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 Saturday, 23 July 2011 06:22 PM  

LTTE Tamil Tigers are re-grouping abroad, says a French magazine

Sri Lankan nationalists doubt legality of 13th amendment - The 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, which incorporates devolution plan for the Tamils in the country's north and east, needs to be probed by Parliament to examine its legality, a nationalist pressure group has said. "The 13th amendment was never a demand by either the Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims. Even at this late stage the amendment needs to be rejected," Elle Gunawansa, a pro-government Buddhist monk who leads the 'National Organisations Collective', said. The amendment was adopted in 1987 as a result of the Indo-Lanka accord between then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and ex-President JR Jayawardene. The JVP and the rest of the opposition led a vicious campaign against the amendment and the system of provincial councils that came with it. However, the provincial councils later came to be accepted by the very forces who opposed it. The Tamil parties have been pressing for the conferring of full powers to the councils despite the LTTE's violent opposition to the system. Omare Kassapa, another monk, said the provinces should never be given police and land powers. "We know the President's thinking on this. He is opposed to these powers being given." Gunadasa Amarasekera, a leading activist of the movement, said "the 13th amendment was illegal. If any more action is to be taken on it, such action needed to be subject to public approval." The amendment needs to be probed by Parliament to examine its legality, leaders of the pressure group said. The debate on the amendment has been revived in the country since the visit of a high-power Indian delegation last month. The government had informed Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon that police and land powers could not be vested in the provincial councils and that Rajapaksa intends to formulate a solution to the problems of the Tamil minority through a Parliamentary select committee process, officials here said (IBN Live ; 15 July 2011).

NGO suspects wanted for Gotabhaya assassination bid have fled to India - by Shamindra Ferdinando - Two LTTE operatives allegedly involved in the Dec 1, 2006 attempt to assassinate Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa have fled to India, according to intelligence sources. The suspects have been identified as two employees of CARE Sri Lanka, including the senior officer in charge of the NGO’s Kilinochchi office when the LTTE controlled the Vanni region. The NGO employees are alleged to have bought explosives in a vehicle belonging to CARE Sri Lanka and handed over the lethal cargo to the LTTE squad tasked with the operation. Under interrogation, LTTE suspects taken in connection with undercover operations in the city and its suburbs have revealed that CARE Sri Lanka employees had a secret compartment in the petrol tank of the vehicle to move explosives from the Vanni to the South. The LTTEblasted a three wheeler packed with explosives targeting a car carrying the Defence Secretary at Piththala junction while he was on his way to Temple Trees. The Sri Lankan Government alerted India to the presence of the two suspects in India as well as other terrorist suspects. Hundreds of LTTE cadres including key terrorists, had managed to flee the country after the conclusion of the war possibly with the help of some corrupt elements in the armed forces and the police, sources said. A senior LTTE intelligence cadre, who had been involved in several major operations, including the attempt on Rajapaksa’s life, too, escaped and managed to reach India, though his present whereabouts weren’t known. Sources said that some of those who had initially sought refuge in India managed to reach Canada using an LTTE ship, which picked them up in Indian waters. Among those now in Canada are believed to be some key LTTE operatives involved in arms smuggling (Island : 15 July 2011).

Tigers re-grouping abroad-French magazine - ASIES, a French current affairs magazine in its inaugural issue says the LTTE has set up new networks in Tamil Nadu, Canada and Europe and is in the process of re-grouping for another war. The following is a translation of the ASIES piece made available to The Island by the External Affairs Ministry: The prodigal son of the North-Korean dictator and the tattooed members of the Chinese mafias are not the only ones to launder dirty money in the "great boiler" of the Macao and Hong Kong casinos. Members of the LTTE, the separatist organization of the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, also used that stratagem in order to buy weapons from Burma and Thailand, before being crushed in 2009 by the government. But have the Tigers been eliminated for good, after twenty-six years of a civil war which has allegedly killed between 80,000 and 100,000 people? Intelligence services of several countries affirm that the Tigers are reorganizing themselves. A section of the logistic services of the LTTE has remained intact. It has established new networks with the Diaspora in Tamil Nadu (India), Canada and Europe. During summer 20 I 0 the Canadians intercepted, off the coasts of Vancouver, a boat carrying about five hundred Tamil refugees suspected of belonging to the LTTE. Cells of the Tigers are allegedly present in France, Great Britain, Norway and several Asian countries. In 2009, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the leader of the international department of the L TIE, had been arrested in Thailand and extradited to Sri Lanka. Like nature, guerrillas don’t like emptiness: a new command comprised of eight members of the organization has recently made contact with emissaries of the Sri Lankan government, in order to propose the release of that charismatic leader in exchange for the transformation of the group into a political formation. This way, the Tigers are hoping to increase their ranks with those who, among the 10,000 members arrested after their military defeat, are remaining faithful to their separatist ideals. The Sri Lankan leaders fear their might be a trap: the revival of the war in the north of the island, some day. Like the preceding ones, that case is to be continued in Internal Affairs (Island ; 15 July 2011).

Extortion in the guise of obtaining release of LTTE cadre - By Jayantha de Silva - A suspect who was taken into custody for allegedly soliciting and obtaining money on several occasions from the mother of a LTTE member undergoing rehabilitation on the pretext of securing his release was taken into custody and produced before Mt. Lavinia Chief Magistrate Nirosha Fernando last week(4). The suspect in this case is Kandasamy Nandakumar said to be an army deserter. Prosecution alleged that the suspect had telephoned Ravindra Raja Vijaya Sulochana the mother of the detainee and requested her to deposit Rs.72, 000 in a bank account mentioned by him. He had explained that the purpose was to procure a refrigerator and a water pump to the Omanthai Rehabilitation Camp where her son is an inmate. After a week the suspect had again phoned her to deposit another Rs.65,000 to give to security personnel at the camp. When her son was not released, she had lodged a complaint with the CID. The Magistrate ordered the suspect to be remanded. Furthermore the details of the suspect’s bank accounts were called at the next date of hearings fixed for July 25 (Island : 15 July 2011).

Massive weapons haul found - By Supun Dias - The army has unearthed a large number of artillery and ammunition including 1,555 120mm mortar bombs, 27,000 rounds of ammunition used for 12.7 mm guns and 15,000 rounds of ammunition used for 7.52mm guns in Polloly, Vannivilankulam, Kokavil and Udayarkattukulam. Military Spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala said that they unearthed nine hundred and fifty-four 81 mm mortar bombs, three thousand 86 pounder bombs and fifty 130 mm projectiles during the massive search operation which was conducted on Thursday. Four 250 Kg air bombs without explosives and six, 250 Kg air bombs with explosives, three claymore mines, one torpedo and 2000 rounds of ammunition used for Multi Purpose Machine Guns (MPMG) were also found by the army during the search operation (Daily Mirror ; 15 July 2011).

WAR CRIMES -DIASPORA TAMILS – SUPPORTERS OF THE LTTE - by Jayantha Pathbey from USA - Attached is a news item from “the Telegraph, UK dated Wednesday 13 July 2011 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/liberia/8578540/Blood-diamond-trial-the-case-against- ‘Blood diamond’ trial: the case against Charles Taylor Charles Taylor has spent the last three years on trial before the war crimes tribunal in The Hague over accusations that as Liberian president he funded years of atrocities in neighbouring Sierra Leone in return for “blood diamonds”. Doesn’t this remind us of the role played by the tamil diaspora spread all over the world like a cancer that helped LTTE and still continues in its attempts to break up Sri Lanka. The tamil diaspora and all the countries that provided arms to the members of diaspora tamils are guilty of supporting Prabhakaran and the LTTE, that killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of citizens of Sri Lanka (Sinhalese, Tamils, Moslems alike), recruitment of child soldiers, brutal killing and executions of Sri Lankans, including a president and hundreds of political leaders of Sri Lanka, colossal property damage and even the killing of a leader of a foreign country (LankaWeb ; 15 July 2011).

US House of Reps Screens Channel-4 Compilation regarding Sri Lanka - by Mahes Ladduwahetty, Maryland - Dear Editors: The notice below refers to the screening of the UK’s Channel-4 film titled”Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” in Washington DC. It is termed a “Documentary” and is hosted by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and co-hosted by HRW, AI-USA, ICG and OSF. This film is a compilation by Channel-4's journalists in the UK and even they were careful to qualify the footage as a basis for “allegations”, and did not state the events as fact. Although many protests have been made regarding the inconsistencies, evidences of editing, and tampering of the video recordings and other questionable aspects of the compilation, this TLHRC notification ignores them and asserts the footage as FACTUAL of “atrocities committed against civilians”. It also states that the film was “recently screened to wide acclaim at the UN”, when the facts are that it was NOT screened at the UN but at a nearby Church. It also refers to a report by a UN panel of Experts, when the panel was an advisory panel to the UNSG that went far beyond its mandate which was HOW to proceed with an accountability exercise, and it documented allegations and complaints from people, largely Tamil immigrants seeking asylum in the USA, but sealed the documentation for 20 years. So is this not an yet unsubstantiated story taking a new life of its own and being supported in that “avatar” by the US House of Representatives going after Sri Lanka for whatever political agenda that is in the background? (LankaWeb ; 15 July 2011).

Kohona Clears Misconceptions about Children and Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka - Underlying realities of child soldiers and armed conflict in Sri Lanka have been ignored by a report released by the US-based Conflict Dynamics International in an endeavor “to stroke up embers of a bitter past and politicize the issue of accountability related to child recruitment”, said Sri Lanka’s envoy to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona at an open debate at the Security Council on July 12.  Accordingly, Ambassador Kohona stressed that the misinformation and distortions of the Conflict Dynamics International report feeds to the international elements to strengthen their maneuvers to disrupt the Sri Lanka government’s initiation for reconciliation and consolidate peace within the country since the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009. “In the final stages of the conflict, children were thrown up in large numbers by the LTTE as cannon fodder and more than one generation of children was sacrificed to realize a megalomaniac’s (referring to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran) dream”, he conceded. The website quotes Dr. Kohona as saying that the assertion of the Report of the Conflict Dynamics International that “individuals implicated in crimes against children in the area of armed conflict continue to hold high-government positions is sadly incomplete and misleading. The Government had consistently encouraged former armed groups to denounce violence and enter the democratic process as a part of the reconciliation effort.” (Sunday Observer ; 15 July 2011).

Fake Channel 4 video to be shown in US Congress - Message from Sri Lankans To: Congressman Jim McGovern 438 Cannon HOB Washington, DC 20515 - Dear Congressman McGovern, We Americans are shocked to hear that you have decided to show the fake British Channel 4 video “The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” this Friday in the Congress. We do not want you to show this fabrication of facts in the United States Congress. In fact, as an American we need you to bring charges against the Tamils who supported the Tamil terror group LTTE for war crimes. Don’t you think it’s time we enforced anti-terror laws on American soil? We request that Congressman McGovern reconsider his speaking at and hosting this film screening. This type of vicious and evil propaganda hurts Sri Lankans and Americans. It severely damages the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka. It focuses on negativity and not moving forward as a united country. It is divisive and damages the progress and harmony of the island. It is a fraud. The documentary is inaccurate and lacks authenticity. It is simply a piece of propaganda with the sole intention of confusing the international community. None of the clips in the video are attributed or corroborated. Numerous international news organizations have noted that the documentary is not journalism and simply contains unnamed sources and distorted voices. Some of the alleged “cell phone videos” have time stamps that took place months after the conflict ended. Since there is absolutely no attribution to any of the scenes in the videos they could have been staged at anytime, anywhere in the world (LankaWeb ; 15 July 2011).

Canadian Human Rights Voice (CHRV) event of June 12 at Scarborough Civic Center - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP MP for Scarborough-Rough River, Ontario House of Commons, Ottawa; Dear Rathika: I was informed by a ‘moderate’Tamil in Toronto that you were in attendance at the Canadian Human Rights Voice (CHRV) event on July 12 held at the Scarborough Civic Center, rapping about the Darusman Report and the Channel 4 video ‘Killing Fields in Sri Lanka’, and trying to figure out Canada’s responsibilities to respond to the violations of humanitarian and human rights law in Sri Lanka. I wasn’t there, but I wish I were. But I thought that CHRV had the right approach, if and only they were prepared to take off their blinkers, and lasso in one of the international culprits, Canada, for instigating international war crimes, for having brought so much of chest-thumping pain and blood-shedding in Sri Lanka by letting the Canadian Snow Tigers collect two million dollars a month for 13 Liberal governing years to stuff the Tamil Tiger war chest. With that money the Tamil Tigers bought war weapons to haemorrhage that beautiful island nation and kill innocent unarmed people in the thousands in Sri Lanka. This is the island which is filled with beautiful people, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, you name it, 22 million of them all, that you left behind at age 5 and I at age 19 (Lankaweb : 15 July 2011).

LTTE Front Organizations to be held accountable for war crimes

Rs 1.2 billion for agricultural revival: Northern food boost helps 30,000 families - 80,000 to 100,000 acres of fresh land to be cultivated for first time - Process will soon see revival of agriculture sector in North - by Ravi LADDUWAHETTY - Farmer families numbering 30,000 in the four liberated Northern districts of Mannar, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya will engage in paddy and crop cultivation for the first time in the Maha season of 2011/ 2012, courtesy a Central Bank sponsored loan scheme worth Rs 1.2 billion. This will also mean that a total extent of 80,000 to 100,000 acres of fresh land will be cultivated for the first time since the cessation of hostilities with the resettlement of the Internally Displaced Persons, barring only a few in the Pudukudirippu area. The loans, which have been facilitated by the Central Bank will be disbursed through a private- public sector partnership and the disbursing banks will be the Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, the SANASA Bank the Hatton National Bank and the Union Bank. “This will be the first time the farmers of these liberated areas will be going in for paddy and crop cultivation commencing in September, and we have identified 30,000 farmer families for the cultivation loan scheme with the 2010 season being marred by floods,” Central Bank Assistant Governor (Regional Development) W.M. Karunaratne told the Daily News yesterday. ‘This process will soon see the revival of the agriculture sector in the North with the farmers not only going in for paddy cultivation but also subsidiary crops like upcountry vegetables, such as, capsicum, beetroot, knol khol along with green gram, black gram and maize which will be grown in the districts of Mullativu, Mannar and Vavuniya (Daily News : 15 July 2011).

Minister Rajapaksa tells Diaspora: Invest in Jaffna - Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa extended an open invitation to the Sri Lankan Diaspora to invest in Jaffna as the government has created a conducive atmosphere with all required infrastructure facilities for it.  He said that if the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora is serious in helping the Tamil community as they imply, it is time they come and invest in the North for the well-being of the people.  Minister Rajapaksa is on a five-day tour of the North where he inaugurated a series of multipurpose development projects in Jaffna. On Wednesday morning soon after his arrival he offered pooja at the Nallur Kandasami Kovil and later had audience with the Hindu High Priest Nallai-aadeenam Kurukkal.  Thirty-three roads within Jaffna Municipal limit are to be developed and carpeted by the Economic Development Ministry under the Uthuru Wasanthaya programme at a cost of Rs 237 million.  The minister inaugurated the carpeting work at the Kovil Road as a symbol to inaugurate the work of all these 33 projects inclusive of Jaffna Temple Road, Kasthuriya Road and the Clock Tower Road.  The minister under the livelihood development scheme also launched by his ministry inaugurated several community service projects in Jaffna. Four water supply schemes in Ariyalai, Urani, Karaveddy and Irupalai in the Valikamam sector in the peninsula was inaugurated. These projects costing Rs 200 million, once completed will provide ground water facilities to over 25,000 people (Daily News ; 15 July 2011).

Asylum seekers may have been heading for Canada - Globe and Mail - The Canadian government suspects the ship carrying 87 Tamil asylum seekers was bound for Canada until it was apprehended by Indonesian authorities. "I can't talk about any details in intelligence reports. There are indications that it may have been destined for Canada," the Globe and Mail reported quoting the Canadian Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney. "... Our intelligence and police agencies are working very hard. They are getting great co-operation from the transit countries, as we've seen this week," the minister said. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said there was no guarantee the Sri Lankans were actually refugees and they were not planning to go to New Zealand. "In terms of the actual plans that they had it doesn't appear they weren't actually intending to come here in the first place," New Zealand Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman told the New Zealand Herald. "If you look at where these boats have gone in the past they've gone to a range of destinations. Canada's pretty popular as is Australia." The MV Alicia was initially reported to have been bound for New Zealand, or possibly Australia, before it was stopped in Indonesian waters last weekend. While the ship's ultimate destination remains something of a mystery, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that "charts indicating the boat was prepared to travel to Canada" may have been found aboard the vessel. During a 12-month period between 2009 and 2010, nearly 600 Tamil migrants turned up on the coast of British Columbia in two nautical voyages. Some passengers are said to have indebted themselves to the tune of more than $40,000 apiece (Daily News : 15 July 2011).

‘Sri Lanka's Killing Fields’ in US Congress: Sponsor Congressman McGovern, Supporter of Colombian terrorist FARC - by Daya Gamage - Co-sponsor of the controversial documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Field’ produced by Channel 4 scheduled to be screened at Capitol Visitor Center of the United States Congress on Friday, 15 July and the keynote speaker at the screening Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern has a dubious record of maintaining a rapport and supporting the Colombian rebel organization Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) whose main aim is to overthrow the democratic government of Colombia. Now, Mr. McGovern is in league with organizations that are aiming to destabilize the democratic government of Sri Lanka, halt that government’s initiation toward reconciliation and disrupt the consolidation of peace this South Asian nation gained with the defeat of terrorist/separatist Tamil Tigers or the LTTE in May 2009. The mechanism of a section of Sri Lanka Tamil Diaspora in the United States by strategically influencing the international rights groups and the U.S. lawmakers, in the name of human rights for the Sri Lanka Tamil ethnic group, is to haul the leaders of the Sri Lanka government to international criminal court and destabilize the nation in return for the total annihilation of the Tamil Tigers. The result expected is the creation of an international awareness that the creation of an ethnic state in the north and east of that country inevitable (Asian Tribune ; 15 July 2011).

Media and the suffering of the Tamil people -  By Noel Nadesan Courtesy Daily Mirror - As a Tamil domiciled in Australia I served the Tamil community by editing the only Tamil community newspaper, UTHAYAM. I ran it for 14 years My experiences in dealing with the Tamil community, both in Australia and in Sri Lanka, make me feel sad about the callous way in which the media is exploiting the suffering of our Tamil people for self-serving ends. I think I could speak as an independent voice with no allegiances to the politics of either community or political parties. My main concern has been to help our Tamils in Sri Lanka who had to face the brunt of all attacks from the Indians soldiers, Sri Lankan forces and, above all, the so-called Tamil liberators, the LTTE. I have just completed building a small hospital in the island of Eluvaitivu, in which I grew up and, sooner or later, I plan to go back to serve our Tamil people who are desperately in need of help. It is against this background that I thought of forwarding my comments to you after viewing the re-broadcast of Channel 4 programme, The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka. I must confess I felt depressed and I could not sleep that night. I have recovered since then and I feel I must send you my comments for your consideration because I feel that you aired it to exploit the suffering of our people whose need of the hour is not to rake up the bloody past but to find a way out of the past (Lankaweb ; 14 July 2011).

UNCOHR Ms N. Pillay unmask her true identity - by Malin Abeyatunga - When I first read the news that one Ms Navenetham Pillay (Navi Pillay) from South Africa has been appointed as UN Commissioner for Human Rights, I was skeptical thinking another LTTE supporter in the UN to back LTTE appeasing Ms Radhika Coomarswamy who is the special representative for children and armed conflict. I was skeptical because name Pillay sounded Tamilish (I am not a racist in any way but anti LTTE) and she hails from South Africa a haven which has a strong support base for LTTE activities from the Sri Lankan and Indian Tamil habitants. However, I thought I should not pre-judge and put her in the same boat of Radhika Coomaraswamy who always had and has a soft corner for LTTE despite LTTE’s continuation of abduction and recruitment underage children for its baby brigade. We have not forgotten her sending one of her stooges Alan Rock to Sri Lanka to look into child conscription and made a mess out of it by blaming the GoSL and not LTTE.  Alas…! My skepticism on Ms N. Pillay has now been proved right beyond any doubt when one peruses and analyzes her recent comments on the current situation in the North. In her recent statement, she had come out with unsubstantiated facts and figures presumably obtained from LTTE propaganda websites and other unreliable sources to blame the Sri Lankan Government and the armed forces for the sufferings of Tamil civilians. Much has been said, written and challenged by many journalists including Prof Rajiv Wijesinghe of the Peace Secretariat and Foreign Secretary Dr Palitha Kohana on her totally irresponsible and unprofessional statement.  She had subtly exposed her true sisterly feelings towards LTTE by collating randomly picked unsubstantiated facts and figures to undermine the Sri Lankan Government who are fighting the most brutal and deadliest terrorist outfit in the world. By her action, Ms Pillay has created big doubt in the minds of majority Sri Lankans of her integrity as an impartial authority. Can such a person with doubtful integrity hold a responsible position as Commissioner of Human Rights?  When a person of such authority and status issues a statement, LTTE propaganda network taking advantage instantly and carries them in their propaganda websites to blame the GoSL and the armed forces. It is no surprise that her totally unprofessional statement with borrowed data from Tamil websites and LTTE appeasing humanitarian organizations like HRW and AI against the Sri Lankan Government coincided with LTTE petitioning the UN to take action against Sri Lankan Government for war crimes. Even if she says sorry now, it’s too late as the damage is done as LTTE has already used her comments to terrorists’ advantage (Sri Lanka Guardian : 14 July 2011).

Children and Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka: Palitha Kohona clears misconceptions - By Daya Gamage - Presenting detailed underlying realities of child soldiers and armed conflict in Sri Lanka that have been ignored by a report released by the U.S.-based Conflict Dynamics International which Sri Lanka’s envoy to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona described as an endeavor “to stroke up embers of a bitter past and politicize the issue of accountability related to child recruitment”, Sri Lanka told the U.N at an open debate at the Security Council July 12 that despite the impressive progress to end the child soldier era Sri Lanka continues to remain on the “Naming and Shaming List” of the UN Secretary General’s Annexes. Ambassador Kohona was quite conscious of the fact that the misinformation and distortions of the Conflict Dynamics International report feeds to the international elements to strengthen their maneuvers to disrupt the Sri Lanka government’s initiation for reconciliation and consolidate peace within the country since the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009 when he reminded the Security Council that “in the final stages of the conflict, children were thrown up in large numbers by the LTTE as cannon fodder and more than one generation of children was sacrificed to realize a megalomaniac’s (referring to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran) dream”. “Sri Lanka has serious reservations about the Report of the Conflict Dynamics International that was launched under the auspices of the Permanent Mission of Canada and the Permanent Mission of Germany”, Dr. Kohona said (Asian Tribune ; 14 July 2011).

LTTE seeks removal from EU watch list - In April the European wing of the LTTE petitioned to reportedly seek the removal of the LTTE from the European Union (EU) list of banned terrorist organisations the petition has reportedly now been allowed to proceed by the European Court of Justice. A Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told the media that this was the first time that they have heard of an EU wing of the LTTE although the LTTE presence in the region was fairly strong. According to a statement the Foreign Ministry is closely monitoring developments in the case (Sinhale Hot News ; 14 July 2011).

KP (Leader of LTTE) blames Nadesan for Prabhakaran’s demise

WANTED by INTERPOL (Click here)

KP flays Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, blames Nadesan for Prabhakaran’s demise - By K.T.Rajasingham Colombo, 14 July, (Asiantribune.com): The Tamils of Sri Lanka pinned their hopes and faith on the Tamil Nadu leaders, considered them as benefactors and redeemers, but they have miserably failed to practice what they preached. In the meantime, blame has been squarely placed on the former LTTE political czar B. Nadesan for the demise of the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Kumaran Pathmanathan or simply called “KP” blamed Nadesan for his lethargic approach and in the end which led ultimately for the demise of the LTTE leader. South Indian Tamil leaders including Chief Minister J.Jayalithaa and the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi came up for a sharp criticism as Kumaran Pathmanathan lambasted them, “blood suckers,” & “Parasites,” who made use of the Sri Lankan Tamils’ miseries, to enhance their selfish political agenda. He pointed out, while the Tamil Nadu leaders wanted their State to remain intact with the Union of India, on the contrary they vociferously advocates the bifurcation of Sri Lanka to create a separate state of Tamil Eelam. He added on the whole, Tamil Nadu leaders failed to live up to the expectations of the Sri Lankan Tamil (Asian Tribune ; 14 July 2011).

