China, Iran and the majority of the Non-Aligned Movement (India, curiously, has not committed itself openly like Russia or China) Europe and USA are playing an unfriendly role that is pushing Sri Lanka further away from the West to the East. If Sri Lanka is swinging away from the West then EU and US must be held responsible for failing to adopt flexible policies that can be mutually beneficial for both parties. Motivated by political considerations EU and US are stubbornly refusing to accept the new ground realities. Analysts and political leaders (Julia Gillard the new PM of Australia is one of them) agree that conditions in the post-war Sri Lanka are improving by the day. This is also confirmed by the UN High Commission for Refugees which states in its latest report (July 5, 2009), titled ‘Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Sri Lanka’, that the human rights and security situation in Sri Lanka has improved (LankaWeb : 8 July 2010).

TNA meet Indian FM - Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna met the parliamentary delegation from Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in New Delhi today. Seeking India's help in the post-war ethnic conflict that has emerged in Sri Lanka, the delegates raised a spectrum of issues in the half-hour long interaction with Krishna. The head of the delegation, veteran Sri Lankan lawmaker, Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, discussed the critical issue of the resettlement process of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the island nation, and appealed to Krishna to support the Tamils' cause, said officials. Reportedly, Krishna and the delegates also talked about the various dimensions and causes of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, and explored plausible political solutions to resolve the refugee crisis simmering in the island nation. The six-member delegation is on a two-day visit to India, and comprises senior lawmakers from Sri Lanka. The delegation has previously interacted with the Home Minister, P Chidambaram and Communist leader D. Raja. Raja urged the Indian government to pressurize the Sri Lankan regime to take appropriate steps to rehabilitate the Tamils (Daily Mirror : 8 July 2010).

NFF supporters to launch hunger strike today To teach Ban Ki-moon a lesson - National Freedom Front leader and Minister Wimal Weerawansa yesterday said that his party and supporters would launch a fast unto death from today to force United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to withdraw an expert panel he had nominated to investigate Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes during the last stages of the war against LTTE terrorism. Addressing the media at the party’s Battaramulla head office, Weerawansa was highly critical of DIG K. K. Pathirana, who, he alleged, had led the brutal attack on his party supporters demonstrating opposite the UN office on Tuesday. Claiming that the Satyagraha launched by his party was for a worthy cause, the NFF leader said he would not care even if the President were to remove him from the ministerial portfolio for launching the campaign.  Minister Weerawansa said: "The Secretary General of the UN has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of a country. He should get the approval of either the UN Security Council or the Human Rights Council before appointing such an advisory panel." Weerawansa charged that the appointment of the advisory panel was an indication of UN’s support to the LTTE. Unable to bear the defeat of the LTTE, the UN had no alternative but to launch a witch hunt against Sri Lanka, he said requesting all political parties to join him. He added that even if UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe were to join the protest, he would be most welcome. Weerawansa assured that the employees of the UN could return to work. He requested the UN Secretary General to think rationally and ask himself whether what he had done was reasonable and democratic. The fast unto death campaign his party would launch from today was aimed at teaching the UN Secretary General a bitter lesson, Minister Weerawansa said (Island : 8 July 2010).

ABC, Australia’s commentator friends - by Ranjith Soysa - ABC Australia, in its Asia Pacific program presented by Sally Sara on 6th July says that Tamils are not safe in the Northern part of Sri Lanka advising the Australian policy makers and the listeners that Tamil asylum seekers should not be returned to Sri Lanka for this reason. Sally S who directs many programs on Sri Lankan issues always presents a very bleak picture of the Island painting the Government and all anti -LTTE forces in dark black while giving the impression the LTTE and the separatist groups champion the human rights and democratic ideals. Sally will be the happiest journalist in the world if, Sri Lanka decides to divide the country and handover one part to the separatists as per her understanding of Sri Lanka. Even though her intellectual capacity as a presenter of a prestigious program in the developed world is being questioned by many listeners, she continues to “entertain” ABC listeners by failing to grasp the realities of the Sri Lankan nation. In the program under discussion her commentators from Sri Lanka were Ms Jehan Perera, Pakkiyasothi Saravanmuttu, Mano Ganeshan and Tiran Alles! Sally’s objectives and her prostitution of the task at hand is made obvious by her choice. Even a kindergarten student of politics in Sri Lanka knows that first three of the commentators were supporting the separatists and are very soft on the LTTE and the last commentator has a political grievance against the present administration. So they said Tamils are not safe in the North as their sole intention is to denigrate Sri Lankan Nation State using the international media. No sensible person would have expected a fair comment from Sally’s friends. But, Sally chooses to carry on regardless (LankaWeb : 8 July 2010).

NFF UN office siege: Govt says it has to respect the right to protest Ensures safety of UN workers - The government yesterday, commenting on Tuesday’s NFF demonstration outside the United Nations Office in Colombo, said that it understood that the demonstrators intended to continue with their protest until the UN disbanded the UNSG’s advisory panel on Sri Lanka. It said the UN workers would be able to move in and out of their Colombo office. A statement issued by the government said: "The Government of Sri Lanka dealt with the protest outside the UN complex in Colombo in compliance with both domestic as well as international obligations. At the domestic level, Sri Lanka being a democratic society, the Government had to respect the entitlement to voice opinion, including through peaceful demonstrations. Accordingly, the Police permitted a peaceful gathering in front of the complex. "The Government was also absolutely mindful of its international obligations and so the Police authorities deployed adequate strength and remained vigilant, to ensure the safety of the UN complex and of the personnel within it. At the end of the working day, the Police authorities provided reassurance to those within, that they could freely leave their work place. Once the bulk of the staff had left, a few senior personnel remained within the complex (Island : 8 July 2010).

Head-butts and own goals - Minister Wimal Weerawansa is one of the few politicians who had the courage to campaign against terrorism. One may have reservations about Wimal's politics and his bull-in-a-china-shop approach to sensitive issues but there is no reason to question his patriotic credentials. Sadly, he blundered on Tuesday by carrying out his much advertised threat to lay siege to the UN office in Colombo. We pointed out in these columns the other day that he had not yet been fully weaned from the JVP tactics that involved more brawn than brain. Thanks to their rashness, impetuosity and aggression, anything that the pugnacious Marxist hotspurs of his ilk touch turns into an unholy mess. Wimal and his National Freedom Front (NFF) activists must be condemned unreservedly for their abortive bid to hold the UN staff incommunicado. The police, for once, got their act together and used sufficient force to help the UN staffers leave their besieged office. That the protesters, in spite of their anti-UN frenzy, did not try to harm them was a matter for happiness. It was a faux pas on the part of the government to order the police to withdraw prematurely to satisfy Wimal's caprice. Theatricals of Wimal and his NFF may have gone down well with the lowest common denominator but the damage they inflicted on the country's image was enormous. Sri Lanka's enemies wanted Wimal to carry out his threat to take on the UN and he did not disappoint them! (Island ; 8 July 2010).

The truth as seen by UNHCR - At a time when UN Secretary General Ban-ki-Moon is planning to haul Sri Lanka over the coals for alleged human rights violation it comes as paradox that a UN agency under him has given the country a ringing endorsement on its peace building efforts and efforts to improve human rights.  The UNHCR releasing its latest report on July 5 titled 'Eligibility guidelines for Assessing the International Protection needs of Asylum Seekers from Sri Lanka' states that the human rights and security situation in Sri Lanka has improved," and goes on to mention the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission' set by the President to heal the wounds of the past.  This contradiction was highlighted in the report of the UN Refugee Agency as an item to show that Northern Tamils can no longer qualify for refugee status with the country's rapid return to peace.  That asylum seekers from Sri Lanka have dropped from 4,573 in the first half of 2009 by almost half that figure to 2,947 during the same period in 2010. It amply supports the contention of the UNHCR (Daily News ; 8 July 2010).

Non-Aligned Movement backs Sri Lanka against U.N. chief+ - Sri Lanka has won a major diplomatic victory at the United Nations with the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement reprimanding Secretary General Bank Ki Moon over his proposal to set up an advisory expert panel on "accountability issues" in Sri Lanka following the defeat of Tamil rebels last May after a 26-year war. Describing Ban's moves as "manipulative," senior Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris told Kyodo News that Ban, at the behest of a "very small group," had deliberately avoided placing the matter before the Security Council where many protest voices would have been raised and a veto was not unlikely. "There has been a cynical rejection of values enshrined in the U.N. Charter in trying to set up this panel on an internal matter that is already engaging the attention of the Sri Lanka government," Peiris said. Diplomats in Colombo described the NAM letter signed by its chair Maged Abdelaziz of Egypt as an "unusual rebuke" to which there has yet been no response although a U.N. spokesman has gone on record saying a letter of reply was possible. Sri Lanka took strong objection to the proposal to establish a panel of experts following its victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The last phase of the war in May 2009 was particularly bloody, taking a heavy toll of civilians as well as soldiers and LTTE fighters (Bretbart).

Time to rethink and unite. Rally around to defend Sri Lanka from international forces.

Click the Video published in Daily Mirror on 07 July 2010.

An Independent Afro-Asian UNO to replace the Western dictated UNO? - by Dr. Sudath Gunasekara President Senior Citizens Movement Mahanuwara - September last year I wrote on the need for an independent Afro-Asian UNO in view of the anti Asian and anti African attitude of the UNO under its present dominance by the western powers. Now with the final appointment of a Committee by its Secretary General under the pressure from these powers isn’t it clear that the need for such organization has become more crucial. I reiterate the urgent need for such a new world organization to protect Asian and African countries from western harassing and also to address the needs of the Afro-Asian countries. I reproduce what I wrote last year below. I would like to add only one comment regarding the role of Japan and South Korea to this article. These two countries which are pro-American at present I think should now adopt a pro-Asian attitude to common regional problems. My sympathies with Ban Moon the present Secretary General though represents an Asian country is struggling to gain a second term by representing the western interests. Today he acts only a puppet in the hands of his religious convictions, personal greed for the second term. It is a tragedy that he does not realize that thereby he is going against one of his Asian Nation State. His religious conviction, the influence of his church and personal greed for the second term and perhaps the benefits he may be getting from the Tamil Diaspora may have made him to forget the Sri Lankan government’s support he got last time to gain this position. Had the Sri Lankan Government supported Jayantha Danpala things would have been different (LankaWeb ; 7 July 2010).

