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Recent LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorist Atrocities in Sri Lanka

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Impending Four Corners ABC TV Australia by Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya -

To the attention of Mr. Kerry O’Brien, ABC TV Network

At the outset, I must confess this protest was prepared using material from the Patriotic Web pages, and dispatched to relevant areas of the Australian Communication Authorities.
Kerry, you are one of the most prominent and respected names in Australian journalism. You have won many accolades, including the top award in journalism, the Gold Walkley. If you want to maintain this untainted glory, your reporting on the 4^th of July on Sri Lanka has to be truthful!
Before you air the “Fake Video” watch this original that is in possession with the Sri Lanka defence Ministry.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150208292415642&oid=127743420642303&comments

This is only the “Extra Judicial Killings” portion. This is a fabricated presentation, as the victims are not LTTE, victims are Sri Lankan Sinhalese captors and the killers are Tamil LTTE!I understand that Four Corners on the 4^th of July is preparing to air the BBC CH4 “Sri Lanka Killing Fields”. A part of this video was originally aired in August of 2010 in the UK. Later it was proved to be a “Fake” by Siri Hewavitharne (Sri Lankan) an internationally renowned expert in broadcast, satellite, cable and IPTV, design and operations, content platforms DRM and STB’s, video broadcasting and IPTV. He is the Executive Director of IPTV Systems in Sydney, Australia (LankaWeb 29 June 2011)

Demonize Sri Lanka, make a fortune By Janaka Perera Sri Lanka has been confronting a hydra-headed monster for the past 30 years. In classical mythology this monster is a water serpent with nine heads each of which on being cut becomes two. It means any evil appears to intensify when grappled with. After Indian intervention in 1987, prevented the Sri Lankan State from killing the newly-born LTTE reptile and we saw it growing into a monster aided and abetted by self-proclaimed peace makers and anti-war crusaders. But unlike its mythical counterpart, each of this modern monster’s many heads looked different from the others. The difference was so deceptive that most people did not think all these heads were linked to the same creature which was like a chameleon at times.
Its biggest and most visible head was the military-terrorist wing with its Tiger emblem (copied from the Cholas). All other heads were calling for ‘conflict resolution.’ One said military means could never destroy the creature. Another called for a ‘negotiated settlement.’ A third (‘National’ Peace Council) stressed the need for shared sovereignty – whatever that meant. A fourth wanted Sri Lankan Armed Forces downsized. Others were calling for a confederation, demanding the Tamils ‘right to self-determination’ which not even the Indian Constitution does recognizes. These do-gooders and ‘human rights’ champions were hardly active when the Indian Army went into action against the LTTE in1987-89. It is only after fighting between the Sri Lankan Forces and the Tigers resumed in 1990 that the ‘peace’ offensive went into full gear. It was money talking. By that time ‘peace making’ – serving different agendas - was gradually becoming a big business worldwide under various guises. Funds were flowing in from the West and life was never so good for the architects of ‘conflict resolution.’ Their job therefore was to keep the pot boiling and hold the State mainly responsible for failing to resolve the crisis, no matter how intransigent the Tigers were. (Asian Tribune : 29 June 2011)

The Political Solution – On the Road to Political Suicide By Janaka Yagirala
Often we wake up to hear news we never wish we heard. Among them are occasions when people of great repute and stature commit blunders that cause irrevocable ruin. Great soldiers like Gen. Lakshman Algama and Gen. Janaka Perera were two such people who made this ultimate mistake and paid the ultimate price. Everyone has the right to engage in politics and be a member of whatever political party they wish, except one particular type, a political party of traitors. The underlying reason for the astounding victories of the present regime during the elections of 2010 was doing what the people wanted. The reason why our opposition leader is a “permanent fixture” is because he never understood what the people wanted. The people of this country always wanted peace, achieved by annihilating the LTTE rather than giving them half our country. A “political solution” is nothing more than an invitation to political suicide. Political suicide is a bearable pain, even if it is done by a great individual. However, the inevitable national suicide from an appeasing ethnocentric political solution is nothing that we can bear. It is time to break silence and raise our voice against this. Especially against the talks with the traitors of the TNA who live on taxpayer’s money but represent secessionism. (Sinhale Hot News : 29 June 2011)

So-called journalist is a shame to the female population - Minister - Nadira GUNATILLEKE - The so-called dead journalist who appeared in the Channel 4 video has taken many innocent lives and is a shame to the entire female population, said Child Development and Women’s Empowerment Minister Tissa Karaliyedda in an interview with the Daily News. Following are extracts of the interview: Q: What do you think about the Channel 4 video? A: The so-called dead journalist or ‘announcer’ who appeared in the Channel 4 video was one of the LTTE cadres who launched an attack in Kebithigollewa and killed many innocent civilians. Therefore she is not a journalist or an announcer. She was one of the LTTE women cadres and a killer. She is a shame to the entire female population. (Daily News : 29 June 2011)

Jayalath does it again - The news item in The Island of 27th June titled " Jayalath urges Sonia to take up KP issue with Sri Lanka." says inter alia "- - MP Jayalath Jayawardena (JJ) has requested the leader of the Congress party of India Sonia Gandhi to take up the matter of Kumar Pathmanathan alias KP with the Sri Lankan President and the government." He continues: "I kindly request you to take up this matter with the Government of Sri Lanka, since Mr Kumar Pathmanathan is under the protection of the government of Sri Lanka presently, even though Interpol has obtained a warrant against him." JJ should realise that the government is making the maximum use of KP in the best interests of the country. The information that could be obtained from KP such as the personnel who were involved among the Tamil diaspora, in LTTE propaganda, the collection of finances, procurement of armaments and a host of other vital information will be lost to the country if Interpol intervenes as requested by JJ. I think JJ will now take the next logical step to demonise this country internationally, as he and his leader does so often, and request President Barack Obama, Prime Ministers David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy also, to request Interpol to pressure the Sri Lankan government in this connection. Our armed forces defeated the LTTE much to the disappointment of leading UNPers like Ranil Wickremasinghe (RW) (of Thoppigala fame) Lakshman Kiriella (of Gona fame).Mangala Samaraweera (of Salvation Army fame) and Ravi Karunanayake (of Medawachchiya fame). (The Island : 29 June 2011)

Why did ‘genocidal’ GoSL save 300,000 civilians, 11,000 LTTE cadres Ex-Foreign Minister asks: - By Shamindra Ferdinando - Responding to a US threat to examine ‘other options’ unless Sri Lanka quickly addressed war crime allegations, former Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said that Sri Lankan military effort against the LTTE was definitely an integral part of the US-led global war on terror. There couldn’t be any dispute over that, Bogollagama said in a brief interview with The Island yesterday. The ex-MP emphasised that it would be a huge mistake for the international community to decry Sri Lanka’s successful war against the LTTE on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations made in the controversial ‘Darusman Report’ and the Channel 4 film, ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’. Responding to a query, Bogollagama said that the US action targeting Sri Lanka hadn’t been prompted by domestic political issues like the case of the UK and some other European countries. "We never practised extra-judicial killings as a state policy, in spite of repeated LTTE provocations and target killings in the South, including high profile political assassinations," Bogollagama said (Island ; 29 June 2011).

Fake Homelands, Fake Grievances, Fake Aspirations, Fake War Crimes and Now Fake Videos - by Kumar Moses - It cannot get any funnier than this. This latest fake attempt matches perfectly well with fake communal demands. Faked videos collected by Channel-4 are compiled into one hour-long fake documentary. It was aired at the Geneva office of the UN Human Rights Council and thereafter on UK national television. Technical analysts have given detailed accounts of why the main feature of the Channel-4 documentary is faked. Any layman could see that it has been doctored. Sounds and movements are not in sync. It is not possible for any mobile phone to record a video clip with such a disparity. Background talk has no relevance to what is happening in the foreground which is another reason why this lame production cannot go past experts. There is absolutely no evidence to indicate that the victims being shot at were Tamils and their murderers were Sri Lanka army personnel. Moreover, there is no indication that this happened in the island. Obviously there is no time frame of the event either. Those who enacted this cheap morbid drama ensured that the gun bearers don’t talk. This is a very popular tactic of impersonation since voice is a sure indicator of imitation. Had they talked, it would be too obvious that they were not army personnel. Tamil Tigers were notorious for killing captured army personnel and stealing all their belongings. Not just their uniforms, but even their boots were stolen. Tamil Tigers carried out many terrorist missions wearing the uniforms of security forces personnel. For instance the 2001 terrorist attack on the nation’s only international airport at that time was carried out by Tamil terrorists wearing Sri Lanka Air Force uniforms. The 2007 terror attack on the Anuradhapura air force base was carried out by terrorists wearing Sri Lanka Army uniforms. Tamil Tiger terrorists wore the Special Task Force uniform and Sri Lanka Army uniform when they launched a suicide bomber attack on oil storage facilities in 1995. It is only too obvious who enacted this cheap drama at a time when they faced certain defeat (LankaWeb : 28 June 2011).

BR fears external intervention Western powers exploiting domestic elements - By Shamindra Ferdinando - In spite of the LTTE being militarily defeated, a section of the international community is pursuing a high profile campaign to undermine the post-war development process, says Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa. The Minister says the country is under threat by those hell-bent on causing chaos with the help of domestic elements to pave the way for intervention. Addressing a public rally at Gangeyaya, in the Kolonna electorate over the weekend, the Minister alleged that local elements could be working with Western powers to destabilize the country to facilitate external intervention. An irate Rajapaksa alleged that Western powers couldn’t have intervened in Iraq and now Libya without tacit support of domestic elements. The Gampaha District MP said that those gunning for President Mahinda Rajapaksa were being treacherous not only to the President but the entire country and its people. MP Rajapaksa acknowledged that there had been traitors not only in the present Opposition, but the ruling coalition as well. The SLFPer launched a scathing attack on those engaged in an ongoing campaign to pressure the government to accept an international mechanism to investigate alleged war crimes during last phase of the conflict. In an obvious reference to the Freedom of Information Bill defeated in parliament, the MP alleged that a NGO was behind that move. The Economic Affairs Minister demanded an end to the ongoing sordid operation directed at the Sri Lankan State. He said that he urged them not to undermine the country for their personal gain. The Minister condemned the Norwegian-arranged Ceasefire Agreement between the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, which allowed terrorists control over eight Northern and Eastern Districts. The minister alleged that the US State Department went to the extent of targeting the Rajapaksas. The State Department move was followed by the controversial ‘Darusman report’ before eelamists made another attempt to discredit the government of Sri Lanka in the European parliament, the MP alleged (Island ; 28 June 2011).

Post-war recovery project receives unexpected boost due to increased inward remittances - Tamil Diaspora renew faith in BOC-led banking system - BOC mobile unit at Menik Farm - By Shamindra Ferdinando - With the collapse of the LTTE, many Tamils living overseas have begun transferring money to their relatives, particularly the war displaced in the Vanni region. Expatriate Tamils are utilizing the services of the State Banking network, with the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) accounting for the lion’s share in the growing inward remittances market. Banking sources told The Island that there had been a marked increase in remittances from many countries, including Norway, Canada, US, Malaysia and Singapore. Since the conclusion of the war in May 2009, thousands of new accounts have been opened with two State banks, BOC and People’s Bank as well as with Seylan Bank, National Savings Bank, Sampath Bank and Commercial Bank. The BOC is the main beneficiary of the banking boom in areas once under LTTE control. Northern Tamils have received well over one billion rupees from their relatives living abroad through the BOC since May 2009. Other State and private sector financial institutions, too, have stood to gain from the surge in the inward remittances market, according to banking sources (Island : 27 June 2011).

David (Sily)Miliband Rises up From His Political Grave - By Malin Abeyatunga, Melbourne, Australia - David Miliband ex British Foreign Minister suddenly rises up from his political grave with his French mate Bernard Kouchner whom I believe in the same boat. What they wrote to Newyork Times is reported in the LTTE website Tamilnet on 21/6/2011.Quote“If foreign policy is about anything, it should be about stopping this kind of inhumanity,” said David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, writing in New York Times Monday and commenting on how <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Sri Lanka conducted the Vanni War and treated Tamil life as fourth or fifth class in the refugee camps. Both Miliband and Kouchner were foreign ministers of Britain and France respectively during the Vanni War. They said that in April 2009 they tried to stop the war. Now, responding to the UN panel report on war crimes in the island and citing the need of action, both the former foreign ministers said “We therefore call on our governments to set a deadline, soon, for satisfactory response from the Sri Lankan government, and if it is not forthcoming to initiate the international arrangements recommended by the report.”Unquote. David Miliband (or Sillyband) is now a frustrated bankrupt politician who lost to his own younger brother for the Labour Party leadership. It’s true what he says now is not so important but the fact remains that he says so to save his electorate with Tamil votes which he has admitted that he depends on Tamil votes (Wikileaks). In fact, may be he has been promised the portfolio of foreign minister in the non existent Trans National Provisional Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE). May be David and Bernard have a reason to bash Sri Lanka i.e to take vengeance for the shameful snub he and Bernard got from our President by not receiving them with a right royal welcome. President would have had to treat them as just another couple of LTTE spoke persons who cough for LTTE money and the President and Defense Secretary were courteous enough and asked them to shut up and go and mind their own business. D&B admits that they tried to stop the war when he visited Sri Lanka on 29/4/2009 which was an attempt to give their favourite terrorist outfit LTTE some breathing space for them to consolidate their military strength. Little that D&B realized both President Rajapaksa and the Defense Secretary Gotabaya are smarter than them. So the gang of Anglo-Franco supremos trying to stigmatize a small nation like Sri Lanka miserably failed and they got back empty handed except some rotten eggs on their faces (Sri Lanka News Online : 27 June 2011).

Imperialists targetting Sri Lanka to disintegrate India: Lanka PM - Imperialists who want to see India disintegrate into fragments are targetting Sri Lanka in order to influence the neighbouring country, Prime Minister DM Jayaratne said. "This is a campaign to see India disintegrate into the formation of smaller states like the fragmentation of the Soviet Union," Jayaratne said. His comments came while referring to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's special panel report on Sri Lanka which accuses the country of war crimes. It is the wish of imperialists to see India disintegrate, the Sri Lankan premier claimed. The United Nations wants Sri Lanka to investigate the alleged killings of civilians during the last stages of the war against the LTTE. Sri Lanka denies any civilian killings and dubs the move as an international conspiracy to help the defeated LTTE. (Indian Express :27 June 2011)

CHANNEL 4, the lost legitimacy on Journalism! - By Channa E. Katuwawalage
"Sri Lanka's Killing fields" is the latest video footage released by Channel 4 (UK) which alleges the Sri Lankan security forces for committing so-called "war crimes". Channel 4 has recently emerged with some compilation of footages from mobile phones and small camera’s (as Channel 4 says) which they claim to reveal the so-called “war crimes committed by Sri Lankan Security Forces during the last phases of Sri Lanka’s Civil War”. The first such graphic footage came up in August 2009 and on 2010 November the second video surfaced. Third video emerged on last May while the fourth was screened at UN on 3rd June 2011. The contents of the footages were disturbing, shocking and sensitive which got a wider publicity from almost all the prominent media institutions worldwide. A copy of the recently-aired Channel 4 footage has been given to the UN and several other parties by the Channel 4 but the Sri Lankan authorities were not given a copy even though they requested one. (The SINHALAYA News Agency, Colombo, Sri Lanka: 27 June 2011)

KP claims he knows individuals holding LTTE''s cash

Miliband- Kouchner: Comes to the Party after Long Silence - by Gomin Dayasiri - David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, long time hot under the collar- lambaste Sri Lanka in a script titled “The Silence of Sri Lanka” venting reasons for their vituperations. Their visit in April 2009 during the last days of the LTTE, was to make a three-in-one call for “humanitarian aid and their workers to be allowed in and the fighting to be stopped”- went unheeded, as they grumble. That’s the break point. Going home on an empty stomach with nothing to show, they bided their time watching ruefully in silence, Sri Lanka overcome terrorists, strikes back with venom after the release of the Channel 4 production, in a New York Times lead article. Timing is neat and tidy and keeps in tandem with whom they link to work. Did the duo express satisfaction that terrorism was defeated? They took the underground and kept mum. To be fair, US Ambassador Roberto Blake expressed his appreciation. Terrorism is not a bother unless it bothers them. Let us clear the preliminaries; if the pair could have touched down in Colombo as a concerned couple two years ago, why have they still not landed in Baghdad, Kabul or Tripoli as a combine to make a similar plea, where their own NATO forces target civilians in much greater numbers. Their triple action paracetamol capsule should in their diagnosis provide instant relief, if administered to their own fighting forces in foreign lands. They choose not to do so, as Ministers of Governments that had with intent travelled far to create killing fields and ruined societies not of their Caucasian breed but those which their Governments mock as hooded burka wearing people. We fought our war to rid our own land of terrorism to remove a blight that reached epidemic proportions. We succeeded and became secure, no concern to Dave & Bern, who are yet to succeed but keep on fighting terrorism to safeguard their dented glory, until it is time to withdraw in shame. They entered hurriedly in the name of a humanitarian intervention and now seek to stage a strategic exit once their political and commercial interests are fulfilled. They have decided to quit without a time table- but a spat has developed between the UK politicians and their military men. Even the puppet local leaders want the Anglo-French out pronto! (Daily Mirror : 27 June 2011).

Lift ban on LTTE, demand MDMK lawyers - A Tamil Nadu state-level lawyers' conference of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), on Saturday called upon the Indian Central Government to lift the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Terming the ban unjust, a resolution adopted at the conference, attended by MDMK general secretary Vaiko, urged the Centre to recognize the right to self-determination of Sri Lankan Tamils. They had alleged that the LTTE reflected the rightful aspirations for freedom of all Sri Lankan Tamils. They further argued that the demand and the struggle for a separate State of Eelam was taken forward by the organization only after the situation deteriorated to a level where Tamils were not able to co-exist with the Sinhalese (Daily Mirror ; 27 June 2011).