Doublespeak, doublethink with regard to alleged attacks on hospitals - Darusman, Weiss and Tamilnet at play - by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP - The second great set piece of both the Darusman Panel Report and Gordon Weiss’s book is the alleged attack on Puthukkudiyirippu Hospital. The Report begins by claiming in Para 90 that ‘PTK hospital was the only permanent hospital left in the Vanni, and its neutrality was recognized by the Government and the LTTE... More than 100 new patients were arriving each day, many from the NFZ. Many had severe or life-threatening injuries caused by artillery fire or burns.40 The casualties, many of them babies, young children and the elderly, were packed in every conceivable space - on beds, under tables, in hallways and outside in the driveway’. It is claimed that many photographs of this were relayed both to UN Headquarters and to the Government (Daily News ; 14 July 2011).

Response to Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia Director, HRW - by Neville Ladduwahetty The issues raised by Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson in “Sri Lanka’s Diplomatic Initiative Won’t Make Killing Fields Disappear” are based on Channel 4's video and the report by an expert panel set up by the UN Secretary General. Two commentators in the Channel 4 video namely, Steve Cranshaw and Prof. William Schabas have judged the actions of the Sri Lankan Government by the “Rules of War”. Therefore, this response is addressed from the perspective of “Rules of War” (LankaWeb : 13 July 2011).

No final decision that decides the future destiny of the nation should be reached without the approval at a referendum of the whole country - Dr. Sudath Gunasekara President Mahanuwara Sinhala Bauddha Sanvidhanaya 14.7.2011. The ugly and awesome ghost that is the 13th Amendment that was based on the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement of July 29th 1987 which I would call a veritable symbol of Indian imperialism, expansionism and naked diplomatic ‘invasion’ has again begun to hover all over the skies of our beloved Motherland echoing fear, terror and disaster. In the wake of this dreadful threat it had been reported in the press that the President has decided to go for a Select Committee of Parliament to evolve out a political solution to the so-called ethnic problem that is supposed to exist in the North and the East. It was also stated that the Select Committee is expected to come out with a solution within a limited time frame that will be implemented after approval by the Parliament. This could be the confused reaction of a helpless government in front of the Indian bullying and the so-called “International” threats. Does this means the present government also, like what JR did treacherously in 1987, is preparing to offer a Dolapideni with the flesh and blood of the whole nation on a platter to appease the Indian and the so-called International Community in order to remain in power and go down in history as another pack of treacherous politicians? It was under pain of ‘death’ threat J.R. Jayawardhana was compelled to sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Pact amidst island wide protest organized by the main opposition parties of the day like SLFP, MEP and JVP (LankaWeb : 13 July 2011).

Lawsuit against Rohan Gunaratna - The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), which claims to represent over 300,000 Tamils of Sri Lankan origin in Canada, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Sri Lankan-born terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna. The lawsuit, filed here, stems from his allegedly defamatory statements made against the Canadian Tamil Congress in an interview to a Sri Lankan newspaper a few months ago. In that interview to the local newspaper, Gunaratna had alleged that the LTTE is "operating in Canada under the name of the Canadian Tamil Congress, which is the main LTTE front organization in Canada." An international terrorism expert who is frequently seen on major global TV networks, Gunaratna is a professor of security studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. In the interview, Gunaratna had also falsely said that the Canadian government is investigating that the "LTTE is operating under the name of Canadian Tamil Congress," the lawsuit says. According to the lawsuit, Gunaratna's statements are defamatory and falsely portray the Canadian Tamil Congress as an entity through which the LTTE has conducted operations in Canada. David Poopalapillai, the national spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress, said, "While the CTC's mission is to work with various levels of government in Canada to address issues of significance to Tamil Canadians, it does not, and never has, functioned as the front in Canada for the LTTE movement. "The Canadian Tamil Congress brought this lawsuit to combat the harm done to its reputation and ability to address issues of importance to Tamil Canadians as a result of Gunaratna's statements." Poopalapillai and Umasuthan Suntharamoorthy, who is a director of the Canadian Tamil Congress, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. A statement by the Canadian Tamil Congress said, "Gunaratna has been served with the statement of claim in Singapore but has not yet defended the lawsuit. Lakbima News, which published the allegedly defamatory interview with Gunaratna, is also a defendant and is aware of the allegations against it." There are over 300,000 Tamils of Sri Lankan origin in Canada, with most of them settled in the Toronto area (Daily Mirror : 13 July 2011).

Intercepted Tamil ship was Canada-bound, Kenney says - VANCOUVER—A migrant ship carrying nearly 90 Sri Lankan Tamils that was intercepted in Indonesian waters was heading to Canada, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Tuesday. The MV Alicia remains moored offshore after it was intercepted Saturday by Indonesian marine police. The 87 people on board are reportedly refusing to leave the vessel and have held up signs and flags indicating they want asylum in New Zealand. The migrants told the BBC Tamil service that they are refusing to leave before their safety can be guaranteed. But Kenney said the MV Alicia’s planned destination was Canada. “They will often hedge their bets and it’s no secret that the large-scale smuggling syndicates of this particular population of migrants identify Canada as the softest target with the strongest pull factors,” Kenney said. The New Zealand government said the Sri Lankan refugees were not planning to go there. “In terms of the actual plans that they had it doesn’t appear they weren’t actually intending to come here in the first place,” New Zealand Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman told the New Zealand Herald. “If you look at where these boats have gone in the past they’ve gone to a range of destinations. Canada’s pretty popular as is Australia.” It is unclear whether Canada, Australia or New Zealand asked the Indonesian government to intercept the boat. Kenney said he’s unable to discuss operational details of how the MV Alicia came under Canada’s radar. “We have a very good cooperation from the Indonesian authorities and we appreciate their good work,” he said. “It was Indonesian authorities who intercepted the vessel and brought it into port. They’re responsible for the disposition of the passengers aboard the ship.” Last August, 492 refugee claimants from Sri Lanka arrived off B.C.’s coast on board the MV Sun Sea. Ten months before in October, the Ocean Lady, carrying 76 asylum seekers, was escorted to shore by Canadian officials while heading toward B.C. No one has been convicted of orchestrating the two voyages (The Star ; 12 July 2011).

A roadway crammed with history: Jaapanaya (Jaffna) -Athuruvaella (Atchuvel) -Vakthuduva (Point Pedro)

Names of villages in the North and East of Sri Lanka http://dh-web.org/place.names/barelist.htm

The road through Athuruvaella to Point Pedro (Vak Thudaava) passes through ancient Buddhist villages. Thus Gothamaluvaththa (Kaddupulan) is less than a kilometer from Punnala (Ponnalai). Here excavations revealed a pre-Christian temple complex. Many other ancient Buddhist sites are within bicycling distance from here. Puththur, or Buthpura is another ancient site whose antecedents are now forgotten. Navagiri (Navakkiri), Nilavara (Nilavarai), Urapitiya (Uddupiddi), Puhuleliya (Puloli), and Vaelipura (Allipuram) are other old towns not far from this route (LankaWeb ; 12 July 2011)

A note on Radhika Coomaraswamy’s forwarding business - by Malinda Seneviratne - Perhaps it is a language/literacy issue or perhaps it’s some fundamental human trait, but a significant number of people seem to believe that clicking the ‘forward’ option in email or mobile phone amounts to communication. Some words do go back and forth. Sometimes other people say better what we want to express. Still, it can’t be just that, I feel. This world is made of compulsive forwarders. There’s a lot of evidence in my inboxes. Sharing is good, don’t get me wrong. Some ‘forwards’ do illuminate, make my day and in general constitutes the passing around of good news. Some, however, are tainted by mal-intent. Some indicate ignorance. I suppose it takes all kinds to make this world (Daily News : 13 July 2011).

LIKE THE WEST ASKING SRI LANKA TO SUBMIT ITSELF TO AN INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION, WE ASK THE CHANNEL FOUR TO SUBMIT ITSELF TO AN IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATION ABOUT THE ‘KILLING FIELDS OF SRI LANKA’ VIDEO - MEDIA RELEASE – SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUP, CANBERRA - The Channel Four video has brought forth immense disrepute to Sri Lanka and her people. It has depicted Sri Lanka and its people as brutals. This is an unfortunate situation. There had been worldwide condemnation of Sri Lanka. Based on this video Governments have proclaimed their foreign policy on Sri Lanka (such as the UK and Australia). Sri Lankan Government has vehemently maintained its stand that its forces did not commit such brutal, horrendous crimes and the video is unauthentic. We have shown 58 situations that very clearly show that the Channel Four video is not authentic (please see our previous media releases). The most important finding we highlight is that such a high quality video cannot be produced by using mobile camera videos. Experts have stated that the original videos have been edited to create the final video. It is highly probable that some of the original videos may also have been doctored. Then, many sceneries in the final video are stage managed (produced using Tamil actors etc). Again, please see the 58 deceptions that we identified in our previous write up (LankaWeb : 12 July 2011).

Radhika stabs Sri Lanka in the back again - H. L. D. Mahindapala Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Under-Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict, was caught red-handed once again engaged in anti-Sri Lankan activities. UN staff were shocked to find a daily press review issued from her office propagandizing the controversial footage of Channel 4 titled “Killing Fields of Sri Lanka”. In her daily press review which she circulates within the UN she has gone out of her way to announce that this video was going to be aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation – a deliberate move to propagandize the ant-Sri Lankan footage among the UN and other international agencies.  Here is the text of the email sent to UN staff: (LankaWeb ; 12 June 2011).

Response to Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia Director, HRW - by Neville Ladduwahetty - The issues raised by Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson in "Sri Lanka’s Diplomatic Initiative Won’t Make Killing Fields Disappear" are based on Channel 4’s video and the report by an expert panel set up by the UN Secretary General. Two commentators in the Channel 4 video namely, Steve Cranshaw and Prof. William Schabas have judged the actions of the Sri Lankan Government by the "Rules of War". Therefore, this response is addressed from the perspective of "Rules of War" (Island ; 12 July 2011).

Bogus ‘illegals’ reached Indonesia 2 years ago-GoSL - By Shamindra Ferdinando - In spite of the global community tightening laws to tackle illegal immigration, organized criminal gangs continue to exploit the domestic political situation in some countries to carry out human smuggling operations. Sri Lankan officials say the recent detection of 87 Sri Lankan men (76), women (6) and children (5) as they were leaving Indonesia in MV ‘Alicia’ is a case in point. Defence and External Affairs sources told The Island that the majority of them had left Sri Lanka over two years ago and sought refuge in Indonesia. Sources said that the bottom line was that they were using Indonesia as a transit point to reach Australia or some other Western country. They alleged that criminal gangs were taking advantage of lax security to launch ships carrying illegal immigrants. Since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, there had been several successful attempts to move Sri Lankan illegal immigrants, including LTTE cadres, to developed countries. Intelligence sources said that at least one of the ships which carried immigrants to Canada had begun its journey in Indian territorial waters (Island : 12 July 2011).

LLRC disputes Prof. Wijesinghe’s response to BBC - LLRC spokesperson Lakshman Wickramasinghe yesterday expressed concern about a statement made by UPFA National List MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe in an interview with the BBC.  The spokesman said: "The Commission was indeed concerned about a comment made on its work by a Government spokesman in a recent BBC programme. The Commission wishes to reiterate that it has an independent mandate derived from the Presidential Warrant dated 15 May 2010 and accordingly the content and the pace of its work, including its work programme, are independent of any wishes articulated by any spokesperson, Governmental or non-governmental, here or abroad. The main determinant of the pace of Commissions work is its commitment to be objective and as comprehensive as possible in discharging its complex mandate. The Commission therefore notes with regret the comment by the Governemnt spokesman.  The LLRC was responding to Wijesinghe’s reply to a query by Stephen Sackur on BBC Hard Talk.  Asked whether Wijesinghe was satisfied with the way the LLRC was working, the government spokesman said: I tend to believe it can go more quickly than they do. I am critical about how slow they are but of course we can’t affect the Commission. I thought there should have been another interim report and I said so but of course we can’t affect the Commission (Island : 12 July 2011).

Patriot in a crate and ingrates - Sri Lanka's 'patriots' let out a howl of protest when British Defence Secretary Dr. Liam Fox, who had agreed to deliver the Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial lecture a few moons ago, backed out trotting out some lame excuses at the eleventh hour in view of a diplomatic brouhaha following the cancellation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Oxford Union speech owing to violent LTTE protests. He was flayed, insulted and even denounced as a Tiger sympathiser. But, at long last he came here and delivered the promised lecture on Saturday.  Dr. Fox obviously exercised caution and pulled punches in delivering his lecture, presumably not wanting to incur the wrath of his ministerial colleagues well disposed towards the LTTE rump, which claims to be able to deliver sizeable block votes to British politicians prepared to prostitute their privileged positions to further its interests politically and diplomatically. He wove many things into his speech, which lacked focus as a result. It may even have been a calculated move aimed at obfuscation! Nevertheless, all in all, he paid a glowing tribute to his dear departed friend, Kadirgamar (Island ; 12 July 2011).

“The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka”is proved a fake - ?by Garvin Karunaratne, former Government Agent, Matara District - Channel 4 of the BBC has actually let the BBC down in terms of the hallowed aims of the BBC: “To enrich people’s lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain” and the avowed values of the BBC: “Trust is the foundation of the BBC, we are independent, impartial and honesty”. Channel 4 of the BBC in an attempt to haul the leaders of Sri Lanka before the International War Crime Courts, had produced a film “ The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” which was shown on UK Television and given ample publicity, shown at Geneva, New York and Australia, supported by Amnesty International and Human Rights Organizations., This is not the first time that the BBC has been partisan, totally misrepresented the real truth and has sacrificed all its aims and values (LankaWeb : 12 July 2011).

Navi Pillay coughs again for dollars - Malin Abeyatunge UNCOHR Ms N. PILLAY UMMASKS HER TRUE IDENTITY - When I first read the news that one Ms Navenetham Pillay (Navi Pillay) from South Africa has been appointed as UN Commissioner for Human Rights, I was skeptical thinking another LTTE supporter in the UN to back LTTE appeasing Ms Radhika Coomarswamy who is the special representative for children and armed conflict. I was skeptical because name Pillay sounded Tamilish (I am not a racist in any way but anti LTTE) and she hails from South Africa a haven which has a strong support base for LTTE activities from the Sri Lankan and Indian Tamil habitants. However, I thought I should not pre-judge and put her in the same boat of Radhika Coomaraswamy who always had and has a soft corner for LTTE despite LTTE’s continuation of abduction and recruitment underage children for its baby brigade. We have not forgotten her sending one of her stooges Alan Rock to Sri Lanka to look into child conscription and made a mess out of it by blaming the GoSL and not LTTE (LankaWeb ; 12 July 2011).

A roadway crammed with history: Jaapanaya (Jaffna)-Athuruvaella (Atchuvel)-Vakthuduva (Point Pedro) - by Chandre Dharmawardana - A new item carried in several newspapers (12-July-2011) says that the “Jaffna-Atchuveli-Point Pedro route was re-opened to the public yesterday after 28 years. It was closed for general traffic from 1983 after terrorists destroyed the Thondaman Aru bridge.” The Thondaman referred to in “Thondaman-aru” was Karunagaran Thondaman, a Chola minister who explored the possibility of exporting salt from North Sri Lanka to the Chola Kingdom. Most people are aware that the name “Jaa-panaya” originally signified the Javanese village that came into being after Chandrabhanu a Javanese ruler from Tambralinga invaded Sri Lanka in the 13th Century CE. His armies landed in Gokanna (Trincomalee), and used blow pipes and poisoned arrows against local armies. He ruled the peninsula for three decades (LankaWeb ; 12 July 2011).

Jaffna will get its lost glory once again

Statement by External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris in Parliament on July 7 in reply to Chief Opposition Whip: A deliberate attempt to distort the truth The UNP must have the courage of its convictions: Continued from yesterday ; About four days before my official meeting with her in my capacity as Sri Lanka’s Minister of International Trade, there was a letter sent under the signature of Ranil Wickremasinghe telling Benita Ferrero Waldner that Sri Lanka was in breach of her obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, that Sri Lanka was not in compliance and did not qualify for the extension of the GSP Plus facility. This was a letter which was given to me by the Ranil Wickremasinghe’s own side. Because of the internal situation, this letter that was written to the Foreign Minister of the European Union was placed in my hands and I tabled it on the Floor of this House. Not only that, I tabled on the Floor of this House an interview that was given to “The Hindu” newspaper by Ranil Wickremasinghe where he openly, unabashedly, shamelessly calls upon the UN and the West to intervene directly in this country. This is unique behavior, Mr. Speaker. I say this not in anger, but with deep sadness (Daily News ; 12 July 2011).

HRW tells US President: Probe Bush administration human rights violations US has legal obligations to probe crimes. If US doesn’t act, other countries should: Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called upon US President Barrack Obama to investigate allegations of detainee abuse authorized by former US President George W. Bush while stating that there should be no double standards on issues of human rights abuses. It claimed in a report published on its website that overwhelming evidence of torture has surfaced obliging current President Obama to order a criminal investigation into the allegations. It further added that the US was right to call for justice over allegations in places like Darfur, Libya and Sri Lanka but that there should be no double standards as the shielding of its own officials makes it easier for others to dismiss global efforts to bring violators to justice. The report on the HRW website said, among other things - Overwhelming evidence of torture by the Bush administration obliges President Barack Obama to order a criminal investigation into allegations of detainee abuse authorized by former President George W. Bush and other senior officials. The Obama administration has failed to meet US obligations under the Convention against Torture - to investigate acts of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees. The 107-page report, Getting Away with Torture: The Bush Administration and Mistreatment of Detainees, presents substantial information warranting criminal investigations of Bush and senior administration officials, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet, for ordering practices such as “waterboarding,” the use of secret CIA prisons, and the transfer of detainees to countries where they were tortured (Daily News : 12 July 2011).

‘Jaffna will get lost glory’ - Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa said that once the major development work being carried out in the North under the initiative of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is completed, Jaffna will get its lost glory once again. Minister Rajapaksa gave this promise when he addressed a ceremony to distribute micro credit and essential items among the public in the Jaffna district. A total of 852 persons received micro loans between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000 each, under the livelihood development projects. The projects were launched by the Northern Co-operatives and Local Government Ministry under the supervision of Northern Governor G A Chandrasiri. Minister Rajapaksa said that during the last two years, 16,000 persons have received loan facilities under the livelihood project. Another 5,000 will receive loan facilities under the Gemi Diriya project in Jaffna next year, he said. The minister explaining the background the prompted this loan scheme to be introduced, said that the government has adopted a policy of developing the nation by developing the family and the individuals before the family. ”It is the government’s intention to develop the individuals first, and the through the individuals the family and the country would be developed later. As the government’s contribution to large scale development work, the expressways, airport and seaports, power stations, hospitals are being developed”, the minister said. “These large scale development projects will help the government to create development in the Northern Province to meet the demands of next five to ten years. Jaffna will get three main highway connectivity, one is the main A 9 highway with six lanes and the second is the A 35 via Sangupiddy and the third will be from the East via Mullaitivu. For the first time, Jaffna district is to be linked with the national grid to ensure 24 hour power supply,” the minister said. The minister invited the people to be active participants of these development work by supporting the government’s efforts without going behind bankrupt politicians who oppose government’s projects. Minister Douglas Devananda and Northern Governor G A Chandrasiri also spoke (Daily News : 12 July 2011).

SL wants Fox to take up UNICEF ‘missing children’ report with LTTE;  As shadow Defence Minister, Conservative MP backed SL military campaign against terrorists - By Shamindra Ferdinando - The government expects the UK to take up the issue of child combatants with the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and other LTTE front organisations operating in the country. Defence Ministry and External Affairs Ministry sources told The Island that those demanding an international probe into accountability issues in Sri Lanka couldn’t ignore the child combatants’ issue. Their position is that the LTTE front organisations, which had raised funds overseas to procure armaments, should be held accountable for war crimes committed by the LTTE’s military leadership.  An investigation by Dutch police and judiciary has established a direct link between the LTTE fighting cadre in Sri Lanka and its sponsors in the Netherlands, Norway and the US. Sri Lanka supported the Dutch investigation by giving investigators access to confidential data and Kumaran Pathmanathan aka KP. Since KP was arrested in Malaysia and brought to Colombo in August 2009, the Netherlands has been the first country to gain access to Velupillai Prabhakaran’s successor. The government on Saturday (9) handed over a UNICEF report, which dealt with post-war efforts to locate missing children in the Northern and Eastern Provinces to Dr. Liam Fox, MP, UK Secretary of State for Defence, when the visiting Minister paid a courtesy call on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees. External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa attended the meeting. Defence Secretary Rajapaksa handed over a copy of the UNICEF report to Dr. Fox. The British politician was here to deliver the fifth Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial lecture in Colombo (Island ; 11 June 2011).

Chennai-Trinco ferry service put off - The Chennai-based AMET Shipping’s plan to start a Chennai-Trincomalee cruise has been postponed indefinitely because the necessary approvals from the Indian and Sri Lankan governments have not been acquired yet, says Capt Nalin Peiris, general sales agent for the cruise in Sri Lanka. The cruise, using the luxury liner AMET Majesty, was to have been inaugurated on July 4. Peiris told Express on Sunday that the Indo-Lanka agreement on shipping services referred to the Thoothukudi-Colombo and the Rameswaram-Thalaimannar ferry services, and not services between other ports in the two countries. "We were under the impression that we could start the service because there was no explicit ban on any other service. But a month ago, we discovered that approvals were necessary, and we applied. We were expecting the approvals to come through before July 4 but they did not. We are confident that they will come through however," Peiris said (Island ; 11 July 2011).

More post-war ‘ammo’ recoveries - Acting on information received by the Special Task Force (STF) deployed at Mullaitivu, troops on Saturday (July 9) recovered 2.8 kgs of C4 plastic explosives, 19 anti-personnel mines, 14,159 rounds of 7.62 ammunition, 40 rounds of 06 mm mortars, two rounds of Rocket Propelled Grenades and 11 rounds of 60 mm mortars (Island : 11 July 2011).

STF recovers Sea Tiger equipment - The Special Task Force (STF) deployed in Mullaitivu over the weekend found two damaged Yamaha 250 hp outboard motors belonging to Sea Tigers at Selvipuram. A spokesperson for the STF told The Island that the two OBMs could have been damaged in a confrontation with the navy during the last phase of the military offensive (Island : 11 July 2011).

Lakshman Kadirgamar: A brave man who enriched public life with principle and integrity - KADIRGAMAR MEMORIAL LECTURE Speech by British Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox on July 09, 2001- It was 16 years ago that I first met Lakshman Kadirgamar. In 1995 I was the new Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the British Foreign Office and he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, here in Sri Lanka. An accomplished lawyer, sportsman and politician, there was virtually no subject on which he did not have an informed opinion or an interesting anecdote. In the time that we worked together we became close colleagues as well as good friends. He was a kind, thoughtful and brave man who enriched public life with principle and integrity. My involvement in Sri Lanka began during a visit to Vavuniya. I remember standing outside a refugee camp where a little boy, perhaps three or four years old and with a very badly damaged left leg, held his hand out through the gate. I remember the look, to this day, on his face-innocent, hopeful but sad. I asked the official with me what we in the UK were doing to help. And the answer was "it is not our sphere of influence" (Island : 11 July 2011).