Sri Lanka & UN panel to probe war crimes - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN; Sir: “Sri Lanka: Protestors rally over war crimes panel”, you said. This was the panel that UN’s Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon went ahead and appointed despite the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva rejected such a proposal by 29 to 12 country votes on June 2009, not to interfere in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs. Ban ki-Moon has clearly exceeded his powers prescribed in Chapter XV of the UN Charter where his role as the Chief Administrative Officer and the limits of his authority are detailed clearly in Articles 97 and 98. However, what should be noted is that there was peace and quiet in the country after the Tamil Tiger terrorists were militarily defeated after 27 years of warring until Ban ki-Moon appointed his panel to probe into war crimes during the latter stages of the war. Now Sri Lanka has instability, thanks to UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon when his impudent act has again permitted extremism to reoccupy centre stage in Sri Lanka distracting Sri Lankans from their efforts to reconcile, reconstruct and reintegrate. And that is a shame. One of Ban ki-Moon’s panellists, Steven Ratner has written that the Tamils represented by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) are an oppressed minority. This should have disqualified him ab initio. The leader of the panel who was part of an international team appointed to observe proceedings on a previous Sri Lanka commission on atrocities and left in a huff with strong anti-Sri Lankan feelings. He should have been disqualified for his bias too (LankaWeb : 7 July 2010).

‘War crimes’ galore! - Ban- Ki- moon, instead of dissipating his energies chasing shadows of elusive evidence of non-existent ‘war crimes’ apparently based on some spurious and hearsay statement of a self -seeking, mentally disturbed General who is blinded by hatred and frustration and probably suffering from PTSD, imagined to have been committed on the penultimate days of the 30-year-old conflict between some people who took up arms against a lawfully established government, has at hand, if he is so keen, a more productive area to investigate. Why confine his investigation only to last days at the end of the conflict? He could expand the canvas of investigation into a larger area covering the full 30 years of this conflict. Rather than finding any ‘war crimes’ he is sure to find adequate material which could be termed ‘crimes against humanity’, by his own definition. The list is long. Hence I give below only some glaring instances that need investigation which strike my mind. There are really many more, for it covers 30 or more years. Now that Moon is keen on finding out whether any white flag waving terrorists were killed, here is a more solid case to investigate. I refer to the slaughtering of 600 hundred unarmed policemen in the Ampare/Batticaloa districts who in 1990 had already surrendered on orders from the top after due discussions and agreement between two fighting parties at command level. There is well documented evidence of eye witnesses available. Then there is the case of slaughtering of over a hundred devotees who were praying at a mosque in Katthankudy. This is in addition to killing of some 40 odd Buddhist monks who were traveling in a bus to participate in a religious function (Island : 7 July 2010).

Sri Lanka & the UN panel to probe war crimes - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada -  The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Sir: “Demonstrators led by a Sri Lankan cabinet minister surrounded the UN office in Colombo on Tuesday and kept staff under siege to protest against a UN panel set up to probe war crimes…”, you said. I understand their frustrations and anger against Ban Ki-Moon the Secretary-General of the UN for appointing the panel, as I too am incensed by his audacity. I was given the impression by the world leaders that we are all fighting to eliminate terrorism after the 9/11 terrorists attack and Sri Lanka just did that by eliminating the most ruthless terrorists the Tamil Tigers single handed, with no help from Canada nor any other western nation, who had haemorrhaged Sri Lanka for 27 years killing over 100,000 innocent civilians for the want of their separate Tamil state, Eelam. Ban ki-Moon is clearly in the wrong when the same issue was dealt appropriately in June 2009 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva where the members decided in a 29 to 12 vote to not to intervene in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs. But Ban Ki-Moon went ahead anyway appointing a panel thus exceeding his powers prescribed in Chapter XV of the UN Charter where his role as the Chief Administrative Officer and the limits of his authority are detailed clearly in Articles 97 and 98 (LankaWeb : 7 July 2010).

The President says all should raise a single voice against the attempts on the sovereignty of the motherland - President Mahinda Rajapaksa says all should set aside their political differences and raise a single voice against the foreign elements that attempt to interfere with the sovereignty of the motherland. Foreign elements attempted to influence Sri Lanka when the government carried out humanitarian operation against the LTTE terrorism. At present when the government steer the country towards development some foreign elements are still attempting to interfere with the country’s internal affairs. Some elements in the island are also helping these foreign elements. The President stressed that no citizen in the country has right to betray the motherland. The President made these observations at the inauguration of national postal museum and stamp exhibition centre set up at the Postal Headquarters in Colombo yesterday. The President added that the newly opened postal museum is a part of a national heritage and it should be protected for the future generations (SLBC : 7 July 2010).

‘HR, security situation improved’: Northerners no longer need refugee status - UNHCR - Given the cessation of hostilities, Sri Lankans in the North are no longer in need of international protection under broader refugee criteria or complementary forms of protection solely on the basis of risk of indiscriminate harm, states UNHCR. The UN Refugee Agency releasing its latest report on 5 July, titled ‘Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Sri Lanka’, further says that human rights and security situation in Sri Lanka has improved. ‘In light of the improved human rights and security situation in Sri Lanka, there is no longer a need for group-based protection mechanisms or for a presumption of eligibility for Sri Lankans of Tamils originating from the North’, UNHCR report states. The end of the armed conflict and the significantly improved security conditions throughout the country have resulted in a reduction in the number of Sri Lankans seeking international protection in industrialized countries. During the period from January to June, 2,947 asylum applications have been registered - compared to 4,573 applications registered during the same period in 2009 - representing a 35 percent decrease, the report further states (Daily News : 7 July 2010).

President says: International forces at it again - Various international forces are obstructing the country when it is fully geared for development after the eradication of terrorism which had ravaged the country’s progress for more than 30 years, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.  He said the country faced similar obstacles when it was fighting with the one of the most ruthless terrorist outfits in the world – the LTTE which deprived the rights of all communities. Speaking at the opening of the first ever Postal Museum philatelic exhibition at the Postal Department, the President said the country is facing various international impediments even after the Government appointed a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.  He stressed that various elements are involved in aiding and abetting these international forces to achieve their petty and narrow objectives.  He stressed that the people should raise a single voice when they deal with the world. “There may be different political views among us but we should raise a single voice when we are dealing with the world,” he stressed. “We as the sons and daughters of this Motherland cannot indulge in such betrayal,” he added.  The President added that he will not betray the country for petty gains and insisted that country has a well-established judicial system to uphold democracy.  He added that the judicial system in Sri Lanka is so independent that the Government respected several Supreme Court Judgments which appear to have surpassed even the legislative and executive ambit (Daily News : 7 July 2010).

Police break Wimal’s UN siege, beat retreat - The Colombo police yesterday used forced to disperse National Freedom Front (NFF) supporters, who blocked the entrance to the UN mission in Colombo. Several hundred policemen swooped down on the protesters after they had refused to allow UN staff to leave the compound until UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dismissed the recently constituted three-member panel to advise him on accountability issues regarding the last phase of the war. Minister Wimal Weerawansa who ordered the protest targeting the UN mission, was not present when the police attacked the group. Former Cultural Affairs Minister Piyasiri Wijenayake was among about a dozen NFF members, including Mohamed Muzamil (former MP), Nimal Premawansa (former MP) and Wayamba Provincial Councillor Senaratne Silva targeted by the police, party spokesman Anurudda Bandara alleged. According to him, the police had attacked NFF General Secretary Priyanjith Vitharana and dragged him away. Later, Weerawansa returned to the scene where he declared that the NFF would not withdraw until the UN disbanded what he called an illegal panel. Weerawansa said that even if his party had to leave the UPFA government or he lost his ministerial portfolio, he would continue with the protest until the UN secretary General budged (Island ; 7 July 2010).

Time to rethink and unite - by Vernon Boteju, Senior Attorney-at-Law - ..... The LTTE scourge was finally eradicated from the soil of Sri Lanka on May 19, 2009 by the valiant Armed Forces under the dynamic leadership of Commander in Chief President Mahinda Rajapaksa. But there is a lurking danger not only to Sri Lanka but also to the rest of the world in the event of the resurgence of LTTE terrorism under the ‘Tiger Flag of Tamil Eelam’ that has now been registered as the symbol of a political party in Tamil Nadu. Since peace and harmony is prevailing in the entire country and a strong and stable Government under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration has been elected by the citizens, it behaves all Sri Lankans to unite and prevent the resurgence an LTTE insurgency in Sri Lanka. In the present context it is incomprehensible and needs to be totally condemned that the issue of ethnic problem is being echoed by certain opposition political parties registered under communalist labels and symbols in Sri Lanka that are evidently acting in concert and collusion with LTTE sympathizers and loyalists. What Sri Lanka and her citizens truly suffered from, for over three decades was LTTE terrorism and not due to ethnicity. It is a sad and tragic commentary to record that the LTTE through its barbaric and ruthless terror acts had not only murdered or forcible driven the Sinhala, Muslim and other inhabitants of ethnic minority depriving them of their property from the North and East but murdered and robbed both movable and immovable property of the Tamil inhabitants and drove them also from the North and East forcing them to seek refuge in camps or migrate to foreign countries (Daily News : 7 July 2010).

Rally around to defend country - It is high time to understand the real situation facing Sri Lanka and help the motherland in every possible way to regain the lost prosperity. When threats are being made by external forces to sovereignty of the country, it is the duty of all sections to defend it, Sri Lankan Expatriates Forum President Senaka Rajapakse told the Daily News yesterday. He said it was unfair to penalize Sri Lanka that suffered immensely during the past three decades due to the war. The President Mahinda Rajapaksa's leadership was successful in defeating the LTTE terrorist outfit to the bewilderment of the international community. The humanitarian operation conducted by valiant forces to rescue around 300,000 Tamil civilians from the clutches of the LTTE should be commended. Children who were dragged away from schools and given arms training and used as child soldiers by the LTTE were rehabilitated and sent back to their homes and schools by the Government. Parties like the UN Secretary General and EU should appreciate rehabilitation and reconciliation measures implemented by the Government, he observed. Expatriate Forum members working in Western Countries would lobby support for the country against moves by certain elements within the UN Organization and the Forum members are getting in touch with friends of Sri Lanka in those countries to garner their support for the Government and the people of Sri Lanka, he said (Daily News : 7 July 2010).

Jaffna High Security Zone to be relaxed.