‘Govt should take concrete measures against pro-LTTE propaganda’ - by Suraj BANDARA - Senior lecturer of University of Colombo Dr Ms Anees said the government should make a concerted effort to negate the adverse campaign launched by pro-LTTE elements against Sri Lanka. She said the United Nations and other international organizations are working under the US agenda. Sri Lankan diplomatic missions overseas should have prevented this type of fake programmes being telecast by Channel 4 against the Sri Lankan government and security forces, she said. The government should launch an organized mechanism to counter misleading and inaccurate flow of information and campaigns carried out by pro-LTTE elements and the Diaspora at international level, otherwise more fictitious and fake documents may surface in the future too. “The political power of the Diaspora is immense and they can influence foreign countries with their overwhelming manpower and financial power. ‘The political leadership of many western countries could be misled by the Diaspora. Channel 4 documentary was a good example of this international conspiracy, she added. ‘This is a real manifestation of neocolonialism, she said. UN and all other international organizations backed by western countries are puppets of the USA and they maintain a policy of crippling other minor countries which are struggling to reach development. Therefore, many accusations would come in the future on the pretext of human rights or war crimes, she said. ‘Though the war had ended two years ago our diplomatic missions had not been successful in convincing the international community on the real situation in Sri Lanka. Though local media had given extensive publicity to the real war situation no international media campaign was carried out to expose the real picture. Therefore, Diaspora after losing the war began their campaign and fabricated stories to make the international community LTTE sympathizers, she said. ‘Therefore an international experts committee should be appointed to query the authenticity of these footages and any Sri Lankan should not be included in the committee. Since UN is no more an independent organization, a committee comprisesed of members from all neutral countries should be encouraged to probe the Channel 4 documentary.’ (Daily News ; 27 June 2011).

KP claims he knows individuals holding LTTE''s cash - Kumaran Pathmanathan, the self- proclaimed successor of slain LTTE chief V Prabakaran, has said that he knows where the large haul of cash of the group is being kept and with whom following Tigers'' defeat in 2009. "I know who is having the large sums of money belonging to the LTTE. I know this will be a difficult job but I will try to find that money in order to help Tamil people," he was quoted as saying by the BBC. Pathmanathan, better known as KP, announced himself the LTTE chief immediately after Prabakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan forces on May 19, 2009. Three months later KP was arrested by Sri Lankan agents in Malaysia and brought to Colombo. Since then he has been living under government detention. He has expressed his desire to cooperate in rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-hit areas in the north and east regions of the country. Under government escort, KP had visited the former battle regions heading his North Eastern Rehabilitation and Development Organisation (NERDO) and has expressed his desire to work with the Tamil diaspora to develop the regions. KP told BBC that he was trying to secure the release of thousands of former LTTE cadres held by the government. Pathmanathan was once Prabakaran''s most trusted confidante and was overlooking the group''s international arms purchases during the height of the conflict. He said the slowness in administrative procedures and the influence from both Sinhala and Tamil extremist elements have hampered the process to secure the release of the former LTTE men and women. KP said he had played a lead role in forming the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam while residing in Malaysia. "Now it is a different situation. What is important now is to create a better future for the Tamils", he added (MSN News ; 26 June 2011).

WANTED by INTERPOL (Click here)

KP knows who holds LTTE cash - Kumaran Pathmanathan, the self-proclaimed successor of slain LTTE chief V Prabakaran, has said that he knows where large hauls of cash belonging to the group are located. "I know who is having the large sums of money belonging to the LTTE. I know this will be a difficult job but I will try to find that money in order to help Tamil people," he was quoted as saying by the BBC. Pathmanathan, better known as KP, announced himself the LTTE chief immediately after Prabakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan forces on May 19, 2009. Three months later KP was arrested by Sri Lankan agents in Malaysia and brought to Colombo. Since then he has been living under government detention. He has expressed his desire to cooperate in rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-hit areas in the north and east regions of the country. Under government escort, KP had visited the former battle regions heading his North Eastern Rehabilitation and Development Organisation (NERDO) and has expressed his desire to work with the Tamil diaspora to develop the regions. KP told BBC that he was trying to secure the release of thousands of former LTTE cadres held by the government. Pathmanathan was once Prabakaran’s most trusted confidante and was overlooking the group’s international arms purchases during the height of the conflict. He said the slowness in administrative procedures and the influence from both Sinhala and Tamil extremist elements have hampered the process to secure the release of the former LTTE men and women. KP said he had played a lead role in forming the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam while residing in Malaysia. "Now it is a different situation. What is important now is to create a better future for the Tamils", he added. (Indian Express) (Island ; 26 June 2011).

Know who's holding LTTE cash: Prabhakaran successor - Kumaran Pathmanathan, the self-proclaimed successor of slain LTTE chief V Prabakaran, has said that he knows where the large haul of cash of the group is being kept and with whom following Tigers' defeat in 2009. "I know who is having the large sums of money belonging to the LTTE. I know this will be a difficult job but I will try to find that money in order to help Tamil people," he was quoted as saying by the BBC. Pathmanathan, better known as KP, announced himself the LTTE chief immediately after Prabakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan forces on May 19, 2009. Three months later KP was arrested by Sri Lankan agents in Malaysia and brought to Colombo. Since then he has been living under government detention. He has expressed his desire to cooperate in rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-hit areas in the north and east regions of the country (Indian Express : 26 June 2011).

Over 365,000 IDPs return to North - by Shamindra Ferdinando - The UN and its NGO partners, in their latest bulletin dealing with the situation in May 2011, have said that in May, 58 families (171 persons) returned to their areas of origin in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi from Menik Farm and Kodikamam Ramavil IDP facilities. They said a further 620 families (2,130 persons) living with friends and relatives, too, had returned to their homes in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts. According to the latest available official data, since the conclusion of the conflict, 110,652 families (365,082) have returned to the Northern Province. The returnees comprised those displaced before April 2008 and after. Among the returnees are post-April 2008 displaced consisting of 45.024 families (157,269 persons). Following the conclusion of the war, 5,284 families (17,488 persons), displaced since April 1, 2008 remained in welfare camps, awaiting clearance to return to their places of origin. Besides them, 2,360 families (8,521 persons), displaced before April 2008, too, remained in welfare centres. A total 189,221 IDPs are living with host families (Island : 26 June 2011).

NGO - Govt. Interaction - By C.A.Chandraprema - We were not able to publish this article last Friday as we were waiting for some information from the Center for Policy Alternatives pertaining to its expenditure on monitoring the Presidential and Parliamentary elections of 2010. It is perhaps singularly appropriate that a major controversy over a Freedom of Information Act for Sri Lanka should erupt at a moment when this newspaper was making some attempt to ensure transparency in the opaque and secretive NGO sector. Yesterday's political columns were all about the freedom of information. The present writer holds very strongly that the first sector that has to be brought within the ambit of a freedom of information culture (if not a law) is that of NGOs. Governments are accountable to the voters whereas NGOs are not accountable to anybody and hence there is a greater need for transparency in the NGO sector. We often hear of changes of heads of government but we never hear of changes of heads of NGOs (Island ; 26 June 2011).

Commonwealth sans commonsense - The London-based Commonwealth Secretariat (CS) has, to all intents and purposes, lent its voice to the Channel 4 campaign against a Commonwealth member state, Sri Lanka. It has raised concerns over the contents of a controversial C-4 video on this country. "There is understandable widespread abhorrence at what the programme purports to show. These concerns have been conveyed to the Sri Lankan government," the CS has said in a statement. If there is such abhorrence as the CS claims, let that be conveyed to the Sri Lankan government by the persons/countries/organisations concerned. Why should the CS readily make available its services to them as a postbox and thereby enable C-4 to gain some credibility? The CS statement has come at a time the C-4 is on the defensive vis-à-vis Sri Lanka's counter arguments. Deputy Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka at the UN, Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva, who led the war against the LTTE from the front, struck at the heart of the C-4 video recently in New York challenging as he did C-4 to prove him wrong if it could. He gave it 48 hours for that purpose. But there has been no response, says Maj. Gen. Silva, who insists that the video is a total fabrication and C-4 has even abused some Sri Lanka Air Force handout footages in a bid to bolster its unsubstantiated claims (Island ; 26 June 2011).

Of that C-4 video - While holidaying in the United Kingdom this past month, I was disturbed by the extensive publicity given to the screening of channel 4s "Killing fields of Sri Lanka". Unfortunately owing to personal commitments, I had just a 15 minute peek into the closing stages of this programme. The first thought that came to mind was why such a damning and frightening documentary was being shown at a time Sri Lanka was healing its ethnic wounds and enjoying the freedom and care free life style after thirty years of war and mayhem that was brought to a complete halt by the President. It was like a vicious smear campaign by anti Sri Lankan groups here in the UK and elsewhere. It also seemed as an obvious attempt by the remnants of the berating LTTE youth who have taken refuge in the comfort zone of Britain. This group of youth enjoying British hospitality and financial support, have nothing but vengeance on their mind against the Rajapakse government and specially its President who have been responsible for the demise of their sun god. They are hell bent on unnerving the stability of peace and harmony, prevalent today in Sri Lanka to satisfy their discontented souls. As for the current documentary on Sri Lanka produced by the BBC for channel 4, there has been widespread dispute on the veracity of its content. It has been questioned for its authenticity by video experts who have challenged several features of the film on technical and editing issues (Island ; 26 June 2011).

All Sri Lankans should dedicate themselves to safeguard the freedom of the motherland - Maj. General Shavendra Silva - Sri Lanka’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Major General Shavendra Silva says all Sri Lankans should dedicate themselves to leave no opportunity for another Prabhakaran to resurface as similar to the way how the truth of the channel-4’s fake video tape was clarified to the international community. All Sri Lankans should act united in this regard ignoring petty party politics. The war heroes fought with ultimate bravery not to save a private property but to liberate the entire motherland from the clutches of the tiger terrorism. Their objective was to create an environment where every community could live with harmony. Major General Shavendra Silva said the objective of the international mission he and his fellow officers are engaged in is to build a Sri Lanka where all communities can live independently. He stated this while exclusively speaking to SLBC from New York this morning. The country is engaged in a serious battle against the LTTE after defeating it military wise. The tiger terrorists are paying large amount of money to use international media against Sri Lanka. Major General Shavendra Silva said however, he was able to prove that the documentary telecasted by channel-4 contained fake footage. After his explanation the diplomatic officials who were present at the occasion understood the truth and conveyed their displeasure over the programme. Major General Shavendra Silva said he also gave 48 hours to the director of the programme to prove the facts that were presented by him are false. However, neither the director of the programme nor any other organization has responded to the challenge he made. While emphasizing this is not the end of such attempts is stated all Sri Lankans should be on alert to defeat them (SLBC : 26 June 2011).

Sri Lanka Taking Channel 4 To Courts ?

A postscript to journalistic quackery à la Channel 4 - by Malinda Seneviratne - It was bound to happen. Channel 4 has suffered a serious case of egg-on-the-face, but it was almost inevitable. Channel 4 was motivated in the first instance by bitterness at having one of its correspondents deported for gross violation of expected professional ethics. Channel 4 has a considerable track record in dodgy and shoddy journalism. Channel 4 seems to have been intoxicated by the shrill self-righteous statements issued by British parliamentarians shamelessly pandering to the LTTE lobby hoping to secure electoral victory. Channel 4 seems to have been outraged by the fact that all chances of preferred outcome materialising were buried on the shores of the Nandikadal Lagoon. ‘Revenge’ was called for. Revenge was sought. And, as usually happens when delusion, hatred and greed inspire rather than deter, Channel 4 tripped. Over its own vomit, did I hear someone say? A few days ago, in New York, there was a screening of the much advertised ‘documentary’ about what Channel 4 (and other interested parties including rabid chauvinistic elements among Sri Lankan Tamils overseas) want the world to believe happened in the last stages of the historic operation that rid Sri Lanka of the terrorist menace (interrupted by stoppages for snacks and chit-chat we are told). Major General Shavendra Silva who led the 58 Division at the time the 30 year war came to an end and now Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, New York, in a matter of a few minutes stripped Channel 4 of all vestiges of respectability and trustworthiness (The Nation : 26 June 2011).

Lanka rejects Tamil Nadu demand - Arrest of fishermen Sri Lanka yesterday rejected a demand by the Tamil Nadu government for the early release of 23 fishermen arrested by the Navy off Mannar and called for a ‘reciprocal’ response to consider the early release of the Indians. Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne told the Sunday Times the Tamil Nadu government’s request could be considered only if 62 Sri Lankan fishermen languishing in Indian custody were released. “Whenever Indian fishermen are arrested in Sri Lanka there are protests by Tamil Nadu, but our fishermen have never held protests demanding their early release. If our fishermen start protesting will they respond?” Dr. Senaratne asked. He said that some of the Lankan fishermen had been in custody for more than a year and they were facing court cases. “If the Indian government shows a gesture of goodwill, we are also ready to respond in a similar manner,” he said. On Friday India released 16 Lankan fishermen after they were held for two months. The minister’s remarks came against the backdrop of angry demonstrations by fishermen in the southern Indian state and the state’s Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa sending a protest note to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding the speedy release of the fishermen. The 23 Indian fishermen arrested by the Navy have been remanded till July 1. This week security was stepped up around the Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commission office in Chennai, SriLankan airlines office, the Bank of Ceylon and the pilgrims rest in Chennai. Meanwhile this week a Tamil Nadu Court further remanded five Sri Lankan fishermen who had intruded into Indian waters (Sunday Times ; 26 June 2011).

Lanka closely monitoring LTTE court case in EU - By Manjula FERNANDO - A petition filed by a so-called European wing of the LTTE in April, seeking the removal of the LTTE from the European Union (EU) list of banned terrorist organisations was allowed to proceed by the European Court of Justice a week ago. The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice informed Bohler Group lawyer Victor Koppe that the Court has taken up the case ‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) vs Council of the European Union’ bearing No T-208/11-9 for hearing. Sri Lanka, although not ‘perturbed’ over this development, as per a statement issued by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, is closely monitoring the evolving case. The LTTE may have been eliminated from the shores of Sri Lanka, but its long and gluey tentacles have spread north and south of the globe. The Court case proved clearly that the LTTE is not actually dead, but is quite alive and is continuing its separatist mission against Sri Lanka. Koppe of the Amsterdam-based law firm, Bohler Advocaten together with his colleagues Marieke van Eik, Tamara Buruma and Marina den Houdijker requested the European Court of Justice to annul Council Implementing a particular regulation based on ‘Council Common Position on Terrorism’, that re-designated the LTTE on the EU terrorism list from January 2011. The attorney appearing for the LTTE argued, “The LTTE no longer uses military means to achieve its goals, and in post-Mulivaaykkaal context, uses political and non-violent methods to achieve the movement’s goals of obtaining Tamil justice and exercising the right to self-determination of the Tamil people.” Pro-LTTE media reported that the European Court of Justice, by deciding to hear the case, has accepted that the European branches of the LTTE are sufficiently autonomous in their functioning to grant power-of-attorney to Koppe to represent the LTTE, allegedly quoting legal sources (Sunday Observer ; 26 June 2011).

More evidence of Channel 4 doctored images - by Shanika SRIYANANDA - Further evidence has surfaced of Channel 4's digital manipulation of pictures for its controversial Killing Fields documentary. Siri Hewavitharana, an internationally renowned expert in broadcast video systems and Executive Director IPTV Systems Australia, said while further analysing the Channel 4 Videos, he came across a video grab that shows a boy's head blown off and a pool of blood nearby which is clearly a fake. Hewavitharana said he isolated pixel mapping to indicate pixels that have been manipulated using a digital paint brush to show blood. There is a whole fake pixel line from the neck up. Channel 4 screened its documentary on June 14 in the UK and since then there have been a spate of testimonies by local and foreign video experts that the videos used by the Channel have been made up. Many international journalists have also questioned Channel 4's ethical and journalistic standards. Hewavitharana, former Head of Cisco's global broadcast and digital video practice and former Head of Systems Engineering for Star TV Hong Kong, said this was further proof that the video was a totally fake, misleading attempt to make a fresh breath for survival. There are many other factors that prove the fake nature of the video, he added (Sunday Observer ; 26 June 2011).

Under UPFA Govt’s program to strengthen democracy: Twenty more LG bodies in North go to polls on July 23 - by P. Krishnaswamy - Twenty more Local Government bodies that remained defunct in the North for over two decades due to LTTE terrorism will go to the polls on July 23 to re-elect people’s representatives under the UPFA Government’s program to strengthen democracy. Elections will be held for 16 Pradeshiya Sabhas and three Urban Councils in the Jaffna district, three Pradeshiya Sabhas in the Kilinochchi district and one Pradeshiya Sabha in the Mullaitivu district as the de-mining process has further delayed elections to two Pradeshiya Sabhas, the Pudukudiyiruppu and Maritimepatru Pradeshiya Sabhas. Political analysts said the elections will mark a milestone in the lives of people in the North, in that they would have their democratic institutions in place to address livelihood and infrastructure requirements, similar to those prevailing in other parts of the country. Assistant Commissioner of Elections for the Jaffna district A.S. Karunanidhi told the Sunday Observer that he is ready for the polls with a fully-fledged elections office in Kilinochchi. Ballot papers for postal votes scheduled for the July 12 elections will be despatched on July 1, he said. A three-member team of election officials from Colombo, assigned by the Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Desapriya is due to arrive in Vavuniya today for meetings and consultations with Government officials, election officers and representatives of political parties to ensure that all election laws are adhered to for the conduct of a smooth poll, Assistant Commissioner of Elections for Vavuniya S.Suthagaran said. The team will visit Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya, he said (Sunday Observer ; 26 June 2011).