Read more about the assassination Sri Lanka's former Foreign Minister, Hon Lakshman Kadirgamer (a well respected Sri Lankan Tamil Leader who fought against the LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorism) (click here)

'Others can't solve our problems' - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, addressing a regional conference in Delhi recently, stressed the need for South Asia to battle terrorism without external help. He is sanguine about the region's potential to achieve prosperity. A concerted effort is called for to address the numerous frictions within the region, he has said. One could not agree with the Indian premier more. External powers that reach out to this part of the world only peddle their hidden agendas on the pretext of helping solve the problem of terrorism etc. The remedies they prescribe or ram down our throats prove to be far worse than the maladies. How the West wanted Sri Lanka's terrorism tackled is a case in point. If this country had adhered to their roadmap for a 'negotiated settlement' and continued to appease the LTTE, it would have faced the same fate as Sudan. Perhaps, it would have been cut in half like a melon much earlier. Most of the foreign powers involved in Sri Lanka's peace process which was heavily weighted in favour of the LTTE were instrumental in creating the world's newest state, South Sudan, now in control of three quarters of the Sudanese oilfields, to which the West will have easy access. (It is not just for licking one's fingers that one harvests honey from a beehive, it is said in this country.) (Island ; 12 July 2011).

ABC's Four Corners Program on "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" - The Facts and Fallacies

A Publication of SPUR (NSW). Please click here for the PDF your copy the document.

SL asylum seekers not welcome in NZ - The Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key says 85 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have been detained on their way to New Zealand are “not welcome”. The asylum seekers were detained by Indonesian police and have been anchored in the waters of Tanjung Pinang since Saturday. They are reportedly refusing to abandon ship. Passengers on board the ship have been photographed holding signs reading “We like to go to New Zealand”, “Our future life is in New Zealand” and “We need New Zealand”. John Key said that he was aware of the asylum seekers’ situation, but that New Zealand would not be helping. “I understand that some of those asylum seekers are holding flags or signs that say they might want to come to New Zealand, and our very simple message to them is they are not welcome”. They claim that they are not illegal immigrants but refugees who need New Zealand’s help, and have also requested the assistance of the United Nations (Daily Mirror : 11 July 2011).

Tamil diaspora male caught in credit card fraud - UK A Tamil diaspora male has been sentenced after ripping off hundreds of customers at a petrol station where he worked in Merseyside, England. Murugaiya Selvakumaran, 36, swapped the chip and pin machines at a Murco petrol station in Wallasey with card readers which allowed international criminals to copy customers' cards and make fraudulent withdrawals. The fraud only came to light towards the end of February 2009 when banks began to tell their clients they were victims of œ41,500 of illegal transactions. In total, 517 credit and debit cards were compromised. The petrol station, in Leasowe Road, is run by a Sri Lankan family but they were not related to Selvakumaran, who gave them a fake name when he moved to Wirral from Middlesex. Jo Maxwell, prosecuting, told Warrington crown court yesterday: "Some 200 customers of the Murco store contacted Merseyside police to let them know that a fraud had taken place. "Their investigations, and extensive CCTV, showed all the transactions had taken place during shifts when Mr Selvakumaran was at work." The court heard CCTV showed him swapping the pin machines for the card readers, which were never recovered. Ms Maxwell added Selvakumaran, who has lived in the UK for nine years, was an illegal immigrant who had exhausted all legal options to stay and had his work visa revoked. Ken Heckle, defending, said: "He was not the brains of the operation and he has not benefited. "This money went to other people more criminally sophisticated than himself." Selvakumaran, who was assisted at court by a Tamil interpreter, was caught by police in Surrey on an unrelated matter in March, the Liverpool Echo reported (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 11 July 2011).

Channel 4 Documentary: Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields - By Lt Col (Retd.) Anil Amarasekera - Much has been written about the Channel 4 documentary - Sri Lanka’s killing fields. John Snow’s commentary in this documentary speaks out with much vengeance against Sri Lanka and sounds very much like borrowed words from the Tamil net. One is left to wonder if his animosity against Sri Lanka is a result of some journalist from Channel 4 including Jonathan Millar being deported from Sri Lanka for trying to produce a falsely concocted documentary film in April 2009 on the situation in Sri Lanka. Allegations on war crimes and crimes against humanity are serious and must be proved beyond reasonable doubt with foolproof evidence before they are published on paper or broadcast on television channels. To do so using gruesome video clips received from various questionable sources where the perpetrators cannot be identified convincingly and in which the date or place where the alleged incident had occurred is uncertain is just not journalism that a reputed organization such as Channel 4 should produce. One is also left wondering as to why Channel 4 repeats broadcasting the same video clip each time there is some important gathering at the United Nations. Is it because they believe in the Goebbellian theory that a lie repeated many times over will be accepted as the truth? Or is it because some of the employees of Channel 4 have been bought over by LTTE, which though annihilated in Sri Lanka, is still very much alive internationally (Asian Tribune ; 11 July 2011).

Major road in North opened after 28 years - by Irangika RANGE - The Atchchuvely-Thondamannaru Road in the Jaffna peninsula was reopened to the public after 28 years by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa last morning. Addressing the gathering at the reopening ceremony, Minister Rajapaksa said due credit must be given to our public servants and Security Forces led by Jaffna. Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe for their systematic and planned arrangements which resulted in reopening the road which had been closed from 1983 on schedule. The improvement of infrastructure facilities after gradual removal of the High Security Zones in the North by the government has greatly helped the resettled people to restart their own income generation activities without any hassle. “All required facilities including housing and sanitary facilities will be provided for the benefit of the resettled people,” the Minister said. The reopening of this main road will reduce travel distance between Point Pedro to Atchchuvely by 15 kilometers, he pointed out. The Atchchuvely-Thondamannaru road will be another easy access road for devotees who will be taking part in the foot pilgrimage from the Thondamannaru Kovil to Kataragama (Daily News : 11 July 2011).

Kilinochchi, Jaffna degradable refuse to be converted into compost manure - by Nethali Struys - A programme is underway to convert degradable refuse in Kilinochchi and Jaffna districts into compost manure.  The compost being produced will be sold at a reasonable price to farmers. This is being carried out parallel to the Pilisaru programme launched by the Jaffna Municipal Council and Chavakachcheri Town Council including all Local Government institutions of the area under the guidance of the Central Environment Authority.  A special workshop will be held in Jaffna on July 16 in this regard under the patronage of Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa. Taking part in the preliminary discussion in Jaffna last week, Traditional Industries and Small Enterprises Development Minister Douglas Devananda said that Cabinet approval had been granted to extend this special programme of converting degradable waste to compost manure in three years.  He said that waste disposal had become a major issue in the country. “All Local Government institutions should finalize their project proposals without delay and submit them to the Central Environment Authority,” the minister said (Daily News ; 11 July 2011).

Britain's News Scandal - By Malin Abeyatunga, Melbourne, Australia - Britain’ News of the World scandal has been most spoken topic in the west these days. It exposes how the media operates to achieve their own agenda, whom they buy, spying and preying on  individuals, corruption among the media moguls, journalists, the police, politicians etc. at the expense of the so called freedom of expression in a democracy”. The latest NOTW scandal shows to what extent the media has denigrated in UK. This is not only true with the print media but electronic media in UK as well. The case in point is the latest screening of a fiction film called “Sri Lanka’s killings” in an attempt to bash Sri Lankan efforts to reach reconciliation among the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Even though the Channel 4 claims the documentary to be authenticated, when the images and footage are analyzed, it shows a compilation and manufactured images to suit the agenda of the financiers (alleged Tamil Diaspora) producers, Directors and the telecasters. It is a  FAKE. There have been hundreds of complaints received by the Ofcom (The UK Government’s Office of Communications)  that it was misleading and misrepresentative and they are investigating into the ethical side of it. But the law enforcement authorities should investigate the financial side of it as to who funded, who benefited out of this Fake documentary against Sri Lanka. Who knows some truth will come out like the News Of The World scandal (Sri Lanka News Online : 10 July 2011). (LankaWeb : 10 July 2011).

KP rehabilitated, says Keheliya ...... What ????

KP rehabilitated, says Keheliya - By S. Selvakumar - Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP a former arms procurer for the LTTE was under rehabilitation and the government felt that he has now been somewhat fully rehabilitated, Cabinet spokesman and Information and Media Minister Kheliya Rambukwella told the weekly Cabinet press briefing. He said that he realized this fact from a recent statement made by KP to the effect that Eelam was only a dream and it was the duty of the Tamil diaspora to help the people of the North to lead a normal life. Rambukwella’ commenting on the Channel 4 fiasco said that 7,000 LTTE suspects who either surrendered or arrested have been rehabilitated since the end of the war and under such circumstances he cannot understand why the Sri Lanka Army should separate four or five cadres and shoot them to death. “Legal action is being pursued against Channel 4 telecast and the relevant authorities were already at it”, the Minister said. Government has decided to allocate a sum of Rs. 505.2 million to improve the water supply to Madhu Church in the Mannar district where an estimated 450,000 pilgrims were expected to encamp in the Church premises. This would be done in two stages and the first stage to be completed this year was estimated to cost Rs. 101.4 million, Rambukwella revealed (The Nation ; 10 July 2011).

Would it be possible to rehabilitate a hardcore criminal like KP (the leader of LTTE) ?

WANTED by INTERPOL (Click here)

What’s the solution? - PSC or the 13th Amendment ? - Many solutions have been put forward by different political parties and different governments over the decades for the ethnic problem in the country. They range from Bandaranaike – Chelvanayagam Pact, Dudley – Chelvanayagam Pact to the UPFA government’s Parliamentary Select Committee proposal which is the latest. Parallel to this, has always been the parties who have opposed the measures or suggestions that have been brought up over the decades. The Nation talks to a cross section of political entities that have been vocal on this issue – to ask what their solutions to the problem will be (The Nation : 10 July 2011).

Misleading viewers with Channel 4 fiction - By Malin Abeyatunge - Amidst hundreds of oral and written protests by the Sri Lankan community in Australia, it’s appalling that the ABC telecast the fiction film clip titled ‘Sri Lanka’s killing fields’ borrowed from an unethical broadcaster from UK- Channel 4. Even though the Channel 4 is a public TV funded by the Tax payers, Channel 4 is alleged to be in the edge of bankruptcy and telecasting this clip would have bought them out of the RED presumably by LTTE funding. The clip which was broadcast by the ABC is controversial and contentious for the following reasons: (The Nation : 10 July 2011).

Channel 4 video not an isolated event: Kohona - By Dinidu de Alwis - Dr. Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the United Nations, talks to The Nation, during a brief visit to Colombo, about propaganda campaigns, growing international pressure, and the response by the Sri Lankan government which repeatedly refuses the call for an international inquiry – at a time when international pressure is mounting on the Sri Lankan government to launch an inquiry into alleged war crimes during the final phases of the war (The Nation : 10 July 2011).

LIKE THE WEST ASKING SRI LANKA TO SUBMIT ITSELF TO AN INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION, WE ASK THE CHANNEL FOUR TO SUBMIT ITSELF TO AN IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATION ABOUT THE ‘KILLING FIELDS OF SRI LANKA’ VIDEO -  MEDIA RELEASE SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUP, CANBERRA - The Channel Four video has brought forth immense disrepute to Sri Lanka and her people. It has depicted Sri Lanka and its people as brutals. This is an unfortunate situation. There had been worldwide condemnation of Sri Lanka. Based on this video Governments have proclaimed their foreign policy on Sri Lanka (such as the UK and Australia). Sri Lankan Government has vehemently maintained its stand that its forces did not commit such brutal, horrendous crimes and the video is unauthentic. We have shown 58 situations that very clearly show that the Channel Four video is not authentic (please see our previous media releases). The most important finding we highlight is that such a high quality video cannot be produced by using mobile camera videos. Experts have stated that the original videos have been edited to create the final video. It is highly probable that some of the original videos may also have been doctored. Then, many sceneries in the final video are stage managed (produced using Tamil actors etc). Again, please see the 58 deceptions that we identified in our previous write up. Channel Four states it received the videos from a group of ex- Sri Lankan journalists now living in Europe. It is well known that they are an anti-Sri Lankan Government group. Then, this group states it received the videos from various sources such as the Tamil Diaspora and the trophy photos taken by the Sri Lankan Army (LankaWeb : 10 July 2011).

Combat terrorism without outside help: Indian PM - Emphasising the need for the South Asia region to prosper as a whole, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday highlighted the dangers posed by terrorism in the region and called for greater efforts to fight it. "The scourge of terrorism has [already] taken a huge toll on all our societies. It is a cancer that, if not checked, will consume us all. I would like to believe that we have the will and foresight to prevent such an outcome." Inaugurating a conference of Speakers and Parliamentarians of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries, Dr. Singh stressed the need to develop a "culture" for resolving the problems of the region by the countries themselves, instead of depending on outsiders."South Asia cannot realise its full potential until and unless we solve our differences peacefully and develop the culture of solving our problems ourselves. Others cannot solve our problems for us." Emphasising that India remained firmly committed to the principles and ideals of SAARC, Dr. Singh said it would go the "extra mile" to make it an effective organisation that benefited all the citizens of the region (Island : 10 July 2011).

BOOK REVIEW – THE CAGE BY GORDON WEISS - by Anil Perera - Gordon Weiss’s book is well written. He has used his skills as a journalist to sensationalise and present his version of the ’Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of Tamil Tigers’ in a readable and interesting manner to achieve his purpose – to vilify Sri Lanka and Sinhalese and at the same time promoting a number of ’40,000 civilian deaths in the last stages of the conflict’, not by giving any information on how he arrived at this fictitious number, but by leading the unsuspecting readers through a number of chapters vilifying Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan armed forces so that they accept any number dished out by Weiss (LankaWeb ; 10 July 2011).

‘My lords, ladies and gentlemen’ has ganged up against Sri Lanka -  Herold Leelawardena In a press statement issued following the APPGT/GTF parliamentary reception this week Chairman for the British all party parliamentary Group for Tamils, Lee Scott MP, said “the event was a great success, attended by over 40 Members of Parliament including Government Ministers, Shadow Ministers, Lords, representatives of NGOs and High Commissions”.  This kind of statement from ‘my lords, ladies and gentlemen’ in the UK is of no surprise for us for they were the very people that invented the word ‘good-terrorists’ to separate their boot licking sycophants killers and suicide bombing inventors like Annai Bala and his wife Adele from being listed under their own terrorist list.  That lot provided protection and abodes for selected terrorists in London so that their chosen servants could have easy access to the so-called international media to cover-up its’ murderous activities, child soldiering and other HR violations. They got their poodle Norwegians to promote a sham peace treaty to expand and legitimise terrorist’s real estate and to seek the right to our sea. But when they realised Velu is no puppet and cannot be controlled, they tightened the screws around his neck and let him sink to hell (LankaWeb ; 10 July 2011).

Next move: go forward or back to 1976 Vadukoddai? - by H. L. D. Mahindapala - Wars are evil exercises that must be avoided at any cost. But history tells us that wars are also unavoidable. From time to time, wars occur to win over-ambitious goals going beyond established political and territorial borders or to eliminate or neutralize enemies that threaten national interests. This is the short term goal of wars. The long-term objective of wars is to define and reinforce national identities, boundaries and values. The Sri Lankan government launched a counter-terrorist war to reinforce the national identity, territorial boundaries and the democratic political values. The Jaffna Tamil leadership which launched the Vadukoddai War gambled, throwing all their financial, international, local and military might to achieve their separatist goals, based on fictitious geography and concocted history as outlined in the Vadukoddai Resolution of 1976, and lost. They lost ignominiously partly because the Tamil people lost faith in their leaders and ran way from them even when their leaders were shooting at them for running away from a lost cause. A great responsibility now lies on the shoulders of the Tamil leadership in taking the next step. The question they have to answer is simple: is there a future in going back to the failed past? After the debacle in Nandikadal in May 2009 is there any sense in dragging the Jaffna Tamil people once again to Vadukoddai of May 1976? President Mahinda Rajapakse too is under great pressure from the defeated remnants of the Vadukoddai ideology to go back to 1976 – the year in which the Jaffna Tamils declared war against the rest of the nation in the Vadukoddai Resolution. The violence unleashed by the Jaffna Tamil leadership in the Vadukoddai Resolution killed more Jaffna Tamils than any other forces put together, according to declared statements of Jaffna Tamil leaders. So what can the Jaffna Tamils gain by going back to Vadukoddai of 1976? (LankaWeb ; 10 July 2011).

This is not a Tele-drama in Sri Lanka. This is how LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists fooled the entire world in their mis-information campaign.

Photo 1 : A photo that appeared in Western media and Tamil Net (LTTE website) in May 2009 to tell the world of "shelling of innocent Tamil civilians in the NFZ by Sri Lankan army" . See Photo 2 published below.

Photo 2 (Unedited version) : However, what was hidden from the world was revealed when the Sri Lankan army later found this in LTTE propaganda material. The unedited photo shows that this was a staged LTTE propaganda stunt. Look at the smiling girl with a professional camera and the men who are not affected by the "shelling" in the background. This is how the LTTE used women and children to and act to fool the West. Obviously more than one camera was in operation (Click here to read more about LTTE's mis-information campaign PDF).  (Web Version)

Do not believe the "Doctored Video" in Channel 4 and ABC

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF CHANNEL 4 KILLING FIELDS DOCUMENTARY (Click here)

High Profile Tiger Arrested In Malaysia - By Easwaran Rutnam - Malaysia has informed Sri Lanka it has arrested an LTTE accomplice and he is now being questioned by Malaysian security officials, Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told The Sunday Leader. The Minister said that once the interrogation is completed the Malaysian authorities will update Sri Lanka. Responding to a statement made by UNP MP John Amaratunga in parliament on Thursday, External Affairs Minister G.L Peiris said that an official with links to the LTTE had been arrested in Malaysia this week but did not elaborate further. The Minister did not mention the name of the LTTE official who was arrested or say if he is now in Sri Lankan custody. When contacted by The Sunday Leader Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia Dr. D. D. Ranasinghe said that he has not been informed of such an arrest. Director General of the government Media Center for National Security (MCNS) Lakshman Hullugale also said he was also not aware of such an arrest. Former LTTE chief arms procurer Kumaran Padmanathan is the most high profile LTTE official to have been arrested in Malaysia so far (Sunday Leader ; 10 July 2011).

‘War of the invisible enemy’- UK Defence Secy - We all have a stake in combatting terrorism Lakshman Kadirgamar would have investigated HR violations - The following is the 5th Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Lecture delivered by Dr. Liam Fox, MP, Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom, yesterday, at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium in Colombo. It was 16 years ago that I first met Lakshman Kadirgamar. In 1995 I was the new Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Foreign Office and he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. An accomplished lawyer, sportsman and politician, there was virtually no subject on which he did not have an informed opinion or an interesting anecdote. In the time that we worked together we became close colleagues and good friends. He was a kind, thoughtful and brave man who enriched public life with principle and integrity. My involvement in Sri Lanka began during a visit to Vavuniya. I remember standing outside a refugee camp where a little boy, perhaps three or four years old and with a badly damaged left leg, held his hand out through the gate. I remember the look on his face-innocent, hopeful and sad. I asked the official with me what we in Britain were doing to help. I was told "it is not our sphere of influence minister". That is when I decided to try to help a country which has fascinated and frustrated me ever since, but where the friendships I made have endured. Since that time political opportunities have presented themselves and have been missed when personal interests have taken precedence over national interests. Too much time has been wasted, too many chances missed, too much blood spilled (Sunday Times ; 10 July 2011).

Consular Mobile Service in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu on 13th & 14th July, 2011 - On an initiative taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Ministry of External Affairs will conduct a Consular Mobile Service in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu to provide consular facilities to the public in the Northern Region. The planned Consular Mobile Service under the guidance of Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, and with the participation of the Deputy Minister Neomal Perera, will be conducted in Kilinochchi at the Government Agent's (GA) office on Wednesday 13th and in Mullaitivu at the GA's office on Thursday 14th, July, 2011. The Mobile Service will be held from 9.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. on both days (Sri Lanka Defense Ministry ; 10 July 2011).

Four Dutch Tamils directly linked to LTTE – Prosecutor - Four Dutch men of Sri Lankan origin who were arrested in Amsterdam last year had direct links with the LTTE, Dutch prosecutors said yesterday. The LTTE has been listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU since 2006. The four Tamils who are currently on trial in the Netherlands, are accused of extorting money from other Dutch Tamils. At the trial in The Hague, the prosecutor said the four men were also charged for organising illegal lotteries (with all proceeds going to the LTTE) and for being a member of a criminal and terrorist organisation. The four suspects who appeared in court are said to have registered all Tamil families living in the Netherlands, including details on who is paying money to the LTTE and who isn’t. Those who do pay money are often forced into doing so, according to the prosecutor. The prosecutor stressed the fact that the Tigers “are a violent and ruthless” organisation, who fought a war with the Sri Lankan government with bomb attacks and other forms of serious violence, while recruiting and deploying child soldiers. Around 10,000 of the Tamil diaspora currently live in the Netherlands (Sunday Observer : 10 July 2011).

‘TNA should relax its rigid stance’: Unite for a common proposal, says PLOTE leader - by P. Krishnaswamy - PLOTE leader Dharmalingam Sitharthan welcomed EPDP leader Minister Douglas Devananda’s call to the TNA to unite with the other Tamil parties to put forward a common proposal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He also endorsed Devananda’s statement, made in Parliament recently that the President would certainly consider such a proposal since he has repeatedly called for it. Devananda told Parliament that considering the decades-long suffering and losses of the Tamils he was making a sincere and brotherly request to the TNA to relax its rigid stance and try reach a consensus with the other Tamil parties on evolving a common proposal to be presented to the President. Devananda too had been attracted earlier by the rhetoric of heroism and freedom struggle but later realised the folly of it after seeing the untold losses and extreme hardships experienced by the people, he said. Sitharthan said that evolving a common proposal is the dire need of the hour to address the Tamil issue without any further delay. They had made efforts towards that end and the Tamil Parties Forum was formed (Sunday Observer : 10 July 2011).

All IDPs to be resettled by year's end - by L.S. Ananda WEDAARACHCHI - The resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Northern and Eastern Provinces will be completed before the end of this year, said Resettlement Minister Gunaratna Weerakoon. He said only 3,822 families comprising 12,616 individuals in Kilinochchi district are yet to be resettled. Over 300,000 IDPs from Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Jaffna districts have been resettled in their villages during the last 24 months. The Minister said essential food packs each worth over Rs.4,500 totalling Rs.3.7 million were also donated to them, when they left their temporary shelters. Over 257,733 persons had been resettled in Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna districts during the last few months. Essential food and construction material were also provided. Further relief will be provided to them until they revert to agriculture, fisheries or small industries which they had been engaged in earlier, he said. Resettlement in the Eastern Province has been completed. Accordingly, 36,123 families with 123,907 persons had resettled in Vavunathir, Venkaladi, Kiran, Pattipalei, Wellaveli and Vakarai divisional secretaries divisions. Over 20,395 families with 75,190 persons in Trincomalee district had been resettled in Verugal, Muttur and Seruwila divisional Secretaries divisions (Sunday Observer : 10 July 2011).

Channel 4 perpetuating lies and half-truths, to have a natural death - By K.T.Rajasingham -  Channel - 4 continues to perpetuate lies and half-truths, expected to fold soon. British media excess will follow soon the plight of “News of the World,” which was in existence for the last 168 years.  The TV channel, which is involved in shaming Sri Lanka, exploiting the people’s miseries and challenging a sovereign nation of 20 million people with concocted video images, expected to follow suit soon the “News of the World.” What the Channel 4 is involved is to stop the reconciliation, rehabilitation and development process that has been put in place after a 30-year long separatist war, that led to the death of several thousands and destruction. It is a pity that none of those involved in doctoring the documentary are aware of the basic characteristics of Sri Lankans. Many, including the so called Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), as well as Marion Bentley, Channel 4 publicity manager, Callum Macrae who directed the extended video clippings, Saman Zia-Zarifi of Amnesty International who promotes, have failed to discern the basic characteristic of the Tamil Tiger fighters. Usually, when a fighting cadre of the Tamil Tiger talks in Tamil, they have an accent, unlike the normal Tamil speakers. Speaking with an accent was an adopted trait of the Tigers and it became the proclivity of their tongue. It was unfortunate that members of the JDS as well as journalists of Channel 4 – the main people involved in preparing the video documentary, right from the beginning, never had the opportunity of meeting any single LTTE fighters, in those days when they were actively engaged in the bloody conflict with the Sri Lankan Government (Asian Tribune ; 10 July 2011). 