Fonseka strongly defends military - Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader retired General Sarath Fonseka who led the military in eliminating the LTTE said yesterday the war was carried out in line with international conventions and covenants.  General Fonseka in a hard hitting statement told parliament that as the then Army Commander he was prepared to uphold the reputation of the military.  He said he was not afraid of any experts’ panel appointed by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to advise him on allegations of human rights violations during the war.  “As the then army commander I can candidly say the war was waged in line with international covenants and conventions. I fully support the military in this case,” General Fonseka said.  He said Sri Lanka should not be afraid to face any such panel (Daily Mirror : 6 July 2010).

Jayasinghe, UN in talks - Foreign Secretary Romesh Jayasinghe arrived outside the UN office in Colombo a short while ago and was seen being escorted by two representatives of the National Freedom Front (NFF) inside the UN building to hold discussions with the UN.  Before enterring the UN office, Jayasinghe was seen having discussions with Minister Wimal Weerawansa amidst the large number of protestors who remained in the area staging a ‘sathyagraha’. The NFF representatives later came out of the UN office saying they had agreed with UN officials to ensure the safety of the remaining UN staff leaving the premises (Daily Mirror : 6 July 2010).

UN temporarily closed - The UN office in Colombo has been temporarily closed and the UN staff has been advised to work from home tomorrow as a result of the tense situation which developed outside the UN office today, UN sources told Daily Mirror online.  UN sources said that instructions to work from home was issued to the UN staff today after the group of protestors led by Minister Wimal Weerawansa who gathered outside the UN office laid siege to the building and prevented the UN staff from leaving the premises.  However there was no indication for how long the UN staff would stay away from their office although it is expected that a decision would be taken following a review of the latest developments.  Meanwhile when contacted, officials at the UN Headquarters in New York said that New York was closely monitoring the situation in Colombo and would take the matter up with the Sri Lankan government.  “We are fully aware of what is happening in Colombo and are closely monitoring the situation. We will raise the matter with the necessary people,” the official said refusing to comment further.  Meanwhile UN Associate spokesman Farhan Haq, speaking to reporters in New York a short while ago said that the UN had registered its strong objections with the Sri Lankan government over the protest organised by Minister Wimal Weerawansa outside the UN office which prevented UN staff from entering and leaving the premises.  He also said that the UN Resident Coordinator in Colombo Neil Buhne had met Prime Minister D.M Jayaratna yesterday and obtained an assurence over the security of the UN staff in Colombo as a result of the threat made by Weerawansa last week urging the public to lay siege to the UN office. (Daily Mirror online : 6 July 2010).

Protest at UN to continue - The government says it understands that those who are demonstrating outside the UN office in Colombo intend to continue with their protest until the UN system revisits the matter of the Panel on Sri Lanka. A statement by the government information department said the government hopes that the UN complex in Colombo would continue to function as normal in the days ahead. It also said that while the protest continues the freedom of entry and exit to and from the complex for authorized personnel will remain constant. “The Government of Sri Lanka dealt with the protest outside the UN complex in Colombo today, in compliance with both domestic as well as international obligations. At the domestic level, Sri Lanka being a democratic society, the Government had to respect the entitlement to voice opinion, including through peaceful demonstrations. Accordingly, the Police permitted a peaceful gathering in front of the complex. The Government was also absolutely mindful of its international obligations and so the Police authorities deployed adequate strength and remained vigilant, to ensure the safety of the UN complex and of the personnel within it. At the end of the working day, the Police authorities provided reassurance to those within, that they could freely leave their work place. Once the bulk of the staff had left, a few senior personnel remained within the complex. Those demonstrating had expressed the wish that they should be able to speak to a person in authority in the UN office, in order to convey their deeply felt reservations against the appointment of a Panel on Sri Lanka. The Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs was accordingly instructed to proceed to the UN complex, so that a very limited number of demonstrators could meet the senior staff and express their sentiments. Once this was accomplished, the remaining UN staff too left the complex,” the government information department said (Daily Mirror : 6 July 2010).

Deputy Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan says - it was the LTTE who committed war crimes - The committee stage debate on budget commenced today. Expenditure bills of many ministries including Finance and Defence were taken up today in the parliament. The motion to extend the state of emergency by one month was also debated today. Speaking at the debate Deputy Minister M.K.D.S. Gunawardena said that people in north and east provinces are now living without the fear of terrorism. He also pointed out the need of appointing a group of officials to every police station to investigate about terrorist activities. Deputy Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan who joined the debate said it was the LTTE who committed war crimes. He pointed out that due to the humanitarian mission carried out by the heroic forces the people in North and East provinces can now live freely. Parliamentarian Noordeen Mashur assured that fullest cooperation of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress will be extended to the efforts of the government to solve the problems of the people in Wanni (SLBC : 6 July 2010).

Conflicts and Peace Building - By Nihal Rodrigo former Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary - I am touched and privileged to address a few comments on HL and to speak on Conflicts and Peace-building with particular reference to Sri Lanka. I well recall his arrival with Manel at New York airport in February 1995 to take up duties as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. There may have been some security alert in New York on that day. Large ferocious-looking dogs were sniffing luggage and even arriving passengers. I assured H.L. that he need not worry because US Security authorities fed their sniffer-dogs generously. The dogs were therefore not hungry or angry. H.L. observed, with a quiet smile, that security costs must be very high in the US to keep such mastiffs satisfied and quipped that eternal vigilance is the high price of liberty! The need for vigilance in peace-building is my theme but my address will lack the erudition, wit and perception that H.L. would have infused into such a theme. When H.L. arrived in New York, talks with the LTTE in Sri Lanka were in process. H.L. was wary of the process and anyway, by April of that year, Eelam War III had broken out, almost coinciding with the Oklahoma City bombings in the United States. In respect of the US bombings, Prabhakaran even extended a message of sympathy to the United States. This was described by the New York Times as "jolting in its audacity, considering the terrorist record of those who composed it" (Island : 6 July 2010).

Citizens Protest Outside UN Office (Photos) - large crowd of Sri Lankan citizens gathered this afternoon outside the United Nations office (Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo) to protest the panel set up to advise Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on possible violations of human rights and humanitarian law during the end of the war against the LTTE.  Led by the National Freedom Front and its vociferous leader Wimal Weerawansa, the citizens protest what they see as ‘meddling’ by the United Nations, saying that the peace and stability achieved by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa after 30 years of separatist war, should be allowed to take hold.  'We dont want another war’, Geetha Edirisinghe with her family from Nugegoda, told the Leader outside the UN office. ‘All this panel will do is arouse issues that have already been dealt with by our President. This will just lead to another war and more issues and separation between our people, we don’t want that’.  Wasantha Udayasinghe from Kollonnawa, echoed her sentiments. He remembered how doing during the war, parents would travel seperately on public transport in order to ensure that one of them survives, should they come under LTTE attack, saying ‘ we want no more of it, we want the peace our President has restored to us.’  ‘This is only the beginning’, Sugath Kumara from Kalutara said. ‘We have not been paid to come here, we are here of our own free will, protesting the UN’s interference into our affairs. We have set an example to other nations by eliminating terrorist, and by setting up this panel, what the UN is saying, is that they don’t really believe it (Sunday Leader : 6 July 2010).

SORRY, SRI LANKA IS NOT FOR SALE - By Lenin Benedict-Toronto - “If the Government of Sri Lanka plans an inflow of LTTE money and wealth to the country with the assistance of KP, it can be done through legal means in accordance with existing domestic and international laws by confiscating the assets of the Terrorist organization, since LTTE is already proscribed as a Terrorist outfit in many countries. Even if it is not possible, we cannot sell the dignity of the country for a few million dollars, which KP has in his possession.The impact of the loss of morale amongst our soldiers and civilians on national security and social welfare could have adverse effects. Thus, we would loose the morale worth billions and billions.” World renowned LTTE mafia boss and The Interpol wanted Kumaran Pathmanapan alias K.P getting more importance in the Northern politics and backing of the Government very much shows the criminalization of politics in the North. It raises the question of honor and respect to our beloved armed forces that sacrificed themselves to destroy Terrorist forces from Srilankan soil. Does the Government of Srilanka (GOSL) dishonor those sacrifices made by our brave men and women, by bringing back the same LTTE leadership into the Government? Are we Srilankans going to accept this to happen? (Sinhale Hot News : 6 July 2010).

Winning War Against Terror, Human rights violations and War Crimes - An open letter to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the UN, Ms. Navi Pillay, UN Hign Commissioner of Human Rights , Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special representative of the UN SG for Children in Armed Conflict by Warna Hettiarachchi, Canada. - You have appointed a panel of “International-Experts” to investigate “War Crimes” allegations against Sri Lankan government during the last phase of its war against terror inflicted by LTTE. This is to justify your own convictions, as you previously lost the efforts in the UN Security council after Russia and China vetoed against it. With the appointment of this ad hoc committee, you are interfering with the internal matters and affairs of a democratically-elected sovereign member nation of the UN. Such actions cannot be carried out without first ratifying at UN Security council and its vote. You, Pillay/Coomaraswamy team and the Western “enemy-nations” of Sri Lanka knew it would not survive UN Security Council vote. So you went ahead and appointed it yourself. You are aware that the UN Member Nations have independent governments of their own, am I correct? (Sinhale Hot News ; 6 July 2010).

UN Secretary General’s Panel on Sri Lanka is a Blunder of Serious Proportions - Media Release by Mahinda Gunasekera, Honorary President – SLUNA - The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon has clearly exceeded the powers prescribed per Chapter XV of the UN Charter where his role as the Chief Administrative Officer and the limits of his authority are specifically defined in Articles 97 and 98, by his appointing a three member panel to investigate alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law during the concluding stages of the military action taken by Sri Lanka in 2009 to regain the country from the designated terror group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also known as the Tamil Tigers. The UN Charter provides that the Secretary General shall perform such functions as are entrusted to him by the General Assembly, the Security Council and other subsidiary bodies such as the Human Rights Council, but lacks authority to act in such matters on his own. In fact, Sri Lanka’s human rights issues have been dealt with appropriately by the international community in June 2009 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva where the members decided in a 29 to 12 vote to not intervene in Sri Lanka’s internal issues (Sinhale Hot News ; 6 July 2010).