KP Wanted By India - A ‘red notice’ issued by a court in Chennai, India for the arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan in April this year remains dormant as both India and Sri Lanka pussy-foot around the court order despite knowing that India’s most wanted “terrorist” is currently residing in Sri Lanka. Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam (alias Kumaran Pathmanathan) is wanted by the French-based international police organisation Interpol for ‘crimes involving the use of weapons/explosives, criminal conspiracy and terrorism’. Member States’ police personnel are required to cooperate with Interpol to locate the wanted person “with a view to their arrest and extradition.” Interpol has issued a ‘red notice’ on Pathmanathan, which ‘seeks the provisional arrest of a wanted person, with a view to extradition based on an arrest warrant or court decision.’ He is listed in the ‘Wanted’ category, for Pathmanathan is widely known as being the chief procurer of weaponry for the LTTE. KP is also wanted by India in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Those having information on his whereabouts are asked to contact their national or local police. KP, as he is familiarly known nevertheless has given press interviews – his first being to V. K. Shashikumar, head of Three Headed Lion (THL) – Mediagrove in May this year. Last year, he granted interviews to The Sunday Leader and the web based Transcurrents. He is the Secretary of an NGO, the North-East Rehabilitation and Development Organisation (NERDO) and has even reportedly been flown to the North courtesy of the Sri Lanka Airforce. But local police claim ignorance of the arrest warrant and India refuses to exert any pressure for the warrant to be executed. When The Sunday Leader spoke to Acting Inspector General of Police, N K Ilangakoon he said he knew nothing of the Indian warrant. “Not to my knowledge, not at the moment,” he said. When asked why India did not intervene to extradite KP considering the fact that he was known to be in Sri Lankan custody and has even reportedly travelled to Jaffna by Air Force helicopter, Press and Culture Counsellor Birender Singh Yadav at the Indian High Commission in Colombo said he had no authority to answer such questions, adding he would have to discuss with senior representatives before commenting. When later contacted again, he said the Indian High Commission “would not like to make any comments on this issue.” (Sunday Leader ; 26 June 2011).

PC polls in north soon - By Wilson Gnanadass - Plans are afoot by the UPFA government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to establish a provincial council in the North as the immediate response to the growing emphasis on a political solution to the national question. Top level discussions are currently underway to expedite the process of setting up a council in the north. Political strategists and senior politicians are roped in by President Rajapaksa to devise a mechanism to establish the council before both the government and the TNA reached a consensus on a political settlement. Highly placed government sources disclosed on the condition of anonymity that it has been the wish of President Rajapaksa to create a provincial council in the North before the end of this year as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led coalition parties were on their 17th year of ruling the country consecutively. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, The Nation reliably learns, is likely to direct the Elections Commissioner to call for the polls in the Northern Province soon. The political strategists contemplating early polls in the North have informed the President that prior to calling for the elections, the following five prerequisites must be fulfilled. They are; to expedite the de-mining process, freeing the LTTE suspects on a presidential pardon or prosecute those held on charges, expedite the resettlement programme, socialising the people at the rehabilitation camps and putting out a new electoral registry. They have pointed out that the estimated 8,000 LTTE suspects held in various prisons and camps without charges must be released immediately and that if this is not done, that would be a severe scar on the present administration (The Nation ; 26 June 2011).

Lanka Taking Channel 4 To Court - The Sri Lankan government is in the process of going through the paperwork to file legal action against the Channel 4 British television station. Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem said that the Sri Lankan government has also requested Channel 4 to hand over the original video aired by the TV station on Sri Lanka alleging the Sri Lankan army committed war crimes. The Minister told The Sunday Leader that Sri Lankan authorities will gather information to prove that the video titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ is a doctored documentary intended to tarnish Sri Lanka’s image. The video depicts men clad in military uniform opening fire on suspected male and female LTTE cadres who have their hands tied and eyes covered with rags. It also shows some uniformed men taking ‘trophy pictures’ of bodies of nude male and female LTTE cadres. Minister Hakeem said the government will either seek compensation or a public apology from the TV station. The government has rejected the allegations made by Channel 4 and feels the television station is working with the support of LTTE sympathisers (Sunday Leader ; 26 June 2011).

Channel 4 drama: Maj Gen Shavendra Silva sifts fact from fiction - Armed with ‘evidence’ and videos many gathered at the UN Church Centre right across the United Nations Headquarters in New York to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka; sponsored by Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group to screen the documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ by film producer Cullum McRae which was telecast over the UK-based TV station Channel 4. The team claimed that the documentary confirms the findings of the Darusman Report. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were not happy as the international community had not conducted an independent investigation on Sri Lanka. For AI this footage was strong evidence of war crimes and for them there was a consistent pattern of Human Rights violation by the Sri Lankan Forces. Fortunately, two strong pillars of our diplomatic mission representing the UN, kept a watchful eye over all that happened. The screening was attended by about 40 people mainly from NGOs. The Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, Dr. Palitha Kohona and the Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Major General Shavendra Silva watched the movie. Ambassador Kohona and Major General Silva challenged the assertions and suggestions in the documentary. Maj. Gen. Silva told the panel that he knew well what exactly had taken place at the battlefront. The documentary did not contain much video footage which could have been used as evidence to support the Major General’s explanation. Unfortunately, they were not permitted by Amnesty International, according to the news reports from New York. Statements which were blatant lies as well as the true identities of the individuals of the ‘movie’ were pointed out by the Ambassador. The inconsistencies and false stories of the documentary were highlighted by him (Sunday Observer ; 26 June 2011).

Getting the act together is key to blur Channel 4 video - By Wilson Gnanadass - The controversial Channel 4 video that was aired during the UNHRC session and later in Britain continues to hound Sri Lanka. On the one hand the film appears to be one of the worst forms of propaganda of the West, seeking to demonise one side while lacking any balance whatsoever. On the other hand Sri Lanka’s failure to adequately counter its claim that the video is spurious appears as if the country is guilty of all the allegations. A top United Nations envoy responsible for investigating extra-legal executions around the world has added his voice to those believing the tape to be genuine. After commissioning three experts on forensic pathology, video analysis and firearms to review the tape, the envoy, Philip Alston, has told the BBC, “You cannot fake the precise sort of reaction which the human body makes when shot at close range by such a weapon.” This is an indication that the propaganda against Sri Lanka is becoming stronger by the day. The question is whether the counter mechanism devised by the government is adequate to silence the adversaries. The entire world knew that Tigers were not just secessionists, but terrorists. On that basis, fighting a fierce battle against such ruthless terrorists could not have been the easiest thing for the Sri Lankan soldiers. Expecting to win such a bloody war without shedding blood could easily be compared to one of the tales of Shakespeare where in the story of ‘Merchant of Venice’ Shylock is being asked to cut off a pound of flesh of Antonio without shedding a drop of blood. It is only common sense that in a war both fighters as well as innocent lives are sacrificed. It happened during the world war I, world war II and it continues to happen in the wars that are executed all over the world at present. However unfortunately, the defence mechanism adopted by the present government to silence its foes has been so weak that it has given ample opportunities for those forces hounding Sri Lanka to continue their chase. The only defence mechanism the government has devised so far against allegations of war crimes by the West is letting a university professor qualified in video technology to comment about the authenticity of the video. The details of this too are not in the public domain. The professor who went before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) only made his remarks in camera. This is making his statement regarding the video only to the commissioners of LLRC in private (The Nation : 26 June 2011).

Former LTTE cadres’ rehabilitation in last stage - The rehabilitation process of former members of the LTTE has now reached its last stage, officials said yesterday. “The process is in its last stage. We have 3,512 of them undergoing rehabilitation in eight centres. By the end of June or early July we will be releasing a further 600 of them,” Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, told PTI. The Government handles the programme backed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Several donors have contributed to the ex-combatants rehabilitation programme. Over 6,000 of them have been already reintegrated into the society, rehabilitation officials said. The ex-child soldiers of LTTE have been released to their parents after rehabilitating them. Former LTTE cadres were provided with vocational training while schoolchildren were facilitated to complete their secondary education. In the last university entrance examination held in August last year, some 500 rehabilitated LTTE cadres sat for the examination, officials said. The former cadres are also given loan facilities for self employment at concessionary interest rates. This enables them to make use of the vocational training provided to them under the rehabilitation process, officials added (Sunday Observer : 26 June 2011).

D. B. S. Jayaraj and the history of the Kok-aththana-kulama area - by Chandre Dharmawardana D. B. S. Jayaraj, in http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/2374 (dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/2374 ) writing under the title: “165 Sinhala families settled in Tamil village Kokkachchaankulam in Vavuniya”, forgets, or fails to mention, the ancient history of this area. Jeyaraj says that “Kokkachchaankulam is a Tamil village in Vedivaithakallu GS div under Nedunkerny divisional secretary in the Vavuniya North Piradesha sabhai.” Kokkachchaankulam is the Tamil form of the Sinhala place name “Kok-aththana-kulama”. See <a href=”http://dh-web.org/place.name/index.html#Kok-aththana-kulama”> place-names website: “kok-aththana-kulama”</a> for details. The word “Kokkachchan” has no evident meaning in Tamil. However, in Sinhala, “Koku-aththana” is a type of <i>Datura</i>, for which the Tamil name is “Oomathai”, or “Vellaiyumatti”.The fruits of this type of Aththana have spikes, and hence the appellation “Koku” in Sinhala. It is possible that the “spiky” form of Attana is also called “kokkaimattai” in Tamil. So Kok-aththana-kulam is an original Sinhala village settled by Tamil speaking people in the relatively recent past. It is hence not unreasonable that some of the kith and kin, descendants of the of the original settlers, as well as their language – the official language — return to this area to produce the varigated cultural tapestry that is Sri Lanka (LankaWeb : 25 June 2011).

Names of villages in the North and East of Sri Lanka

http://dh-web.org/place.names/barelist.htm

Shavendra slams Channel 4 and uninformed critics - By Shamindra Ferdinando - Sri Lanka’s Deputy Representative at the UN, Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva, says UNSG Ban Ki-moon repudiation of ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ with regard to the narration of his post-war visit to Vanni couldn’t have come at a better time for the country. The tough talking Maj. Gen. says 50-minute documentary, though telecast by UK-based ‘Channel 4’ on June 16 had been produced by another British group, ‘Channel 4 News.’ Silva received his diplomatic assignment on the recommendation of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa despite of the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 58 Division being accused of excesses on the Vanni East front. Maj. Gen. Silva, who holds ambassadorial rank, in an exclusive with The Sunday Island over the phone from New York said that those gunning for Sri Lanka citing the controversial ‘Darusman Report’ and now ‘Sri Lanka Killing Fields’ couldn’t ignore what the UNSG’s spokesperson had to say about the UK documentary. UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s office on Wednesday (June 22) alleged that ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ produced by Channel 4 News hadn’t correctly portrayed the UN Chief ’s visit to Sri Lanka shortly after the conclusion of war in May 2009. "The Secretary-General’s visit was more than a whistle-stop tour to one refugee camp. He most certainly did speak to refugees in camps in Sri Lanka. This is something that is not correctly portrayed in that film," Martin Nesirky, UNSG’s spokesperson told the press on Wednesday. Denying reports on the notion that moon had ignored the recommendations of Darusman panel, Nesirky said "he (UN Chief) is already implementing the recommendations that deal with the internal workings of the UN at the time safeguarding the material that was gathered during the course of the Panel of Experts’ work; and also, to ensure that there will be regular follow-ups to keep an eye on the process that is underway through a national mechanism in Sri Lanka (Island ; 25 June 2011).

Their devolution and ours - Charita Wijeratne - The Sri Lankan Government is like a besieged city – or like a bullied child. The persistent cry for devolution is unnerving. And, when it is a free-for-all we too can butt in – of course in our case to suggest a way out. The government’s response to the annoyance is rather ambiguous. It is evasive and silent to the audiences at home it vows to fight disruptors. Ostensibly, it is trying to console the masses from whom it devices its strength. Then it negotiates with the Tamil National Alliance, known to be the civil arm of the LTTE! Out an ostrich policy won’t do. It only invites more bullying. The only way out for the government is to take the bull by the horns and frankly explain its situation and difficulties. Devolution of power to a section of the national community is not so easy. Even though Tamil communities live in contiguous areas in the North and East they are an inseparable section of the national community. Biologically, socially and economically they are bound together. Perhaps the majority of Tamils live outside these areas. These provinces are also the home for sizeable numbers of Muslims and Sinhalese. The fortunes of the national economy is shared by all of them. Such being the situation any kind of power devolution affects the entire nation, and therefore it calls for a national consensus. This difficulty may be the reason for the government’s hesitation. However, it is absolutely necessary to explain the true situation and the perils of devolution. The truth about the consequences of distancing the North and the East from the rest of the Island has to be made known to the whole world, while exposing the mischief of those who make such a demand (Island ; 25 June 2011).

An Aesop’s Fable - by Dr Bandula Kothalawala - London Everyone seems to have contributed his or her two pennies’ worth to the debate on the C4 “documentary”. Prime Minister David Cameron and FCO Minister Alistair Burt lost no time in expressing their shock and horror over the alleged atrocities and even issued an “ultimatum” based, apparently, on what they have heard about the contents of the C4 “documentary.” Perhaps, one should not be too harsh on the lack of judgement or discernment of the current incumbent at 10 Downing Street. After all, one of his predecessors did not hesitate to embark on a wild goose chase for weapons of mass destruction based on faked material and invaded a sovereign state causing the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives and massive destruction of infrastructure. Nevertheless, the two gentlemen concerned seem to suffer from a rare, albeit, not an entirely uncommon, form of selective reaction syndrome, the sufferers of which are only capable of reacting to what suits them best in a given situation. For instance, the duo had been discreetly silent on the horrific real images of innocent men, women and children slaughtered in recent NATO bombings in Libya or Afghanistan splashed across the globe. Neither the mismatch of dates nor the faulty synchronisation of sound and image in some of the footage has shaken their faith in the apparently faked material. They gleefully ignore the fact that a good part of the footage had already been peddled on the internet well before it was shown as new footage (Lankaweb ; 25 June 2011).

Is British Broadcasting getting funds from Terror groups? - By Siri Hewawitharana, Sydney -: Where does the British broadcasting that was respected and produce best broadcast technologists in the world now going down the path that glorify terrorists is a disturbing issue. I was a product of British Broadcasting and my teachers were cream of British Broadcasting and the company I work in London was one of the top Broadcast company in the world with two Emmy awards that produce amazing digital broadcast products that use by all the global broadcasters. I was very proud of my teachers and my team and also I was part of the technical team that produce two Emmy’s. BBC Research and IBA was our inspiration and what happen to that proud establishment supporting ruthless terrorist group in Sri Lanka? Ch4 Sri Lanka video consist of fake videos that are digitally altered with similar fake stills and producer use false narrative using language that basically paramount to a absolute dishonesty from the producer. Producers are not idiots re. Technical matters and should have seen the video is DV quality and never came from the mobile phone? Video and stills are digitally paint brushed (I have attached the still here) to show blood from boys face and I can show blood a pixel does not match with the surroundings of the video… I have isolated the whole fake pixel plane as seen from the picture. Ch4 got Non Linear Editors like AVID and if they care to use it they would have seen the metadata layer and the whole fake technical data… So why did they not use high technology broadcast equipment available in house? (Asian Tribune ; 25 June 2011).

‘Assification’ and de-assing of David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner - by Malinda Seneviratne - In April 2011, writing to The Nation (The Ki-moon panel’s report and the strippers it spawned), I expressed surprise that David Miliband hadn’t yet joined the anti Sri Lanka, pro-LTTE, blind-to-own-crimes bandwagon: ‘I am perturbed, though, that David Miliband hasn’t joined the clown-wagon yet. He has all the credentials to outstrip Saravanamuttu, Ganguly and Weiss.’ It took him just two months. He’s just co-authored a letter to the New York Times with (Surprise! Surprise!) his former counterpart in France, Bernard Kouchner. Both were foreign ministers of their respective countries from 2007 to 2010, during which time neither spared any pains to bail out Velupillai Prabhakaran in what can only be read as a determined effort to make Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans suffer, indefinitely, the horrors of terrorism. They’ve called it ‘Silence of Sri Lanka.’ They’ve confessed they wanted the fighting to stop. That would have meant, given the long history of fight-stopping and fight-resuming by the LTTE, that we in Sri Lanka would not be enjoying the peace and the freedom from fear we have right now. Neither Miliband nor Kouchner ever expressed any need to draw attention to the human suffering, to call for humanitarian aid and workers to be allowed in, and to call for the fighting to stop, in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya (where NATO forces are killing civilians by the dozens in order to stop the killing of civilians; go figure THAT logic!). Interestingly, D&B even while claiming that those in refugee camps had related brutal and shocking stories, have not uttered a word in this communique‚ about who was responsible for the brutality and shock or that Tamil life while held hostage by the LTTE was not treated as ‘fourth or fifth class’ but worse! Nothing about Britain’s contribution to generating this kind of humanity and their own considerable efforts to perpetuate the same by giving a new lease of life to the world’s more ruthless terrorist organization. Typical. It was never a ‘war without witnesses’ as D&B claim, for the ICRC was present right to the very end. They applaud Ban Ki-moon for having ‘wrenched from President Rajapaksa a commitment to independent investigation of alleged human rights abuses.’ No such ‘commitment’ was obtained, with or without wrenching. This is the relevant paragraph in the joined statement issued at the time: ‘objectives (of the Joint Statement) include the further fostering of reconciliation and related issues as well as reflecting the commitment by Sri Lanka to the promotion and protection of human rights and the importance of accountability in order to continue the strengthening of peace and development in that country.’(Lakbima News).

Sri Lanka’s Ambassadors clarify fact from fiction


	Dr. Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN.	Major General Shavendra Silva, Sri Lanka's Deputy Ambassador to the UN.

Please watch this video to know the truth (Lanka C-News)

INGO attempt to mislead UN gathering foiled

SL lack lobbying in the West - While claiming that Sri Lanka is not a matter for the UN Human Rights Council, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam said Sri Lanka doesn’t have strong local lobbying in the Western world, whereas the LTTE still has a strong lobby. “We also don’t have a strong local lobbying power in the Western world while the remaining fragments of the LTTE still have resources and a strong lobby there,” Mr. Kariyawasam said an interview with ‘The Statesman.’ “We have challenged the authenticity of this tape and are very surprised that its backers have the money to go to New York, to Geneva, to air this video. Also, this video does not help the ongoing reconciliation process; instead of assisting the rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation processes, people are trying to undermine these efforts by lacerating wounds that are in the process of healing,” he said. He also said “We think Sri Lanka is not a matter for the UN Human Rights Council. We regularly brief the UNHRC on the efforts we a remaking in our own country in terms of respecting human rights. But any intrusive examination of our situation is uncalled for since we are capable of handling the situation ourselves.” (Daily Mirror ; 25 June 2011).