Sustainable peace, most important - Major Gen. Hathurusinghe - By Shanika SRIYANANDA in Jaffna - Jaffna, despite a few politically motivated incidents, is peaceful. People are busy attending to their day-to-day activities, while Government officials and soldiers are busy rebuilding Jaffna, which was destroyed by the LTTE. The Army, which knows the value of peace, after fighting for over 30 years with the world’s most ruthless terrorists - the LTTE- has now become the protectors of the Tamils. “The Army is now on a mission to maintain the hard earned peace. The soldiers know the value of peace more than anyone else. What is important in the post-war scenario is sustainable peace”, Security Forces Commander of Jaffna Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe said. In an interview with the Sunday Observer, he explained the need for a new political leadership within the people of Jaffna and the Army’s efforts to restore normality, helping to rebuild lives and reducing the crime rate. “The Army is changing its image. Earlier, our image was that of a fighting army, but now we are the protectors”, he said, adding that the most important and biggest challenge for the Army is to change people’s perceptions as the extremist ideology, though the LTTE was defeated, still prevails in Jaffna. Maj. Gen. Hathurusinghe flatly denied the Army’s involvement in the alleged attack on a political meeting of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in Jaffna. Following are the excerpts of the interview: (Sunday Observer : 10 July 2011).

The Tamils living in Poonaryn division request the Tamil diaspora and international forum not to disturb the present peaceful atmosphere prevailing in this country

Games Western Embassies Play - By Gomin Dayasri - Human rights, war crimes, accountability, judicial intervention are the modern mittens in the post war ring after democracy, transparency, good Governance and Corruption was dumped as discarded gauntlets from the war phase. Why the change of gloves? An Opposition too feeble and splintered to pound on a gifted punching bag, left it to the foreign funded NGO set, reputed for aiming poison darts at spider targets. They naturally failed to score a bull’s eye, being too alienated and lacking in credibility. The wrong people entrusted with the right issues, turns it into dust. It was the unkept media that carried the campaign to a respectable distance, slashing it when short of sensational news, making the reading public bored by treating it as a routine diversion. Vibrant issues were made non-issues, by not going beyond sound and fury. Miscreants, with the Government leading the dirty rat pack, got away with blue murder! Why have they imported whipping instruments branded with humanitarian logos to enter the local market? It has a simple dear Liza answer. Uncle Sam, Union Jack, Europes Band of Brothers, Scandinavian Scoundrels, with their satellites and sidekicks shifted the goal-posts to launch a new ball game. Winning a war that was chartered to lose and dismantling terrorism destined to be preserved: was not according to a script texted by the West, meant executors of such disruptive designs have to be disgraced and displaced (LankaWeb : 9 July 2011).

How clean are the hands of USA, UK, and France threatening to take Sri Lanka Armed Forces before a tribunal for war crimes, for the elimination of terrorism? - By Charles.S.Perera - UK Channel 4, with the blessing of the Navi Pillai UNHCHR , Tamil LTTE diaspora, the Human rights activists, the Anti Sri Lanka Western Countries, Milliband, Kouchner, Ban Ki Moon and his panel, have presented to the viewers in UK and sold their infamous doctored document « Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields » to naive governments of the world to convert them to the side of those who claim Sri Lanka Armed Force has committed war crimes in the elimination of terrorism. Do they the International Community led by USA, UK and France really know what it is to, « live with » terrorism ? No they do not . For them it had not been a case of almost weekly claymore bombs, suicide bombs in buses and trains, in market places, shooting of personalities by snipers, or massacring, hacking to death innocent villagers and busload of monks or shooting point blank surrendered 600 police officers , and living in fear of terrorists attacks, as it happened in Sri Lanka, with ”Sri Lankan” terrorists during 30 long years (Lankaweb : 9 July 2011).

Sri Lanka Killing Fields - by A. Hettiarchchi, - Dear Sir, A video showing some men in army uniforms shooting naked persons looking very much like Europeans is being telecast all over the world these days. I remember this video came out about six months ago and they alleged that this was the work of Sri Lankan army. The government did nothing about it and now the same is coming out with new vigour with war crime charges. There must be many ways to disprove it. Take an average cross section of LTTEers in detention and show the world that our tamil ‘boys’ are not that well built and very fair. In the same frame we can see some structures, one looks like a water tower, at the back ground. Is there such a jungle area in Sri Lanka with water tower at the back ground similar to the one shown?. Then our army must be familiar with it. The strange thing is that these lies told thousand times have now become true and our army spokes persons cannot adequately defend themselves. I was saddened by the manner the military officer stumbled when replying the Chennai Indians on the television show telecast in India today (Lankaweb : 9 July 2011).

SL police arrests Briton in connection with Channel 4 video - Sri Lankan police has arrested a British national for allegedly providing "false video footage" to a British TV channel to produce a documentary that accused Lankan troops of war crimes. The Channel 4 documentary ''Sri Lanka''s Killing Fields'' was slammed by the government here, which said it was false and doctored. A Colombo court yesterday allowed the CID to detain and interrogate the Briton of Sri Lankan-origin named Kandanam Jegadishwaram in connection with the case, the Daily Mirror reported. The magistrate allowed the detention of the suspect, accused of providing "false video footage" to Channel 4, till August 2. The CID had told the court in an application that the suspect "had caused disrepute to the country and the army by providing alleged videos to the Channel 4 television", the paper said. The man, who had been living in the UK for the past 21 years had been visiting Sri Lanka regularly, was arrested on July 4. The court was told that 71 DVDs were recovered from his residence in Kandy, and were being probed. The Sri Lankan military had said recently that it had found the original video that was ''doctored'' by the British channel. They said the original footage showed Sri Lankan soldiers being killed by LTTE men, and had a Tamil soundtrack rather than the Sinhala language heard in the ''doctored'' version. Sri Lankan government has slammed the documentary as part of a Western nations led campaign against Sri Lanka (MSN News : 9 July 2011).

Sri Lanka holds Briton over video - Sri Lanka has arrested a Briton for allegedly helping a British TV channel produce a documentary accusing Sri Lankan troops of war crimes, a media report says. A Colombo magistrate on Friday agreed to a police request to detain the suspect, a British citizen of Sri Lankan origin, for a month and question him, the local Daily Mirror newspaper said. It quoted court papers which said he was accused of causing "disrepute to the country and the army by providing alleged videos to (Britain's) Channel 4 television" for its documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields. The documentary was aired in Australia on Four Courners on Monday night. The paper said the questioning would be carried out by Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigations Department. The British High Commission in Colombo said it had no immediate information on the case. The Lakbima daily paper said police had sought the man's detention because he posed a "threat to national security". Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody declined to discuss the case, but confirmed a man was arrested in connection with "supporting terrorist activities". The arrest came after the military said on Wednesday it had original footage that exposed the "malicious intentions" behind the Channel 4 documentary. Sri Lanka's military said its "unaltered" video suggested that what the documentary presented as Sri Lankan soldiers executing Tamil rebel prisoners were actually rebels clad in army fatigues. In the audio track of the footage in the documentary, aired last month in Britain and then in Australia, the soldiers spoke in the language of Sri Lanka's Sinhala majority. The military said the video that the military had analysed had a Tamil soundtrack, suggesting the killers were rebels. Sri Lanka has persistently denied that its troops staged any war crimes while battling the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who were crushed in an offensive that ended in May 2009. Colombo has also accused Channel 4 and Western nations of waging a campaign to discredit Sri Lanka's human rights record by producing reports of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity (BigPond News ; 9 July 2011).

Lest We Forgot! - Dr.Chandana Jayalath - Starting from Thimpu discussions far back in the mid of 1980s, every government that came into power since then made serious efforts to address whatever issues concerning politics of the country through a series of comprehensive dialogue. Unfortunately, the history is full of collapsed talks and the true intention of talks has always been disputed fundamentally because there was no participation in good faith by the LTTE. Instead, a ceasefire was always a gainful period for LTTE to recapture its lost strengths, that paved a way for the next massacre. We remember even after the signing of the Ceasefire agreement in 2002, A claymore antipersonnel mine attack by the LTTE on June 15th, 2006 on a bus carrying 140 civilians killed 68 people including 15 children, and injured 60 others. According to Jane’s Information Group, between 1980 and 2000, LTTE had carried out a total of 168 suicide attacks on civilians and military targets (LankaWeb ; 9 July 2011).

The Tamils living in Poonaryn division request the Tamil diaspora and international forum not to disturb the present peaceful atmosphere prevailing in this country - The Tamils living in Poonaryn division request the Tamil diaspora and international forum not to disturb the present peaceful atmosphere prevailing in this country. The country is liberated from terrorism. Therefore, they stressed that they do not want to go back to previous era where the terrorism has destroyed the country during the past three decades. A protest campaign to show the people’s solidarity and condemnation to the international conspiracies was held at Jayapuram - Poonaryn junction this morning. Thousands of peoples have participated in this protest campaign which was conducted in a peaceful manner. The participants also stressed that the Tamils in Sri Lanka will not receive any benefits but will be put into unnecessary inconvenience. The participants also thanked the President for creating a peaceful atmosphere at present. They also said the present peaceful atmosphere has given confidence for them to live with their children in a peaceful manner. A participant named Selvadurai Shanmuganathan recalled the past where the small children were forcibly recruited by LTTE. That situation has been eliminated therefore, he said the Tamil people in this country can look forward to a better future (SLBC : 9 July 2011).

Gota lauds Sangakkara - By Shamindra Ferdinando - Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday praised national cricketer Kumar Sangakkara for solidly backing the country’s successful war effort against the LTTE at a time a section of the international community is targeting the Sri Lankan military over accountability issues. Rajapaksa said that the former national cricket captain had taken advantage of the 2011 Sir Colin Cowdrey Lecture he delivered at Lord’s last week to talk about 1983 July riots, the JVP-led insurgency, LTTE terrorism and the heavy price paid by the military to defeat the LTTE (Island : 9 July 2011).

Tamils know reconciliation and redevelopment is real - Ambassador Wickramasuriya - A lot of Sri Lankans in the US, especially Tamils, have gone back to Sri Lanka and they know that reconciliation and redevelopment is real. They are truly astonished and upbeat about what they find, said Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States Jaliya Wickramasuriya during an interview with the Daily News. "During the conflict, some Tamils would tell me that they can't be seen talking publicly with me or at the embassy. That's over. Our discussions are in the open, and we receive a lot of support from the Tamil community," he said. Sri Lanka is open for business, it is prosperous, growing and peaceful, he stressed (Sri Lanka Defense Ministry : 9 July 2011).

Most missing Tamil children were recruited by LTTE : UNICEF - by Shamindra Ferdinando - A study spearheaded by UNICEF in collaboration with the Northern Provincial Department of Probation and Child Care and Government Agent of Vavuniya has revealed that the majority of complaints received from Tamil speaking parents related to children forcibly recruited by the LTTE. Of 676 complaints regarding missing children, about 64 per cent related to ex-LTTE child soldiers. UNICEF has facilitated re-unification of 78 children with their families. UNICEF says it launched the project in Dec. 2009 in response to a spate of tracing requests received since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009. It believes in spite of difficulties in tracking down those listed missing, more children could be found and re-united with their families. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Island expressed satisfaction that the UN agency had received the required assistance from the Northern Provincial administration. Those shedding crocodile tears for their personal and political gain should throw their weight behind the UNICEF effort to track down missing children, he said. "We never interfered with the UNICEF-led Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) project," he declared. The following are excerpts of the interview: (Island ; 9 July 2011).

"Time has come to overcome the suspicions that remain" - Prof. Wijesinha - Adviser on Reconciliation to the President of Sri Lanka and MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha has said, "Now that the terror and violence in Sri Lanka is over, we need also to overcome the suspicions that remain. It is vital that those abroad, who can remember only the distant past, will not endeavour to revive tensions, but will rather visit the country and see what they can do to help, their people of course, but through that the country as a whole. But I realize that getting over their suspicions will also be difficult, and we in Government need to work concertedly to reassure them, to engage with those willing to move forward." Prof. Wijesinha made these observations when he addressed a forum held in Brussels at the European Institute of Asian Studies (EIAS), in collaboration with the Embassy of Sri Lanka on Thursday, 07 July 2011. Prof. Wijesinha who deplored the manner in which certain vested interests were seeking to disrupt Sri Lanka's current development efforts using the Darusman Report as well as the Channel 4 video, called upon the audience "not to be misled by this sensational reporting, but to be more objective in differentiating fact from fiction". Sri Lanka Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU Ravinatha Aryasinha, who participated in the discussion said forums of this nature provide an opportunity to have a more enlightened and respectful discussion on current developments in Sri Lanka. He also noted that despite having been invited to participate in the forum, INGOs such as the Brussels headquartered International Crisis Group, as well as the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International had chosen not to participate. He regretted that these organizations which have much to say about Sri Lanka from afar, constantly shy away from putting their assertions to public scrutiny in forums like these where objective discussion takes place, as they had done when invited to share their views with the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commissions (LLRC) hearings in Colombo last year (Sri Lanka Defense Ministry : 9 July 2011).

KADIRGAMAR MEMORIAL LECTURE - Full text of the Speech made by British Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox - It was 16 years ago that I first met Lakshman Kadirgamar. In 1995 I was the new Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the British Foreign Office and he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, here in Sri Lanka. An accomplished lawyer, sportsman and politician, there was virtually no subject on which he did not have an informed opinion or an interesting anecdote. In the time that we worked together we became close colleagues as well as good friends. He was a kind, thoughtful and brave man who enriched public life with principle and integrity. My involvement in Sri Lanka began during a visit to Vavuniya. I remember standing outside a refugee camp where a little boy, perhaps three or four years old and with a very badly damaged left leg, held his hand out through the gate. I remember the look, to this day, on his face-innocent, hopeful but sad. I asked the official with me what we in the UK were doing to help. And the answer was “it is not our sphere of influence”. And that is the instant when I decided to try to help a country which has fascinated and frustrated me ever since, but where the friendships I made have endured. Since that time political opportunities have presented themselves and have been missed when personal or partisan interests have taken precedence over national interests. Too much time has been wasted, too many chances missed, too much blood spilled. Lakshman Kadirgamar is remembered for his ferocious condemnation, globally, of the violence perpetrated by the LTTE on ordinary Sri Lankans. As a Tamil himself he understood better than most the complexities of the internal political dynamic. When asked once by the BBC if he was a traitor to the Tamil people as Foreign Minister in a largely Sinhalese government he said ‘people who live in Sri Lanka are first and foremost Sri Lankans, then we have our own race and religion which is something given to us at birth’. He fully understood the very significant personal risks he was taking by choosing a life in public service. We often talked about those very real risks but those of you who knew Lakshman will remember a man who was not easily diverted from his chosen path. From his involvement in student politics (where he was President of the Oxford Union) to his formidable legal career or in his sporting commitment (he was also an Oxford Blue) he was not a man to be pushed around – as Shane Warne will testify (Sinhale Hot News : 9 July 2011).

Arrested Dutch Tamils directly linked to LTTE - prosecutor - A Dutch prosecutor has told a court in The Hague that four Tamils arrested last year in Netherlands have direct links with the Tamil Tiger terrorists group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The four Tamils, accused of extorting money from other Dutch Tamils are currently on trial in the Netherlands, the Radio Netherlands reported. The four accused are also being charged for organizing illegal lotteries with all proceeds going to the LTTE and for being members of a criminal and terrorist organization. The European Union listed LTTE as a terrorist organization in 2006. According to the prosecutor, the four Tamils have registered all the Tamil families in the Netherlands and kept details on who was paying the money to the organization and who were not. Those who were paying money for the LTTE were coerced to pay often. The prosecutor has described the LTTE as a "violent and ruthless "organization that carried out suicide attacks and recruited child soldiers to deploy for combat. The Dutch authorities have launched a complex and elaborate investigation called 'Operation Koninck' to uncover the prominent role Tamil Tiger leaders in the Netherlands played in financing the civil war in Sri Lanka. The LTTE waged a war against the Sri Lankan government for over three decades which killed over 100,000 people on both sides of the ethnic divide. The government defeated the LTTE in May 2009 eliminating all its senior leaders in Sri Lanka. However, the Tiger leaders living outside the country are still actively engaged in reviving the organization. A lawyer appearing for one of the four suspects has told the Dutch court that the Sri Lankan army has seriously violated human rights in their war against the LTTE. He has alleged that many Tamils have been kidnapped or have disappeared. The case against the four Tamil suspects is expected to take many more months as Dutch police are still investigating many of the charges against them. A Dutch team was in Sri Lanka recently as a part of their investigation to interrogate the former senior LTTE leader and the group's international arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan and other former LTTE leaders who are detained by the Sri Lankan government. The team was in Sri Lanka to investigate funding activities and weapons procurement by Tamil leaders based in the Netherlands during the conflict. According to a report in Daily Mirror, the Dutch detectives have interviewed 13 former LTTE cadres before leaving the country last week (Colombo page ; 9 July 2011).

Seminar in Canberra parliament on the topic "Sri Lanka after the war" (click here for details)

Sri Lanka Govt. rules out federal solution

The Cage - a book of VICE proving WEISS is far from WISE - Gordon Weiss, an ex-UN worker is in a futile attempt to be an expert on Sri Lankan history, anthropology and politics after his short term in Sri Lanka and liaisons with the separatist Tamils. The Cage is teeming with distortions of facts and entire fabrications heavily used by the separatist Tamil Tiger (LTTE) lobby for over three decades to indoctrinate young Tamils to boost conscription of child soldiers in Sri Lanka and unsuspecting Westerners to muster financial/political support for their separatist movement. Weiss portraits times of gaining independence as golden period of Sri Lanka boasting democracy which was later destroyed by fundamentalist violent Sinhalese Buddhists. He claims post-independence pro-Sinhala (anglicised Sinhalese) and pro-Buddhist reforms as the cause of Tamil separatist terrorism - nothing could be further from the truth. Defying all eminent historians who studied Sri Lankan history over the last three centuries, Weiss gives credit to distorted historical accounts of ancient Sri Lanka that the separatists concocted only in the last three decades to legitimise Tamil terrorism, in the absence of a bona fide historic claim to the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. We, the Australian of Sri Lankan origin, humbly urge the readers to consider some FACTS presented below that have been effectively displaced by false propaganda of the Tamil separatists utilising gullible Western agents like Weiss (Full article in Sri Lanka News Online ; 9 July 2011).

Dutch detectives complete probe in Lanka - The evidence collected during the interviews with former LTTE chief arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP and other former LTTE cadres who are in government custody will be produced in the relevant Dutch Courts in September, an embassy official said yesterday. The Netherlands Embassy First Secretary Jaco Beerends said 13 former LTTE cadres were interviewed and the Dutch detectives had left the country last week. He said the evidence would be used in the ongoing case in Oslo where LTTE leader Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan is accused of involvement in LTTE activities. Mr. Sivaparan was arrested by the Norwegian police and later released on conditional bail after recording a statement on LTTE activities including fund raising in Netherlands. He was interviewed for two days by Dutch investigators comprising a judge and five lawyers in May later released on conditional bail pending further investigations. The investigations codenamed “Operation Koninck”, which pursued the LTTE money trail finally led to Norway. It was revealed that the funds collected from LTTE sympathisers in Netherlands was sent to Mr. Sivaparan in Norway. The interviews in Sri Lanka were carried out with the cooperation of the Sri Lankan government subsequent to a request by the Netherlands Justice Ministry which was granted permission to interview former LTTE cadres who volunteered to be questioned. Radio Netherlands had revealed that LTTE leaders in the Netherlands had played a prominent role in financing the war in Sri Lanka and that extortion had continued even after the end of war in May 2009. This came to light through digital information obtained from a Dutch Tamil in Netherlands, S. Ramachandran who was arrested in April last year. He was reported to have organised the money flow and had ‘plans for financial activities’ in his possession. Mr. Ramachandran’s involvement with the LTTE had also been proved with certain documents seized by the Sri Lankan Army in areas which had been under LTTE control. Among those documents was a form filled out by Ramachandran in 2003, saying he was responsible for LTTE activities in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. He wrote on the form that he had been active in the organisation since 1989, and that he had also worked in other countries. The documents had been prepared at a meeting with LTTE representatives from abroad (Daily Mirror ; 9 July 2011).

Acting envoy writes to Four Corner's programme producer: 'Stop Channel 4 video telecast' - by Ravi LADDUWAHETTY - Sri Lanka's acting High Commissioner to Australia Sashikala Premwardhana has sent a letter of protest to Four Corner's Programme executive producer Sue Spencer, on behalf of the Sri Lankan government, calling on her to stop the telecast of the Channel Four Video, which was to be telecast under the theme; "Killing Fields of Sri Lanka." The acting High Commissioner's response has been following a request from the television station for the proposed telecast of the video last Saturday. The Executive Summary and the key elements of the acting High Commissioner's response to the television station have been (Daily News ; 9 July 2011).

Dutch Tamils 'directly linked' with LTTE - The Dutch Public Prosecutor says four Dutch Tamils who were arrested last year, have direct links with the Tamil Tigers separatists’ army, the LTTE. The rebel group has been listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union since 2006. The Tamils who are currently on trial in the Netherlands, are accused of extorting money from other Dutch Tamils. In court in the Hague, the Public Prosecutor said the four men were also charged with organising illegal lotteries (with all proceeds going to the LTTE) and for being members of a criminal and terrorist organisation (Radio Netherlands ; 8 July 2011).

Don Randall speaks once again on behalf of Sri Lanka - Speech made at the Australian House of Representatives by Don Randall, Liberal Party MP for Canning (WA) on 6th July. I am compelled to respond and make some observations in relating to the Channel 4 video which was shown on Four Corners last Monday night in relation to the final days and hours of the Sri Lankan civil war. I do so because in my role as the Deputy Chair of the Sri Lankan Group and my general interest in Sri Lanka there are some issues that need to be put on the record (Read details : Sinhale Hot News: 8 July 2011).

Reconciliation in the Context of Channel 4 allegation - Text of a presentation by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP - The last few months have seen an astonishing spate of attacks on the Sri Lankan government. These began with the publication of the Darusman report, by three individuals who were tasked to appoint the Un Secretary General on accountability issues but instead sat in judgment on the Sri Lankan state and its armed forces. Immediately those who had in any case been attacking the government previously now used this as a tool. That episode was followed by a book by a man called Gordon Weiss, and then a film aired on Channel 4. All this added to the impression that there was a mass of evidence against the Sri Lankan government. However the exercise was similar to that of Wittgenstein’s gentleman who bought a second copy of the morning paper to establish that what the first said was true. I noticed for instance that many elements in the Report were repeated in Gordon Weiss’s book, and the only detailed allegations in the Report were based on the pictures shown on Channel 4 (LankaWeb : 8 July 2011).

UN Chief still considering - UN - The United Nations yesterday said that UN Chief Ban Ki-moon is considering what the next steps that he would take with regard to the report of expert panel appointed by him. When asked when will the Secretary-General send a UN panel report on Sri Lanka officially to the Human Rights Council? acting Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq had told media in New York that “We’ve already, as you know, made the report public. Regarding any onward transmission to other bodies, the Secretary-General is considering next steps, and if and when we have further course of action to announce, we will announce it at that point.” (Daily Mirror ; 8 July 2011).