Jaffna High Security Zone to be relaxed - In a move to restore complete civil administration in the Jaffna Peninsula, the Resettlement Ministry yesterday said certain parts of the Jaffna High Security Zone (HSZ) have been identified for resettlement. The Ministry has instructed Jaffna Government Agent K. Ganesh to discuss resettlement in the Jaffna HSZ with the security authorities and make preliminary arrangements to resettle the people.  According to Resettlement Ministry Secretary M.B. Dissanayake, the Ministry has given complete freedom to the Jaffna Government Agent to discuss with the authorities and obtain permission to resettle people in the Jaffna HSZ.  Dissanayake said resettlement will be carried out in Thellippalai, Kopai and several other areas in the western parts of the Jaffna HSZ provided the Defence Ministry approves it. Army Spokesman Brigadier Ubaya Madawala told the Daily News that discussions about resettling people in the Jaffna HSZ is going on.  “Figures are yet to be decided but plans are under way to resettle people in certain areas in the HSZ,” he added.  Meanwhile, Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Hathurusinghe told the Daily News that resettlement of people can only be done after the de-mining process is completed.  “The de-mining process in the Jaffna HSZ is continuing. We have to ensure that the area in which these people are to be resettled are free from mines and booby traps,” he added (Daily News : 6 July 2010).

Program to create moral, economic development in North, East - The Government will soon introduce a program which aims at creating moral and economic development among the people in the North and the East. This program will be centred on religious places in the two provinces.  According to Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, all religious places in the North and the East will also be developed soon. The first phase of this development project is expected to begin next week.  Addressing the members of the Islamic Religious Affairs Committee at the Parliamentary complex, Prime Minister Jayaratne added that foreign assistance would also be sought for the development of such religious places in addition to the funds allocated by the State.  The Committee drew the attention on the need of having a stable set of rules with regard to the usage of loudspeakers at Islamic religious centres. The Committee members discuss the problems faced by the clergy at Islamic religious places in the two Provinces.  Prime Minister Jayaratne instructed the officials to draw up a comprehensive plan to ensure the welfare of Muslim women who were widowed by the conflict (Daily News : 6 July 2010).

Number of effective programs to fight dengue in North - The President Task Force to eradicate dengue mosquito breeding has implemented a number of effective programs to fight dengue in the Northern Province. Northern Province Governor Major General G.A. Chandrasiri said the President appointed the Task Force to eradicate dengue mosquito breeding in the Northern Province. This Task Force has carried out their tasks effectively. Deaths caused by dengue have decreased during the last three months in the Northern Province. The Task Force held Special meetings with municipal staff and Zonal level meetings with school principals, hospital staff etc. The Northern Province Governor inaugurated a one week Shramadana campaign, such as cleaning abandoned public & private lands, cutting bushes, removing garbage and cleaning drains. PHIs, PHMs, health volunteers and Youth Clubs members in the respective areas of the Northern Province inspected households. He noted that dengue prevention awareness programs were successful in the Northern Province. The dengue awareness creation was conducted through public announcements, distribution of leaflets and banners, night shows, posters and stickers campaigns. Around 20 deaths were reported in Jaffna this year, out of which two deaths occurred in June. Confirmed dengue cases in the Jaffna district from January to June 2010 was 1,600. Around 536 dengue patients were reported from the Vavuniya district. There were only two deaths during the first two months of this year in Vavuniya. Another 193 dengue cases were reported in the Mannar district. No deaths was reported in Mannar in 2010 (Daily News : 6 July 2010).

In Oslo, Solheim has jumped headlong in an imitation of bulls visiting a china shop.

A File Photo : Protest again Norwegience interference on Sri Lanka held on 18 August 2008 in front of the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra (please read details of this protest)

Ban Ki-moon and human rights - By K Godage, Former Ambassador -  I write further to my article published in your paper today on the letter the EU has sent to the Sri Lankan government over the GSP Plus issue. I have received a huge response by email that I decided to revisit the subject. In that article, I said that those who had sought to teach us how to conduct ourselves "may have come down from trees in the not so distant past. Many of those who responded to my article have drawn attention to the fact that we have a written history of over 2000 years, and that when our kings sat on thrones those who are pontificating to us today lived in caves painting themselves black and blue. They, of course, marched ahead with gun powder, conquest and plunder of other lands. Subsequently, there occurred the Industrial Revolution, which made them rich and powerful. Today, they are preaching to us on Human Rights! Good God, was it not only following the Second World War, after fifty million were killed of whom thirty million were civilians, that they realised the value of human life and agreed to the Human Rights Convention. That was in the culmination of many wars and massacres. Don’t we recall the Inquisition, the Crusades, and St. Bartholomew’s Day? In more recent times they carpet bombed Dresden. Did they say a word of protest when the US bombed out Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings, or even later protest when the US used Agent Orange in Vietnam? But, let us come to more recent times when they sat and watched thousand of Muslims being murdered by the Serbs who called themselves Catholics! Didn’t the Dutch, who were so-called peace keepers, watch whilst Serbs butchered Muslim men women and children in Srebrenica and let me also recall the period when a ten percent White minority, practised the crime of apartheid and made slaves of the native people of South Africa. What did those western governments that are now preaching to us do then? They aided apartheid. They supported Malan and every White regime that followed and allowed them to brutalise the native people. Where was their sense of justice? (Island : 5 July 2010).

No alliance with detained LTTE leader: Sri Lanka Govt - A top LTTE leader and a key suspect in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, currently in detention and presumably cooperating with the government, is not being groomed to be a provincial chief minister, Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has said. There was no "alliance" between Selvarasah Pathmanathan, also known as KP, and the government but the information gleaned from him was being used strategically, Rajapaksa told the government-run Sunday Observer.  KP once headed LTTE's international network. He was made the LTTE chief by a section of Tamil diaspora after V Prabhkaran's death in May, 2009. But in August last year, KP was arrested in a South East Asian country and brought back to Sri Lanka.  Since then, he has been an important source of information for the Lankan intelligence and is known to have shared details of LTTE's international networks of arms, finance and contacts.  KP is very crucial to the Lankan government to find out details of the hundreds of bank accounts that the LTTE maintained across the world. And even though the government might be denying it now, it does have a history of rewarding former LTTE leaders: one is currently a government minister and another is the chief minister of the eastern province.  Rajapaksa, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's younger brother, said that intelligence officers were grilling him for information and also using his contacts in the Tamil diaspora to start a dialogue.  He confirmed that KP played an important role last month when an eight-member Tamil diaspora team from across the world landed in Colombo to talk to the government (Hindustan Times : 5 July 2010).

No political plans for KP: Colombo - Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has denied reports in a section of the media that the government is planning to install former the LTTE leader, K. Pathnathan (KP), who is under detention, as the Chief Minister of the Northern Province. In an interview to the state-run English weekly, Sunday Observer, Mr. Rajapaksa, who is the younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, however, confirmed that the government was working with KP in a “strategic manner” to mobilise the support of the Tamil diaspora. A few days ago KP had organised a meeting of eight former leaders of the LTTE, based in different parts of the world, with the Sri Lankan authorities and pledged their support for the efforts of the government in the re-settlement of war displaced Tamil civilians and reconstruction in the war ravaged Northern and Eastern Provinces.  KP took charge of the LTTE after the death of Velupillai Prabakaran in May last year. However, he was apprehended by the Sri Lankan authorities from a South East Asian country within weeks.  KP, whose name figures in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, had been designated as the international chief of the LTTE by Prabakaran and is considered to be very influential among the Tamil Diaspora.  Since the meeting of KP and other former LTTE leaders with the government, there have been reports in a section of the media that the Rajapaksa government had forged an “alliance” with KP and he would be entrusted with an important political job (Hindu : 5 July 2010).

Expert panel on Sri Lanka: UNSG creating a precedent - Question: What is your view about the reasons that prompted United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a Panel of Experts to advise him on alleged incidents said to have occurred during the final phase of the humanitarian operations against the terrorists last year? Answer: The reason for appointing of a panel of experts to advise the Secretary General are not exactly clear. We know that the vast majority of the members of United Nations did not ask for it. We are fully aware that none of the decision-making bodies of UN, the Security Council or the General Assembly had asked. the Secretary General to appoint such a panel of experts. In fact when a resolution was moved in the Human Rights Council it was defeated by substantial majority 29 to 12. In the circumstances we find it very difficult and even mysterious how the Secretary General appointed a panel to advise him on issues alleged to have taken place towards the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The Secretary General seems to have been influenced by certain individuals and parties that are obsessed with exerting pressure on Sri Lanka rather than with finding out how the conflict ended. We have to remember that terrorism was defeated after nearly three decades of fighting and there was jubilation among the people. It was a humanitarian operation where a very large number of civilians were rescued. It is an internal problem of our country, a point that seemed to have been missed by the Secretary General. In these circumstances one begins to ask the question what his motivations are? And it is possible that it was a move made in response to certain pressures on him (Daily News ; 5 July 2010).

Unravelling Solheim’s crazy conundrum Off my chest - Since reading in a Sunday newspaper the remarks of Norwegian Minister Erik Solheim to a group of Sri Lankan journalists in Oslo, I have been trying to unravel the meaning and intent of his words. Before commenting on Solheim’s observations on the panel on Sri Lanka appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon let me deal with another controversial issue into which Solheim has jumped headlong in an imitation of bulls visiting a china shop. To recapitulate, the report in the Sunday Times said that Solheim had told visiting Sri Lankan journalists that on 17th May last year he had received a telephone call from LTTE leaders B. Nadesan and S. Pulithevan asking him to arrange for a surrender. He also claims that a similar appeal had been made to the ICRC and the UN. "We passed the information to the government," Solheim said. But then came an interesting remark. Solheim says: "We told the two LTTE leaders that their offer came too late." Now this is intriguing. What is not explained is why Solheim said that it was too late. Did somebody tell him so? If somebody did, who was it? Was it a person in authority who was in a position to know it was too late? If nobody told him that how did Solheim come to make this claim? On what evidence did he draw this conclusion? Or did he simply assume so? If he assumed it on what basis did he reach this conclusion? These are questions that remain unanswered. Strangely enough, none of the journalists present appear to have thought it fit to raise these questions with Solheim. Up to now there is no clear picture about the last day or last hours in the decimation of the LTTE. There are many grey areas that need to be cleared. Since we are made to believe that Solheim had played a role-how important it was in the circumstances is still not clear either- the journalists had the opportunity to ask him to eliminate this opacity as far as he could or would (Island : 5 July 2010).

UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon demands ‘a pound of flesh’. Is this a fair trial?