Channel 4 gets flak on truth and ethics - The niceties of diplomacy are not the means to make a proper response to those who lack any sense of decency in behaviour. They are also insufficient to deal with people or organizations that work to an agenda of undisguised antagonism. Channel 4 and its promoters, supporters and advocates made this evident in their well-orchestrated attacks on Sri Lanka from before Channel 4 aired it programme on contrived brutality in the last phase of the battle to defeat LTTE terror in Sri Lanka. Whether we were dealing with a UN Rapporteur who rushed in with a comment about the video having credibility about war crimes, or the UN High Commission for Human Rights who was urging the ‘international community’ to act against Sri Lanka on the basis of what Channel 4 showed or the Darusman Report said, or the synchronized attacks by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others of similar ilk who were ready to throw Channel 4 and its bloody video at Sri Lanka, the path of quiet reasoning was having little effect against them. It only made their howls against Sri Lanka louder. What was needed was a response that was more firm, and sought to mute their strident voices with facts that would bludgeon them into shock and even silence. In the past few days we have seen such reaction coming, and Channel 4 and its Chorus Singers being put into a spin by well targeted response both on their ‘facts’ and how they were presented (Daily News : 25 June 2011).

Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields - by Ira de Silva London, Canada - The Editor The Guardian U.K. Dear Sir: I have just read your article of June 15,2011 re the documentary by Ch.4 titled Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields and decided to write to you as it illustrates the very superficial knowledge of western journalists regarding the situation in Sri Lanka and about the terrorism that plagued the country for thirty years. The writer states that the footage ”which documented the summary executions, rape, torture and bombing – all apparently sanctioned by the Sri Lankan government – of tens of thousands of Tamils in the last days of the civil war after the UN pulled out of the country in September 2008, was shocking. The UN never “pulled out of the country”, it was there throughout the war and is still there. It indicates clearly that the writer is not at all informed about Sri Lanka. Regarding the statement that “civilian women lying dead on the ground, having been raped and mutilated by the government troops to whom they had tried to surrender” is another falsehood. The writer seems unaware that nearly 300,000 men, women and children being used by Tamil terrorists as a human shield broke loose at the first opportunity and crossed over to the area of the Sri Lankan troops who took them to safety. One example of a civilian in the documentary was a woman who was called a TV journalist but who was in fact a known active LTTE (Tamil terrorist) with a rank of Lt. Colonel, known to have played a key role in persuading children to undertake suicide missions, and was a fighting cadre in the war at her time of death – photo evidence is the identity card issued to her by the LTTE (LankaWeb : 25 June 2011).

Another wave of Indian pressure; another Parliamentary Select Committee - After he was elected in 2005 President Mahinda Rajapaksa convened an All Party Conference (APC) in 2006 to find a political solution to the ethnic problem in the country. Five years later, his government is to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for the same purpose. What happened to the APC? One may ask. The APC appointed a committee called All Party Representative Committee (APRC) which met more than hundred times for more than two years before it prepared its report. The report was handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by the Committee Chairman Professor Tissa Vitharana, but only to be unheard of thereafter. Minister Vitarana, a conventional Leftist who toiled hard to bridge the gap between various views of political parties that remained in his Committee till the end too has not been pressing for the implementations of his Committee’s recommendations. Going by the behavior of many smaller political parties in the country when dealing with the two main parties, the reason for his meek submission is obvious. Governments since mid eighties have appointed various forums to find a political solution to the ethnic problem, but only to be faced with the same fate as that of the APRC. This trend has created a situation where appointment of such new forums is not being received even by the majority Sinhalese with due seriousness and also the very idea is taken by many with scorn. Thus, even those who vehemently oppose the idea of political solution to the ethnic problem turned a deaf ear when the Government leaders said that they would appoint a PSC for that purpose (Daily Mirror : 25 June 2011).

UK doctor condemns doctored Channel 4 film - Dr Stuart Reiss, a doctor in the Department of Surgery of the William Harvey Hospital, UK has condemned the doctored Channel 4 film. Excerpts of Dr Reiss' article: "It is clear that Channel Four has an agenda of discrediting the Sri Lankan government and this is accomplished at the expense of truth and good journalism. "The documentary insisted that the Sri Lankan government carried out deliberate and systematic attacks on Tamil civilians. This is wholly untrue and is a reprehensible suggestion. "It is as ridiculous to suggest that the British Army deliberately targeted all Republican Irish citizenry during the height of the Northern Ireland conflict. "A sovereign democratic government will not mete out mob justice using its armed forces on its own citizens, and Tamils are as much Sri Lankans as are Sinhalese and other ethnic minorities in the country. "It was particularly evident during the end stage of the Sri Lankan conflict that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held Tamil civilians hostage, denying them the very freedom that the LTTE allegedly sought for them. "Contrary to what the documentary suggested, every effort was made by the Sri Lankan government to extract civilians from the combat zone, and local journalists were given unprecedented access to the front lines. "Perhaps the government didn't allow some Western journalists - such as Chanel Four - with a liberal bias towards the LTTE terrorists, into the frontline to prevent truth being a casualty and to avoid military attack plans being divulged to the enemy. "It was no secret that the United States armed forces disliked Al Jazeera correspondents in the front lines during the last Iraq war, and directly attacked the Al Jazeera building on the outskirts of Baghdad. "This was not the case in Sri Lanka, where Channel Four correspondents were only escorted out. "The UN chose to leave the combat zones in North Eastern Sri Lanka, as they abandoned Rwanda, Kosovo, and many other places. "The Sri Lankan government merely highlighted the fact that it couldn't guarantee the safety of UN officials. "There was a very plausible danger of the LTTE killing UN employees and blaming it on the government. "Clips chosen for the Channel Four documentary were emotive, screaming people and the crowd outside the UN offices showed the real horrors of any war. "They didn't show direct evidence. Perhaps the Tamil civilians begging the UN to stay, were afraid of exactly what followed, that the LTTE taking them hostage and used as a human shield, or the forcible conscription of their children." (Daily News : 25 June 2011).

Channel 4 video threatens regional harmony - Deputy Minister - by Nadira GUNATILLEKE - The fabricated Channel 4 video will harm the peace and unity of Sri Lanka and the region. This is a regional issue, said External Affairs Deputy Minister Neomal Perera during an interview with the Daily News. He pointed out that relations of Tamils who came from India to work in estates still live in India. Therefore, the video creates hatred not only in Sri Lanka but also among countries in the region. “It polarizes communities and harms regional peace and harmony,” he said. Following are extracts of the interview: (Daily News ; 25 June 2011).

Check Their Bank Balances - By Malin Abeyatunga, Melbourne, Australia The Scotland Yard and the British Tax Authorities (HM Revenue & Customs) either in slumber mood or evading opening a can of worms. I am talking of the millions of dollars and pounds in the hands of the LTTE proxy Diaspora in UK, how they raised that kind of money (according to Jane’s Report , LTTE collects close to $300 millions a year world wide which I believe UK would account at least 50% of it) and how the money is now being spent for its propaganda. This is important as LTTE is a banned terrorist organization but the siblings of the LTTE terrorist outfit are still very active in UK having substantial financial assets to throw about. The Scotland Yard, Metropolitan Police and the British Taxation Authorities (HMR&C) should wake up from slumber and investigate into the activities of various LTTE fronts and their modus operandi of collecting funds for LTTE.Whilst LTTE being a banned terrorist outfit in UK, The LTTE proxy fronts World Tamil Forum led by a senile Rev Emanuel (subsequently changed the name to Global Tamil Forum to avoid any investigation of the activities of WTF) and the British Tamil Forum now led by Suren Surendiran launched in 2006 have been openly supporting LTTE financially, morally and logistically by funding to procure arms illegally under the patronage of the successive British Governments, MPs and the law enforcement authorities. These fronts organized many day-night demonstrations in the London city inconveniencing thousands of British residents, costing British tax payers millions of pounds in a vain attempt to rescue LTTE from getting annihilated by the Sri Lankan forces. Whilst LTTE was a banned terrorist organization in UK, these two fronts overtly and covertly supported the Separatist Terrorists LTTE. (Source –Google) (Sri Lanka News Online ; 24 June 2011). (Sri Lanka Guardian : 24 June 2011). (LankaWeb ; 24 June 2011). (Sinhale Hot News : 24 June 2011).

Acting SL HC in London refutes Channel 4 Allegations in live BBC Radio debate - Refuting unsubstantiated allegations in “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”, Acting High Commissioner P M Amza questioned the motive behind Channel 4’s vindictive campaign against Sri Lanka. Emphasising that Sri Lanka has set a domestic mechanism in motion to look into all matters of concern Acting High Commissioner Amza pointed out glaring errors in the film and instances where the broadcaster has taken the liberty even to misrepresent what is heard in Tamil. He charged the producer of blatant bias. The debate which was broadcast live by BBC Asian Network from BBC Television Centre in London had three other guests in it, Callum Macrae, the producer of Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, Vanchees Janartharan, a representative from Tamil Welfare Association in the UK and Chathura Jayatissa, a youth representative from Sinhala community (Sinhale Hot News : 24 June 2011).

Gordon Weiss caged while launching “The Cage” - Admits there was no Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka - By a special correspondent - “Gordon had no proper answer to give when he was asked, why did he as the UN spokesperson in Sri Lanka had kept silent if the Sri Lankan Government allegedly committed such massacre during the last stages of the humanitarian operation. The questioner further pointed out that if that was the truth then the UN too must also be held responsible for not protecting Tamil civilians. The fact however is that such a massacre or genocide never took place in Sri Lanka.” Another attempt to tarnish Sri Lanka’s image under the cover of a book launching was foiled recently in Australia. This was exposed at a well organized, heavily-spent book launching event at Deakin University on June 9.The author of the book – “The Cage” – is Gordon Weiss, who was UN Spokesman in Sri Lanka during the humanitarian operation that ended in May 2009 with the crushing military defeat of the LTTE. Around 100 -150 people including several notable Tamil separatists took part in the book launching, organized entirely as a pro-LTTE event. But a Sri Lankan patriot foiled Gordon’s attempt to bash Sri Lanka during the proceedings with his hard-hitting questions. At one point, Gordon was so disconcerted that he requested the questioner not to spoil the book launch. Under relentless questioning, Gordon was compelled to retract his previous claim that Sri Lankan forces had killed 40,000 Tamil civilians and instead said it could be around 10,000 Tamils who were killed. When the questioner asked Gordon why the brochures and other advertising materials still carry figure of 40,000 victims, he was speechless. The questioner also disagreed with Gordon on the amended figure of 10,000 and informed the gathering that it was the LTTE terrorists who shot and killed the fleeing Tamil civilians whom they earlier used as a human shield. He went on to say that since the Sri Lankan security forces did not open fire inside the “No Fire Zone”, they unnecessarily suffered large number of casualties owing to LTTE firing at them from within the NFZ (Sinhale Hot News : 24 June 2011).

Channel 4 Frustration - The media has many uses that range from giving news and opinion, providing education, criticism, dissent, entertainment and venting one’s anger at the establishment, to name some. Of late we see a very special use of the media – for the expression of frustration. And, Channel 4 of the UK scores highest in this category of media today. It is at once both a source and channel for those who are still unable to get over the fact that the LTTE has been militarily defeated in Sri Lanka. The means to express their frustration at the failure of the master plan by Velupillai Prabhakaran and other leaders of the LTTE, to use the Tamils of Sri Lanka as cannon fodder to build their dreamland of Eelam. It was a dream, which even in its putative stages was a terrible nightmare for the Tamils of Sri Lanka, and for all who believe in civilized politics. Some are happy to call these frustrated people the Tamil Diaspora. I beg to disagree. A Diaspora comprises people forced to flee a country and scattered abroad, who wait eagerly to return to the homeland. Those who are now venting their frustrations through Channel 4, and other means, are people who have no desire to return to the homeland they abandoned in haste; never with a desire to return even to the chimera of the so-called Tamil homeland of Eelam. Instead, these are people who abandoned their homeland that was being bloodied by the terror of the LTTE, to seek citizenship in the west as refugees/asylum seekers or any other possible category that would give them a good break in life, outside the problems of the developing countries, and the separatist terror of those whom they now represent (Island ; 24 June 2011).

Controversial Channel 4 Producer Meets UK Deputy High Commissioner - Callum Mcrae, the producer of the notorious documentary, “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” took part in a discussion aired by the Asian Network of the BBC on Wednesday. This gave him the opportunity to meet Mr P M Amza, the acting High Commissioner of the Sri Lankan High Commission, along with two representatives of the Sinhalese community and that of Tamil – one from each. Mr Mcrae, who has been at the centre of scathing criticism – not just by the government of Sri Lanka, but by a section of independent journalists - for being blatantly biased, struggled throughout the discussion to maintain his credentials for fairness. He was forced to dig his heels deeper on more than two occasions: when the programme presenter pressed him to give the frequency of references made about atrocities committed by the Tamil Tigers, Mr Mcrae said, “There were quite a few.” The presenter mocked him by saying that he too watched it and Mr Mcrae had been economical with the truth on it – Nihal, the programme presenter corrected Mr Macrae by saying there were only insignificant number of references. Then Mr Amza, the acting High Commissioner, confronted him about the controversy over the translation of two video clips. As a Tamil speaker, alleged Mr Amza, the translation of the communication between some members of the Tamil Tigers was not properly translated into English in the documentary. On the contrary, the programme maker cleverly used it to amplify the intended hype so that he could eye a huge global audience (Asian Tribune : 24 June 2011).

SLMC pushes for tripartite devolution talks with UPFA & TNA - By Shamindra Ferdinando - The SLMC is pushing for immediate expansion of post-war bilateral talks between the SLFP-led government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on devolution of powers. The SLMC says the Muslims should be represented at the talks and the failure on the part of the government to accommodate the party wouldn’t help ongoing national reconciliation efforts. An aide to Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem told The Island that the SLMC leader had discussed the issue with Japanese Ambassador in Colombo Kunio Takahashi at the minister’s residence this week. The official quoted Hakeem as having told Kunio that it would be President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s prerogative to address the issue. Minister Hakeem said that the Muslim factor couldn’t be ignored. The Kandy District MP was responding to a query by Ambassador Kunio. The SLMC contested the last parliamentary polls on the UNP ticket but switched its allegiance to President Rajapaksa over a year to support the controversial 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which did away with the time-limit on the presidency. Hakeem said that there was a friendly exchange of ideas between his party and the TNA (Island ; 24 June 2011).

UK happy with returning IDPs, look for permanent housing - British High Commissioner John Rankin says the UK is looking forward to the day the war displaced in northern Sri Lanka could move in to permanent houses. On the second day of his tour, the High Commissioner visited the Mullativu Hindu Tamil Vidyalam, where he spent some time with the students and handed over to their cricket team – the reigning district champions – new cricket equipment to help them improve their game. He also paid his respects at the Vattappalai Amman Temple to the Chief Priest, the Ven. Kurukkal Krishna Bawan and met the Assistant Government Agent for Mullativu. The British High Commission quoted the High Commissioner as having said: "Visiting the Vanni has been a useful experience for me; seeing the progress and the continuing challenge of moving forward together. We welcome that many people, formerly displaced, have been able to return to the region and look forward to when they are all able to move into permanent homes. We also look forward to the normalisation of civilian life in the region (Island : 24 June 2011).

A protest has been launched against the channel four video tape by a British citizen - Dr. Stuart Rice, a surgeon at the William Harvey Hospital in Kent, who is also an English national living in Great Britain says that the channel four video tape is a fraudulently produced instrument to tarnish the good name of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka which has successfully concluded a long term brutal war is now witnessing the vistas of peace and development. Sinhala and Tamil and Muslim communities are marching towards development. He points out that it was the LTTE which rejected all avenues for peace and engaged in a prolonged war by placing the Tamil community as hostages. Dr. Rice also says that India and other friendly countries attempted to mediate in finding a solution, but their efforts ended in failure. Finally, the present government carried out a humanitarian operation and rescued the Tamil community. He also recalled that the Sri Lankan government allowed foreign media institutions to gather information on the war despite the conflict situation that prevailed. The physician added that the channel four acting in a very irresponsible manner has allowed to prepare a video to discredit Sri Lanka under such circumstances. The channel four which took the initiative to produce such a documentary has failed to produce videos on large scale genocides taken place in countries such as Kosovo and Ruwanda. Many international organisations including the United Nations have commended the humanitarian operation which liberated ordinary civilians. But the channel four refrains from apprising the human qualities of the Sri Lankan security forces. Dr. Stuart Rice also requests the channel four institute to keep away from meddling in Sri Lanka’s internal problems and allow the Sri Lankan government to look after its affairs. Veteran media person and professor in media communications Sunanda Mahendra says that the channel four media tape is the outcome of efforts to destroy Sri Lanka’s image. Professor Mahendra has also pointed out that questions have arisen regarding other programmes transmitted by this channel (SLBC : 24 June 2011).