Fellow Tamils! Open your eyes (and mind) and see for yourselves!! - by Ganapathy Moorthy - I am a SriLankan Tamil, have visited many places in the North of Sri Lanka and spoke to people who had been trapped and used as human shield by the LTTE with the dual purpose of saving their (LTTE) existence and to engage in a propaganda using the deaths of innocent people caught in the cross-fire, and shelling in the last stages of war.  At least seven families of my close relatives who also had lost children by being caught in the fights testified themselves and all of them put the blame for their misery on the LTTE, and not the Government forces, despite the loss of their children.  In fact, my sister, who lost one of her sons, and a brother who lost his only child cursed the LTTE and called the Sri Lankan army as their saviors. My sister’s actual word are: “…….. I have witnessed the LTTE, who claimed to be the saviors of the Tamils, killing some of the innocent Tamils who tried to escape from the fighting, I hate them with all my heart,…. Whenever I see the SL army, I happen to think , if it were not for them, we also would have been killed and they now look like angels for saving us from the cruel clutch (word used in Tamil ‘kodukkup pidi’) of the ‘nassamai ponavangal’ (let them go to hell), meaning the LTTE. ( I have not modified or changed any word said by my sister). My brother said when his daughter, a six year old only child was injured due to shelling, he took her to the hospital, where one of the five doctors later surrendered to the Government forces was working.( I do not want to mention the doctor’s name, as I knew very well that he would not have any other choice other than obey the orders of the LTTE while he was in Wanni, even though I do not agree with his actions at all!) (LankaWeb : 8 July 2011).

Sri Lanka Police discover LTTE boat manufacturing center - Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force has discovered a boat manufacturing center from the Kilinochchi area in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Police suspect the boat manufacturing center was operated by the Tamil Tiger terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Police recovered several boats and molds used in manufacturing boats from the abandoned factory. LTTE held the area for many years before the end of their defeat in 2009 and had an ad hoc administration set up there including service hubs for the rebel war machine. However, the police disecovered the place recently since it had been abandoned for some time, police sources said (Colombo page : 8 July 2011).

Govt focused on legal action against Channel 4 - by Nadira GUNATILLEKE - “The government arrested 7,000 hardcore LTTE cadres who were well armed and killed people. The government has already rehabilitated a section of them, provided them vocational training with some sort of income generating avenues and integrated them into society,” Cabinet spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. “Therefore why did the government want to kill only six or seven of them at that time? The government had the chance of killing all 7,000,” he said. Minister Rambukwella said that these days the government is focusing on possible legal action against the Channel 4 fabricated video. Many foreign countries proposed Sri Lanka to take legal action against the video and demand compensation. The relevant British state authority has already received many complaints against Channel 4 video and now ready to commence investigations. The Australian Labour Party leaders clearly stated that they know about LTTE’s child soldiers recruitments and other crimes executed by the LTTE. They spoke about the issue in their Parliament (Daily News ; 8 July 2011).

Minister Professor G.L. Peiris says that the Indian government has not made any impact on Sri Lanka - Minister of Foreign Affairs Professor G.L. Peiris says that the Indian government has not made any impact on the Sri Lankan government. India has not entered into any agreement with the Sri Lankan government. The Minister points out that the reports published in media are mere statements. He further states that the government is not bound by any means with any party in this regard. The Minister replying to a motion presented by member Vijitha Herath at the adjournment session in parliament today also said that the mere showing of the channel four tape in the United Nations does not amount to the recognition of the facts contained in the tape. International experts are conducting investigations on the tape. Minister Professor Peiris further said that there is a disparity between the visual and the audio components of the tape. The LTTE remains active on the international level. They are trying to build a strong media network through their financial strength. The foreign minister further said that the aim of the government is to provide a solution to acceptable to all. The cooperation of all communities is important in this regard. He added there is no need for bidding for time through the appointment of a select committee (SLBC : 8 July 2011).

Reconciliation in the Context of Channel 4 allegation - By: Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha - The Darusman Report, as well as the selective coverage by Channel 4 of what they had termed 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' had contributed to polarization amongst Sri Lankans which inhibited efforts at reconciliation. Such forces, which often worked in tandem, presenting the same biased and often doctored material in different guises, were then used by separatist forces operating outside the country, stated Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London on July 5th, addressing a cross section of academics, journalists, opinion makers and members of the Sri Lankan Diaspora in the UK. Prof. Wijesinha's presentation entitled 'Reconciliation in the Context of Channel 4 Allegations" also included a comprehensive briefing on post-conflict re-building endeavours. Elaborating on the progress made in many areas of concern within a relatively short period of time against numerous constraints, Prof. Wijesinha said that it is time that the international community acknowledges this aspect. Though fears had been expressed in 2009 about Resettlement and Reconstruction, none of the progress in these areas were acknowledged. What seemed a general attitude of "See no Good, Hear No Good, Speak No Good", ignoring the positive reactions of international agencies on the ground in Sri Lanka, would not help move the people of the country together towards prosperity (Sri Lanka Defense Ministry : 8 July 2011).

Australian Govt. to support an international call for an independent investigation into war crimes committed by both the GoSL & the LTTE. An open letter to Senator Mr,Bob Brown,Federal Senate of the Parliament of Australia,Canberra  - by Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya, Melbourne - In response to your speech on 5/07/11 at the Senate sitting, I submit my defence for Sri Lanka. Referring to your speech to the senate on the 5/07/11, I wish to present before you a different perspective than what you were made to believe. At the outset let me comment on your “quote, investigation into war crimes committed by both the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam unquote”. LTTE has been eradicated from Sri Lanka, their rump is living comfortably in the Western soil with the help from the nonchalant gullible, so the Hobson’s choice for anyone is the victor Sri Lanka, the quote becomes meaningless, and it’s not a fair request! The visuals of the video on “Sri Lanka Killing Fields” are indeed horrific and emotively shocking. When a Westerner not knowing how the executioners communicate whilst executing the victims, the non Sri Lankan audience, using their preconceived verdict guilty, guilty, guilty is parroted by almost all including all media. If anyone who cared to see the original it’s poles apart from what was shown on the 4th July on Four Corners. The difference being the “doctored” visuals and the spoken language. These changes are chalk & cheese, but to the non Sri Lankans it doesn’t look any different. The LTTE rump cunningly deceived CH4 and the Western populous capitalizing their ignorance of not knowing difference in the language (Sinhale Hot News ; 8 July 2011).

Govt. rules out federal solution;  Nimal tells Kirielle in parliament - by Saman Indrajith - Leader of the House Irrigation Minister Nimal Siripal de Silva told Parliament yesterday that the government would never consider federalism a solution to what he described as the national problem. Responding to an observation by UNP Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella that the government should consider a federal solution to the national problem, the minister said that MP Kiriella’s statement indicated the UNP’s standpoint. "If that is the UNP’s solution then we say clearly that our government is not ready to bring about a federal solution. We will never consider such a solution," he said. The government would bring a solution acceptable to all communities in the country without causing any disharmony, the minister said. "We are a responsible government. We are not ready to find solutions in a hurry (Island ; 7 July 2011).

Channel 4 video on Sri Lanka - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP MP for Scarborough-Rouge River, Ontario House of Commons, Ottawa; Dear Rathika: I wrote you on June 24 referencing to your comments on the Channel 4 video ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ which was in the NDP Press Release of June 14, 2011 in which you were quoted as saying, “We’ve heard allegations of war crimes before, now we’ve seeing the horrible visual evidence of it,” said Sitsabaiesan. “Sustainable peace can only be achieved if these allegations are investigated and perpetrators are brought to justice.” I continued my letter with the following comment: “There is little to say that you three musketeers (Jack Layton, Paul Dewar and Rathika Sitsabaiesan) have not eased on chomping at Sri Lanka with your anti-Sri Lankan attitudes and ever ready with nails and hammers in your hands to nail Sri Lanka to the wall in support of the call by your Tamil separatist constituents who have bartered their votes to destroy the ongoing reconciliation process among the aggrieved communities in Sri Lanka.” Remember? But, you seem to be in denial to accept that the real perpetrators were the Tamil Tigers, almost all who died in battle by 19 May 2009, other than those who managed to sneak into Canada lying their way claiming refugee status saying that they are running away from persecution. It is their red Tiger flag that you had quite proudly exhibited on your Face book web pages after your election win (LankaWeb : 7 July 2011).

CHANNEL 4 VEDEO TITLED KILLING FIELDS OF SRI LANKA- by JANAKI CHANDRARATNA PERTH, AUSTRALIA I watched with great frustration and disappointment the manner in which the Channel 4 video titled ‘Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’, relayed in the ABC Four Corner’s Program on 4 July 2011. My deep concern was that a veteran journalist like Kerry O’Brien chose to relay the program knowing very well that the video was controversial, biased, unauthenticated and its credibility is under investigation by the British Media Regulatory Authority. Also, several Sri Lankans including the High Commissioner had presented reasons as to why the video should not be relayed. Not only did the video was broadcast, the presenter very authoritatively gave his conclusion that that the video content has enough evidence for an international investigation. One wonders how a professional journalist can arrive at such a conclusion, leave alone broadcast it, without the validation of the facts presented. This indeed is a breach of the most revered principle of factual accuracy in journalism. As you know there is a background and two sides to every story. Quite sadly, the presenter chose to ignore the background completely and with regard to the Government side, only a pointer was given to a website. The presenter also privileged the LTTE terrorists as freedom fighters. There was no freedom that was taken away from the Tamils for the terrorists to be freedom fighters. They engaged in terrorism to carve out a separate state in two thirds of the country, with a less than 10% of the population, because Sri Lanka was a weaker target when compared to India. They should have tried their claims for a separate state in India as Tamilnadu is their homeland. The LTTE organised genocide of all other ethnic communities living in the North whilst Tamils continued to live freely everywhere else in the island. In fact currently, the majority of the population in the Colombo precinct is Tamil. In such a background how can the LTTE be called freedom fighters? The presenter should have got his facts right before making spurious assertions (Lankaweb : 7 July 2011).

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC-ABC TV’S FOUR CORNERS PROGRAM – AT LEAST, 58 DECEPTIONS (SEE BELOW) - CHANNEL 4/ABC TV MUST STOP THE TELECASAT IMMIDIATELY UNTIL AN IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATION IS HELD TO DETERMINE THE FILM’S AUTHENTICITY -MEDIA RELEASE SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUP, CANBERRA With this film, the Tamil Diaspora (LTTE affiliated) has again misled the world including the Australian public. After the ABC Four Corners, even the Sinhalese people living in Australia have murmured to the other “why did our Army commit such atrocities”. This shows the success of the Channel 4’s deception. We say that some scenes of the film had been shot with actors (and they are fine actors indeed). Most likely, some of the scenes have been shot outside of Sri Lanka. Since there have been write ups about this, we please ask those who have such evidence to provide them to us. We say that most scenes in the film have been stage managed, people were crying and wailing for the camera. They were not giving eye contact to the camera, because they cannot, as they were actors. It is being stated that some of the blood that was shown on the film was not blood but dye and/or paint. The main message of the film was that “they targeted the hospitals” , “they raped Tamil women” and “they killed thousands of Tamil civilians”; the Channel 4/ABC TV achieved this objective so well. Many people have been parroted to say the same thing “the Army targeted the hospital, raped women, killed children and civilians.” This itself shows that the whole film is a farce. The film was successful in convincing the average Australian and the world that the Sri Lankan soldiers went to the North and committed most gruesome atrocities (war crimes) that no other recent Army had ever committed. Channel 4/ABC TV had a duty to disclose the true facts, but they did not. This gives us the right to file legal action against them, and those who corroborated in producing such untruth. Currently we are seriously investigating this possibility (legal action) (LankaWeb : 7 July 2011).

ABC-4 CORNERS telecasts unethical Channel 4-UK fiction clip titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”

BBC Hard Talk by Prof Rajiv Wijesinghe

(click here)

Dr. Palitha Kohana says it is necessary to reveal the supporters of pro-LTTE elements to the international community - Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohona says the resettlement process has been completed in a systematic manner after the humanitarian operation in the North. The rehabilitation activities of LTTE members have also been completed successfully. The government has taken measures to socialise such members. Participating in the Subarathi Programme of the SLBC this morning Dr. Kohana appreciated the utmost contributions of the security forces to remove landmines in the north. He also pointed out the need to continue the assistance provided by the armed forces, police, media, and the general public in the similar manner extended during the humanitarian operation in order to face present challenges. In the cold war, it is more appropriate to strengthen the response to the foreign forces which present false conceptions against the country. He further stated that the groups which support the pro-LTTE activities against the country should also be revealed to the international community (SLBC : 7 July 2011).

‘Action against Lanka taken according to a well-written script’ - by Nadira GUNATILLEKE - Elements in the international community want to create an opinion in the world against Sri Lanka stating that war crimes took place here. A parade of actions is being staged in this regard according to a ‘well-written script’, said Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa during an interview with the Daily News. Following are the extracts of the interview (Daily News ; 7 July 2011).

An important message to the Australian Public-ABC TV’S FOUR CORNERS PROGRAM – AT LEAST, 38 DECEPTIONS (SEE BELOW) - MEDIA RELEASE SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUP, CANBERRA With this film, the Tamil Diaspora (LTTE affiliated) has again misled the world including the Australian public. After the ABC Four Corners, even the Sinhalese people living in Australia have murmured to the other “why did our Army commit such atrocities”. This shows the success of the Channel 4’s deception. We say that some scenes of the film had been shot with actors (and they are fine actors indeed). Most likely, some of the scenes have been shot outside of Sri Lanka. Since there have been write ups about this, we please ask those who have such evidence to provide them to us. We say that most scenes in the film have been stage managed, people were crying and wailing for the camera. They were not giving eye contact to the camera, because they cannot, as they were actors. It is being stated that some of the blood that was shown on the film was not blood but dye and/or paint. The main message of the film was that “they targeted the hospitals” , “they raped Tamil women” and “they killed thousands of Tamil civilians”; the Channel 4 achieved this objective so well. Many people have been parroted to say the same thing “the Army targeted the hospital, raped women, killed children and civilians.” This itself shows that the whole film is a farce and a fabrication (LankaWeb ; 6 July 2011).

Channel 4 controversy: Govt intelligence uncovers several cropped video clips - Minister Keheliya - by Chamikara WEERASINGHE - Media and Mass Communication Minister and Defence spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday said the government’s intelligence network has found several cropped video clips and multimedia files from sources that enabled the making of controversial Channel 4 video footage. ‘We are investigating these clips to understand the outsourcing of the jigsaw puzzle and show how these bits and pieces were doctored and remastered into a single slide show to be telecast all over Europe, while a UN human rights meeting was held in Geneva,” he said. According to intelligence reports, the controversial Channel 4 footage is an improved version of similar footage they have telecast two years ago accusing the government of war crimes and human rights violations. ‘The video is clearly doctored and designed to discredit the Sri Lankan Security Forces right from the start to the end. There are no doubts about it, Rambukwella said. ”The sequence of events, the background commentary and the timing of its telecast in the background of the unrest, release the controversial Darusman Report, stands to prove that it was an organized attempt to discredit the Sri Lankan government,” he explained. Much of the damage has been done by the commentary,” he said. Asked if the video material under investigation were real and whether their authenticity has been established to be good enough for investigations, Rambukwella said, “we are talking about half a million persons and a legitimate Army whose valiant efforts, bravery and sacrifices have freed the country (LankaWeb ; 6 June 2011).

(Sri Lanka Defense Ministry : 24 June 2011).

ABC and C-4 video - by Malin Abeyatunga - Amidst hundreds of oral and written protests by the Sri Lankan community in Australia, It’s appalling that the ABC telecasted the fiction film clip titled "Sri Lanka’s killing fields" borrowed from an unethical broadcaster from UK- Channel 4. Even though the Channel 4 is a public TV funded by the Tax payers, Channel 4 is alleged to be on the edge of bankruptcy and telecasting this clip would have bought them out of the RED presumably by LTTE funding. The clip which was broadcast by the ABC is controversial and contentious for the following reasons: * This is not a documentary but compilation of images, clips borrowed from LTTE propaganda machine Tamil net and many other Tamil websites and the AI who coughs for LTTE dollars; * Many of the images and footage shown are fake and unsubstantiated and manufactured to suit the financiers, producers and the Directors and the telecasters; 1. The Main witness Vani Kumar appears to be very innocent but was a militant operating from UK under LTTE front" Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) and having links with the LTTE. She arrived in Sri Lanka in 2008 at the request of Castro (former head of the LTTE Foreign Division) and has undergone military training. Hence her depiction of events cannot be treated as impartial (Island ; 5 July 2011).

ABC-4 CORNERS telecasts unethical Channel 4-UK an unauthenticated manufactured fiction clip titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” - by Malin Abeyatunge, Melbourne, Australia -  Amidst hundreds of oral and written protests by the Sri Lankan community in Australia, It’s appalling that the ABC telecasted the fiction film clip titled “Sri Lanka’s killing fields” borrowed from an unethical broadcaster from UK- Channel 4. Even though the Channel 4 is a public TV funded by the Tax payers, Channel 4 is  alleged to be in the edge of bankruptcy and telecasting this clip would have bought them out of the RED presumably by LTTE funding. The clip which was broadcasted by the ABC is controversial and contentious for the following reasons: (Sri Lanka News Online ; 5 July 20110.

Sri Lanka Permanent Representative to the UN points out the need of building a global alliance to defeat the false conception of the pro-LTTE against Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohona points out the need of building a global alliance to defeat the false conception of the pro-LTTE against Sri Lanka. He said there should be a system to interact properly with other countries not only on the diplomatic level but also with media and NGOs. The Pro LTTE is trying to realise their goals using political leaders, media and NGOs of various countries. All citizens should be vigilant about their activities. Dr. Kohana reiterated that relationship between the other countries should be strengthened to defeat such elements. He further stated that Sri Lankans in overseas have a greater responsibilities to enlighten the international community about the true situation of the country (SLBC : 5 July 2011).

You have the right to register your protest

Register your protest on the proposed screening of the Channel 4 programme "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" on ABC's Four Comers Programme (in Australia) on Monday, 04 July 2011. We urge ABC not to telecast this programme and give coverage to content which is unsubstantiated and without any guarantee of authenticity.

How to make a complaint; http://www.abc.net.au/contact/complaints_process.htm

The following options are available if you are dissatisfied about ABC content or services and would like a response.

• Email: Send your complaint (Click here)
• Call: 139 994
• Write: ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs GPO BOX 9994 In your capital city
• Telephone Typewriter: 1800 627 854

(details in the website of Dlegal.com.au)

The following appears to be the "original" video footage in Tamil, which had been dubbed in Sinhalese by the Western media tarnish the good name of Sri Lanka.

(Click here for the video footage).

(Click here for the video footage).

An important article on Channel 4 by Keerthi Warnakulasuriya (Divaina ; 3 July 2011).

Channel 4 video, Darusman Report and the world opinion - by L.I. Keerthisinghe Attorney-at-Law - “The West won the world not by superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non Westerners never do”. Samuel. P. Huntington as quoted by J.B. Miller in his dissertation ‘The Good Old Days’. J.B. Miller in the above dissertation refers to the General Order issued in 1818 during the British Colonial Rule in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to put down the rebellion in Uva-Vellassa as follows: ‘Kill every man, woman and child including the babes suckling at their mothers’ breast. Destrory all dwelling houses. Burn all crops. Cut down all fruit trees. Slaughter all cattle; take whatever meat is necessary to feed the troops and burn the rest. Destroy all reservoirs, canals and channels. Poison the wells. Lay waste utterly the countryside denying any relief whatsoever to the rebels.’ Miller further states: ‘This order was carried out, laying waste Uva and Vellassa, a destruction from which it is yet to fully recover.’ (Daily News ; 5 July 2011).

A note on smart-ass devolutionists - by Malinda Seneviratne - When they called it ‘separatism’ is sounded like a cuss-word. Separatists took time to get smart. Perhaps it would be more correct to say it took them a long time to recover smartness. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam hit the correct idea when he said it was possible to extract anything from the Sinhalese as long as it is done slowly, an idea he captured in the pithy ‘A little now, more later.’ Leaving aside the notion that whoever did the ‘taking’ would be taking from all Sri Lankans and not just the Sinhalese, the slogan only pushed separatism to embrace terrorism while it rubbed the Sinhalese majority quite the wrong way. Had Chelva thought but not said, separatism may have benefited, but chauvinists and land-thieves often trip over themselves. G.G. Ponnambalam’s ‘Fifty-fifty’ for a little lover 10 percent of the population may have been the product of greed gone crazy but it also framed the dimensions of aspirations for more than half a century. By 1976, Chelva himself lost his way, the Vadukoddai Resolution being nothing less than a go-for-broke adventure that wanted it all; not power-sharing but land and coast grabbing. Blood-letting was the unscripted inevitable. Close to a hundred thousand lives were lost. When the LTTE was in fully cry Tamil moderates (so-called) either out of fear or awe or outright salutation went gear-down on devolution. The statements of the ‘moderates’, both individuals and parties (in coalition and isolation) make for a symptomatic reading on this aspect. The TNA’s election manifestoes of 2001, 2004 and 2010 would do in fact. Post-LTTE, devolution has been resurrected out of consolation-need more than anything else, one might argue, if not for Chelva’s Action Plan of incremental construction of Eelam. The 13th Amendment’s most important contribution to the Eelam cause has been its utility as reference point. India fostered terrorism in Sri Lanka. India gave refuge, armed, trained and funded terrorism. India took some sparks poured gallons and gallons of fuel, whipped up a roaring fire and then brought fire-size down (for a while) and now insists that where the fire is now is foundation-point for resolution. No mention now of what it is that is sought to be resolved. No talk either of the fact that foundation-point is still a fire that anyone including India, Tamil Nadu, Tamil and Sinhala chauvinism included can add fuel to (Daily Mirror ; 5 July 2011).

Shoddy and suspicious details in UN Panel Report - Prof Rajiva WIJESINHA, MP - I have not yet seen the full report issued by the panel appointed by Ban ki Moon, but the Sunday Island of the 17th carries a fascinating extract - “In the early morning hours of January 24, hundreds of shells rained down on the NFZ. Those with access to the United Nations bunker dove into it for protection. But most IDPs did not have bunkers and nowhere to take cover. People were screaming and crying out for help. The United Nations security officer, a highly experienced military officer and others present discerned that the shelling was coming from the South from SLA positions…Heavy shelling continued overnight and shells continued to hit the United Nations hub and the distribution centre killing numerous civilians…When United Nations staff, emerged from the bunker at first morning light at the first opportunity, mangled bodies and body parts were strewn all around them, including those of many women and children. Remains of babies had been blasted upwards into the trees. Among the dead were people who had helped dig the bunker the previous day…” (Lankaweb ; 5 July 2011).

Statements on Sri Lanka Urging International Investigations - by Ira de Silva London, Canada - Ms. Navanetham Pillay United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva, Switzerland; CC: Hon Ban ki Moon, Secretary General, Dear Madam, I read a news report on your latest statement on Sri Lanka dated June 30,2010 which reflects your continued aggressive, biased, vindictive attitude towards Sri Lanka. At the sessions in Geneve in June this year, commenting on Sri Lanka you made a statement that the war was fought under the “guise of terrorism”. The implication is that a) you have minimal knowledge of what had taken place in Sri Lanka and of LTTE (Tamil) terrorism over a period of 25 years, b) if you did have knowledge of terrorism in Sri Lanka, it was a blatant attempt to deny what the rest of the world had heard of and seen on news broadcasts all over the world, c) you were making a deliberate attempt to turn a blind eye to the terrorism of the LTTE and the havoc and destruction of life and property. I would like to point out to you that while you are entitled to your personal beliefs about LTTE (Tamil) terrorists, all of these ideas/beliefs/attitude reflected in your statements are not in keeping with the policies of the U.N. and the office you hold at the U.N. which requires impartiality (Lankaweb : 5 July 2011).

MoD lifts foreigners’ pre-travel approval to North - The Ministry of Defence (MoD) lifted the imposed pre-travel approval to the North, exclusively for foreign passport holders with effect from yesterday. According to military liaison officials, foreign passport holders are no longer required to produce a MoD travel approval document at Omanthai entry/exist point- the main travel checking point located in Vavuniya. “As normalcy is flourishing in the country we see that travel restrictions to foreign passport holders as no longer required,” the official stated commenting on the latest move. This is a definite sign that the country is heading in the right direction with the rapid reconciliation and development taking place in Wanni and North, he further said (Daily News ; 5 July 2011).