UN and West attacking Sri Lanka for liberating innocent Tamils from the clutches of LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists

Kumaran Pathmanathan alias “KP”-The Master Schemer - Malin Abeyatunge, Melbourne, Australia - Kumaran Pathmanathan with so many aliases and most popularly a.k.a KP in the LTTE circle is not an ordinary person but clever (to pass thro so many countries with false passports), skillful (building a fleet of ships for LTTE from crap), cunning as a fox and excellent maneuver (Many western politicians, UN officials, Human Rights Activists obliged to him for may be known reasons). He is applying all his skills now to go a free man. He was the live wire and financial controller for years (after the disappearance of Thilagar (Paris) in Wanni) behind the LTTE military operations in Sri Lanka. It was KP who was totally responsible in prolonging the war by timely supply of illegal arms to the Tamil Tigers. If not for his scandalous operations in procurements of arms illegally and shipping them to LTTE, narcotic trade, human smuggling, money laundering and managing a fleet of ships, this war against Tamil Tigers could have ended very much earlier provided that we had the right leadership at that time like President Mahinda Rajapaksa. We cannot forgive KP for the horrendous crimes committed by Tamil Tigers which resulted in thousands of deaths of our soldiers and thousands of innocent civilians which he was playing a major role. His involvement with LTTE is much more horrendous than a LTTE suicide bomber (Sri Lanka News Online : 4 July 2010).

The dividends of war and peace - The first budget presented after the war has brought no dividend to the people - UNP - The Peace Dividend is a much talked of topic today. There are many who expect this dividend to be in the form of reconciliation and restoration of mutual trust among the people of Sri Lanka. There are others abroad who expect the Peace Dividend to be the continued opportunity for those who were trying to throw a life-line to the LTTE in the last stages of the battle against terror, to continue their pressurising of Sri Lanka and interference in our internal affairs. But the UNP has a different expectation of the Peace Dividend, to judge by the comments by several of its key members on the Budget 2010 presented earlier this week. Their lament led by Tissa Attanayake and Ravi Karunanayake is that although the war is over the people have received no dividend from it - in relation to a budget, this can only mean a dividend in terms of money, like the dividends from the profits of a company. It is not surprising that those whose main interest is in the accumulation of private profit, usually at public expense, are so vocal about this apparent lack of cash dividends to help line the pockets of those who are eager for such profit. But, it will be hard for these people to go to any village that sent its youth to fight in the battle against terror, and announce there of the absence of any dividend from the end of the war. It will not take long for them to be reminded that the biggest dividend that has come to the people, all people of Sri Lanka, is the absence of any more deaths in the battle for or against terror in the country. This is a dividend that cuts across all barriers of ethnicity, religion, caste and whatever other differences we continue to have in our country. But this can hardly impress those who mistook Elephant Pass or Alimankada for Pamankade and Kilinochchiya for Medawachchiya at the height of the confrontation with the LTTE, and also dismissed Thoppigala as a mere barren and rocky place with no strategic or military value (Island : 4 July 2010).

Non Aligned Movement’s Challenge To Ban Ki Moon On Sri Lankan Panel Plausible! - LankaWeb Weekly Editorial July 4th 2010 - Now that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has on his hands the watchful eye of the World’s Non Aligned Movement (NAM) and nations incorporated by it and the criticism of his bull in a Chinashop call to investigate Sri Lanka for war crimes perhaps he should re-think the folly of his call. In addition to NAM there already are several other world powers including Russia and China disagreeing with Moon which exposes the concept that the man seems somewhat desperate to implement his call which he may have to do using proxies and remote control as the panel appointed by him will not be granted Visas to enter Sri Lanka when one envisions the following related facts which contradict the veracity and perhaps even legalities relative to the call. The nations linked to NAM preparing to challenge UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over his appointment of a three-member panel to advise him on accountability issues during the final stages of the separatist war that led to the military defeat of Tamil Tiger terrorists last year has asked very legitimate questions which expose Ban Ki Moon’s portrayed bias that could also be linked to the insistence of his UN colleagues with Tamil sympathies where if one were to take it a step further might hint at Tamil Tiger sympathies whether inadvertently or not! (LankaWeb : 4 July 2010).

Senior Lawyers point out that no country or organization has right to interfere with international affairs of another country - Senior Lawyer Gomin Dayasiri points out that no foreign country has right to interfere with internal affairs of another country. It is mentioned in the UN charter as well. Sri Lanka is the only country in the world that has been able to eliminate terrorism. Mr. Dayasiri states that three elements are unable to accept this grave reality and attempting to influence on Sri Lanka’s internal affairs. These elements are western countries, pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora and some international NGOs. These elements were responsible for spreading terrorism in Sri Lanka. At this juncture, they are trying to reverse the Sri Lanka’s victory by harassing the brave leaders who pioneered to eliminate terrorism. Mr. Dayasiri made these comments participating at a programme in SLBC this morning. Senior Lecturer of Open University Lawyer Raja Gunaratne said it is more difficult to defeat terrorism conceptually than militarily (SLBC : 4 July 2010).

Patrick Brown: Tamils are “law abiding” he says. What nonsense! - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - Mr. Patrick Brown, MP Conservative Party MP for Barrie, Ontario House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario. Dear Patrick: Your Government of Canada message on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to the Tamil community in Canada down right “pissed off” this card carrying Conservative. You may wonder why? The statement in that message… “The Tamil community in Canada has demonstrated that they are law-abiding, hard working and contributors to our democratic civic society,” was questionable. Who are you trying to kid? You seem so God damn devious, what the heck are you up to? What the heck are the Conservatives up to? That message not only insulted me, but also all other ‘law abiding’ Canadians and insulted and tarnished some good, hard working Tamils whose main thrust is to be law abiding citizens, living by the law in their adopted country, and bring up their young families contributing intellectually and financially to the wealth of our great nation that gave them a home. I know several of them as I break bread with them and share a cup of the best Ceylon Orange Pekoe. But, Patrick, you are too young at 32 to suffer from Alzheimer’s which also brings memory loss. The Tamils are “law abiding” you said. That is a load of crap Patrick. There are 10,000 hardcore Tamil Tiger terrorists roaming our streets and 25 of them were from the Ocean Lady that landed on the shores of Vancouver last October.and the Immigration Department let them loose. Remember the 10 to 15-thousand Tamils taking to the streets in Ottawa and Toronto last April and May with a sea of red Tamil Tiger terrorist flags, the ruthless terrorist group that you Conservatives banned in Canada, harassing the law-abiding tax payers. That is not law-abiding, is it Patrick? These were the thuggish Tamils who couldn’t care two Prairie straws about Canadian law (LankaWeb : 4 July 2010).

Julia Gillard to send back boatpeople - : Hundreds of Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum-seekers are likely to be sent home under Julia Gillard’s tough policy agenda to deter boatpeople.  As the Prime Minister prepared to unveil a new approach to tackling the issue this week - possibly including a resumption to the processing of Sri Lankan boatpeople - The Australian understands officials are working on a pact with Afghanistan over returning asylum-seekers.  It is believed the agreement, which is not expected to be included in this week’s announcement, would involve assurances from Kabul guaranteeing the safety of failed asylum-seekers.  Although up to 60 per cent of Afghan asylum-seekers have had their claims rejected, only two have been returned home since the surge in boatpeople started in late 2008.  Federal cabinet will hold talks on the new approach today ahead of the Thursday deadline for a decision on whether the three-month freeze on the processing of Sri Lankan asylum-seeker claims will be extended or terminated.  In an olive branch to Indonesia following the Oceanic Viking standoff in which dozens of asylum-seekers were left in limbo, Australian officials are working on plans to resource Indonesian police on the front line of the people-smuggling struggle.  Australian Federal Police have already supplied a patrol boat in Lombok, and local officials argue that an upgrading of the current small fleet of patrol boats is urgently needed (Island : 4 July 2010).

NAM considers move to challenge Ban - Draft letter on Lankan issue causes divisions; India’s stand not clear -  Non Aligned Movement (NAM) nations are preparing to challenge UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over his appointment of a three-member panel to advise him on accountability issues during the final stages of the separatist war that led to the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas last year. The UN move is widely regarded as a precursor to an imminent war crimes inquiry against troops and guerrillas. The 118-member NAM is currently circulating a draft letter among diplomats of the member countries represented at the UN in New York. It has expressed “serious concern” about the appointment of the panel “against the clearly expressed wishes of the country concerned, and without any mandate from the Human Rights Council, the Security Council or the General Assembly”. It is not immediately clear whether the draft letter will receive the endorsement of all or most NAM members. If it does receive approval, Egypt, the current chairman is expected to forward the letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. No member of the NAM has so far responded publicly to Mr. Ban’s move to appoint the experts panel. Disapproving remarks so far have come from Russia, China and Iran. Russia and China are, however, not members of the NAM (Sunday Times : 4 July 2010).

Ban demands ‘a pound of flesh’. Is this a fair trial? By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya - Despite strong opposition from the Sri Lankan government, UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon has appointed a three-member Advisory Panel on Sri Lanka. The exercise is viewed by many as a precursor to an international war crimes investigation on the Sri Lankan conflict. The source from which the UNSG derives his mandate to initiate this inquiry remains unclear. There was neither a UN Human Rights Council resolution nor any UN Security Council endorsement for this action. Ban only refers to the joint statement issued by him and President Rajapaksa at the war’s end – a 760-word document dealing with many issues that concluded saying: “The Secretary General underlined the importance of an accountability process for addressing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The government of Sri Lanka will take measures to address those grievances.” If Sri Lanka has fallen short of satisfying the UNSG with regard to “measures taken,” does this justify imposing a hotly opposed, unwelcome move that places a lot of stress on a small country struggling to pick up the pieces after a protracted, debilitating internal conflict? A question that needs to be asked is whether this pound-of-flesh attitude of the UNSG and his western backers with regard to “accountability,” will punish the very victims of conflict for whom they say their hearts bleed (Sunday Times : 4 July 2010).

Lanka’s role in Israel committee has no bearing on UN panel - Dr. Kohona - Sri Lanka’s role in the UN committee on Israel has a history of over 30 years and has no bearing on the UN advisory panel on the country, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohona told Sunday Observer. Dr.Kohona who was in Sri Lanka on a brief visit left yesterday for New York.  Asked of his role in the panel and related adverse news reports Dr. Kohona said, “Sri Lanka is the ex-officio Chairman of the UN committee on Israeli practices in the occupied territories.”  He said Sri Lanka has occupied this position for the past 30 years or so and added that Permanent Representatives of Sri Lanka automatically become the Chair of the Committee. The other members are Malaysia and Senegal.  The committee visits Egypt, Jordan and Syria annually and presents a report to the UN General Assembly to facilitate appropriate action.  Dr. Kohona led a 13-day fact-finding visit to Cairo, Amman and Damascus, during which the Committee heard from witnesses from the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan, their first-hand experiences of life under occupation.  At the end of the visit the committee called for an end to human rights violations by Israel in the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights, the UN reported.  The people have expressed their inability to reconstruct homes and schools destroyed during Israel’s 2009 military offensive, due to the three-year-old blockade imposed on Gaza, and the alarming situation of the water and sanitation systems, which has serious implications on the health of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents (Sunday Observer : 4 July 2010).