Ch 4 should get off its moral monopoly - Dr.Stuart Reiss, U.K. - While British Politicians make use of the ignominious Darusman report and the doctored Channel 4 Film on the behest of and under the bribe of LTTE-rump to agitate against Sri Lanka, an independent and unbiased Doctor in the Department of Surgery of the William Harvey Hospital, in U.K, Dr. Stuart Reiss has written the under mentioned article condemning the doctored Channel 4 film. Given below is the full text of Dr. Stuart’s article. "I have followed the misfortunes of the Sri Lankan conflict over the years and it`s very clear to me that both Tamils and Singhalese are relieved that it`s finally over. The country is beginning to recover from its horrible aftermath and the international community should help Sri Lanka heal its wounds. However the Channel Four program titled `The killing fields of Sri Lanka` served rather to inflame them. It`s clear that Channel Four has an agenda of discrediting the Sri Lankan government and this is accomplished at the expense of truth and good journalism. The documentary insisted that the Sri Lankan government carried out deliberate and systematic attacks on Tamil civilians. This is wholly untrue and is a reprehensible suggestion. It is as ridiculous to suggest that the British Army deliberately targeted all republican Irish citizenry during the height of the Northern Ireland conflict. A sovereign democratic government will not met out mob justice using it`s armed forces on it`s own citizens, and Tamils are as much Sri Lankans as are Singhaleese and other ethnic minorities in the country. It was particularly evident during the end stage of the Sri Lankan conflict that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) held Tamil civilians hostage, denying them the very freedom that the LTTE allegedly sought for them. Throughout the long history of this conflict various methods have been tried to bring about a peaceful settlement and to encourage the LTTE to enter mainstream politics (The official web Portal of the Government of Sri Lanka : 24 June 2011).

Another wave of Indian pressure; another Parliamentary Select Committee

Dutch police to share probe report with SL - The Dutch Embassy in Colombo said yesterday the information gathered from the ongoing investigations including material on interviews with former LTTE chief arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan and other former LTTE cadres would be shared with the Sri Lankan government. Embassy spokesman Jaco Beerends said the interviews were being conducted with permission from the Sri Lankan government. “The interviews are conducted with the help of officials from the Attorney General’s Department,” Mr. Beerends said adding that the interviews would continue till the next week and the findings would be forwarded to the ongoing case being heard in a Dutch court. Dutch investigators including an Investigating Judge are probing the LTTE’s financial network in the Netherlands and are interviewing former LTTE cadres who are in the custody of the Sri Lankan government. The interviews are part of the ongoing investigation called ‘Operation Koninck’, started by the Dutch Ministry of Justice to uncover the prominent role LTTE leaders in the Netherlands played in financing the civil war in Sri Lanka. Earlier the Sri Lankan government had permitted the interview of 13 former LTTEers who volunteered to talk to the Dutch investigators. Permission was granted following negotiations between the Justice Ministry of Netherlands and Attorney General Mohan Peiris. As the part of the investigation, another team of Dutch investigators had gone to the United States to interrogate several US-based witnesses relating to LTTE activities in the Netherlands. In the US, the Dutch investigators will interrogate an LTTE leader named Pratheepan Thavaraja, who had struck a plea bargain with the US authorities admitting he had purchased weapons for the LTTE. According to an FBI report Mr. Thavaraja was a senior procurement agent for the LTTE involved in the purchase of improvised explosive devices, missiles, machine guns, artillery, radar, and other equipment and technology from countries around the world, including the US. Media reports said Mr. Thavaraja’s computer had revealed that a man named Ramachandran from the Netherlands had cooperated with him in weapon purchases. Meanwhile a Dutch investigative team, along with lawyers of the suspects in the Netherlands will also travel to Oslo to interrogate Oslo-based LTTE leader Nediyavan arrested by the Norwegian authorities (Daily Mirror : 24 June 2011).

Sri Lankan security forces have nothing to hide: Prof. Gunaratne - International terrorism expert and Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University Prof. Rohan Gunaratne speaks to Hard Talk about the recent allegations against the government and security forces. Stressing that terrorists are the worst human rights violators he emphasizes that the LTTE assigned a significant portion of their budget to lobby human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and International Crisis Group. Citing such action as being behind the Channel 4 fiasco, he maintains that the LTTE even had a dedicated budget for “Geneva Travel” to lobby NGO advocacy groups. ‘Terrorists are the worst human rights violators and the conduct of the LTTE was the best example of it. The LTTE will continue to trick human rights groups and media organizations and some will fall into the LTTE trap,’ he warns. The militaries, law enforcement agencies and intelligence services worldwide have hailed Sri Lankas defeat of the LTTE. As the recent Army seminar in Colombo, pre-eminent experts on counter terrorism, including from the West, praised Sri Lankas strategy. The only failure they highlighted was the inability of the Sri Lankan government especially its political leaders to understand and develop an effective information strategy to counter these allegations. These allegations are directed and inspired by the LTTE that has now transformed from a ruthless terrorist group to a sophisticated propaganda organization. Unfortunately, a handful of Western politicians are trying to play cheap politics at Sri Lankas expense. Driven by the marginal diaspora Tamil vote manipulated by the LTTE, these unethical politicians, primarily from the UK, are parroting LTTE slogans under the guise of advocating human rights. Shamelessly, the same politicians advocated the US/UK invasion destroying the lives of nearly a million Iraqi civilians based on disinformation! (Daily Mirror ; 24 June 2011).

Prof Rohan Gunaratna tells SLBC : SL needs comprehensive strategy to counter pro-LTTE elements - International terrorism expert and Singapore International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research Head Prof Rohan Gunaratna said that Sri Lanka should have a comprehensive strategy to counter malicious campaigns launched by pro – LTTE elements against the country in the aftermath of its victory over terrorism. Gunaratna in an exclusive interview with the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday said Sri Lankan authorities should think of post- war strategy, which includes ways and means of countering the malicious campaigns against the country. He also emphasized the need of having closer ties with India, Russia and China and European countries. Gunaratna added that the members of academia and all Sri Lankans in foreign countries should have a sense of duty to negate this type of malicious propaganda which is being carried out by LTTE sympathizers in a subtle way. Prof Gunaratna added that Sri Lanka and Russia enjoy very close relations and the President’s recent visit to Russia further strengthened bilateral relations. He stressed that the video telecast by Channel 4 is bias and it has not focused on the fact that all communities are living peacefully after the end of terrorism in Sri Lanka. Prof Gunaratna was of the view that Sri Lanka should also implement a mechanism to show the world about how the government rehabilitated thousands of former LTTE combatants and how the people displaced by terrorist atrocities were resettled in their original villages. He stressed that the world community should be briefed on the massive development in the North and the East in the aftermath of 30 years. Prof Gunaratna added that the Sri Lanka mission overseas should work efficiently to counter this type of malicious campaigns. He said that the LTTE seems to be using human rights organizations and media as a cats’ paw to achieve their aims. Prof Gunaratna said that UN permanent representative and his deputy were able to prove that the Channel 4 video was a fake (Daily News : 24 June 2011).

Channel 4 video: Another failed attempt to harm Sri Lanka’s reputation - by Rasika SOMARATHNA - Another effort to harm the reputation of Sri Lanka using the Channel 4 documentary failed due to the intervention of the two Sri Lankan Ambassadors to the UN, Dr Palitha Kohona and Major General Shavendra Silva, senior politicians and officials said yesterday. The documentary titled Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields was once again screened to an audience at the UN Church Centre Wednesday. The event was sponsored by several INGOs. Members from Channel – 4 too had been present. Subsequent to the screening both Dr Palitha Kohona and Major General Shavendra Silva, convinced the gathering fully of the inconsistencies and the biased narration of the documentary, Deputy Minister for External Affairs Neomal Perera said. Meanwhile, Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) Director Lakshman Hulugalle said that another plan to discredit Sri Lanka was rendered useless due to the answers given by Maj Gen Shavendra Silva and UN Permanent Representative Dr Palitha Kohana. Deputy Minister Perera said that Sri Lanka earlier had proved with the use of scientific and other evidence that the video was a fake. In this backdrop, the repeated screening of the video to mislead a section of the international community was unfortunate, he added. The Deputy Minister noted that the twin intentions behind such moves was to derail Sri Lanka’s rapid development and to pump oxygen to revive the now defunct LTTE. Sri Lankan foreign missions have been advised to counter such false propaganda and make the international community aware on the true intentions behind such moves, he added. Director Hulugalle meanwhile said that the screening of the video was another attempt by the LTTE remnants to fill their dwindling coffers by propagating sympathy among the diaspora. He said that the Sri Lankan duo at the UN had been able to effectively convince the audience that the Channel 4 documentary was based on false facts. Hulugalle said that one of the female narrators appearing in the video was an LTTE cadre. Whatever they say a terrorist is a terrorist, he added. Major General Shavendra Silva it is reported was not even invited to the event by the organizers (Daily News ; 24 June 2011).

Distorting facts for

Lanka’s ambassadors clarify fact from fiction: INGO attempt to mislead UN gathering foiled - Sri Lankan diplomats yesterday foiled an attempt by International Non Governmental Organizations to mislead a gathering at UN Church Centre by screening the documentary titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’. They convinced the gathering of the inconsistencies and the biased narration of the documentary. The screening of this documentary at UN Church Centre was sponsored by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group who claimed that the documentary reinforces the findings of the Controversial Darusman Report. Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohona and Deputy Permanent Representative Major General Shavendra Silva proved that the Channel 4 video fiasco is a well-planned ploy to tarnish a country which succeeded in eradicating a deadly terrorist organization which held thousands of innocent civilians hostage. Though Ambassador Major General Shavendra Silva accompanied Ambassador Kohona to the screening, he was not invited by Amnesty International. Perhaps due to the fact that the Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Silva, is the only person who witnessed first hand what transpired during the final stages of the conflict. The documentary “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” was screened at the UN Church Centre yesterday. The event was sponsored by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and The International Crisis Group, who claimed that the documentary reinforces the findings of the Darusman Report (Daily News : 23 June 2011).

UK Tamil answers pro-LTTE fibs: Tamils who escaped terror praise SL Army - Tigers shot dead Tamils - Tamils were held hostage by LTTE - It is a known fact that during the heavy fighting, the LTTE moved its heavy artillery positions near the safe zones which were declared by the Sri Lankan forces to be no fire zones. The LTTE not only moved its artillery within these no fire zones but also positioned it within the hospital compounds. The Tamils who objected to this move were brutally shot dead, states S Vasudevan, a Tamil of Sri Lankan origin resident in London UK. He states this and challenges many other allegations against Sri Lanka, in a letter sent to the Guardian Newspaper in the UK to protest an article produced in the newspaper regarding Sri Lanka and the end of the war in 2009. Excerpts of the text of the letter: (Daily News ; 23 June 2011).

Major General Shavendra Silva states all member countries of the UN have accepted the fallacy of the channel four video tape - Sri Lanka’s Deputy permanent representative to the UN Major General Shavendra Silva says that that the Channel Four video is a totally bogus fabrication. He pointed out this in a meeting held in front of UN headquarters with the participation of ambassadors. The representatives of human right’s watch, amnesty international, crime group society and NGOs participated at the meeting. He has provided clear evidence to the foreign representatives that the video tape as a faked presentation. It was proved that the woman who appeared in the video was an active member of LTTE who lived in Sri Lanka more than a year under different names. A majority of UN member countries have accepted Sri Lanka’s explanation. It is reported that the majority of UN member countries and even the media spokesman of UN general secretary have accepted the Sri Lanka’s accuracy of explanation. Major General Shavendra Silva made these remarks participating in a programme of the SLBC today (SLBC : 23 June 2011).

Shavendra Silva Dismantles the Channel 4 Lie - Answers offered by Sri Lanka’s make Ch 4 conspirators speechless - The Sri Lankan Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Major General Shavendra Silva has been able to dismantle the fake allegations of human rights violations and war crimes leveled at Sri Lanka through the Channel 4 video at a meeting held at the Church Center in New York recently. (21). The meeting was organized by three well known humanitarian organizations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group indenting to exert pressure on Sri Lanka by screening the Channel 4 documentary to the representatives of all member countries of the UN. The fact finding session was held thereafter and Major General Shavendra Silva brought forth a number of points proving the incidents in the documentary contain false information and its a mere dramatic presentation based on false facts with a plan to discredit Sri Lanka. Major General Shavendra Silva showed that the so called evidences in the documentary are given by a female, Venni Kumar who appears under three names in different places. As such, he questioned the credibility of the documentary which is based on the evidence given by a single female who was said to have been in Sri Lanka six months before the end of the war, but actually had come to the island in 2008, January. He further said that, the doctor who appears on the documentary giving proof of war crimes committed by Sri Lankan forces had revealed that the LTTE forced them to act and pretend in front of the camera, at an interview done by the Rupavahini Cooperation, the national television channel in Sri Lanka. The producers of the documentary were also present at the meeting and the audience was convinced that the documentary was based on false facts. Major General Shavendra Silva’s effort would possibly give zero credibility and value to any efforts taken in tarnishing the image of Sri Lanka in future (Watch the video in the Official Portal of the Government of Sri Lanka ; 23 June 2011).

Shavendra Nullifies Channel - 4 in New York - Translated from Sinhalese from an article that appeared in the Sri Lankan newspaper Divaina’s online edition of June 23, 2011, by Keerthi Warnakulasuriya. Attempts to portray the Sri Lankan Army as “war criminals” by groups with vested interests, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a group called Crime Group Society at a meeting at the Church Center of the United Nations in New York had been effectively nullified by Major Genral Shavendra Silva, who had exposed the fabrications that the tailor-made video (for the Tamil refugee lobby), and brought it into real perspective. During the question and answer session that followed the screening of the Channel-4 video to Diplomats, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Palitha Kohona had introduced Maj. General Silva, as the most suitable person to address the audience. Observers note that the Director of the purported ‘documentary’ Mr. Callum McCrae, had become visibly uncomfortable with the appearance of Maj. General Silva. “Channel-4’s video shows the Sri Lankan Air Force bombing a forest region where terrorists were hiding. But the subsequent ‘casualties’ that were shown in the video are shown in a vast open area. Channel-4’s narrator claims that these pictures were obtained through the United Nations satellites. But, at the end of the video, the narrator contradicts himself and says that the scenes depicted were obtained from the Sri Lankan Air Force”, the General has said. “This are serious distortion of real facts by Channel-4” the General has added (LankaWeb : 23 June 2011).

Sri Lanka proves the fake nature of the Channel Four Video at the UN - It has been emphasized to act swiftly and efficiently by the diplomatic missions to defeat international conspiracies such as Darusman report and Channel Four video. Aan international expert on eradication of terrorism Prof. Rohan Gunarathne points out that the LTTE which was militarily defeated in Sri Lanka is now actively engaged politically abroad . He says that the LTTE seem to be using human rights organizations and media as a cats paw to achieve their aimss. Prof.Gunarathne said that UN permanent representative and his deputy were able to prove that the Channel Four video was a fake. Therefore he said that this example should be followed by other diplomatic missions abroad. However he pointed out the need to create a mechanism to response to the propaganda of pro-LTTE elements. Lakbima news Chief Editor Rajpal Abeynayake says that information to nullify such charges against Sri Lanka could be found from the international arena. He says that Sunday Times of London has revealed the fake nature of the Channel Four video. Mr. Abeynayake further said that by communicating such information to other countries Sri Lanka can eliminate false rumours about the country. Chief editor of the Island News Paper Shamindra Ferdinando says that diplomatic service has to respond first to reference ot the country abroad. He says that Sri Lanka should device a method to communicate such information to other countries with the active participation of the diplomatic service. He appreciated the efforts taken by Deputy UN Representative Major General Shavendra Silva to prove the fake nature of the video with clear evidence. He further pointed out that Sri Lanka’s permanent UN representatives and his deputy were able to prove with evidence the contradictory series of incidents shown in the video (SLBC ; 23 June 2011).

TN has no authority over Kachchativu - Prof. G L Peiris - “Tamil Nadu does not have any authority over Kachchativu,” said External Affairs Minister Prof. G L Peiris adding there was no need for anyone in Sri Lanka to feel agitated over the Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution. In India, the constitution provided certain powers for the Central government and certain others for States and this was an issue in the realm of the Centre, he said Tuesday. Hence, “a cerebral response is required, not an emotional response”. He added that he had greeted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha on her assuming office and wanted cordial relations with the state.- The Hindu (Daily News ; 23 June 2011).

UK Sunday Times criticises Channel 4 for its shoddy journalism - By Raj Gonsalkorale - AA Gill’s article in the UK Sunday Times has roundly crticised the Channel4 presentation stating Jon Snow’s commentary was intemperate and partisan, and it was all held together by assumptions. Finally, amongst the mud and the mud rakers, there is someone with some sanity. This gives the Sri Lankans some hope, that redemption is still possible within the media establishment in UK. One can only hope that others who are still closeted will come out and demonstrate their journalistic ethics. Jon Snow has done irreparable damage to the reconciliation efforts of Sri Lanka, and he along with all who have chosen to believe another “Iraq has WMDs” story, has deliberately and pointedly attacked Sri Lanka with uncorroborated, unsubstantiated and sickening material cobbled together as investigative journalism. It has demonstrated how one can sell one’s soul for a few pieces of silver, and burrow to murky depths even the lowliest of living beings would shudder to go. Worse still are all those who have believed this rot, and who are hell bent on punishing Sri Lanka because of a piece of garbage. If sections of the Tamil Diaspora, the LTTE rump and their cohorts in Sri Lanka, the TNA, think that they have achieved a big victory with this puerile presentation, something they obviously have funded and helped to cobble together, they are mistaken. Sadly though, their being mistaken is going to do more harm to the very people who they have been pretending to fight for, the innocent Tamils living in Sri Lanka. For this very reason, it is not the Sinhala people who should get outraged, it should be the Tamils in Sri Lanka, as this despicable show could have unwanted and uncalled for repercussions, when they were slowly but surely raising their heads after 30 years of terror, war and destruction and settling into an integrated life with the rest of Sri Lankans (Asian Tribune ; 23 June 2011).

Jaffna railway station to be reconstructed Dharma - by SRI ABEYRATNE - The Jaffna railway station will be reconstructed soon at a cost of Rs 89 million in line with the Uthuru Mithuru programme, which has been introduced to re-establish the Northern railway track. The Bank of Ceylon (BoC) will provide funds for the Jaffna railway station reconstruction project. An MoU in this regard was signed Tuesday between the BoC and the Railway Department at the Transport Ministry with the participation of Transport Minister Kumara Welgama, BoC and Transport Ministry officials. Meanwhile, the 159-kilometre Northern railway line is being reconstructed under the Uthuru Mithuru programme. The railway line consists of 85 railway bridges and 16 sub railway stations. The project has three phases. Under the first phase, the railway track from Omanthai to Vavuniya will be reconstructed. The second phase will cover from Palei to Omanthai while Palei to KKS line will be undertaken in the third phase (Daily News ; 23 June 2011).