Prof. Peiris tells Killinochchi gathering: Make use of unique dev. opportunity - External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, addressing the gathering soon after the opening of the SLFP office in Killinochchi by Member of Parliament for the Hambantota District Namal Rajapaksa, said that the people of Killinochchi should make use of the unique opportunity which has become available after many decades, to take the economic and social development of the area forward rapidly.  He described the major infrastructure projects including roads, water and the railway network which had been undertaken by the government for the benefit of the people of the area after the eradication of terrorism.  Minister Peiris referred to the initiatives of the government with regard to skills development and job creation, and mentioned particularly the government's success in prevailing on the private sector, in partnership with government enterprises, to commence commercial activity in the area. Prof. Peiris underlined the government's firm resolve that the country, as a whole, and all communities should derive the fullest benefit from the rapid development of the economy. He called on the people to elect Pradeshiya Sabhas that would work closely with the government to ensure that the maximum advantages accrue to the people. Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage and SLFP Organizer of the Kilinochchi district Geethanjalie Naguleshwaran were also present (Daily News ; 5 July 2011).

552 rehabilitated LTTE cadres rejoin relatives - A group of 552 LTTE cadres including eight women who were rehabilitated for two years re-joined their relatives yesterday at the Vavuniya Cultural Centre. Rehabilitation Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera was the chief guest at the ceremony held. Addressing the gathering Minister Gajadeera said a large number of LTTE cadres had been rehabilitated and released and others would also be handed over to their relatives soon. The Commissioner of Rehabilitation and Prisons, Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe said the number of rehabilitation camps had been reduced from 24 to 8. He said 7,968 LTTE cadres had been released after rehabilitation and steps were being taken to release the other 2,956 soon. Secretary to the Ministry of Rehabilitation, A. Dissanayake and Vavuniya Govt. Agent Mrs. P.S.W. Charles were present at the occasion (Daily Mirror ; 5 July 2011).

A reply to Suresh Premachandran of the TNA - By Charles.S.Perera - The TNA Mps were hatched from the eggs laid by terrorist suprimo Prabhakaran. They cackled for the terrorists from the beginning being the spokesmen of the terrorists. They represented the terrorists and not the ordinary Tamils. It was through that fear of the terrorists that the Tamil people in the North may have voted for the TNA.  Though they keep strutting about cooing to all and mighty anti Sri Lankans and terrorist diaspora, they cannot give lessons to the government of Sri Lanka as they are still not the popularly acclaimed representatives of the Tamil people.  What can we expect from Suresh Premachandran and the rest of the TNA cacklers who had even gone to demand Russia and China not to help Sri Lanka ? Do the Tamil people see in them patriots of Sri Lanka or just divisive elements still speaking with the voice of Prabhakaran to set up Prabhakaran’s Eelam State.  It is the Tamils like Suresh Premachandrans that the Sri Lankans detest, because they are not a unitary forces, but divisive elements. They are and will never be true patriots of Sri Lanka therefore the ordinary Tamil people must beware of them. A Tamil friend of mine said that all Tamils have in them this feeling of intense Tamilness, and that it is this feeling that make them keep themselves apart from the other communities. Therefore they would like to have their own Eelam State. It is this inner sentiment of the ordinary Tamil people the Suresh Premachandran and his TNA clique are trying to exploit (LankaWeb : 4 July 2011).

Jaffna Fort will become a tourist center - Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa while on an inspection tour yesterday to the renovation site of Jaffna Fort instructed the officials to complete the work at the earliest as the government intends to convert it into a location of tourist atraction while preserving its archeological values.The Phase one of the ongoing renovation project costing Rs.104 million is expected to be completed shortly.  Jaffna Fort was built as a small garrison by the Portuguese in 1618 when the Portuguese invaded Jaffna. Later, in 1658 the Dutch captured it from the Portuguese and expanded its location further. It was taken over by the British in 1795. This Dutch Fort was completely destroyed during the time of eelam war as the LTTE had maintained its garrison within the Fort premises. Jaffna, the Capital city of Sri Lanka's Northern province has been a tourist destination with the visit of large number of locals as well as foreigners daily, since the end of war. Therefore the Minister Rajapaksa said that government will make the Jaffna Fort a tourist center with enhanced facilities for tourists. Minister Douglas Devananda, Northern Province Governor G.A. Chandrasiri and deputy minister M.L.A.M. Hisbulla accomppanied the minister during the inspection tour (Official web Portal of the Government of Sri Lanka ; 4 July 2011).

Evidence from the past -How the LTTE committed atrocities wearing Sri Lankan Army uniforms - by Ramanie de Zoysa - The LTTE videos that are circulating widely showing men in uniform torturing, degrading and killing disrobed prisoners have had an enormous amount of currency among the gullible and uninitiated while the videos have been an enormous weapon against the country in the hands of the enemies of Sri Lanka. For those who have a first hand knowledge of Sri Lanka and those who have been closely following the events in Sri Lanka for the past 30 years, the modus operandi of the LTTE has never been a mystery. It is a fact that the LTTE donned Sri Lanka military uniforms stolen or stripped from prisoners of war when committing crimes and spoke in Sinhalese during the execution of the atrocities for obvious advantages of throwing the shadow of doubt and blame on to the Sri Lankan Government. Secondly, the LTTE is well known to have videoed every atrocity they committed against the Sinhala and Muslim people, firstly for the sadistic enjoyment of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran who hardly ever left the bunker and secondly for the use of the videos for precisely such use in the future (LankaWeb : 4 July 2011).

Good Journalism Channel Four - by Chandrin Katuwawala - Channel Four’s ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ is the most biased one-sided reporting of an international conflict I’ve seen in ages. Sure I bet the Sri Lankan government forces aren’t saints but there is a coordinated effort to rewrite what actually happened in this conflict which I followed to its end. Given the behaviour of the LTTE from corralling civilian human shields around heavy weaponry, shooting escaping civilians in the back, basing military positions next to make-shift hospitals and fighting to the death while holding hundreds of thousands as hostages there is no better label for them than die-hard yet cowardly terrorists. Before the LTTE’s end, they targeted civilians with weekly suicide bombing campaigns killing literally thousands, raided villages and killed all of other ethnicities including pregnant women, and murdered hundreds of Muslims at prayer, all in the effort of creating a mono-ethnic fiefdom in Sri Lanka (LankaWeb ; 4 July 2011).

Defence Ministry, experts review unaltered video probe launched : Fresh probe launched -  Ample evidence to prove malicious intentions behind doctored documentary - Conversations in Tamil in unaltered video - Pro-LTTE elements attempting to disgrace country - by Disna Mudalige - The Defence Ministry and a panel of experts have launched a fresh analysis to review the unaltered video used to create the fake Channel 4 documentary during the last stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka, Army Media spokesman Major General Ubaya Madewela told the Daily News yesterday. He said that the unaltered video received by the Defence Ministry provides ample evidence to prove the malicious intentions behind the doctored documentary. He observed that in the unaltered video, conversations of the individuals are in Tamil, even though those were replaced with Sinhala conversations in the Channel 4 documentary. This ascertains that those are LTTE members, who are disguised in an attire similar to the Army uniform. He observed that the Channel 4 documentary is a vain attempt by pro-LTTE elements who are still active, to disgrace the country in desperation after the defeat of the LTTE. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation website yesterday quoting Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative and UN Ambassador Major General Shavendra Silva stated that Sinhala dialogues of the Channel 4 video do not match the ground situation of the incident. Commenting on the individuals in army uniform, Major General Silva recalled how LTTE cadres dressed in Sri Lankan Army uniform launched number of attacks, including the assassination of innocent devotees at the premises of Sri Maha Bodhi and the Bandaranaike Airport attack. He observed that the Channel 4 documentary had been doctored by LTTE sympathizers to mislead the international community. Meanwhile, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa on Friday stressed that the Channel 4 video is an attempt to disgrace the Security Forces who liberated the country from terrorists (Daily News : 4 July 2011).

Another 552 Ex-LTTE cadres rehabilitated - By Franklin R.Satyapalan - Another batch of 552 former LTTE cadres, who had completed their term of rehabilitation, were reintegrated into the mainstream of society at a function presided over by the Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Chandrasiri Gajadeera at Punthottam Tamil Vidyalaya in Vavuniya on Monday (4), Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe said. He said that the remaining 2,950 youths would be successfully rehabilitated and reintegrated into civil society before the end of this year. Maj. Gen. Ranasinghe said that in keeping with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s directions the youths had been provided with spiritual, livelihood, mental and physical training before they were re-integrated into society as useful citizens. No stone was left unturned to bring out their creative talents for the benefit of the country and mankind.  He said that the majority of the 552 youth being re-integrated into society were between the ages of 20 and 35. There were six women among them. He said: "We have been able to train and reintegrate 7,968 former LTTE cadres. We are providing all the youth with skills, livelihood training so that they may commence a vocation of their choice once re-integrated into society. We have negotiated with the State banks to give each youth a sum of Rupees 100,000 to 150,000. In fact, last week we met with some youth from the Elephant Pass area who had been released recently and helped them to obtain boats and fishing equipment so that they could commence their livelihoods (Island ; 4 July 2011).

Security Forces uplift living conditions of northerners - By Franklin R. Satyapalan - Undeterred by the allegations levelled by some Tamil people, the security forces personnel, deployed in the North, continue to engage in many socio-economic activities to uplift the lives of the people in the peninsula including the construction of houses, offering of scholarships to schoolchildren and providing livelihoods to youths, civilian sources in Jaffna said yesterday. When contacted Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe said that despite allegations from certain quarters that the Military was biased "we have always considered the Tamil people as our own brothers and sisters and treated them all alike at all times". When questioned about the construction of houses by the Security Forces the Major General stated that following the advise of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the primary task would be to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people the Secretary Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa instructed the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya to construct as many houses for the IDP’s and uplift their livelihoods (Island ; 4 July 2011).

The bitter truth - by Wasantha Priya Ramanayake - The possibility exist more about the victor in a war neglecting the vanquished. However, Dharmasoka of India and Abraham Lincoln of America did not do so. The Guerillas of Nagaland waged a war against India similar to the LTTE in our country. Ultimately the Nagaland guerillas had to surrender to the Indian Army and surrender all their weapons in queues. The weapons were piled up like a mountain and together with that the guerillas also surrendered to the Indian Army. Subsequently India implemented a controversial devolution of power. The Indian government included a revision to its constitution formulated by Ambedkar and gave powers to Nagaland not enjoyed by Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (Daily News ; 4 July 2011).

No politics for now - Former LTTE chief arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan, better known as KP, says he will not discuss politics or think of politics at the moment as his main goal is to help the war affected Tamils in the north through his new humanitarian agency. In a live television interview, Saturday night, Padmanathan also assured security for former supporters of the LTTE who are living overseas if they wish to visit Sri Lanka and see for themselves the plight of the Tamils in the North and the immediate assistance they need.Pathmanathan, who runs a humanitarian organization called NERDO in Killinochchi, said that pushing for an Eelam State is not the need of the hour and urged the Tamil Diaspora to focus their attention on offering food and other assistance to the war affected Tamils. Despite saying in an earlier media interview that he knows where most of the LTTE funds are, KP said he will not betray anyone by naming people or giving detailed information on those who have the money with them now. "Yes I said I know who has the money but I did not say I will betray anyone. My wish is that they themselves will come forward and use the money to help the people in need," Pathmanathan said in response to a question in the live interview broadcast on Dan TV in Jaffna (Island : 3 July 2011).

Selvarasa (alias Kumaran) Pathmanathan, the ex-LTTE chief, WANTED by INTERPOL (Click here)

KP Wanted By India (Sunday Leader : 26 June 2011).

Why Prabhakaran did it - Major operations of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targeting rival Tamil leaders or major political leaders were planned and carried out by their intelligence wing under Pottu Amman after the decision was taken by the leader Prabhakaran. How does one say Prabhakaran alone took decisions in the LTTE? This is on the basis of insights gained by people who have closely interacted with the LTTE and its leader, or assessments of colleagues, or circumstances that throw light on the subject. This was a matter that engaged the attention of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI investigating the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Once the investigators established the link between the blast at Sriperumbudur that assassinated the former prime minister and 17 others and the assassins who were on the spot — the one-eyed Sivarasan, the human bomb Dhanu, her companion Subha (all belonging to the intelligence wing of the LTTE), Nalini and the deceased photographer, Haribabu, the planning of the assassination, LTTE’s infiltration into Tamil Nadu and the preparing for the assassination with assistance of a few Indian accomplices began to unravel (Express Buzz : 3 July 2011).

“Comments submitted on ABC Four Corners Web Page on July 3, 2011- by Mahinda Gunasekera - Main segment showing extra-judicial killings is a digitally altered video per experts with 17 frames and apparently dubbed Sinhala words not in sync with the rest. Inscribed date on the video is UTC 2009-07-15 13:17:23, which is after the war ended. The perpetrators, victims or place of the incident are not known, but John Snow asserts the victims are Tamils and the perpetrators are Sri Lankan Army soldiers (LankaWeb ; 3 July 2011).

Tamil youth waves Eelam flag at Lord’s - by Sujeeva Nivunhella at Lord’s - Young Tamil man ran across the Lord’s cricket ground waving a Eelam flag where Sri Lanka played the third one day international cricket match against England on Sunday. The incident happened in the 46th over of the match when Lasith Malinga was bowling. Tamil man ran through the Sri Lankan players who were fielding at the time. Tamil man was apprehended by the Lord’s security staff and then handed him over to the British Police officers. Sri Lanka acting High Commissioner P.M. Amza who was at the ground at the time immediately lodged a complain with the England Cricket Board showing his displeasure. Although the LTTE is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, it is surprising to see the Tamil people are allowed to carry Ealam flag by the British authorities (Island ; 3 July 2011).

Mis-Reading Prabhakaran: Western Pawns beyond their Depth - "Prabhakaran would rather commit suicide than compromise." So wrote a Dutch Christian welfare worker named Ben Bavinck in his diary on the 5th January 1989 in recording a dialogue with Rajan Hoole. Bavinck had lived in the Jaffna heartland for years and knew Tamil like a native. It took other Sri Lankans much longer to learn this lesson. After two peace agreements had been unilaterally dismantled by the LTTE in April 1996 and August 2006 most Sri Lankans, whether governmental or not, knew this fully well. The LTTE would not compromise. When the LTTE found itself on the military slide from 2008 this unyielding attitude translated into an act that even surpasses the actions of the Japanese at Saipan in June-July 1944. They persuaded and/or forced some 320,000 Tamil people, their people, to retreat ahead of them into ever-shrinking territory. These people, now in 2008/09, SERVED as their labour pool, human sandbags and bargaining chip. This horrendous strategy was predicated on do-gooders of poor intelligence and large hearts intervening to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner were among the simpletons who became Prabhakaran’s cat’s paw. Miliband and Kouchner even visited Sri Lanka in April 2009 to call for a ceasefire (Island : 3 July 2011).

PSC’s observations on selected NGOs - by C.A.Chandraprema - In the course of their deliberations, the Parliamentary Select Committee on NGOs made certain observations on selected organisations which we publish below. It should be borne in mind that the interim report of the PSC on NGOs was signed by the UPFA, the UNP and the JVP; National Peace Council ; It is reported that the National Peace Council too is a Non Governmental Organization operating to propagate federalism. An Organizer of the National Peace Council once attended a protest in Geneva and also made a speech at a rally held later which ended with the singing of the song of emancipation of the LTTE together. This organization which questions the need for sovereignty has spoken about a sovereignty divided into two and of two very close countries. The National Peace Council has engaged in a movement to brainwash the people of Sri Lanka, which is very similar to the activities of the Burghof Foundation. They have acted very enthusiastically in promoting federalism (Island ; 3 July 2011).

Media Release by SPUR (New Zealand) - "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" , the documentary to be screened on 04 July 2011 in Four Corners on ABC - Dear Kerry O'Brian and the Four Corners Team, I am writing this on behalf of " New Zealand Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka". We understand that ABC is planning to screen on 4the and 5th July 2011 the documentary called " Sri Lanka's Killing Fields", produced by Channel 4 in Britain. We carefully watched this documentary after it was screened by Channel 4 and believe that it is a piece of work that was diabolically designed as a propaganda work for the terrorist outfit known as Tamil Tigers or the LTTE, which has been declared as a terrorist organization by several countries including USA, Canada and the European Union. The horrific terrorist activities of the LTTE has subsided in Sri Lanka at present due to the death of it's then leader Prabhakaran along with his terrorist cadre in May 2009. However, recent reports that are coming from around the world indicate that the LTTE is regrouping and has launched an international a propaganda campaign to recruit cadres, mainly from the Tamil Diaspora around the world. Some well known media organizations and International NGOs are, knowingly or unknowingly, supporting this propaganda effort by the LTTE. ABC's reputation as an independent media organization is seriously threatened if this international terrorist propaganda is screened. LTTE in their long drawn armed terrorist movement is well known for filming their battles with the Sri Lankan government forces in the past. They have published them in their TV / Radio channel called "Voice of Tigers" (VOT) and screened especially at their combat training camps as a tool to inspire their cadres. At the beginning of 2009, they were aware that the impending battles for Killinochchi and Mullaitivu could be decisive and resorted to some innovative tactics like erecting earth bunds and digging artificial canals etc. They continued their filming activities as in the past, to utilize these films for their propaganda purposes (SPUR - New Zealand)

An important message to the Australian Public-ABC TV’s Four Corners Program on Monday 4 July 2011 at 8:30 pm - MEDIA RELEASE -SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUP, CANBERRA Mr Kerry O’Brien is going to air the infamous UK Channel 4’s documentary – ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ on Monday 4 July 2011 on ABC TV Four Corners. This program alleges that Sri Lanka committed extra judicial killings of Tamil civilians and Tamil Tiger terrorists in Sri Lanka, in the last stages of the war against the Tamil Tigers in 2009. We say that this program is filled with lies, deception and fabrication. It is reported that segments related to the alleged executions and several other images have appeared in a Tamil Tiger terrorist propaganda video previously (the original video). It is alleged that in the Channel 4 video the atrocities committed by the Tamil Tigers are dubbed in as those committed by the Sri Lankan Army. It is alleged that the Tamil voices in the original video have been changed to Sinhalese voices by using a different sound track. The Sinhalese voices do not correspond or relate in any way at all to the actions of the Channel 4 video. Watch the original Tamil video below: (LankaWeb : 4 July 2011).

Lanka Army claims to have found real video of Channel 4 docu - The Sri Lankan military has claimed that the original version of a British channel's "doctored" documentary depicting rights violations by the Army has been found and it shows "brutal killings" of soldiers by the LTTE during the last phase of the war. The Army said a private TV channel had found the real footage of the "doctored version" of the documentary which shows exactly the opposite of what the Channel 4 aired. "This video obtained by a private TV station shows the brutal killings of soldiers by the LTTE," military spokesman Major General Ubhaya Madawela told BBC. He said the "real" video's footage carry Tamil conversations opposed to the Sinhala conversations heard in the "doctored" video. Channel 4's documentary Sri Lanka Killing Fields aired in the UK had carried gruesome pictures of executions of LTTE cadres at the hands of government troops. "We know many of our soldiers were taken captive by the LTTE during the war. Only a very few of them were handed over via the ICRC," Madawela said. "Now we can think that those who are shown being shot and killed are those soldiers who to date remain missing," Madawela stressed. He said the private channel which carried the real footage had handed over the tapes to the Army for verification. Sri Lanka had earlier dismissed the documentary as an attempt to discredit the government through a fake video (Hindustan Times : 3 July 2011).

Weiss gets wiser: denies 40,000 figure - ?H. L. D. Mahindapala - Gordon Weiss, former UN spokesperson in Colombo, who claimed that 40,000 died in the last stages of the Vadukoddai War between January 2009 and May 18, 2009, has revised his figures again. When he was in Sri Lanka he put the figure at 7,000. After he left his UN job and went to Australia he jacked it up to 40,000 to sensationalize his book, The Cage. At a book launch held in Melbourne last week, he changed his figure again and came down to 10,000 under questioning by Chanaka Bandarage, a lawyer. Bandarage then asked why the brochure had mentioned 40,000. Weiss had disowned responsibility and passed the buck to the Deakin University which produced the brochure. Rohan Bastin, a Sri Lankan-born academic, organized this book launch. Bastin who was relying on Weiss’s figures was shame-faced and had nothing to say about the discrepancy in the Deakin University figures and the revised figures quoted by Weiss. This denial by Weiss blows up the fictitious figure of 40,000 mentioned in the report of the Advisory Panel of Experts (APEs) appointed by Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General. It also blasts the myths of the anti-Sri Lankan NGOs and pundits who went to the town with Weiss’s figure of 40,000. The local pundits in NGOs (example: Sanjana Hattotuwa of the Centre for Peace Alternative) also concluded that the book was an indictment of the war conducted by the Security Forces. But the accusers are not agreed on the critical issue of the number of casualties. Loud-mouth Hattotuwa in his review too avoided the discrepancies in the number of casualties. Obviously, it does not fit with his condemnation of the conduct of the war by the government (LankaWeb : 3 July 2011).

Former LTTE leader KP says his main focus is on helping war affected Tamil community - Former international wing leader and chief arms procurer of the LTTE, Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP says his main aim is to help the war affected Tamil community in the North and that an Eelam State was not the need of the hour. Pathmanathan has said that priority would be given to helping the war affected Tamils through his new humanitarian agency and that he would not discuss politics or think about it at present. He has made these comments during a live interview on Dan TV in Jaffna that was telecast on Saturday night. Sri Lankan authorities arrested KP in a south Asian country in August 2009 and brought to the country. He has been detained by the government since then. However, Padmanathan now operates a humanitarian organization called North Eastern Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NERDO) in Kilinochchi. He has said that pushing for an Eelam State is not the need of the hour and has urged the Tamil Diaspora to focus their attention on offering food and other assistance to the war affected Tamil community (Colombo Page : 3 July 2011).

Sri Lanka: Recent accusations and some relevant facts -  Published in June 2011 News Letter of New Zealand Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka -  Background ; A much publicized video titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”, produced by Channel 4 of the UK, was screened on 14 June 2011 followed by rescreening of it by various national TV channels including those in New Zealand. According to the presenter, Jon Snow, the video represented devastating evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity believing that it supports a powerful case for bringing those guilty of these crimes to justice. There is no doubt that some of the scenes shown by Channel 4 were most horrific and gruesome. The declared motive of the Director, Callum Macrea, to air this documentary was to insist that Sri Lanka has to be tried for crimes against humanity and of war crimes committed during the final few months of the war against Tamil Tigers (LTTE). SPURNZ views with concern the notion apparently shared by many western nations that Sri Lanka’s actions during the closing stages of the long drawn war against the internationally proscribed band of terrorists require scrutiny despite the fact that these terrorists, during a nearly 30-year armed insurrection against a democratically elected government, were responsible of killing using suicide bombers an elected Prime Minister of India, an elected President of Sri Lanka, maiming another elected President of and murdering numerous democratic political leaders of the Tamil community and thousands after thousand s of innocent civilians both belonging to the Sinhala and Tamil community (LankaWeb ; 1 July 2011).

Sri Lanka military says real video of Channel 4 visuals found - Sri Lankan military today claimed that the real footage of the ''doctored version'' of the British television Channel 4 aired documentary has been found. "This video obtained by a private TV station shows the brutal killings of soldiers by the LTTE," military spokesman Major General Ubhaya Madawela told BBC. He said the real video's footage carry Tamil conversations opposed to the Sinhala conversations in the Channel 4's doctored video. "We know many of our soldiers were taken captive by the LTTE during the war. Only a very few of them were handed over via the ICRC," Madawela said. "Now we can think that those who are shown being shot and killed are those soldiers who to date remain missing," Madawela stressed. He said the private channel which carried the real footage had handed the tapes to the Army for verification. British TV station channel 4's documentary 'Sri Lanka Killing Fields' aired in the UK carried gruesome pictures of executions of LTTE cadres at the hands of government troops. Sri Lanka dismissed the documentary as an attempt to discredit the government through a fake video (Deccan Herald : 3 July 2011).