World’s first ever success story : Safety of civilians, was our topmost priority - Defence Secy. Gotabaya Rajapaksa -  “Instead of criticizing and blaming the government, the world should study the unique strategy adopted to protect displaced civilians during the three and half years old battle against defunct LTTE terrorists, “ - Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary.  Being the main force behind the successful military operation which completely annihilated the LTTE in May last year, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in an interview with the Sunday Observer spelled out the measures adopted to rescue and look after over 280,000 displaced civilians and to maintain zero casualty figures throughout the combat operations against the LTTE.  Four Presidents of eight previous regimes failed to sweep the LTTE completely may be due to local and international pressure to unplug the on-going military operations half way. This resulted in the terror outfit claiming that they were ‘unbeatable’. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who too tried to bring them to a democratic path several times, was finally adamant that ‘the LTTE should be defeated militarily’.  Over 26,000 military personnel had already sacrificed their lives when President Rajapaksa resumed duties.  He drove the military and the entire nation to achieve a single goal - defeat the LTTE scourge through military means confronting mounting international pressure (Sunday Observer : 4 July 2010).

TNA wary of Govt. backing for KP - While the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) said they will not allow the panel to set foot in Sri Lanka, the Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) led by Wimal Weerawansa, tried to better that; Weerawansa threatened to take the staff of the local UN office hostage- a comment that was promptly disowned by the Sri Lankan government as being only an individual’s opinion (Nation : 4 July 2010).

Indian team to discuss 50,000 houses scheme for IDPs - The Indian Government has agreed to build 50,000 permanent houses for IDPs who are being resettled in Wanni, according to Deputy Resettlement Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan. He said a group of delegates would visit Sri Lanka after the budget to discuss the contract with Lankan officials. Mr Muralitharan said the ministry was providing Rs75,000 for the people being resettled in Wanni to build temporary huts They would also receive dry rations and other essential items for six months to help them boost their livelihoods. He pointed out that the proportion of widows was high among the resettled people and they might find it tough in rebuilding their lives. Mr Muralitharan said the resettlement programmes had faced slight delays because of the risks involved in the de-mining process. The Deputy Minister said he discussed the resettlement process in high security zones with the Defence Secretary. Vavuniya District Secretary Mrs. P S M Charles said the de-mining process in Semamadu, Ilamaruthankulam, Arumugathankulam, Pandrikeithakulam, Maligai and Periyathamannai -Velankulam had been completed and IDPs could return to their areas soon (Sunday Times : 4 July 2010).

TNA leaders in India for key talks - Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leaders will leave for India today on an invitation from Home Minister P. Chidambaram. The six-member delegation, led by TNA Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan, during its three-day visit will meet Mr. Chidambaram, top officials and the main opposition Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) leaders. A meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will depend on his availability. “The delegation will mainly discuss the resettlement process in the north and India’s offer to build 50,000 houses for the displaced,” TNA Parliamentarian Mavai Senadhirajah, a member of the delegation, said. He said India would also donate 500 tractors and vehicle equipment for the resettled families. The delegation will also include Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan, A. Vinayagamoorthy and M. Sumanthiran (Sunday Times : 4 July 2010).

TNA leaders in India for key talks

43 killed, 180 injured in suicide attacks on Pak Sufi shrine - ..... Terror struck Pakistan's cultural hub of Lahore as a pair of suicide bombers attacked a famous Sufi shrine packed with thousands of worshippers, killing at least 43 people, including women and children, and injuring 180 others in the latest in a slew of attacks across the country (Indian Express ; 3 July 2010).

Chronology of Suicide Bomb Attacks by LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists in Sri Lanka

(Please read details in Sri Lanka News Online)

An historical view of suicide bombing - ..... Suicide bombers have also successfully targeted the most high-profile personalities, who are otherwise deemed relatively invincible due to their tight security arrangements. Recent times have seen the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the killing of the Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 by the same terrorist organisation. In more recent history, the world also saw a suicide bomber blowing himself up, seconds after the two-time Pakistani Premier Benazir Bhutto was shot dead on December 27, 2007 at Rawalpindi.... (The News : 3 July 2010).   

Hasalaka hero honoured in Elephant Pass - A ceremony to felicitate Hasalaka hero Corporal Gamini Kularathne was held in Elephant Pass where he sacrificed his life.  Corporal Kularathne’s mother Y. G. Juliet was also felicitated at this ceremony.  The ceremony was organized on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s instructions.  Corporal Kularathne of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment sacrificed his life on July 13, 1999. LTTE terrorists had tried to overrun the Elephant Pass Army camp belonging to the 6th Battalion of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment on July 13, 1999 at around 2.30 a.m. The terrorists had planned to explode the Elephant Pass camp by blasting a truck laden with explosives. Corporal Kularathne had gone forward with hand grenades and blasted the truck sacrificing his life. In recognition of this act of supreme gallantry, the highest decoration a soldier can earn, the Parama Weera Vibushana Medal was awarded by President Rajapaksa making Corporal Kularathne the first recipient of this gallantry award.  Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said Corporal Kularathne sacrificed his life for the motherland symbolising his bravery.  The Central Province organised this felicitation ceremony on President Rajapaksa’s advice. President Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister then had promised Corporal Kularatne’s mother to make arrangements for her to visit Elephant Pass where her son sacrificed his life. “This is another fulfilment of the promise. We are accompanying Corporal Kularathne’s mother and his family members to the exact place where he sacrificed his life,” Chief Minister Ekanayake added. Religious activities followed the felicitation ceremony (Daily News : 3 July 2010).

UN muscles in on a Third World country - Last month, the Sri Lankan government refused to issue visas to members of a UN panel selected to look into the possibility of war crimes in Sri Lanka’s war against Tamil Tigers, and turned down conditions by the European Union for relaxed trade concessions. Foreign Minister G.L.Peiris stated bluntly, "We will not issue visas to the panel. We don't think we need them," adding that such charges were the malicious fabrications by LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) supporters. The LTTE, a separatist organization, had been involved in such a conflict since 1976, with the purpose of creating an independent homeland for its Tamil members in the north and east of Sri Lanka. In the course of this conflict, hundreds of thousands of Tamils, Muslims, Christians and Sinhalese people had lost their lives or were stripped of their possessions, displaced and ferreted to refugee camps. Finally in May 2009, after a fierce battle with the full might of the Sri Lankan Army, the LTTE was defeated and all talks of separatism ended. In the aftermath of the event, accusations were raised against the Sri Lankan government for their heavy handedness in putting an end to the conflict that had disrupted this beautiful island for more than 30 years, and cries of war crimes echoed from several Western countries (Arab News : 3 July 2010).

Dimensions of safeguarding sovereignty: Real and imagined - by Malinda Senevirathne - Sri Lanka defeated terrorism and simultaneously recovered a territorial integrity that had been compromised in many ways. Some claim that one year after the defeat of terrorism the nation remains fissured (Dayan Jayatilleke, ‘Domestic dimension of safeguarding sovereignty’ in the Daily Mirror of June 30, 2010). Yes, we haven’t exactly turned Sri Lanka into Utopia since May 19, 2010; there are, as Dayan says, ‘fissures.’ Now I cannot think of any nation that is un-fissured. There are no flat countries in the world, no flat communities either. Societies can be described in terms of multiple hierarchies and each of these are by definition un-fissured. We have division in terms of class, caste, age, ethnic identity, religion, political ideology, skin-colour and so on. All countries are fissured in this manner to a greater or lesser degree. While it is lovely to dream of Utopia, common sense says that what it important and pragmatic is to seek and obtain the true dimensions of fissures, prioritize them, seek healing(s) that are possible and do not create other fissures and compromise sovereignty, dignity and so on. That would be the responsible way of going about it (Daily Mirror : 3 July 2010).

Sri Lanka would not allow International Intervention- Minister Dinesh Gunawardana - Water Supply and Drainage Services Minister Dinesh Gunawardhana said in parliament yesterday (02) this Government doesn’t allow intervening by any International organization on internal affairs of Sri Lanka.  Some of our own people helped LTTE to destroy the economy and pressurize the people of the country. There was a group of Internationals also who fed the LTTE.  Government would not permit a panel to inquire into internal matters of government; even though European Union (EU) has posed restrictions on us .Opposition party seeks to make SL an enemy of the European Union (EU).  We have taken all necessary steps to protect the economy of the country, as a government we stand to protect the Sovereignty of the country.  Mangala Samaraweera MP mentioned earlier, the UNP government in 2002-2004 marked the boundaries to divide the country and destroy the democracy. But today he asks for an international inquiry on Sri Lankan issues (Lanka Puwath : 3 July 2010).

Dear Lady Ashton………..UN Panel on Sri Lanka - by Dr Bandula Kothalawala London N7 - Lady Catherine Ashton High Representative Council of European Union Brussels Belgium; Dear Madam, UN Panel on Sri Lanka - As an expatriate Sri Lankan now living in London, UK, and as an EU citizen and taxpayer, I should like to express my indignation over the Statement on Sri Lanka made by you on behalf of the Council of the European Union. I am at a loss as to whether it is ignorance, incompetence or arrogance or a mixture of all the three that prompted your action. The UN Secretary-General has appointed the “Panel of Experts” in violation of Article 100 of the UN Charter which reads, In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials responsible only to the Organization. It is transparently clear that the Secretary-General has, on this occasion, acted at the behest of some Western governments and NGOs who have aligned themselves against Sri Lanka for disobeying their dictates. Two permanent members of the Security Council (Russia and China) have cast serious doubts on the propriety of the action by the Secretary-General. In addition, non-aligned nations have expressed their displeasure. If the Secretary-General had been genuinely interested in the welfare and safety of civilians in conflict, the matter should have been brought to the attention of the Security Council or the General Assembly, as has been done on countless occasions in the past (LankaWeb : 3 July 2010).