In New York - Dirty intentions of Channel 4 video documentary exposed - the International Crisis Group, - partners in perpetuating crime against Sri Lanka failed in their bid to screen the film “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” in the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium, yesterday. Subsequently the organizers who were left high and dry and at the last moment they arranged to screen it in the Churches Centre across the UN. Asian Tribune learnt at the last minute, UN quietly decided to disassociate with Channel 4, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group with a documentary which was questionable, flawed and unsubstantiated, informed the organizers that it would clash with the UN General Assembly vote giving Ban Ki-moon a second term as Secretary-General. During their initial statements, Amnesty International claimed that the documentary presented “very strong evidence of war crimes” and that there was a “consistent pattern of human rights violations by the Sri Lankan forces.” Human Rights Watch also alleged that this documentary proved that war crimes were committed and that “the Sri Lanka Government cannot be relied upon for justice”. There was a consistent suggestion that the Government forces had deliberately targeted the Tamil community. The purpose of this screening, they asserted, was to urge the international community to conduct an independent investigation. They expressed disappointment that this had not happened. In the meantime Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona and Major General Shavendra Silva challenged the assertions and suggestions in the documentary: Given below the Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona’s rebuttal (Asian Tribune : 23 June 2011).

The SLBC vehemently rejects channel-4 video which produced with the aid of LTTE sympathisers - The national broadcaster of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, vehemently rejects the video produced by the channel-4 media organisation of Britain with the aid of LTTE sympathisers. The SLBC added that the video brings a great deal of distorted information on Sri Lanka. President Mahinda Rajapaksa was able to eliminate terrorism. All parties who advocate for peace should hail the initiative took by the Sri Lankan government to uproot terrorism and establish peace. Pro-LTTE elements, who were disappointed by the unexpected defeat, now attempt to obstruct the country’s ongoing development march. The SLBC believes that the video telecast by the Channel-4 brings disgrace to the BBC which sets guidelines to media practice. The Channel-4 has a controversial history in regard to media content and the SLBC has pointed out loopholes of the Channel-4 several times. It has been revealed that the Channel-4 has taken media clips from local channels and distorted them in accordance with the agenda of the pro-LTTE elements. The SLBC questions both the BBC and Channel-4 on violating basic media ethics. Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN and his deputy have confirmed that the video of the Channel-4 is fake and fabricated with concrete evidences. The SLBC commends the service rendered by the two Sri Lankan diplomats. The SLBC also believes that LTTE ideology and its international network can be defeated as a consorted effort. The national broadcaster hopes all parties in the country, neglecting petty differences, will come to a common front to safeguard sovereignty of the motherland (SLBC : 23 June 2011).

Deported Lankans never mistreated - While claiming that the British government does not accept that all Tamil asylum seekers are in need of international protection, British Immigration Minister Damian Green said there is no evidence that those previously deported Sri Lankan asylum seekers to Sri Lanka have been mistreated by the Sri Lankan authorities. MP Green told the British House Commons,” the UK Border Agency does not routinely monitor the treatment of individual failed asylum seekers who return to their home country. We believe that the best way to avoid ill-treatment is to make sure that we do not return those who are at risk. We do this by ensuring that trained caseworkers make the right decisions based on the circumstances of each individual case and by providing a right of appeal to the independent courts.” He also stated that the UK Border Agency carefully considers all asylum claims and human rights claims including those from Tamils on their individual merits in accordance with UK international obligations against the background of the latest available country information. “We do not accept that all Tamil asylum seekers are in need of international protection. This view has been endorsed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of NA v. UK 2008. An Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Country Guidance case in October 2009 agreed with the European Court and affirmed that in some cases there is a reduced the risk to Tamils than previous case law had identified,” MP Green said (Daily Mirror ; 23 June 2011).

Sri Lanka implements several hundred projects for the benefit of people in the war shattered Northern Province - : The government is implementing 273 community development projects in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province to bring Northern development in line with the development of other areas. Infrastructure facilities including roads, bridges, water supply, electricity supply and other amenities had been completely destroyed by the LTTE terrorists during their occupation of the province during the 30 years of the separatist war, for the establishment of the illusory Eelam. All the five districts of the Northern Province Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya are undergoing a major development transformation under a host of community projects implemented by the Economic Development Ministry under the food for work scheme. These include the rehabilitation of rural roads, tanks and canals, preparation of ‘agri’ wells, forest cultivation, building of kitchens in schools and home garden cultivation. In addition to this, the Elephant Pass saltern, and the Atchuveli Industrial Estate are being revived and many tourist related projects are also being implemented to raise the life standards of the people and find employment to the youth of the area. Several housing schemes are also being implemented under the Jana Saviya (People’s strength) housing development programme. The Ministry of Economic Development said that the major objective of this programme implemented under the direction of Minister Basil Rajapaksa is the development of rural infrastructure and empowerment of people by providing mixed food rations to people assisting these projects by providing labor. This enabled unemployed groups to contribute labor towards social development activities and obtain food needed by their families (Asian Tribune ; 23 June 2011).

C-4 project suffers debilitating setback in New York Int’l HR groups stunned by UK film maker’s ignorance - An attempt to drum up support for the controversial ‘Darusman Report’ and documentary ‘Sri Lanka Killing Fields’, produced by the UK-based Channel 4 News, in New York on Tuesday (21) went awry due to unexpected intervention by Sri Lanka’s No 2 at the UN, Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva. Maj. Gen. Silva, who holds the ambassadorial rank, took on Callum Macrae, who directed the 50-minute documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ prompting the film maker to point out that the Maj. Gen. should have made representations to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). The confrontation took place at the UN Church Centre situated in close proximity to the UN headquarters. Maj. Gen. Silva said that he wasn’t the only one stunned by the British film maker’s ignorance. Those representing the Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Crisis Group (ICG) automatically expressed surprise, Silva said. AI, HRW and ICG declined an invitation extended by the LLRC to give evidence last year. Silva shot back at Macrae saying that he had appeared before the LLRC twice. The former Gen. Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 58 Division alleged that Macrae had been sponsored by someone to visit New York to discredit the government of Sri Lanka. Addressing representatives of AI, HRW and ICG at the meeting, the tough talking Maj. Gen. said that failure on their part to invite him for the discussion was surprising. Alleging the organizers wanted to avoid him, Silva said that as he was the only senior military official shown on ‘Sri Lanka Killing Fields’ along with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa he felt the need to respond to war crime allegations (Island ; 22 June 2011).

Going beyond the 13th Amendment or doing away with it?-A point of view - by Dr Sudath Gunasekara: President Mahanuwara Sinhala Bauddha Jesta Puravesiyange Sanvidhanaya - It was reported in the press on 14th June 2011 that the government has decided to assign the Parliament the task of drafting a political solution to the so-called North-East crisis. Further it is learnt that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would make a request to the Speaker to appoint an All-Party Select Committee within this week to proceed with the task. It is also reported that the government has decided to have the political solution prepared by the Parliament Select Committee within a limited time frame and that will be implemented after approval by Parliament. Apparently this entails the readiness on the part of the government to stick to and to go ahead with the externally manipulated and most controversial and dangerous piece of legislation in the history of this Island nation. I do not propose to delve in detail on the 13th Amendment, its content and history and dangers on the Sri Lankan sovereign state as the subject has been already covered by many eminent lawyers, scholars and critics over the past twenty four years. The object of this note is to ring alarm bells and draw the attention of the general public to the government’s decision to implement a “political solution prepared by the Parliament Select Committee within a limited time frame”. This attempt in my opinion should never be allowed to go through without the approval at a referendum for the reasons I give below in this paper. This is definitely not an issue for which solutions could be found “within a limited time” Nor should it be rushed into merely on a narrow political agenda prepared only by politicians. Because it is going to decide the future destiny of this 2500 year old Island nation (Lankaweb ; 22 June 2011).

It is confirmed, Channel-4 video is fake - Sri Lankan representatives have been able to confirm that video telecast by the British media organisation, Channel-4 on Sri Lanka is fake and fabricated. Majority of the member countries of the United Nations have accepted arguments put forward by the country’s representatives. Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona and Deputy Permanent Representative and Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UN Major General Shavendra Silva produced concrete evidences that led to consider the video is fake. Human rights organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group showed the controversial video in the presence of the representatives of the member countries of the UN. Channel-4 does not hold responsibility in regard to the video and no party has claimed the ownership of it. Credibility of information and the people appeared in the video is highly challenged and it has been verified that the woman who speak in the video has played a pivotal role in the LTTE as a LTTE cadre. The medical officer who commented in the video was also threatened by the terrorists and after being liberated he has revealed the true story. Major General Shavendra Silva and Dr. Palitha Kohona has pointed out that all information brought out by the video is baseless and false and a massive propaganda campaign which attempted to bring disgrace to Sri Lanka was brought to the light by them (SLBC ; 22 June 2011).

Now, UNSG finds fault with C4 documentary - The UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s Office on Wednesday alleged that ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ produced by the UK-based Channel 4 News hadn’t correctly portrayed the UN Chief’s visit to Sri Lanka shortly after the conclusion of war in May 2009. "The Secretary-General did much more than a whistle-stop tour to one refugee camp. He most certainly did speak to refugees in camps in Sri Lanka. This is something that is not correctly portrayed in that film," Martin Nesirky, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General told the press on Wednesday. Denying reports on the notion that he had ignored the recommendations of the panel, Nesirky said "he (UN Chief) is already implementing the recommendations that deal with the internal workings of the UN at the time with safeguarding the material that was gathered during the course of the Panel of Experts’ work. And also, to ensure that there will be regular follow-up to keep an eye on the process that is under way through a national mechanism in Sri Lanka. As for the follow-up, we have repeatedly said that it requires either national consent or a mandate from an intergovernmental body. And, that hasn’t changed." (Island : 22 June 2011).

Miliband does it again! - Another round of Sri Lanka bashing has taken place in Britain. It looks as if some British lawmakers' sole purpose of being were attacking this country. True, Sri Lanka is not a model democracy and has its share of political rogues. Its democracy is seriously flawed and good governance is conspicuous by its absence. There are more rogues than decent politicians at the levers of power. Therefore, it needs some lessons on democracy, human rights etc. But, strengthening democracy here is not the objective of the British MPs venting their spleens on Sri Lanka; they have a different agenda. They are only backing an LTTE campaign against this country. Before calling for an investigation into the war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka, these MPs should call upon their own government to probe its complicity in LTTE terrorism. Britain cannot absolve itself of responsibility for Prabhakaran's terrorism because it is on her soil that the LTTE raised most of the funds for its terror campaign characterised by numerous civilian massacres and political assassinations. Located in London was the LTTE's international hub which coordinated the outfit's gun running, human smuggling, narcotics trade etc. The late Anton Balasingham, a former employee of the British High Commission in Colombo, operated openly in Britain advocating as he did terrorism against SriLanka in spite of a British ban on the LTTE. Instead of pressuring the LTTE to eschew violence and negotiate a political solution, successive British governments forced Sri Lanka to appease the outfit at any cost thus making it intransigent (Island ; 22 June 2011).

Italian Lankans appeal to UNSG Ban Ki-moon: Drop Darusman Report, don’t open old wound - Sri Lankans living in Italy have appealed to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to drop the Darusman Report, as it would only open old wounds and harm the unity, between all ethnic groups, that now prevails in Sri Lanka. Over 10,000 Sri Lankans and Italians signed the petition, in which they also stated that they whole heartedly support his re-election bid as head of the United Nations. The Petition was handed over on Saturday. The Petition said: "We, the members of the Sri Lankan Diaspora living in Italy, comprising Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, together with Italians are submitting a special appeal to Your Excellency requesting that you not take any further action on the Darusman Report. We also wish to mention that as signatories to the petition, we support, wholeheartedly, your re-election bid to continue your work for another term as the Secretary General of the August body. We believe our Government in Sri Lanka and all other Governments, who are friends of Sri Lanka, would support your candidature to ensure your re-election. We are Pacifist and believe that all war is evil, whether it is endorsed by convention or moral obligation or by pseudo ratification from anybody, as it entails human suffering and civilian casualties. History is replete with such atrocities suffered by human beings due to wars, whether they were the Great Punic wars between Rome and Carthage or the recent drone attacks in Libya, where in the capital, Tripoli, several civilians including children and women were killed, or whether in the name of destroying Weapons of Mass Destruction, invading the sovereign state of Iraq even without the sanction of your Security Council which resulted in the death of from 101,360 -111,720 civilians. Your esteemed predecessor Kofi Annan unequivocally stated and admitted that invasion of Iraq by US and UK forces was illegal (Island ; 22 June 2011).

Gordon Weiss Gets His Fifteen-Minutes of Fame - In Through the Out Door - Mr. Gordon Weiss, the Spokesman for the United Nations in Sri Lanka during the end of war on terror, made claim to his fifteen-minutes of fame recently: Grand publicity was given to the ceremonious signing of his new book. However, there had been a little fly-in-the-ointment in Mr. Weiss’s ceremony: During a ‘Question and Answer’ section, a Sri Lankan patriot, well-versed with Mr. Weiss’s attitude and bias against the Sri Lankan government, had asked him why, if the Sri Lankan Government had indeed committed any massacre during the last stages of the war, why did he, Gordon Weiss, as the UN spokesperson in Sri Lanka kept silent? Our patriot had then stated the UN must also be held responsible for all the allegations he had made in his book! The revered Mr. Weiss had been stumbling for excuses, and had mustered something to the extent that he never stated of any Tamil genocide in his book. Thanks to this patriot, Mr. Weiss and his fellow Tamil refugee lobby had not been able to make their usual whimpers against Sri Lanka. Thank you, very much, Sir! Sri Lanka needs people like you (Lankaweb ; 22 June 2011).

Another round of Sri Lanka bashing in UK Parliament

Another round of SL bashing in UK Parliament today - By Shamindra Ferdinando - A section of British politicians, heavily dependent on the pro-LTTE elements for re-election, is throwing its full weight behind war crime charges targeting Sri Lanka, with yet another panel discussion now scheduled to take place today (22) at the Inter-Parliamentary Union room in the House of Commons. Government sources told The Island that the UK-based LTTE rump had urged Tamil voters to pressure their MPs to participate in Sri Lanka bashing. Sri Lankan government sources said that the Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG) and the London-headquartered Amnesty International would endorse ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ telecast by Channel 4 on June 14, at today’s meeting. The panel will include, Ann Clwyd, MP, Chairperson of PHRG, Alistair Burt, Foreign Office Minister and Yolanda Foster, Sri Lanka Researcher, Amnesty International. Alistair Burt is expected to reiterate his recent threat to the effect that Sri Lanka should be ready to face the consequences unless it responded positively to the war crimes allegations before the end of this year. Today’s discussion will be chaired by Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News, which produced ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’, while the producer Callum Macrae will be among the panelists. External Affairs Ministry sources said that the former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his French counterpart Bernard Bernard Kouchner, too, have pledged their support for a war crimes probe. They have issued a statement in the US calling for action against Sri Lanka. Sources said that Miliband and Kouchner (2007 – 2010), in late April 2009, made an abortive bid to force President Mahinda Rajapaksa to call off the offensive. Sources said that Sri Lanka should be grateful to WikiLeaks for leaking a US diplomatic missive (originating from London) which revealed the then Foreign Secretary Miliband playing politics with the Sri Lankan issue to win over the Tamil Diaspora electorate (Island : 21 June 2011).

War crimes: UK playing politics at SL’s expense (part III) - By Shamindra Ferdinando - In a statement issued on May 31, 2011 to promote the controversial documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’, Channel 4 head of News and Current Affairs Dorothy Byrne said: "The footage is probably the most horrific the channel has ever shown. The decision to show it at length was made only after serious and careful consideration. We believe this dossier of visual evidence combined with harrowing eye-witness testimony represents prima facie evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by forces of the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. It is of the greatest possible public interest and as such we have a duty to journalistically scrutinize it." Ms. Byrne commissioned the project on behalf of the broadcaster. The Channel 4 statement quoted Callum Macrae, the director of the documentary for Channel 4 News as having said: The Sri Lankan government wanted a war without witnesses - deporting journalists and pressurizing UN representatives to leave - but it didnallow for the extraordinary power of mobile phone and satellite technology. We have trawled through hours of painfully raw recordings of the some of the most awful events I have ever seen in many years of war reporting. Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields raises serious questions about the consequences, if the UN fails to act - not only for Sri Lanka, but for future violations of international law." (Island : 21 June 2011).

Advisory Panel of Experts (APE) on last days of Sri Lankan war - by H. L. D. Mahindapala - I thought of sending you the attached snippet from the London Times (please see below) to focus on one fact: if there is a war one of the first casualties will be human rights. I do not think that the Australian government did ever endorse the brutal act committed by the Aussie soldier mentioned in the book. Nor do I think that it was the official policy of the Australian forces to carry out such atrocities which are against the Geneva Convention. Without condoning it, may I say that these aberrations will continue to happen in every war that explodes in any other part of the world. In fact, last night BBC announced that NATO had apologized for killing civilians – including babies – when their planes hit a residential area. In Sri Lanka too similar incidents would have taken place but there was no official policy of the government to kill civilians. Take, for instance, the latest incident in Sri Lanka. The Police shot and killed a protesting striker near a factory. The Inspector General of Police resigned saying that the Policeman did not carry out his directive not to use fire arms. Similarly, in the battlefield – particularly in the controversial No-Fire Zones – it was not the policy of the forces to open fire on the civilians. But individual acts of aberrant soldiers would have taken place. The worst would have been when the LTTE turned No-Fore Zones into War Zones. Each time the government declared a No-Fire Zone the LTTE moved in with their heavy artillery to fire on the soldiers who were forced to retaliate aiming not at the civilians but at the LTTEers who were deliberately using No-Fire Zones as a War Zone. There was bound to be collateral damage (Lankaweb ; 21 June 2011).