By Dr Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN).

Channel 4 video, a blatant lie Excerpts of the interview in Sri Lanka News Online : 3 July 2011.

Govt exploring avenues for legal action : Channel 4 video, a blatant lie - Dr Kohona - By Shanika SRIYANANDA - Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona said the commentator John Snow and the UK-based Channel 4 (Ch-4), which made the video – Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields - depending heavily on information from the LTTE’s propaganda arm, TamilNet, had deliberately produced the video to influence international public opinion and arouse sympathy towards the LTTE and its cause. Dr. Kohona, together with his deputy, Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva, had exposed the technical ‘lies’ in the video at a screening of the documentary at the UN Church Centre in New York, sponsored by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group, on June 22. “The commentary is heavily biased towards the LTTE propaganda watch. This is obvious from the pictures and phrases used and the way John Snow tries so hard to create sympathy towards the LTTE cause. It is just unmistakable, one would describe his commentary as gut-wrenching”, he said. In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer Dr. Kohona, who is now in Sri Lanka, discussed the motive of Ch-4, the initiatives taken by the Government to save Tamils facing LTTE terror and future action against Ch-4. He said they had dealt with the video adequately at its screening. Excerpts of the interview: (Sunday Observer : 3 July 2011).

The government reaffirms Channel-4 video on Sri Lanka is fabricated and fake - The government reaffirms Channel-4 video on Sri Lanka is fabricated and fake. Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative and Ambassador of the UN Major General Shavendra Silva says unaltered video, which used to create channel-4 film, stands as a testimony to show that the intention of the creators of the video is to mislead the international community. People who appeared in the video which was broadcast over the channel-4 spoke in Sinhala and same people talk in the original copy in Tamil. Sinhala dialogues of the Channel-4 video do not match the ground situation of the incident. Major General Shavendra Silva says that some people appeared in the video are in the Sri Lankan Army uniform. He recalls that LTTE cadres dressed in Sri Lankan Army uniform to launch a number of attacks including assassinating innocent devotees at the premises of Sri Maha Bodhi, Katunayaka Airport attack. Major General Silva further said that he put forward concrete evidences to show how the video was doctored by the LTTE sympathisers. He added that the challenge posed both by him and Dr. Palitha Kohona has not been answered by the creators of the video, yet (SLBC : 3 July 2011).

Is PSC the only way out? - PSC welcomed by many parties - No time frame to finalise its findings - JVP will not participate in PSC - SLMC does not believe in a PSC - By Wilson Gnanadass - As finding a solution through the parliament that is acceptable to all the communities appears to be the most democratic way of solving problems in a sovereign nation, somehow, with regard to the ethnic question there has never been a consensus at parliamentary level from the inception. This has consistently given the Tamil minority a degree of suspicion.   The stage is now set to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to find a political solution to the national question. Though it was Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development minister and EPDP leader Douglas Devananda who initially made this proposal to the recently visiting Indian delegation and then subsequently to the President, it appears the government has now hijacked it from Devananda. If this gave Devananda the much needed credit for making this bold suggestion, it still gives more acclaim to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his willingness to implement it so expeditiously. It appears during the process of the PSC deliberations by various political party representatives there will be a point of intersection and that point could well be the provenance of the political solution of the government, as pointed out recently by external affairs minister Prof. G. L. Peiris to the press. The PSC on that basis has been welcomed by many political parties and analysts who look at positively and objectively in finding a solution to this dragging problem that has been a bane of the country’s economy. Having won a war spending billions of rupees, the government now feels that it is high time a political solution is found though it also admits it is too late. According to the latest information, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) central committee has already given its consent for the setting up of the PSC and this proposal would be officially placed in parliament on Tuesday (5) by the leader of the House and Irrigation and Water Resources Management minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. The PSC, a 31-member strong committee with quasi judicial powers will then be appointed formally by the Speaker subsequently. Strict time frame (The Nation : 3 July 2011).

Moon, RW to watch channel 4 - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon would possibly watch the controversial Channel 4 video before the planned meeting with Sri Lanka’s opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Inner City Press reported. “We have actually shared the video with the Secretary General. When he has time, we expect that he’ll see it,” acting deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told Inner City Press. General Secretary of the United National Party, Tissa Attanayake, said that Wickremasinghe already met with US State Department officials, but was unable to confirm the meeting with UN Secretary General (The Nation : 3 July 2011).

They should watch the original video footage, not the one doctored by the Western media.

Video expert calls for judicial review of program - Siri Hewavitharana - Internationally renowned expert in broadcast video systems and Executive Director IPTV Systems Australia Siri Hewavitharana in a brief interview with the Sunday Observer, said the British broadcasting industry, which was respected and produced the best broadcast technologists in the world, now going down the path that glorifies terrorists was a disturbing issue. Hewavitharana, who has exposed Channel 4’s digital manipulation of pictures for its controversial ‘Killing Fields’ documentary, said the program consists of fake videos that were digitally altered, fake stills and a producer using false narratives that amounts to absolute dishonesty on the part of the producer. “I was a product of British broadcasting and my teachers were the cream of British broadcasting. The company I worked for in London was one of the top broadcast companies in the world with two Emmy Awards. They produce amazing digital broadcast products used by all global broadcasters. I was very proud of my teachers and my team and also the fact that I was part of the technical team that produced the two Emmy-winning programs,” he said. Hewavitharana, former Head of CISCO’s global broadcast and digital video practice and of Systems Engineering for Star TV Hong Kong, explained one of the fake pictures in the video, that of a boy’s head blown off and a pool of blood nearby. He said the isolated pixel mapping indicates pixels that have been manipulated using a digital paint brush to show blood. He said the video and stills were digitally paintbrushed to show blood from the boy’s face but the blood pixels do not match the surroundings of the video. “This has never come from a mobile phone. There are many other factors to prove the fake nature of the video. It is an attempt to give fresh breath for terrorism”, he said. Hewavitharana said Ch-4 has non linear editors such as AVID. If they cared to use them, they would have seen the metadata layer and the fake technical data. “The question is who did this digital alteration; was it by the Ch-4 producers or by the terror group that provided the fake video?” The expert stressed the need for a judicial review of the video footage, witnesses and the so-called journalists involved (Sunday Observer : 3 July 2011).

International Humanitarian Law – at all times - applicable to LTTE atrocities - By Daya Gamage - Western nations, prominently led by the United States, since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE/Tamil Tigers) in May 2009 have systematically sharpened their maneuvers to first, strategically communicate to the rest of the world that the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) was responsible for violating the International Humanitarian Law and globally accepted human rights practices to whip up anti-Sri Lankan sentiments in Western capitals and among the lawmakers, and two, to create a voice to force the United Nations to bring Sri Lanka to international scrutiny preparing the path to prosecute its leaders for crimes against humanity, human rights abuses, war crimes and genocide at the international court.  The initiative was well taken by the U.S. State Department in maintaining a rapport with pro-Eelam elements in the U.S. which obviously encouraged them to lobby U.S. lawmakers providing them with ‘information’ about the ‘genocidal Sri Lankan regime’ which led to many representations by Congressmen to the Office of U.S. Secretary of State urging Hilary Clinton to bring pressure on the GSL for an accountability process of its execution of the war between January through May 2009.  Assistant secretary of state for South Asia Robert Blake refused to disclose the identities of the Sri Lankan Tamil expatriate attendees at several dialogues he initiated at his Washington office to a media query by the Asian Tribune citing confidentiality of the discourses.  The State Department’s Office of War Crimes Issues released the ‘Sri Lanka War Crimes’ report with ambiguous and unsubstantiated information by its head Ambassador Stephen Rapp providing enough ammunition to US lawmakers and some nations in the European Union creating a conducive atmosphere for a section of the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in the U.S. and Europe to bring Sri Lanka to the dock with allegations of war crimes and genocide.  The culmination of this exercise by many elements is the production of the ‘War Crimes Report’ popularly known as the ‘Darusman Report’ by the panel appointed by the United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon (Asian Tribune : 3 July 2011).

Resolution on PSC in parliament this week - By Wilson Gnanadass - The government is expected to place before parliament its resolution to set up a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to find a political solution to the national question on Tuesday (5). The proposal would formally be presented to parliament by Leader of the House and minister of irrigation and water resource management Nimal Siripala de Silva. The preamble of the draft is titled ‘National Integration and Reconciliation’ and calls for a solution through the PSC to the protracted national question. According to highly placed government sources the PSC that will have a quasi judicial power will comprise 31 members, with the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government nominating 19 members to the PSC. There are 16 political parties currently supporting the UPFA government including the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which is the dominant party of the coalition government. Accordingly, all 16 parties would be given the opportunity to nominate one member each from their respective political parties to the PSC while the SLFP being the principal party of the UPFA would be given the liberty to nominate three more additional members to the Committee. Thus, the SLFP will have four members in the PSC. The sources also said that the other members of the PSC will be drawn from among the 12 opposition political parties represented in parliament. Following the submission of the proposal, Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa is expected to summon all the party leaders and request them to nominate their members to the PSC. The Nation reliably learns that there will be no fixed time frame to conclude the PSC sessions contrary to the requests made by some of the Tamil political parties. EPDP leader and traditional industries and small enterprise development minister Douglas Devananda has already proposed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa that a PSC should have a time frame and the deliberations should reach its final stage between about three to six months. Meanwhile as the government plans to formulate the PSC with a view to finding a political solution to the national question, already some political parties have expressed their aversion to such a formation, claiming it is a ‘waste of time’. However the government is keen to find a solution through a PSC that would be acceptable to all. It is also believed if a PSC is formed, it would put the lid on the ongoing government – TNA talks (The Nation : 3 July 2011).

Film described as ‘misleading and misrepresentative’: UK’s Ofcom to probe Channel 4 documentary - The UK Government’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) is to investigate the veracity of Channel 4’s recent documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s killing Fields’ following complaints that it was misleading and misrepresentative. British-based TV website TV Pixie, in a report filed by Alex Guest, disclosed that Ofcom would probe the program, presented by Jon Snow and produced by Callum Macrae. Ofcom is the UK’s Independent regulator and competition authority for the communications industries. “Ofcom will assess the complaints against the program under their Broadcasting Code to see if it needs further investigation and action. Ofcom is empowered to fine the broadcaster(s) if it determines that the Code has been violated. Ofcom has received over 100 complaints since the film was aired on Channel 4 on June 14. Alex Guest commented that it is within the realm of possibilities that the additional material (presented by Channel 4) was partially or even entirely fabricated. “If Channel 4 has fabricated material or attempted to mislead the public through editing, Ofcom will see fit to censure the broadcaster. “I await the conclusion of the investigation”. Sri Lankan diplomats and leading forensic video experts had contested Channel 4’s claims of accuracy. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan authorities on Friday revealed that they were in possession of an original video which had been altered by Channel 4. This video was subsequently aired by Swarnavahini. The TV station said the footage was originally in Tamil and was dubbed into Sinhala by Channel 4 to discredit the Sri Lankan Security Forces. Major Gen. Shavendra Silva, commenting “live” on the original, unaltered video, told viewers that Channel 4 didn’t take up the challenge to prove the video’s authenticity. Maj. Gen. Silva said the video actually depicted LTTE cadres dressed in Sri Lanka military uniforms and vowed to expose more lies by Channel 4. Earlier in New York, he had successfully exposed Channel 4’s duplicitous conduct at a screening of the documentary organised by Amnesty International (Sunday Observer ; 3 July 2011).

Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra has lodged a strong protest to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Australia

(read full details in Sri Lanka News Online)

'CHANNEL-4, FACEOFF' - Exposing the appalling truth (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 30 June 2011)

Channel 4, the lost responsibility on Journalism ! - by Channa E. Katuwawalage -  Now this Channel 4’s video on Sri Lanka “Killing Fields” has raised serious questions on its “authenticity”. Inability of Channel 4 to verify the credibility of the sources from which Channel 4 has received these videos which they claim to be of Sri Lankan Security Forces committing so-called “war crimes” has shown the lack of Channel 4’s professionalism. Even the top officials and the various spokesmen of Western and European countries who issued statements on the video are in a state of swallowing their words.  Meanwhile, Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka has issued a detailed report exposing the truth of the Channel 4 videos and the motives behind airing the same. As per the report, Channel 4 is an institution with closer contacts with LTTE and pro-LTTE elements oversees and in favor of them, Channel 4 has so far published more than 30 articles and released 04 videos but with insufficient attention to verifying their reliability. The first incident Channel 4 came into light was once the Channel 4 crew in Sri Lanka were deported by the government of Sri Lanka in May 2009 (during the last stages of Sri Lanka’s civil war) after having identified their links to LTTE and working on spreading false evidences favoring LTTE terrorists. One of them was a photograph of an IDP Centre giving the impression that the Tamils were kept as prisoners similar to Nazi Concentration Camps in Germany. It also stated that they have taken these photographs from a high rise building. However, the report states that there are no high rise buildings in the vicinity of IDP Centers. At the last stages of Sri Lanka’s Civil War, innocent civilians poured into government-controlled areas seeking protection. Among them there were close family members of hard-core LTTE terrorists. With no discrimination between civilians and LTTE cadres, Sri Lankan Security Forces treated them humanly. Children, aged people, pregnant women were rescued; the injured received immediate medical assistance. Moreover, the surrendered ex-combatants were rehabilitated and integrated to the civil society. The report has given the figures of the surrendees reintegrated and who are been rehabilitating at present (Sinhalaya News Agency ; 3 July 2011).

World is full of Goebbells - A response to the interview Namini Wijedasa had with UN Rapporteur Christof Heyns - By Maj.Gen.(retired) Lalin Fernando - Namini Wijedasa’s mention of ‘small nations’ when she interviewed Heyns (part time UN expert) gave him the opportunity to blaze back with his holier than thou comparison that ‘it is irrelevant how large or small the country concerned is’.She should instead have asked him there is a difference when alleged ‘crimes’ are committed by black eyes and not white eyes and asked him whether that too was irrelevant. Heyns appears to be cock sure of his facts and throws back everything that was put across to him with a legal smoothness that even his Apartheid back ground cannot repel. He says ‘tens of thousands’ were killed which is not bad for him being a specialist in law and not accounts or even in arithmetic. He doesn’t say exactly by whom.He was careful not to give proof..He forgot to tell us how he arrived at these figures and who was responsible and where they were buried except to point his finger at SL. What really proves his expertise and which Ban ki Moon must give him a medal for, is that he is sure that the language used by the alleged killers was Sinhala.How proficient he has become to recognise a language he has never ever heard spoken before. Did he also know that the language used by the men killing people with weapons in the original video ( that cast four doubts), was in Tamil? Obviously. SL Tamil Navi Pllai another good looking (looks good?) South African UN expert(HR) has not been wasting her off time.That was probably how Heyns understood Sinhala and why the 4 doubts have now been resolved (as far as Heyns the linguist also is concerned). Curious is the fact that those who prospered in Apartheid South Africa that treated blacks worse than dogs (remember the bill boards in white city parks pre 1994 that said ‘Dogs and blacks not allowed’ are the very people who are in the hugely over paid UN jobs pontificating to the world in HR.Heyns is obviously from Boer stock that for a century ran a country that gave Hitler (Huns and Nazis) a good run for governance, HR and morality which are Heyn’s attributes he will have us believe (Sinhale Hot News : 3 July 2011).

ABC urged to stop screening of CH 4 film - by Shanika SRIYANANDA - Sri Lanka’s High Commission in Australia, which protested the screening of Channel 4 video “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” on ABC’s Four Corners Program, has written to the Executive Producer Sue Spencer requesting to avoid telecasting the documentary, as it is completely biased and contains unsubstantiated allegations against the Government of Sri Lanka. Acting High Commissioner Shashikala Premawardena, who also had a telephone conversation with Spencer, had urged the ABC not to give any coverage to the video as the views expressed in the documentary were without any guarantee of authenticity. The program is tentatively scheduled for telecast on ABC1 tomorrow. In her letter to Spencer, she has described the LTTE’s brutality in executing civilians, policemen, leaders of the country, religious dignataries and also all those who went against the LTTE. “There is a possibility that this footage is from LTTE executions that have been released to discredit the Sri Lankan government. The military uniforms of the individuals do not clearly establish that they are Sri Lankan Army personnel. The shots in the video clip could well be a treatment meted out by the LTTE in Army uniform. The obvious bias of the program is further illustrated by the fact that a major portion of the video footage has been acquired from the LTTE and its sources”, she said. She also stated that the portrayal of the ground situation in the program is as if the LTTE never existed in the areas that were being filmed and the Government forces were deliberately targeting innocent civilians. “This is a clear distortion of facts and the ground reality that existed at that time. Another aspect which did not get captured in the Channel 4 program was that the LTTE was a formidable fighting force that had developed a conventional military capability”, Premawardena said (Sunday Observer : 3 July 2011).

Sri Lanka taken off US human trafficking watch list - An annual US State Department Report on Trafficking in Persons that grades each country, elevated Sri Lanka’s status in 2011, noting increased prosecutions of human traffickers and more aggressive efforts by the government to protect trafficking victims. The Report was unveiled by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “The Sri Lankan government increased law enforcement efforts in addressing human trafficking cases over the reporting period. Sri Lanka prohibits all forms of trafficking through an April 2006 Amendment to its Penal Code, which prescribes punishment of up to 20 years’ imprisonment,” the report said. “These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious offences, such as rape.” The State Department report grades countries in four categories: Tiers 1, 2, Tier 2 “Watch List” and Tier 3. It ranks more than 180 countries including the United States. In 2011, the State Department took Sri Lanka off the watch list and graded it at the same level as a large number of countries, including Japan, Iceland and Switzerland. The report lists more than 75 Tier 2 countries, which are making “significant efforts” to comply with international trafficking in persons standards. “This is positive recognition of Sri Lanka’s progress on our efforts to prevent human trafficking and the abuse of those who travel abroad seeking employment,” said Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United States Jaliya Wickramasuriya. The report said, “The Sri Lankan government made some progress in its efforts to prevent trafficking during the past year. The government formed an inter-ministerial anti-trafficking Task Force in October 2010, led by a coordinator from the Ministry of Justice, and developed a terms of reference on how government agencies will work together to combat trafficking.” (Sunday Observer : 3 July 2011).

THE GLAMOUR BOYS OF WAR CRIMINALITY PARTY TO DEATH IN LIBYA - by Malinda Seneviratne - Courtesy Lakbima News Paper in Sri Lanka Say one thing, do something else. See certain things, but not others. Take umbrage at nothing and keep mum over the horrifying. Give a penny, take dollar (or Euro). Help and demand pound of flesh for services rendered. Sorry, 100 pounds of flesh, closest to the heart, blood and all. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the nutshell version of US foreign policy. It describes also the UK, France and other countries in the West. Sadly, our friends across the Palk Straits seem to have figured this is the foreign policy framework that has to be adopted if they are to qualify for membership among the big-boy thugs of the world. These are ‘friends’, the kinds who people like Dayan Jayatilleka believe we must worship on account of ‘geo-political realities’ in the quest for modernity. We should barter sovereignty, submit to land-theft proposals (as such are demanded by Eelamists), erase history, culture and civilization-mark and so on, for all this. Britain claims it is carrying out an independent investigation on Sri Lanka. The EU already has. Barack Obama’s right something, Ban Ki-moon, corrupt to the core and slavish beyond ‘the point of duty’ to Western interests, appointed some jokers to manufacture a report that can buttress demand for such an investigation. What’s new in this world, ladies and gentlemen (LankaWeb ; 3 July 2011).

KP’s “Abode Of Love” Officially Open - By Raisa Wickrematunge - Anpu Illam, translated, means ‘Abode of Love.’ This ‘Abode’ happens to be a children’s home in Mullaitivu, in Muthaiyankattu village, to be precise. Mullaitivu saw its fair share of carnage. It was once an LTTE stronghold. The fact that the rebels held a military base there meant there were many fierce battles waged before the Army wrested control of the area in January 2009. Many children lost their parents or relatives, or were separated from their families during the final stages, ending up in different IDP camps. This is where Anpu Illam comes in; children in this war-torn area could certainly use a place to go to. In fact, Anpu Illam is built on the site of an LTTE-run orphanage, then known as ‘Punniya Bhoomi’. This children’s home though, is unusual for another reason. The orphanage was recently officially declared open. Among those who attended was a ‘visibly emotional’ Selvarasa (alias Kumaran) Pathmanathan, the ex-LTTE chief. Pathmanathan has a controversial past. Widely known as the chief arms procurer for the LTTE, he currently has a ‘red notice’ issued against him, and is listed as a ‘wanted person’ by Interpol. He is also wanted by India in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. He was arrested in a South East Asian country, and brought to Sri Lanka in August 2009. He is yet to be produced in a civil court. Anpu Illam is run by a non-profit organisation known as the North East Rehabilitation Development Organisation (NERDO), of which Pathmanathan is the Secretary. NERDO worker Nathan confirmed that Pathmanathan was part of the committee in charge of ensuring the smooth running of the operation. Anpu Illam was a pet project of KP’s, he said. “His dream is to provide education for war-affected children,” Nathan explained. In fact, this is the first project suggested by KP that has been approved (Sunday Leader : 3 July 2011).

Selvarasa (alias Kumaran) Pathmanathan, the ex-LTTE chief, WANTED by INTERPOL (Click here)

KP Wanted By India (Sunday Leader : 26 June 2011).

Demo planned in London against Channel 4 - By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London - A demonstration has been planned opposite the Channel 4 Television station in London on Sunday, July 17 from 1 pm to 5 pm against the documentary "Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields".  This protest has been organized by the ‘Sri Lankans in the UK’. One of the organizers said that the Channel 4 is carrying out a biased, malicious campaign against Sri Lanka and it is time for all Sri Lankans to unite to show solidarity. He said that there are a large number of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers have volunteered to attend this protest. The Sunday Island learns that the television regulator Ofcom is planning to investigate the programme as there were a large number of complaints the documentary was one-sided (Island ; 2 July 2011).

Post-war rehabilitation funds drying up - by Shamindra Ferdinando - With the resettlement of approximately 300,000 war displaced people rapidly nearing completion in the Vanni region, the international community is likely to review its funding arrangements regarding post-war recovery projects. There is a likelihood of major donors reducing assistance in spite of the government not having considered the possibility at the moment. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in its ‘Joint Humanitarian and Early Recovery Update’ released on June 24 revealed the impending drop in assistance to the Vanni community. "The European Commission intends to phase out its humanitarian engagement in Sri Lanka by the end of 2012, as development programs escalate in the conflict-affected region," UNOCHA said. No comment from European Commission in spite of reaching relevant authorities on Friday. Sources speculated that other donors, too, could review their position following the EC indicating its plans. UNOCHA also revealed that by June 22, 2011, they had been able to raise $ 62 mn (21.8 per cent) of a total requirement of $ 289 mn for the successful implementation of ‘Joint Plan of Assistance for the Northern Province.’ (Island ; 2 July 2011).

Sri Lanka’s humanitarian effort: How the state met Northern food needs - Extracts from the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province 2011 Report - A special logistical hub was set up in Vavuniya by the government with WFP and UN agencies to facilitate the storage of nearly 5000MT of food and non-food items in order to accelerate supplies to the Vanni. This was to ensure speedy supplies to the Vanni and to reduce the turnaround time of the supply fleet. The process in the uncleared areas was monitored by ICRC in consultation with the respective GAs. In the final stages, delivery of essential supplies to Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu districts were escorted by the ICRC. Even on occasions where the ICRC was hesitant to escort the convoys, the government ensured that the movement of supplies continued. However, government’s total control in the distribution of essentials to the population was limited. LTTE always took first choice of all supplies sent, and giving the leftover to the civilian population. Shortcomings and bottlenecks affecting supplies were brought to the notice of the CGES and the government ministries by GAs and to the CCHA by the respective sub-committees almost on real time basis and decisions were taken promptly to remedy the situation. Mechanisms were set in place to avoid delays while going through checkpoints with the assistance and co-operation of the Security Forces. To ease cross loading and delays at Medawachchiya and Omanthai check points, special arrangements were made for government /WFP trucks to be checked and sealed in Colombo by Sri Lanka Army (SLA). However delays in uncleared areas were reported frequently (Daily News ; 2 July 2011).