Reconstruction efforts: Army making major contribution - Major General Shavendra Silva said the Sri Lanka Army will excel in every field in the country within a very short period. He added that the SLA’s operations remain continued after the May 18th victory over terrorism. He said that the SLA is engaged in a operation for the reconstruction of war ravaged areas. Silva said that the Sri Army has made wider contribution to the Government’s reconstruction efforts in the war ravaged area. Major General Silva was delivering a lecture on Lessons from Winning Military Strategies at the Institute of Personnel Management at Rajagiriya yesterday. “Our men are present in reconstruction and development process in the North and the East. Shavendra Silva, the youngest Major General in the Sri Lanka Army said the SLA personnel have de-mined areas which the INGOs and NGOs have never thought of. He added that the SLA de-mining crew has posted a record by clearing a large extent of area dotted with land-mines and anti-personnel mines. Silva urged the public to be more vigilant though the LTTE was physically eliminated from the country. He asked why certain international elements are engaged in monitoring the activities of Sri Lanka after terrorism was eliminated with much sacrifices by the Armed Forces and the general public. “The whole country fought for freedom and we won it. We will protect the liberty that we won,” he added (Daily News : 3 July 2010).

Eelam War and the Long Arm of the Indian Rearguard across the Palk Straits - Indo- Sri Lanka relations made a dramatic and unprecedented change with the beginning of the Eelam war. This change contributed to bringing about far reaching military and political consequences within Sri Lanka and its two destructive wars. The JVP led anti-devolutionary Sinhalese rebellion had been the direct result of the changed Indian policy. The most destructive Eelam war was the other. These developments have fundamentally shaped the future course of Sri Lankan politics. Since 1983 India had begun supporting the Tamil militant groups to train and arm its cadres for military confrontations with the Sri Lankan state. Their bases in Tamil Nadu provided a rearguard and they could retreat safely to these bases after mounting deadly attacks to the Sri Lankan security forces. The current Indian policy has changed positively as India has become pragmatic but Sri Lanka needs political investment in the form of political devolution and inclusiveness of ethnic minorities in order to effectively de-activate the rearguard in Tamil Nadu. This short essay attempts to analyze the impact of Indian policy on the Sri Lankan political and military developments for the last 30 years through the rearguard in Tamil Nadu and how it has shaped our political agenda on the ethnic issue (Daily Mirror : 3 July 2010).

UN Bullying Sri Lanka for defeating a ruthless terrorist outfit, LTTE, and liberating Tamils.

Former Chief Minister of North East Provincial Councils, Varatharaja Perumal, is back in Jaffna

KP as Northern Province Chief Minister? - An Interview with Douglas Devananda - In this interview, C.A.Chandraprema talks to Minister Douglas Devananda about several recent developments in Tamil politics including EPDP moves to talk to the TNA, and moves by the government to talk to the TNA and to rope in KP, the ex-LTTE financial wizard and arms procurer.  Q: You have decided to hold talks with the TNA, what do you really hope to gain from that? A: There isn’t an unanimous view among Tamil political parties about the political solution that we all talk about. So our aim would be to forge a consensus among Tamil parties on this matter. The TMVP has already indicated that they are willing to talk to us and we are awaiting a response from the TNA. We are not looking at forming a coalition, at this moment in time and are only trying to initiate a discussion. We have already held talks with PLOTE and factions of the EPRLF and TELO. Q: I can understand your wanting to talk to the TMVP, PLOTE and to Mr. Anandasangaree and others of the same ilk. But why would you want to talk to the TNA, your direct rivals in the North? If you start talking to them, the political advantage will go to them. A: If there is no consensus among Tamil political parties, a political solution will be delayed due to those very differences. Things will just drag on and on with no end in sight. But if the Tamil parties arrive at some kind of consensus then matters will be facilitated. Even more importantly, there is the feeling among the Tamil people that all Tamil political parties should unite and work together. Some people think that the EPDP is an obstacle to unity. So we want to show the people that we are not an obstacle to unity. We came into politics to solve problems. We do not believe in being in politics without solving any problems (Island : 2 July 2010).

The lies and double standards of International Humanitarian Laws - by Shenali Waduge - What we face today is one standard international law but Double-standards in its application.  We have countries like the US and alliances commit war crimes as a matter of institutional necessity to maintain their imperial role and ensure favorable climates of investments and advance capitalism. We also have countries that have supported despots like Suharto, Marcos, Fujimori, Mobutu, Savimbi, Pinochet, and media of these countries backing their Governments and rationalizing each and every war crime committed. Then there are the foreign policies that claim rights to preemptive use of military power including nuclear power; countries like the US who will not be bound by international treaties or agreements, who will do anything and everything to prevent the emergence of any strategic rival on the world scene. Then there is an institution called the United Nations that has stood and watched US intervention, and has done little to stop the crimes the US has done and is doing throughout the world systematically which are fully documented, but the UN prefers to go after smaller Governments with the baton of upholding human rights laws. If human rights laws are applied with bias, officials of these “International Human Rights Organizations” have no moral right to dictate terms or produce writs of international laws to any nation until they guarantee that international laws will be applied equally without bias whether a country is large or small, powerful or not (Daily Mirror : 2 July 2010).

Dutch financial boost for post-LTTE rehab, resettlement efforts amidst GSP+ controversy - Sri Lanka’s efforts to rehabilitate ex-LTTE cadres and help the war displaced families to return to their villagers received a major financial boost from the Netherlands.  Pledging Euro 2 million (approximately Rs. 277,820,000) in support of the ongoing rehabilitation and resettlement efforts, Dutch Ambassador Leoni Cuelenaere explained their decision to support the post-LTTE rehabilitation and reconstruction process. Appreciating the work carried out by the International organization for Migration (IOM) in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, Ambassador Cuelenaere said that Euro one million each would be provided for two key IOM programmes.  IOM Sri Lanka Deputy Chief of Mission Lorena Lando said that they had been involved in a smaller project on the same lines in 2003. Both Ambassador Cuelenaere and Ms Lando expressed confidence that the post-LTTE efforts would be successful (Island ; 2 July 2010).

Justifying arm-twisting by EU and UN - Stanley Weerasinghe, Pannipitiya - According to Jehan Perera (JP) writing under the title, ‘Mounting international pressure call for less confrontational approach’ in THE ISLAND of 29 June, it was wrong for our government to have ended the war against-the LTTE terrorism in May 2009. We should have succumbed to international pressure and started ‘negotiations’ at the final phase of the war. This is what he says: ‘The government came under considerable international pressure to negotiate with the LTTE specially during the last phase of the war, when its defeat was imminent, but the government resisted these pressures to fight the war to the finish’. By the time the war commenced, the LTTE had demarcated its future Tamil Eelam, comprising one-third of land area and two-thirds of the coastal belt of our country, making the prime use of the treacherous ‘Ceasefire Agreement’ signed in 2002 between the then prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Prabhakaran. According to Eric Solheim (who drafted the CFA which was heavily tilted in favour of the LTTE) quoted in ‘the Sunday Times’ of 27 June, war would have ended under the supervision of the UN. UN’s intervention at that stage would have inevitably resulted in the division of our country on ethnic lines, as demarcated by the LTTE (Island : 2 July 2010).

It's intimidation, says Dr. Kohona - The panel of experts on Sri Lanka to advice UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was an attempt to intimidate the weak and meek nations but was not called for by the member states of the UN body, Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohona has said speaking with 'The Daily News', Thursday (July 01) yesterday.  Dr. Kohona currently in Colombo said the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) too had protested to the UN Secretary General about this unacceptable decision as he seemed to be influenced by certain NGO lobbies but the UN was an organization of sovereign nation states and not NGOs.  Matters concerning Sri Lanka with regard to the final phase of the humanitarian operations were taken up at the appropriate UN organ the Human Rights Council and a motion was carried in favour of Sri Lanka with 29 member nations voting for us while only 12 members voted against us, he said.  There were other regions where thousands of human rights violations were taking place daily but the UN Secretary General seemed to be reluctant to take up these issues as some powerful and rich nations were involved in those regions.  But Ban Ki Moon seemed to have ignored such violations, he noted.  Dr. Kohona said there were only a handful of nations that may be in agreement with the move against our country but the vast majority of the member nations have expressed their opposition to this move.  NAM comprises 117 nations out of the 192 member states of the UN and NAM had objected to the move by the Secretary General.  In the case of appointment of panels by the UN it had been done either at the request of the UN legislative organs or at the request of the country itself. But in this case it was not so (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 2 July 2010).

Report on Sri Lanka – June 30,2010 - by Ira de Silva London, Canada - Mr. Matthew Lee Inner City Press New York, N.Y. Dear Mr. Lee: Reference your latest posting regarding Sri Lanka and the UN, what is very clear is that you do not agree with the UN’s attitude to Sri Lanka and are aggressively supporting the illegal action of the Secretary General in his appointment of a panel of “experts” supposedly to advise him on Sri Lanka. You completely ignore the fact that Ban’s UN is making excuses to interfere in the internal matters of a sovereign country, a member of the UN which is against the UN Charter itself. It is well known that Ban’s agenda is driven by your own government’s goal of punishing Sri Lanka for not permitting the US to evacuate the leadership of the LTTE so that they could continue to terrorise Sri Lanka from outside the country. The “influence” of the LTTE supporters in the U.S. seem to be guiding policy at the State Department as well as at the UN. Are you also “influenced” by them? If you recall, in May 2009, Mrs. Clinton called for a pause and negotiation with the LTTE when the Sri Lankan forces had surrounded them, a group that your own FBI had called the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world. Would the U.S. “pause and negotiate” with the leadership of Al Qaeda and Taliban who they are pursing in foreign countries, killing thousands of civilians by indiscriminate bombing and creating millions refugees all in the name of capturing or killing those the U.S. perceives to be “bad terrorists” in contrast to the LTTE who, according to Mrs. Clinton, are “good terrorists”. Such is the hypocrisy of the US position on terrorists and Sri Lanka (LankaWeb : 2 July 2010).

A response to the sound of 'distant drums' from Ban Ki-moon ... The Government has correctly responded, prudently opposed, and protested the appointment of a Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka by United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. The Foreign Ministry in a statement issued last week described the UN move as 'unwarranted and unnecessary interference with a sovereign nation'. Sri Lanka has been pressurized much by the United Nations from the time of Ban Ki-moon's predecessors like Kofi Annan. The UN continued to pressurize successive Colombo Governments during efforts to crush terrorism. It must be noted that the UN exerted less pressure on the LTTE at that time and the Governments were forced towards the negotiating table to talk peace with the perpetrators of terror. Successive governments held such talks but the LTTE used such opportunities to build up militarily to launch fresh offensives. Certainly, the UN cannot be blind to such facts of the past (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 2 July 2010).