Western media sensationalizes Tamil Tiger terrorist as a TV star - observers - Sri Lanka political observers say the Western media sympathetic to the Tamil Tiger terrorist group is sensationalizing a female Tiger cadre as a TV star and calling for an investigation into her death during the battle. The media reports in the Western press are calling the female Tiger cadre known as Issipriya, who has been a reporter for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) when she was not in the battle, as a TV star and have urged an international inquiry into her death. According to the Sri Lanka Defence Ministry which has a dossier on Issipriya, the female rebel joined the LTTE military wing and had undergone military training. She has later joined the LTTE's clandestine radio 'Voice of Tigers (VOT)' that spread LTTE propaganda from Wanni in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka (Colombo page ; 21 June 2011).

Miliband and Kouchner ask UK and France to demand "satisfactory response" from SL to war crimes charges - by S Venkat Narayan - Our Special Correspondent - NEW DELHI, June 21: Former foreign ministers of Britain and France have asked their respective governments to demand a "satisfactory response" from the Sri Lankan government to charges of war crimes allegedly committed by its security forces against unarmed Sri Lankan civilians in the last three months before the ethnic war came to a bloody end in May 2009. In an article published on the Opinion Page of The New York Times on Monday and in The International Herald Tribune today in India and several dozen other countries across the globe, David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, former foreign ministers of Britain and France, said: "We call on our governments to set a deadline, soon, for satisfactory response from the Sri Lankan government, and if it is not forthcoming, to initiate the international arrangements recommended by the report" of the panel of experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka set up by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Recalling their visit to Sri Lanka as their countries’ foreign ministers in April 2009 as the fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers neared its end, they wrote: "The remaining fighters were trapped in the northern most part of the country — along with large numbers of civilians. UN estimates put the numbers of civilians there in the last few months of the war at over 300,000." (Island : 21 June 2011).

De-mining will take another nine years - Dinesh - By Saman Indrajith - The ongoing de-mining operations in the Northern and Eastern Provinces would take nine years to complete, Parliament was told on Tuesday (21). Chief Government Whip Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that since 2002 the government had cleared an area of 5,594.89 square kilometers in the two provinces. Sri Lanka had received the assistance of Switzerland, Denmark, Great Britain and India to carry out de-mining. Several other countries, including the US, Japan and Australia had provided support for the ongoing project. Minister Gunawardena was responding to a query by the UNP Colombo District MP Ravi Karunanayake. Asked to reveal the area in square kilometers given to those countries engaged in the de-mining operation, Minister Gunawardena said Switzerland (258.5 square km), Denmark (1336.29 square km), Great Britain (690.59) and India (1273.90 square km). The Government of Sri Lanka had spent Rs 1,492,810,000/= for demining. Demining equipment had been donated by the US, China, Australia, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organisation for Migration, Ministry of Economic Development and office equipments were granted by the United Nations Children’s Fund. Approximately 65 vehicles f different categories had been granted by the United States of America, UNICEF and the Ministry of Economic Development (Island ; 21 June 2011).

When refugees return - Sri Lanka is one of the countries blamed for the huge influx of refugees the West is struggling to curb. A few months ago Sri Lanka's Boat People grabbed international headlines and became grist for the mill of critics of this country. Interestingly, the UNHCR has revealed that Sri Lanka is now attracting refugees and asylum seekers, albeit in small numbers, as we reported yesterday. Sri Lanka is one of the countries whose refugees are slowly returning, the UNHCR says. About 3,000 refugees have, it says, already returned from Tamil Nadu since the war ended. There are 141,063 Sri Lankan refugees and 8,563 asylum seekers in different countries, mostly in India, according to UNHCR data. Sri Lanka's war was a scourge for those who abhorred terrorism but it became a goldmine for some people. Hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans made the most of the conflict to migrate to rich countries on the pretext of fleeing from danger and they are living there in clover. Human smugglers and visa racketeers made a fortune during the war. It was thanks to sympathy, leniency and even corruption of some western embassies in Colombo that the LTTE succeeded in smuggling its backers into the developed countries and building its support base there over the years (Island ; 21 June 2011).

Canadian Tamils call upon the Tamil Diaspora to act responsibly and wisely

THIS IS BBC CALLING - NOW CLICK ON TO CHANNEL 4 - by Gomin Dayasiri - On Air, BBC answers to a London Call for Aunty Beeb. Her Randy Niece is Channel 4.Both live off portions of state licensing revenues while Aunty is the recipient of government grants; Aunty and Niece have to street walk to collect funds to survive - sources being predominantly fat cat corporations. Diaspora are lavish on pleasing the media. The young lass is an easier and cheaper prey to solicit than the aged relative. They live on the pride of a self proclaimed holy trinity of -objectivity, impartiality and balance- in a reality show, cause for mirth! It’s like a call to a nun in a convent and hear a bar girl at a pub, speak. Editor of Daily Mirror Piers Morgan published photographs of Iraqi prisoners being abused by British soldiers. The military labelled them as fakes and editor was sacked instantly by the proprietor on a demand by their American shareholders. In stepped, BBC in News Night (BBC2 May 14,2004), where Melanie Phillips called editor’s conduct “treachery against the interest of the country and a lie which puts our troops in such an appalling light is unforgivable”. BBC 2 (14.May 2004) reported “It’s time the ego of one editor is measured against the life of a soldier”. In House of Lords the question was asked “what action including criminal charges, does the government anticipate will be taken against the editor?” The scene is reminiscent of Sri Lanka. BBC/Channel 4 finds us guilty on material provided by hostile parties without placing the charge before the accused. Not so, in a case where their men are in uniform -they are summarily exonerated. Brits stand up for the cross of St.George in the ‘cotton fields’ of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya where civilians are slaughtered like lambs by flying objects. Later it was established that the photographs were indeed fabricated. With those reminiscences, why did the UK Minister Alistair Burt (“shocked by horrific scenes”-soothing balm on Diaspora voters) mindful of the issues raised by experts on the authenticity of the video clips in Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, rush to judgment? Sri Lankan press barons do not treat their editorial material as disposable syringes or our tongue loose Ministers do not insult friendly commonwealth countries - certainly not until a fact is proved. If a newspaper office here, did the same, editors guilds around the globe would have raised cain (Daily Mirror ; 21 June 2011).

Channel 4 journalist, an LTTEer - Defence Ministry - Underwent training in Vanni - Served in LTTE military wing - Joined Voice of Tigers - The Defence Ministry yesterday said that Issipriya the woman who is alleged to have been a journalist and a news presenter in the Channel 4 documentary, was an LTTE cadre. The ministry also released a photograph of the identity card issued by the LTTE to Issipriya, in which she was clad in combat attire, confirming her military involvement with the LTTE. Issipriya was born in 1982 in Jaffna and was subsequently recruited by the LTTE and underwent military training in the Vanni. She then served in the LTTE Military Wing and subsequently joined the Voice of Tigers (VoT), the official radio station of the LTTE, the Defence Ministry said. A report submitted to UNESCO by the government following the bombing of VoT by the Sri Lanka Air Force in 2007 made it clear that VoT was the official propaganda radio station of the LTTE. The LTTE cadres who died in the attack were identified as cadres who had also been actively engaged in military operations against the Security Forces, the Defence Ministry said. Issipriya was given the rank of ‘Lt Col’ due to her contribution to the LTTE. She married Sea Tiger cadre Sri Ram who also died in the final battle in May 2009. Sri Ram was the former LTTE Senior Sea Tiger leader in Trincomalee and took part in most of the operations launched by the LTTE against the Sri Lanka Navy and Merchant Vessels. The identity card issued by the LTTE to Issipriya, in which she was clad in combat attire, further confirms her military involvements with the LTTE, the Defence Ministry said (Daily News : 21 June 2011).

Channel-4 and hidden paws - This is not the first time Channel-4 was eager to show its over-brimming media generosity towards the LTTE – which is struggling to rise from its grave -- nor will this be the last. But the question as to why the UK based channel could not extend a similar degree of sympathy towards the innocent civilians, who became victims of ruthless suicide attacks by the LTTE, is very much worth pursuing. The documentary, irrespective of the credibility of its content, humiliates the government’s efforts to provide maximum protection for the civilians and minimize human casualties during the time of the conflict. The two UN officials who come on the programme, blame only the government when they were asked to leave Killinochchi in view of insufficient security. Their sensationalizing of the situation could not have sounded more unreal. Footage, taken at different times and places, does not verify the culprits as Sri Lankan armed forces, nor does it give valid evidence that the alleged ‘deliberate government fire’ was the shelling by the army and not the LTTE. Whatever goes into the army’s account comes in the form of commentary given by the speakers. Besides, the technology is not unimaginably advanced to recognize a face of a person whose back is turned to the camera, nor have they come under proper identification process. After all, it had been a tactic of the LTTE terrorists to disguise themselves in army uniforms when they went in front of civilians to commit an act of atrocity. Channel-4 not only ridicules the government’s declaration of a ‘No Fire Zone’, but goes on to show that it was a convenient death-trap set by the forces who were eager to reach the end of war. The footage shows very little of how the LTTE was using the hapless civilians as human shields, and the efforts made by the army to rescue those who were crossing the lagoon waters (Daily Mirror ; 21 June 2011).

Miliband and Kouchner call for action on UN Expert Panel report on Sri Lanka - The former foreign ministers of Britain and France have called for action of the report by the United Nations Secretary-General's Expert Panel appointed to probe the accountability of Sri Lanka during the war with Tamil Tiger terrorists. David Miliband of Britain and Bernard Kouchner of France contributing to an op-ed column in the International Herald Tribune (IHT) said the action must be taken on the report compiled by the unofficial UN panel. "Reports like the one compiled for the secretary general must not stand on the shelf. They must be the basis of action. Or the law becomes an ass," the duo said. The ex-foreign ministers called on their governments to set a prompt deadline for the Sri Lankan government to respond. They called for initiating international arrangements recommended by the report, if the Sri Lankan authorities are not forthcoming. Citing the support UN report received from the U.N. Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay, at the opening session of the Human Rights Council session recently, the pair said the process recommended by the report should be taken forward. The UN report which Sri Lanka named as Darusman report calls for the UN Chief to establish an independent, international mechanism to monitor Sri Lanka's reconciliation efforts, and to conduct independent investigations into alleged violations (Colombo page ; 21 June 2011).

Jaffna Hospital development accelerated - by Nadira Gunatilleke - The Health Ministry has accelerated the Jaffna Teaching Hospital development activities launched at a cost of Rs.3000 million. Japan International Co-operation Agency (JAICA) funds this project, a Health Ministry spokesman said. According to the spokesman Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena inspected the construction work of the new building complex during a recent inspection tour. A new OPD, surgical wards, theatres, rest rooms for health staff, accident ward, laboratory services unit and many other modern treatment units will be constructed at the new building complex (Daily News ; 21 June 2011).

SL highlights ‘Channel 4 News’ role in C4 episode - ‘Producer and broadcaster different, Tamil Diaspora leadership evident’ - By Shamindra Ferdinando - The government of Sri Lanka alleges the Channel 4 News, based at the Independent Television Network (ITN) building, 200 Grays Inn Road, London, WCIX8X, had produced a controversial documentary – ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ – at the behest of those hell-bent on undermining post-war reconciliation efforts. Government sources told The Island that Channel 4, which telecast the documentary on June 14 and Channel 4 News were two different organizations involved in an operation spearheaded by the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) to discredit the Sri Lankan military. Responding to a query, intelligence sources said that in spite of the Channel 4 being the broadcaster, which commissioned the documentary, the Tamil Diaspora was behind the operation. Sources said that both Channel 4 and Channel 4 News had no reason to target the government of Sri Lanka until the Tamil Diaspora moved in, with some disgruntled elements throwing their weight behind the project. "How much it cost the LTTE rump. The film project, while causing irreparable damage to Sri Lanka’s reputation sought to justify continuing influx of Tamil asylum seekers," an officer, holding the rank of Colonel, told The Island. The official said that those involved in the GTF project, including some British MPs, had made an abortive attempt to thwart the deportation of a group of Tamils citing ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ as evidence of ongoing repression targeting minorities. Sources said that Channel 4 based at 124, Horseferry Road, London SWIP 2TX, had nothing to do with research, production and presentation of the 50-minute documentary. UK based sources said that Jon Snow, who presented ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ and Sri Lanka critics, Jonathan Miller and Krishan Gurumurthy, were employees of Channel 4 News at the ITN building. Sources alleged that those behind the documentary had articulated that the real trouble began in September 2008, whereas eelam war IV erupted in mid 2006 (Island ; 20 June 2011).

Issipriya an LTTE cadre – MoD - The Defence Ministry yesterday said that Issipriya, a woman alleged to have been a journalist and a news presenter, in the Channel 4 documentary, was indeed an LTTE cadre. The Ministry also released a photograph of the identity card issued by the LTTE to Issipriya, in which she was clad in combat attire, confirming her military involvements with the LTTE. Issipriya was born in 1982 in Jaffna and was subsequently recruited by the LTTE and underwent military training in the Wanni. She then served in the LTTE Military Wing and subsequently joined the "Voice of Tigers", the official radio station of the LTTE. A report submitted to UNESCO by the GoSL following the bombing of VoT by SLAF in 2007 made it clear that VoT was the official propaganda radio station of the LTTE. The LTTE cadres who died in the attack were identified as cadres who had also been actively engaged in military operations against the Security Forces. Issipriya was given the rank of ‘Lt Col’ due to her contribution to the LTTE. She married a Sea Tiger cadre, Sri Ram, who also died in the final battle in May 2009. Sri Ram was the former LTTE Senior Sea Tiger leader in Trincomalee and took part in most of the operations launched by the LTTE against the Sri Lanka Navy and Merchant Vessels. The identity card issued by the LTTE to Issipriya, showing her clad in combat attire, further confirms her military involvements with the LTTE, the Defence Ministry said (Island ; 20 June 2011).

Canadian Tamils call upon the Tamil Diaspora to act responsibly and wisely - The Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy call on the Tamil Diaspora to act responsibly to find out a possible way for a reconciliation that would help the Tamil people living in Sri Lanka to find an amicable political solution. The immediate need of the hour in the North and East is to rehabilitate the people affected by the war and reconstruct and develop the provinces to create an atmosphere for the people to run their lives smoothly. The Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy wants the Tamil Diaspora should also take the major responsibility for the destructions and death of Tamils by contributing morally and monetarily aiding the separatist war, which has lead to this disaster. Instead of blaming one side, the Tamil Diaspora should learn the lesson from the past and play an active role by negotiating with the Government of Sri Lanka to find the ways and means to overcome the mistrust and to find every possible way to build the lives of the affected people. The Tamil Diaspora should keep one thing in mind that the request made by the Tamil Diaspora for war crimes will not bring any solution to the problem faced by the Tamils living in Sri Lanka instead will lead to more division and enmity between communities which will hinder the political and the reconciliation process. The pressure tactics on the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) would not be a wise act as the Tamil Diaspora thinks but opening a dialogue with GOSL and to negotiate for a speedy process would be more meaningful to the problems. The Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy says, “Let the Tamil Diaspora not fall a prey to the emotions which will only endanger the political and reconciliation process that could lead to a total collapse of the existing process and make life difficult for the next generations of Tamils living in Sri Lanka.” (Asian Tribune ; 20 June 2011).

War Crimes: UK playing politics at SL’s expense

‘Channel 4 video, the work of asylum seekers’ - Army spokesperson - by Chamikara Weerasinghe - The Sri Lanka Army yesterday said the video of alleged extra judicial killings telecast by Channel 4 on British television is doctored and that its footage may have been invented by some self-exiled Tamil citizens seeking asylum in the UK. Army spokesperson Major General Ubhaya Medawala yesterday said the supposed self-exiled group must have made some of these video clips to get the sympathy of UK immigration authorities to get refugee status in the UK. ”Their ambition is to become UK residents,”said Major General Ubhaya Medawala. He said that seeking refugee status at the expense of the Sri Lankan government and the Army has been the practice of most Tamil civilians who have settled in the UK and other European countries. Although they call themselves the Tamil Diaspora, they did not scatter to other countries on account of being dispelled by the Sri Lankan Army or the government, he explained. ”They leave the country for UK or Norway in most cases for the love of creature comforts in their settings and for this they have made it a habit of criticizing the Sri Lankan government and its security forces,” he said. Asked if the Sri Lankan Army is under pressure from various quarters to conduct investigations into Channel 4 clips, Medawala said the Army is not and will not be pressurized by any such calls, but is prepared to conduct an inquiry into such allegations provided that there is legitimacy and authenticity in the material provided to them to preceed with an investigation. ”The authenticity of Channel 4 video has not been established,” he said. ”Sri Lanka Army can conduct an inquiry but we need material whose authenticity could be established without personal evidence as to its ownership. We need an original copy of the file and the camera or the mobile phones that were used as a means to film them,” he said. ”If there was an original tape of the clips concerned , the owner of these could hand them over to us through a foreign embassy, or they can directly come to us,” he said. ”Then we will be able to determine how they came to have been filmed , whether the footage of the video is genuine, and the case worth taking for investigation, said Major General Medawala. Referring to the telecast of the video by Channel 4, he said Channel 4 is a private media channel and anyone can buy air time for a program after paying that channel. ”Besides,a paying party can obtain their service for a price,” he explained. ”But we need material of proof and authentication to commence any inquiry,” he added (Daily News : 20 June 2011).

World leaders pledge support for SL’s development - World leaders who attended the 15th St Petersburg International Economic Forum have extended their solidarity and support to post conflict economic and social development efforts in Sri Lanka. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev have told President Mahinda Rajapaksa that they would stand by Sri Lanka in its moment of need. During bilateral talks held on the sidelines of the economic forum, President Medvedev assured President Rajapaksa that Russia will stand by Sri Lanka in all its efforts, the President’s Media said. Meanwhile, President Jintao too has extended his country’s fullest support to Sri Lanka. ‘China will always support Sri Lanka to safeguard the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and maintain the coordination and cooperation with Sri Lanka on regional and international affairs, the Chinese President said. President Jintao made these observations when he met President Rajapaksa on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, the President’s Media said. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero has said that the international community and the United Nations should support Sri Lanka in its post-conflict development (Daily News : 20 June 2011).