The Untold Side on War Crimes - by Gomin Dayasiri - Is the choreography being reset for a second coming after a failed bid to enter by an armed intervention on a beach front near Nandikadal Lagoon? This time it is not an amphibious landing by US Marines in camouflaged fatigues but well-oiled inmates from judicial homes of elders in moth balled suits, entering a courthouse with a blinded scale of justice and a sharpened hatchet in either hand: impatient to tweet a judgment. Attempt for a military intervention failed by a narrow squeak. Roberto Blake made a thrust on the Ministry of Defence - deflected with a neat glide of a possible blood bath with an unpredictable Prabhakaran and of geo-political complications surrounding the seas around India; undeterred Blake rushed to India House to meet High Commissioner Alok Prasad to place a proposition to insert the Marines. New Delhis South Block were aghast of an American military flotilla berthed in their private swimming pool in this part of the Indian Ocean. Mildly put, Blake ended with egg in face. Embassy Street, twitters, Blake did not take the rebuff well and holds it against Sri Lanka for sending him down a blind alley to look a silly. That probably speaks for his attitude on Sri Lanka. After a transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime or from war to peace, to supposedly test accountability, provide justice and foster reconciliation, a mechanism branded ‘post conflict justice a.k.a transitional justice’ has been designed. This is a ‘on your marks-get set’ position to await the sound of the starters gun to fire, to run for an international judicial intervention. In a nutshell to create an opening for foreign interference (post conflict) in the domestic sphere in the name of humanitarian laws now compressed and canonized as R2P (Lankaweb : 2 July 2011).

4 fiasco will face natural death soon - Basil - by Chaminda Perera - “The massive propaganda campaign carried out by treacherous elements in foreign countries  against the country’s sovereignty and independence resulted in the controversial Darusman Report, the infamous video footage telecast by British Channel 4, among others,” said Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa. He said that the much talked about Channel 4 fiasco will face a natural death. The original audio and visual clip are now with the Sri Lankan authorities. The minister said Sri Lankan authorities had the original Channel 4 video clip before it was doctored by vicious elements involved against the country (Daily News : 2 July 2011).

Another 339 families resettled - by Ishara MUDUGAMUWA - Another 1,200 people from 339 families from Ananda Coomaraswamy and Kadirgamar IDP camps were resettled, said Resettlement Minister Gunaratne Weerakoon. "So far 255,238 people have been resettled in the Northern Province and the rest will be resettled by year's end, he said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the authorities to expedite the resettlement process,' the minister said. The minister said these areas were cleared of landmines and declared safe before resettlement of the IDPs. The Resettlement Ministry will provide dry rations worth Rs 4,500 for six months to the newly resettled families. 'All infrastructure facilities will be provided to them. The ministry will spend Rs 1.6 million to provide additional dry rations for the newly settled 339 families for six months. Special milk packets will be provided to expectant mothers (Daily News : 2 July 2011).

Things to think about from Akashi - One time trouble-shooter in Sri Lanka's conflict, Yasushi Akashi, has given the world some food for thought on issues, which to him, constitute very familiar ground. The points made by him which we front-paged yesterday, should receive the attention of particularly those sections which have chosen to sit in judgment on Sri Lanka over questions arising from the controversial Darusman Report and the infamous Channel 4 video. Two points, in particular, made by Akashi, need to be the subject of impartial deliberation. One is that Sri Lanka's internal inquiry into the issues thrown-up during the last stages of the conflict should be allowed to proceed without let or hindrance. The other is that, rather than throw barbs and brickbats at this country on unfounded allegations, the world would do well to help in the reconstruction and rehabilitation effort in Sri Lanka. To take the first point, the world should take note of the fact that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (LLRC) process constitutes Sri Lanka's efforts to bring healing and accord to its people. It should be given a chance to complete this undertaking and on the basis of whether this would be done completely or not Sri Lanka should be judged. However, it should be clear that the LLRC is yet to complete its task and the world would do well to allow this to happen, in the name of justice and fair play (Daily News : 2 July 2011).

Sri Lanka’s North and East are transformed economically vibrant regions - Parliament can find a better solution since various political parties are represented in the Parliament and the government consideration that the best solution that could be found is through a Parliamentary Select Committee. This was stated by Minister of Environment Mr. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, responding to questions raised after the Media Briefing on Cabinet Decisions held at the Information Department yesterday. He said that the situation at present is totally different after defeat of LTTE which was totally against a political solution. At that time he said that no political party in the North could express their opinion freely and only they had to follow the dictates of the LTTE. Joining the conference, the General Secretary of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance Minister Susil Prem Jayanth said that after 19th May, 2009, Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims of this country has different views. Even the international opinion is different. At that they were insisting for a solution through discussion. Terrorism is totally over now. Earlier, Tamil National Alliance was unable to express their opinion freely and they were under pressure from the LTTE. Several countries and organization considered LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil community. This view has now being completely changed. Minister Susil Prem Jayanth said that the results of the last General Election and the Local Government Elections have proved that the people of the North and East are not solely represented by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and some other political parties too represent these people. In Batticaloa and Vavuniya representatives UPFA have equal representation. In Trincomalee UPFA have 2 members, while TNA and UNP have one member each. TNA considered as the sole representative of the people of the North and East has become a myth. In the Vavuniya district TNA’s percentage of votes amounted to only 45%., at same time UPFA received 42%. It was same in Kilinochchi and Mulativu as well. Election results are the best barometer to prove this point (Asian Tribune : 2 July 2011).

Sri Lanka Navy responds to Channel 4 News allegations: How come ICRC evacuated 12,000 persons if forces denied access to Tiger territory?

SL High Commission’s letter to Australian Broadcasting Corporation - I wish to register my strong protest at the proposed re-telecasting of the Channel 4 documentary titled "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" on ABC's Four Comers programme. The programme content is completely biased and contains unsubstantiated allegations against the Government of Sri Lanka. The views expressed in the film are without any guarantee of authenticity.The video footage of executions supposedly taken from a mobile phone has not been verified as authentic. The LTTE regularly executed persons that had compromised its loyalty. In fact the deputy leader of the LTTE, Mahathaya was executed on the orders of the LTTE Leader Prabakaran. The LTTE executed 600 Policemen in cold blood after they surrendered to the LTTE during President Premadasa's peace process period. There is a possibility that this footage is from LTTE executions that have been released to discredit the Sri Lankan government. The military uniforms of the individuals do not clearly establish that these are Sri Lankan army personnel. The shots in the video clip could well be treatment meted out by the LTTE in army uniform. The obvious bias of the programme is further illustrated by the fact that a major portion of the video footage has been acquired from the LTTE and its sources. All video footage taken in LTTE controlled areas during the final days of the conflict was very selective in its portrayal of the ground reality. The LTTE deliberately embedded its military resources amongst the civilian population and it is very surprising that none of the video footage in the Channel 4 programme shows any LTTE military activity in the midst of the civilian population. The portrayal of the ground situation in the programme is as if the LTTE never existed in the areas that were being filmed and the Government forces were deliberately targeting innocent civilians. This is a clear distortion of facts and the ground reality that existed at that time (Island ; 1 July 2011).

Sri Lanka: Recent accusations and some relevant facts - Published in June 2011 News Letter of New Zealand Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka - Background ; A much publicized video titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”, produced by Channel 4 of the UK, was screened on 14 June 2011 followed by rescreening of it by various national TV channels including those in New Zealand. According to the presenter, Jon Snow, the video represented devastating evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity believing that it supports a powerful case for bringing those guilty of these crimes to justice. There is no doubt that some of the scenes shown by Channel 4 were most horrific and gruesome. The declared motive of the Director, Callum Macrea, to air this documentary was to insist that Sri Lanka has to be tried for crimes against humanity and of war crimes committed during the final few months of the war against Tamil Tigers (LTTE). SPURNZ views with concern the notion apparently shared by many western nations that Sri Lanka’s actions during the closing stages of the long drawn war against the internationally proscribed band of terrorists require scrutiny despite the fact that these terrorists, during a nearly 30-year armed insurrection against a democratically elected government, were responsible of killing using suicide bombers an elected Prime Minister of India, an elected President of Sri Lanka, maiming another elected President of and murdering numerous democratic political leaders of the Tamil community and thousands after thousand s of innocent civilians both belonging to the Sinhala and Tamil community (LankaWeb ; 1 July 2011).

SLN responds to Channel 4 News allegations: How come ICRC evacuated 12,000 persons if forces denied access to Tiger territory? - By Shamindra Ferdinando - Responding to ‘Channel 4 News’ allegation that the government of Sri Lanka had deliberately denied food to those trapped on the Vanni east front during the final phase of the Vanni offensive, navy headquarters yesterday said that the a food ship reached the North less than a week before the LTTE collapsed on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon on May 19, 2009. Navy headquarters spokesperson Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya told The Island that four vessels, Sinhabahu, Green Ocean, Binhtan and City of Dublin had been deployed to move 2361.315 MT food items from Trincomalee to Puthumathalan, where the LTTE made its last stand. The SLN spokesperson said that food shipments were made from Feb. 17, 2009 to May 14, 2009 as the army fought its way into rapidly dwindling area held by terrorists. WFP-led overland food convoys came to a halt on Nov. 23, 2009 as fighting escalated on the Vanni east front. According to Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province, the WFP carried 12 overland food convoys beginning Oct, 2008 to Jan 23, 2009, before heavy fighting forced a halt to overland supply convoys. Commander Warnakulasuriya said that supplies to Puthumathalan from Feb 17 to May 14, 2009 comprised wheat flour (1095 MT), dhal (273 MT), vegetable oil (92 MT), sugar (97 MT), medical items (3.5 MT), samaposha (1MT), cerelac (1.05 MT), sprats (1 MT), green gram (2 MT), rice (698 MT), pumpkin/carrot (19.21 MT), potato (05 MT), cone soya beans (29.92 MT), chili powder (1.4 MT), coriander (0.7 MT), salt (3.25 MT), Cummins seed (0.7 MT), pepper seed (0.7 MT), soya (2 MT), T leaves (2.50 MT), garlic (3.50 MT), milk food, medical, clothing and other items (21.13 MT), b onions (05 MT) and other items (1.765 MT). The Puthumathan bound cargo included 12,600 litres if kerosene, 720 litres of patrol and 274 litres of 2T oil, the official said (Island : 1 July 2011).

Over looking NATO’s Killing Fields in Libya, UN warns Sri Lanka of action in absence of probe - By Charles.S.Perera It is strange that an ineffective UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon , submissive to the “powerful” , who lacked imagination to seek for the UNO an independent path of excellence in dispute management of its Member States, is being propelled back into the seat of leadership for a second period. The coming years promise yet another period of UNO’s descent into another insignificant period of existence as an Organization expected to maintain peace in the world , but incapable to negotiate to stop political confrontations between Member States, stop interference by the powerful Member States into the affairs of Sovereign Member States of developing countries, and incompetent to forestall the International Community aiding and abetting ,interposing their own Organizations- like the NATO to destabilize and destroy other Member Sovereign States on the pretext of aiding rebels forces to dispose of ruling governments , or governments not obedient to their dictates. Sri Lanka, should under ordinary circumstances should have been the first to have opposed Ban Ki Moon’s re-election as the UN Secretary General. But however undeserving seems the support of the Government of Sri Lanka to Ban Ki Moon, we have to bow down as the ways of diplomacy is difficult to imagine (LankaWeb : 1 July 2011).

UN rights chief warns Lanka - The UN's human rights chief Thursday warned Sri Lanka not to take too long in probing war crimes allegations, saying failure to carry out a credible inquiry could lead to international action. "There is now a high level of expectations expressed by member states that Sri Lanka should seriously inquire into these allegations" of prisoner executions and assaults, said Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. "But this should not be an open-ended process," she stressed, noting that a previous Sri Lankan internal inquiry "failed to complete its task, never published its report and never led to a single prosecution." "If that should be the case again, there is an intention for the international community to take further action. I certainly believe that the Human Rights Council should actively consider this matter," said Pillay. Pressure has mounted on Colombo since Britain's Channel 4 broadcast a documentary that showed what it said were prisoner executions and bodies of female Tamil fighters who appeared to have been sexually assaulted. A recent UN report accused government forces of war crimes, alleging that they executed rebel leaders who had surrendered. An estimated 100,000 people were killed in the nearly four-decade-long Tamil separatist conflict, which began in 1972. Pillay's remarks echoed that of the United States, which on Tuesday urged Sri Lanka to move quickly to address allegations of war crimes. Colombo has questioned the authenticity of the Channel 4 footage but said that a local panel, known as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, would take action if the allegations are proven (Daily Mirror ; 1 July 2011).

Over looking NATO’s Killing Fields in Libya, UN warns Sri Lanka of action in absence of probe

Sri Lanka releases unaltered video - The Defence Ministry today released to the media the unaltered video used to create the Channel4 documentary on Sri Lanka, Army Spokesman Major General Ubaya Madawela told Daily Mirror online. The video which was obtained from England was shown on a private media station this evening, Major General Madawela said (Daily Mirror ; 1 July 2011).

Raw video clips obtained - Basil - The unaltered raw video clip used to create the fabricated Channle4 video “killing fields” which insults the war heroes and the country has been obtained, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa said. He added that there are some locals who assist foreign elements who are against the country and he requested them not to be swayed by Dollars and Euros to work against their motherland (Daily Mirror ; 1 July 2011).

Ranil to meet UN Chief - UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is to meet UN Chief Ban Ki-moon in July 5, in New York, the Inner City Press said. Mr. Wickremesinghe is currently on a visit to United States (Daily Mirror : 1 July 2011).

Rajiv Gandhi assassination: Priyanka's meeting with Nalini a diplomatic move, claims Murugan - One of the death row convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case - Murugan - has alleged that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's much publicised meeting with his wife and co-accused in the case - Nalini - in March 2008 in Vellore jail was part of an elaborate game plan. Priyanka's visit was described as an attempt to come to peace with her father's violent assassination. However, the jailed Murugan told a Tamil magazine that her visit was a diplomatic ploy to put pressure on Sri Lanka to fall in line because New Delhi feared Colombo was getting too close to Islamabad and Beijing. He also claimed that Nalini was used as a prop. After the Sri Lankan Army captured the western part of the country from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2007, India did not want to be sidelined in the military operations, Murugan claimed. Murugan, who was part of a five-member squad that eliminated Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991, said that India did not want Sri Lanka to join hand with China and Pakistan, which were financially helping Sri Lanka and hampering India's interests. "Angered by this, to bring Sri Lanka under its control, India came out with a game plan of Priyanka-Nalini meeting. This was to send a message to Sri Lanka that if it acted against India, then the latter would not hesitate to support its enemies. Even Rajiv Gandhi assassination issue will not be a block for this. So Indian government decided to send across this message to Rajapakse government," Murugan told the magazine (India Today : 1 July 2011).

Bringing pressure on Sri Lanka: Now UN human rights chief Pillai warns - by Daya Gamage - In the heat of the United States warning Sri Lanka that the ‘international community’ may take Sri Lanka to the international court if alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law were domestically not robed, the United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillai on Thursday 30 June made the same warning. While many major nations such as the Peoples Republic of China, Russia, Pakistan, India etc, have dissociated with the U.S., Britain and some European Nations endeavor to corner Sri Lanka alleging human rights violations during the final months (Jan-May 2009) of its battle with the terrorist outfit Tamil Tigers or LTTE, one wonders as to who belong to the so called ‘international community’ that both the U.S. on Tuesday and Navi Pillai on Thursday have been referring to haul Sri Lanka before an international court. Amsterdam based news portal expatica.com has reported the following remarks by Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, quoting AFP on Jun 29. The UN’s human rights chief Thursday warned Sri Lanka not to take too long in probing war crimes allegations, saying failure to carry out a credible inquiry could lead to international action. “There is now a high level of expectations expressed by member states that Sri Lanka should seriously inquire into these allegations” of prisoner executions and assaults, said Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. “But this should not be an open-ended process,” she stressed, noting that a previous Sri Lankan internal inquiry “failed to complete its task, never published its report and never led to a single prosecution.” “If that should be the case again, there is an intention for the international community to take further action. I certainly believe that the Human Rights Council should actively consider this matter,” said Pillay (Asian Tribune ; 1 July 2011).

India to help Sri Lankan army to build capacities - India has agreed to help the Sri Lankan Army in its capacity building by opening up more seats for its officers and men in its training academies and military colleges, apart from sharing experiences in counter-insurgency operations. The agreements were arrived at during the first structured army-to-army talks that ended on Friday, an Indian Army officer said. Apart from deciding to enhance the scope and number of training courses for Sri Lankan officers and men, the Indian Army will also share its experience and organisational structure for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. For the talks, Sri Lanka had sent a five-member delegation led by its military secretary, Major General HCP Goonetilleke. India was represented by the army's Additional Director General for International Cooperation, Major General I.P. Singh. The two sides will also send their military instructors to each other's military academies. Sri Lankan, in particular, needed instructors in adventure sports and English language, which India agreed to provide, they said. The Goonetilleke-led delegation also met Indian Army chief General V.K. Singh during the visit. In the inaugural army-to-army staff talks, which began Wednesday, the two sides also shared their expertise in battle concepts and doctrines, particularly in tackling insurgency. While Sri Lanka successfully ended its three-decade long civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) two years ago, India is battling insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states. The Sri Lankan delegation will return to Colombo on Saturday (Hindustan Times ; 1 July 2011).

Elephant Pass saltern to produce 70,000 tons of salt annually - By Pabodha Hettige - The Elephant Pass saltern would have, after its reopening, the capacity to generate nearly 3,000 employment opportunities, Secretary to the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, V. Sivagnanasothy said. "It is expected to boost the national economy," he said. Once reopened, the saltern would be able to produce nearly 70,000 tons of salt annually. Currently, feasibility studies were being conducted to re-open the saltern and the project proposal would be finalised soon, he said. Currently demining teams had almost cleared 95 per cent of land in the area (Island : 1 July 2011).

Sri Lanka receives unaltered video - The Defence Ministry today received the unaltered video used to create the Channel4 documentary on Sri Lanka, Army Spokesman Major General Ubaya Madawela told Daily Mirror online. The video which was obtained from England was shown on a private media station this evening, Major General Madawela said. (Daily Mirror online : 1 July 2011). (Click here for the unaltered video footage).

Aerial topographical maps taken of North to identify cultivable land - By Franklin R. Satyapalan - For the first time in Sri Lanka the government was able to take 1 x 20,000 scale colour aerial topographical maps of all land available for development in the Northern Province following the successful liberation of the country from terrorism, Surveyor General Mahes Fernando said on Wednesday. He said that the programme to take aerial maps of the Northern Province commenced on the advice of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to identify all arable land for development of agriculture and other activities. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided the funding for this project and was responsible for contracting the aircrafts from overseas to carry out the aerial mapping (Island ; 1 July 2011).

More IDP families resettled in Mullaitivu - By Franklin R. Satyapalan - Another batch of 307 Internally Displaced (IDP’s ) families, from the Kadirgamarpuram welfare camp in Vavuniya, were resettled in their former village in the Vallipunanm GS division in Mullaitivu on Tuesday June 28. District Secretary for Mullaitivu S. Pathinathan said on Wednesday. Following the completion of the de-mining process in these areas the government had decided to accelerate the resettlement of the remaining IDPs in the Kadirgamapural Relief camp in Vavuniya. Pathinathan said That the Minister of Resettlement Gunaratne Weerakoon was in Vavuniya on Tuesday to send off the batch of IDPs. All 911 persons, belonging to the 307 families, who were resettled were provided with a parcel of dry rations and other supplementary food items. Twelve tin roofing sheets were given to each family to put up a shelter. Rs. 20,000 would be banked to their credit by the UNHCR as a resettlement allowance, Pathinathan said. On Thursday another batch of 1085 persons, belonging to 337 families, would be resettled in the Maritime Pattru AGA Division in the Mullaitivu district. On Monday (4) 637 persons, belonging to 195 IDP families, were scheduled to be resettled in the Kumarapural GS division in the Mullaitivu district (Island ; 1 July 2011).

Darusman Report improper - Akashi

Darusman Report improper - Akashi  -  Int’l community should not create various issues -  Any inquiry should be conducted locally -  LTTE ruthless terrorist organization - “The Darusman Report though intended only to be an advisory report to the Secretary General of the UN, is improper,” said Senior Adviser on Foreign Policy in Japan Yasushi Akashi when he addressed the 16th Joint Committee of the Sri Lanka Business Co-operation Meeting held in Tokyo last week. Akashi was speaking on the subject of ‘Recent Political Developments in Sri Lanka’, as the keynote speaker at this meeting. Akashi said that any inquiry into the last days of the war should be conducted locally through recognized individuals of good judgement. “The LLRC is such a body. Therefore we should ask anyone who has representations to direct them to the LLRC.” The global community should also await the findings of the local committee and not try to jump the gun by creating various issues in international fora, he said. Akashi also said that the LTTE was a ruthless terrorist organization and should not be equated in status to a sovereign state such as Sri Lanka. Such an equation is not only unjustified but would pose a threat to the global fight against terrorism. He also said that the LTTE sabotaged the Tokyo meeting of which Japan and the United States were to be co-chairs. “They again sabotaged the Geneva meeting when the government of Sri Lanka had already sent its delegates.” He said that time and time again, the international community had provided opportunities for the LTTE to enter the negotiation process (Daily News : 1 July 2011).

'Two groups in Tamil Diaspora' - by Nadira GUNATILLEKE - There are two groups in the Tamil Diaspora now. One group clearly opposes the LTTE and the other is still supporting the LTTE ideology, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne told the Daily News. "The first part is the pro Tamil group. They do not support the LTTE. The second group still supports the LTTE even after the government wiped out terrorism from Sri Lanka," Minister Senaratne. He said that even Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton received funds from the LTTE while they were engaged in the Presidential Election campaign. But they rejected those funds after realizing that the funds came from the LTTE, one of the the world's most ruthless terrorists organizations. But still billions of LTTE funds are there in foreign countries. These are the funds used by anti Sri Lankan elements. Minister Senaratne pointed out that discussions are now going on with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to find a political solution. Discussions should be held with all Tamil political parties. Devolution of power will be the solution to the conflict. The 13th amendment is part of the existing Constitution of Sri Lanka. It is the responsibility of the government to protect and implement the country's Constitution. All should support the government find a solution to the conflict and make Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia. It is the responsibility of all, Minister Senaratne added (Daily News ; 1 July 2011).

TNA not sole Tamil representative in Lanka: Govt - Amid efforts to hammer out a solution to the political grievances of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, the government plans to consult other members of the minority ethnic group as it does not treat Tamil National Alliance (TNA) as the sole representative of the community. Susil Premajayantha, the Minister of Petroleum, Industries and the ruling UPFA coalition''s general secretary, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa''s decision to convene a parliamentary select committee was based on the decision that there are many Tamil groups who need to be consulted not just TNA to resolve the ethnic question. "TNA is not the sole representative. There are many other Tamil political parties and groups elected from the north and east provinces," Premajayantha said. The government and the TNA have held seven rounds of talks to discuss a possible political solution. Rajapaksa said this week that parliamentary select committee would be his preferred tool to formulate a solution. "There are many other political parties and groups who have been elected by the Tamils," Premajayantha stressed. Rajapaksa''s government has been coy to deal with the TNA, the proxies of the defeated LTTE for the fear of losing its support among the Sinhala majority (MSN News : 1 July 2011).

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