Sri Lanka can handle its own problems - China - China said Thursday it believes the Sri Lankan government and people are capable of handling their own problems. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks at a press conference in response to questions relating to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s recent appointment of members to a panel considering the recent conflict in Sri Lanka. The Secretary-General has appointed “a Panel of Experts that will advise him on the issues of accountability with regards to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka,” said Martin Nesirky, spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General, June 22 (New York time). “We have noticed the appointments,” said Qin. President Mahinda Rajapaksa established the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in May. This is to examine Sri Lanka’s long running separatist conflict that ended last year. Qin expressed China’s belief that Sri Lanka alone is capable of handling Sri Lanka’s problems. China also hoped that the international community, including the UN Secretariat, will create a favorable external environment for Sri Lankan government to stabilize domestic situation, and to accelerate economic growth, said Qin. Sri Lanka’s government forces declared victory over the LTTE last year after a conflict that raged on and off for nearly three decades and resulted in the deaths of thousands (Daily News : 2 July 2010).

New fuel filling stations for North - Arrangements have been made to provide new fuel filling stations for the Northern Province. Several filling stations have already been established in the North and more filling stations are to be opened soon, a Petroleum Industries Ministry spokesman said.  According to the spokesman the filling station constructed in Kilinochchi will be opened on July 13 by Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayantha. It has been built at a cost of Rs 8.6 million for the benefit of newly resettled people.  Transportation along the A9 road has increased since the end of the humanitarian operation. Therefore the demand for fuel has also increased. A large number of filling stations had been destroyed by the LTTE during the past and many filling stations located along the A9 road (especially filling stations from Vavuniya to Elephant Pass) have been destroyed. A filling station set up at Mankulam at a cost of Rs 8.4 million has already been opened.  The construction of Puliyankulam filling station is going on, he said.  The Hirunorukandi and Uilankulama filling stations which were used by the LTTE is now opened for the public after renovations. A new filling station has been set up at Thunukkai. More filling stations are to be set up soon under the direction of Minister Premajayantha to meet the demand, he added (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 2 July 2010).

Watching pleasure of MOON and his Panel - By Mario Perera, Kadawata - Hey diddle diddle UN cats and UN fiddles Are looking aghast and facing a riddle 'cos a mad cow have jumped into their MOON The three panel puppy dogs Waiting their day of doom Are we to laugh, they ask, are we to cry Or fall into an UN-canny swoon? When Ban-ki sees these damning clips What happened in glaring high noon The MOON will know his pants are down This make believe knight, this sad faced clown Fats Domino wrote a long time go Of a Moon that stood still on blueberry hill Now Ban-ki this blue Moon yearning for a thrill Will ... (LankaWeb ; 2 July 2010).

Lanka's terrorism victory example to others - President - No foreign army could be a solution to resolve internal problems of a country which could only be resolved through the support of its people, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said adding that Sri Lanka was an example to the entire world in this respect. He was addressing the Ukranian National Defence Academy during his three day official visit to Ukraine. President Rajapaksa said the experience of Sri Lanka in defeating terrorism was an example to other countries faced with challenges posed by terrorism. He attributed the reasons for the supreme victory to the immense humanism displayed by the country's security forces. The President said he was prepared to share the experience of his victorious forces in defeating terrorism with the security forces of other nations that are battling terrorism adding that this sharing of experience will assist Governments and their security forces who desire to make the world a safe place to live by rooting out terrorism. President Rajapaksa also expressed his gratitude to the Ukranian Government for the assistance extended to his country's fight against terrorism. First lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, President's Foreign Affairs Co-ordinator MP Sajin Vas Gunawardena, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga and Yoshitha Rajapaksa student at the Ukraine National Defence Academy were also present (Daily News : 2 July 2010).

In North, East Provinces: One hundred GN vacancies to be temporarily filled - One hundred Grama Niladari vacancies in Northern and Eastern Provinces will be temporarily filled by retired Grama Niladaris Public Administration and Home Affairs Ministry Higher Officers told the Daily News yesterday. Accordingly, the appointments would last for one year until new appointments are made through a competitive examination to be conducted by the Examinations Department. He said there are about 300 vacancies yet to be filled due to lack of bilingual proficiency officers in the country who can work in the Sinhala and Tamil languages. Meanwhile, according to the new scheme of recruitment to the Grama Niladari Service, three ordinary passes at the GCE A' level will be made compulsory. The new scheme of recruitment had been already submitted to the Salaries and Cadres Committee for approval. According to Ministry sources, a committee has been appointed to evaluate the proposals of public representatives, civil organizations Government Officers and others for demarcation of new Divisional Secretariats and Grama Niladari Divisions or to amend their area extents giving priority to development and administrative purposes. The existing Assistant Government Agent offices will be transformed to Divisional Secretariats, according to Ministry sources (Daily News : 2 July 2010).

What we face today is one standard international law but Double-standards in its application.

WHAT IS GOING WRONG? - By Gomin Dayasri - We are suddenly in the international incinerator, after successfully navigating in troubled waters during times of war, when the weather was far more cyclonic. The US State Department despatched a tomb with over 300 charges on war crimes while we snuggle to cuddle its head, Hillary Clinton; European Union decided to draw the curtain on GST + after listening to the pleas of every Tom Dick and Harry from Colombo. UN Secretary General appoints a team of three to advice on Sri Lanka after we (unlike India that denied entry) lavished hospitality from Alston to Arbour, and are now preparing tamely to concede more and more on the 13th Amendment, after holding to our options when we were weaker. There are two distinct epochs- War Zone during Pre General Elections as against Peace Zone during Post General Elections. Therein lies the difference- government under threat, brilliant in the management of many aspects in the war with a marginalized majority to a government, woefully inadequate in times of peace living in bliss, on a cushioned near 2/3 majority. Is it the Orwellian Ministry of Truth’s War is Peace? Living on laurels is like sleeping on a pillow with a reptile underneath (LankaWeb : 1 July 2010).

Imperialism lurks through EU - The European Union has failed to engage the people of Sri Lanka in its GSP plus tax benefit. The Government's effort to come out of 30 year terrorist conflict which most of the world powers used as a political weapon in South Asia has been put in to a difficult time by the European Union in the name of human rights and reconciliation, Sri Lanka Green Alliance said in a press release. The Sri Lanka Green Alliance while recognizing Human rights states that the EU taking the same old European imperial style has taken the GSP plus as a pressuring mechanism to push the Sri Lanka Government to comply with the narrow political demands. This stance makes EU an enemy in the eyes of the public rather than the friendly arms with assistance when needed to recover from the wounds of conflict. EU as a coalition of states in Europe which is said to be interested in preserving human rights for all in one hand gives room to the LTTE terror leftovers around the world to recover and restore their lost network and on the other hand pressuring the Sri Lankan Government over the GSP plus suppressing the Sri Lankan citizens (Daily News : 1 July 2010).

Youth from N&E train as cops - One hundred Tamil and Muslim youth recruited to the Police from the North and East, commenced training at the Kalutara Police Training School yesterday (1). They would be posted to the North and East after the course, Police Director Recruitment SP Kithsiri Jayalath said (Island : 1 July 2010).

Ban dismisses Lankan objections - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dismissed on Tuesday objections by Sri Lanka to his plan to establish a panel to look into possible human rights abuses there and said he would set it up without delay. Ban told a news conference he was within his rights to appoint the commission of experts to probe possible violations during Sri Lanka’s civil war despite a complaint from President Mahinda Rajapaksa this month that the move was unwarranted. The UN chief also rejected as based on a “misunderstanding” a letter from non-aligned countries at the United Nations charging that he was exceeding his authority. Rights groups and Western governments are pressing for some kind of accountability for thousands of civilian deaths in the last months of the island’s 25-year war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who aimed to create a separate homeland for the island’s Tamil minority. Rights groups have accused Sri Lanka and the LTTE of war crimes during the conflict’s final phase last year and have demanded an independent probe, as has UN special rapporteur for extrajudicial executions Philip Alston. Ban said the appointment of the UN panel accorded a joint statement with Sri Lanka issued after he visited just after the end of the war last May. "The panel I am establishing will advise me on the standards, benchmarks and parameters based on international experience that must guide any accountability process such as the one mentioned in the joint statement," he said (Daily Mirror : 1 July 2010).

All ex-LTTE child combatants handed over to their parents - The Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms in a communique states that all ex-LTTE child combatants have been handed over to their parents after rehabilitation. All child protective accommodation and rehabilitation centres were completely decommissioned and closed on May 18, 2010. The children who went through the rehabilitation process undergoing vocational training and formal education were officially handed over to their parents and families at Magistrate's Court, Vavuniya in the presence of representatives from UNICEF and Local Authorities. Most of these children were back in their original schools. The Commissioner General, Rehabilitation, did not hold any child combatant at present, said the communique (Island : 1 July 2010).

False reporting by UN and lack of integrity in UN reports- Open Letter - by Ben Silva - To : Mr. Anders Hjertstrand Chief of OIOS Internal Audit Division Geneva Office, UN; Subject: UNHCR/CORI Report on Sri Lanka - Dear Sir, It appears that UN is accepting secondary data without verifying the integrity of data. If decisions are made on data, then the integrity of the data is vital and essential for any outcomes based on that data to be valid. So, it is essential that the data should be checked for accuracy, authenticity and verified that no bias has been introduced to the data. Orgs such as HRW and AI and ICG, do not actually obtain data themselves and they have been accused of using hearsay as facts. Many have indicated that reports produced by HRW and ICG as garbage, due to the lack of integrity of their information [1],[2]. If UN use reports produced by HRW or ICG, then UN reports themselves become unreliable and could be classified as inaccurate and false. It is well known that individuals and organization pick the data that satisfy their pet theories whilst ignoring other data. It is well known that AI, HRW and ICG have been sympathetic to LTTE and Tamils and against Sri Lanka. The same comments apply to UN as well, as there are influential Tamils, such as Ms Pillay and Ms Coomaraswamy in UN. If UN picks AI,HRW and ICG reports, then it is to confirm their own bias. UN has completely ignored the deadly terrorist nature of LTTE and is now seeking revenge on Sri Lanka (LankaWeb : 1 July 2010).

The LTTE international network has offered to co-operate with the UN panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon

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