What is this 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka

An important news item on the Land and Police powers in 13th Amendment to the Constitution in Sri Lanka - By Gomin Dayasiri (Sunday Divaina : 19 June 2011).
An important news item on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in Sri Lanka (Sunday Divaina; 19 June 2011).
Another important news item on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in Sri Lanka (Sunday Divaina ; 19 June 2011)

Reflections on that Channel 4 ‘documentary’ - by Malinda Seneviratne - The most Channel 4 ‘revelation’ about the ‘last days of the war’ (i.e. the military moves to annihilate the LTTE and rescue hundreds of thousands of people being held hostage by that ruthless terrorist organisation) makes some serious claims of excess by the Sri Lankan security forces. The allegation is that the Government of Sri Lanka sanctioned executions, atrocities and shelling of civilians. The documentary also blames the LTTE for using civilians as human shields. That last part of course is nothing more than tokenism. All those who have accused the Government of Sri Lanka of such crimes generally tend to say something bad about the LTTE, but stop short of calling for a relentless pursuing of co-conspirators and accessories after the facts of genocide and ethnic cleansing. They take refuge, on the rare occasions they do respond to queries over this deliberate ‘absenting’ by telling us that terrorist organisations and states cannot be treated the same way. This is correct of course, although such differences are not relevant to the victims (The Nation ; 19 June 2011).

GR alleges TNA split over Sampanthan’s reconciliation move ‘TNA pressured US State Dept. several diplomatic missions to take up Alavedi issue’ - Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa alleges that a section of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is all out to sabotage an effort by TNA leader MP R. Sampanthan to normalise relations between his party and the government. The Defence Secretary Rajapaksa, yesterday, in an interview with The Island, said that he had received a letter from MP Sampanthan seeking assistance for his party to engage in political activity in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The TNA leader had gone to the extent of expressing his willingness to work with the army, the Defence Secretary said adding that the government appreciated the veteran politician’s effort. Asked whether he had the opportunity to discuss the matter with the TNA leader personally, the Defence Secretary said that he had met the TNAleader in the presence of Indian High Commissioner Ashok Kantha at India House on June 8. The meeting had taken pace at the invitation of the Indian High Commissioner, the official said. The Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said: "I have no option but to disclose the meet with MP Sampanthan due to last Thursday’s incident at Alaveddi in the Jaffna peninsula. A section of the TNA is obviously against Sampanthan’s move and is working overtime to derail national reconciliation process. Anyone who doubts my account of the circumstances leading to Thursday’s incident could contact MP Sampanthan, who is now in India, Rajapaksa said. According to the Defence Minister, R. Sampanthan had sought to work out a very early mutually convenient date to launch his party’s programme. "After writing to me, MP Sampanthan left for India for medical treatment. I was ready to make the necessary arrangements. Unfortunately, before arrangements could be worked out, a group of TNA MPs sought to undermine the TNA leader’s agreement with the government by having an unauthorised meeting in Jaffna," the Defence Secretary said (Island ; 19 June 2011).

War Crimes: UK playing politics at SL’s expense - (Part II) - by Shamindra Ferdinando Continued from Friday (June 18) - Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice is one among many HR groups launched in the wake of Sri Lanka’s triumph over the LTTE in May 2009. The group targeted the government on humanitarian and HR fronts. The Sri Lanka Campaign also declared its affiliation with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group and Reporters sans Borders. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka Campaign came into operation three months after the Sri Lankan military finished off the LTTE on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon. Had it been launched at least at the beginning of the Norwegian-led peace process in early 2002, it could have advised the LTTE not to quit negotiations, thereby saved the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government. Maybe Sri Lanka Campaign could have prevented the LTTE from assassinating Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in Aug 2005 and attempts on the lives of the then Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in April and Dec, 2006, respectively. With last Tuesday’s telecast of ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’, the Sri Lanka Campaign stepped-up its campaign with an on-line report datelined June 17 praising the UK-based Channel 4 for revealing what it called the full scale of Sri Lanka’s hell on earth. The Sri Lanka Campaign reported British Prime Minister David Cameron calling for an investigation into war crime allegations as the Foreign Commonwealth Office Minister Alistair Burt says "convincing evidence of violations of human rights," was aired in the Channel 4 documentary ‘Killing Fields’ (Island ; 19 June 2011).

Channel Four Doctored Video Shows Tamil Terrorists Wearing the Uniforms of Captives Killing Captured SLA Soldiers! - by Geoff Wickrema - How many adults cry watching a sad or sentimental movie? After all, the movie is a commercial production of actors playing their part. It is not real. However, it can stir emotions in viewers. Gravity of emotions created by the Channel Four video is no yardstick to measure its authenticity. What Channel Four harps on is a video that has been doctored. Contrary to their claims that it was taken from a mobile phone, expert opinion has it that it was in fact recorded by a video camera. Did Sri Lanka defence forces use video cameras in the battle field? No. Who used them? Well, here is undeniable proof of a well established video recording operation in action by none other than the LTTE. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2T1FiwRmQo Tamil Tigers regularly used camera crews to record their battles, execution of captives, terrorist attacks and violent propaganda events. The Channel Four video is about Tamil terrorists killing captured Sri Lanka army soldiers wearing the uniforms of captives. That is why the fairer victims (Sri Lankan soldiers) are naked. The darker shooters (Tamil Tigers) are wearing them! It is no secret Sinhalese are fairer than Tamils and conversely Tamils are darker than Sinhalese. Most Sri Lankan soldiers are Sinhalese and all LTTE cadres were Tamils. This fact goes perfectly well with the video. Most Tamil Tiger terrorists were children and young adults. In the video the shooters look younger than the victims. Army soldiers are a disciplined group of men with neat haircuts and proper attire. Victims in the video have neat haircuts. In wide contrast, the shooters have overgrown hair which is distinctive of LTTE cadres. Victims seem much older than the shooters with their fat bellies and heavy build. It further proves the victims were in fact security forces members rather than LTTE cadres (LankaWeb ; 19 June 2011).

C 4 Video ‘Killing fields of Sri Lanka’ – LTTE propaganda - by P.A.Samaraweera, Australia - The programme ‘Killing fields of Sri Lanka’ screened by Channel 4 UK refers to crimes committed by both sides but highlights alleged crimes by the Sri Lanka security forces. Channel 4 backed the LTTE before and after the war for the simple reason that it was heavily funded by the Tamil diaspora. Those traumatised during the 30 year war, were not the affluent Tamil diaspora, the western countries depending on Tamil votes, foreign TV channels which made money out of the war or the LTTE sympathisers of the UN, but the people of Sri Lanka. And the LTTE, listed as a terrorist organisation which brutally fought to fracture Sri Lanka needed to be defeated. The govt has indicated that it will get forensic experts to look at the footage and respond accordingly. Some experts have already observed that it is a fake as there is evidence of manipulation. Even the UN admits that it had been edited. So its authenticity is challenged. The LTTE had torture chambers for those who did not tow the line. Tamil dissidents were executed. Then there were execution of security forces who surrendered , for example 600 police personnel who were coerced to give up their arms. Therefore, the footage obviously shows what the LTTE themselves have been doing during the war. According to Channel 4, the video was supposed to have been taken from a mobile phone by a soldier but experts have argued that it comes from a small hand held camera. Further, it is highly unlikely, that soldiers coming from poor rural families and risking their life fighting a war, would be walking around taking photos with an expensive mobile phone. Towards the end of the war Sri Lanka showed on TV how the soldiers treated civilians fleeing from the LTTE to army territory. Despite this the C4 Programme harps that the military targetted civilians! (Lankaweb ; 19 June 2011).

Lies , Damn Lies & Channel 4 - by Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM Spokesperson, United Sri Lanka Association, Wellington New Zealand - Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics. That was then. Now it is, Lies, Damn Lies & Channel 4. So shamelessly has Channel 4 sold their soul to Tiger funds to propagate deceit and deception. Despite having admitted to doctoring their original video clip regarding it’s date, despite having been shown to have made a mess of editing by reversing the sequence of some of the video clips, the Channel 4 continues shamelessly to air these video’s most recently in their program “ Killing Fields” (14th June 11). These have been supplied by unknown persons , with no one claiming responsibility for it’s origin, except that the video’s have been repeatedly aired in Tiger Diaspora websites many times before screening on Channel 4. And the Tiger Diaspora’s highest credential is their ability to repeatedly misinform and distort, practicing to perfection Joseph Goebell’s doctrine that any big lie, if repeated enough will eventually be believed. Now this same Cannel 4 wants us to believe that it is true, using an “authentication” by a group already discredited . Killing Fields would not do credit even to an amateur in the fiction film industry let alone to investigative journalism, that it is claimed to be. In this day and age we know from every one’s experience how easy it is to doctor a video. We know how many times Tigers were exposed doctoring videos falsely alleging shelling hospitals and civilians during the war and the many times the Tigers were exposed dressed in Sri Lankan soldiers uniforms, shooting civilians and their captives and blaming it on the SL soldiers (LankaWeb ; 19 June 2011).

Channel 4 video of Sri Lankan Killing fields - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN ; Sir: “Graphic footage of the murder of Tamil civilians in a powerful documentary should move the world to seek justice” wrote Chris Cobb. I myself was reviled by this documentary as was Chris Cobb. But my revulsion was for a very different reason. This was a video when challenged by independent experts as not being authentic footage, was admitted by Channel 4’s Callum Macrea who directed it that it was put together with photographic stills, LTTE (Tamil Tiger) websites, video clippings, from official Sri Lankan Army video footage and satellite imagery, contrary to what we were made to believe were completely shot by a simple mobile phone in the killing fields. I also noted that it was Channel 4’s News team, Nick Paton Walsh, producer Bessie Du and cameraman Matt Jasper who were deported from Sri Lanka on 10 May 2009, as they alleged were arrested for false reporting on the Tamil Tiger terrorist war and subsequently deported. It is also clear that the motive to air this video to be seen around the world is to insist that Sri Lanka has to be tried for war against humanity and war crimes during the final few months of the war, when we know that the Tamil Tigers did kill over 100,000 innocent unarmed Sinhalese and Muslim civilians, men, women, pregnant mothers, children and infants for 27 long years and hijacked the right-to-life of 21 million people who were just scared to step outside their homes for the fear of being bombed to smithereens by the Tamil Tigers. They were the terrorists who perfected the art of suicide bombings with suicide body packs, and executed 388 suicide bombings by the time the war ended on 18 May 2009, which also assassinated two heads of state Rajiv Gandhi of India and President Premadasa of Sri Lanka (LankaWeb : 19 June 2011).

Bid to stop deportation of Sri Lankan Tamils from UK thwarted; British MPs, HRW, AI involved in failed attempt.

Response from Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Australia - Please find below the response by the Acting High Commissioner to the contents of Cynthia Banham’s column of 3rd June 2011 in the Sydney Morning Herald titled “Silence on Sri Lanka screams of duplicity.” An edited version (edited by staff of the Sydney Morning Herald and not Ms. Premawardhane) of the above has been carried in the online version of the Sydney Morning Herald and can be accesses at the following link: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/silence-on-sri-lanka-screams-of-duplicity-20110602-1fiqr.html. Response from Sri Lankan High Commissioner: Ms Banham refers to the recently concluded seminar in Sri Lanka on "Defeating Terrorism - the Sri Lankan experience" as a "brag-fest". On the contrary, the seminar was organized with the specific intention of sharing experiences with other countries of the world in dealing with a phenomenon which has debilitated many countries over many years in recent history i.e terrorism. Ms Banham's attempt to portray this exercise as some form of celebration is an insult to all Sri Lankans and others in the world who have suffered due to indiscriminate acts of terrorism. Ms Banham's characterisation of the LTTE as an "insurgent group" adds insult to injury. Ms Banham states that a United Nations "panel of experts" says that up to 40,000 civilians may have been massacred in the final stages of the conflict. Ms Banham quotes from this report the alleged acts committed by the government and the LTTE. These are offences of the highest level of gravity. What she doesn't say is that the report makes these unsubstantiated allegations without any proper verification from authoritative sources. If there are specific allegations against the conduct of the government during the last phases of the conflict the government remains committed to investigating them fully. However, the government will not deal with allegations made against it without any evidence to back those allegations. The comment by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is to be expected given her ill-informed stand on this issue - Sashikala Premawardhane, Acting High Commissioner (Sydney Morning Herald).

Issipriya not just an innocent civilian as portrayed by the Channel4 – Defense Ministry - By Muditha Gamage in Colombo Colombo, 20th June (Asiantribune.com): Sri Lanka’s ministry of defense today said that Issipriya was not just an innocent civilian as portrayed by the Channel4 and revealed that she was a high profile member of the Tamil Tigers, who underwent miltary training and died during the armed conflict. The ministry also said she had not engaged herself in combat operations due to her health conditions. The ministry statement also mentioned that “Issipriya was given the rank of 'Lt Col' due to her contribution to the LTTE. She married a Sea Tiger cadre Sri Ram who also died in the final battle in May 2009. Sri Ram was the former LTTE Senior Sea Tiger leader in Trincomalee and took part in most of the operations launched by the LTTE against the Sri Lanka Navy and Merchant Vessels.” Here is the full statement of the defense ministry: Channel 4 News revealed that one of the victims was a high profile member of the Tamil Tigers - but claimed she was just a journalist rather than a direct fighter as a result of a heart condition. Issipriya was born in 1982 in Jaffna and was recruited by the LTTE and underwent military training in the Wanni. She then served in the LTTE Military Wing and subsequently joined the "Voice of Tigers", the official radio station of the LTTE (Asian Tribune ; 18 June 2011).

Appointment of Rear Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe as the High Commissioner for Australia - by Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya, Melbourne - The Foreign Affairs - Minister, Hon.Kevin Rudd, Federal Parliament of Australia, Canberra, ACT; Dear Mr.Minister, Thank you very much for responding to my appeal to the Prime Minister, regarding the opposition to appointment of Rear Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe as the High Commissioner for Australia by the Sri Lankan Government from the LTTE support Tamil Diaspora and the sympathetic Australian Parliamentarians. Though a lot of Sri Lankans may have appealed just as I did, it may have been your Ambassador’s input that may have cleared the way accept him to Australia. For that I appreciate Ambassador Kathy Klugman’s impartiality. However, intention of my note today is to dispel a misconception of this Panel Report in your attached response! UNO consists of 192 member states at present and Sri Lanka is one of them. The secretary general has immense power as stipulated within the UN Charter Constitution. Yet, I believe there’s a protocol for him follow when exercising these powers. If I take you back few years, I can remember my mentor Mr.Paul Keating (Prime Minister at the time) said we are at the Arse end of the World! Though we are situated geographically like so, this has no relevance to some intelligent and sensible people in this country unlike what comes out of end as Mr.Keating said is putrid. Luckily some of these people are in the Federal Parliament who can be convinced if error has been made. Err is to human, so they say! (LankaWeb ; 18 June 2011).

‘Defeat elements trying to revive LTTE remnants’ - by Hemanthi GURUGE - The government yesterday called on all communities to stand up against unscrupulous elements trying to revive LTTE remnants who are bent on undermining the Security Forces’ victory over terrorism. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa requested the people to stand up against these vicious elements attempting to revive the LTTE rump which is involved in tarnishing the country’s image in the aftermath of the government’s victory over terrorism. The Defence Secretary was speaking at a special ceremony organized by Western Provincial Minister Udaya Gammanpila to bestow merit on members of the Security Forces who laid down their lives in the exercise of freeing the country from terrorism. An alms giving to members of the Maha Sangha and a dansela were held at the Ananda Samarakoon Open Theatre yesterday. The Defence Secretary added that Sri Lanka succeeded in eradicating the ruthless LTTE terrorist outfit from the country and he was confident that the conspiracies made by LTTE remnants through the international community can be defeated with the support of all Sri Lankans. The Defence Secretary added that certain members of the international community are manoeuvring to carve out a separate state by hatching various conspiracies against the motherland. Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said that these members of the international community are pandering to the LTTE. He was of the view that they act according to the whims and fancies of the LTTE remnants in foreign countries. He said that the infamous Channel 4 video clip is an attempt to tarnish the image of the Security Forces who brought peace to the country after a lapse of 30 years. The Defence Secretary added that the LTTE was responsible for the killings of thousands of innocent people in Sri Lanka. Over 600 Police officers who surrendered to the terrorists were brutally killed by them contravening all international norms and practices. “An incident which took place in Jaffna on Thursday was reported to the US Embassy even before it was reported to the Police,” the Defence Secretary said. He said the German Ambassador inquired him about the Katunayake incident. The US forces killed Osama bin Laden and wife but no one raised any questions against the Americans so far (Daily News ; 18 June 2011).

Britain deports 26 Lankans - By Supun Dias - Twenty six Sri Lankan asylum seekers including three Sinhalese, seven Muslims and 16 Tamils who were deported from Britain, arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday on a charter flight, police said. CID Director Vijaya Amerasinghe said they were recording statements from the deportees and they would be allowed to leave after the process was completed. “We have no intention of arresting them or detaining them. We need the information for our files,” DIG Amarasinghe said. This is the first batch of asylum seekers to be deported to Sri Lanka by a Western country notably from Britain. Some of the asylum seekers had reportedly been charged with having links to the LTTE. International Human Rights groups, especially Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch criticized Britain for deporting the asylum seekers who were mostly Tamils and may not be safe on their return. British authorities have said it only undertook to deport Sri Lankans who need not fear for their security or safety (Daily Mirror : 18 June 2011).

Jayalalithaa urges Manmohan to act against Colombo - By Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - Re: The Hindu: Jayalalithaa urges Manmohan to act against Colombo (31 May 2011); I was surprised to read the report from New Delhi which said “Tamil Nadu Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday accused the Sri Lankan government of seeking to ‘exterminate” Tamils in the island nation and urges Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to initiate efforts with other countries for imposing economic sanctions against Colombo until Tamils in that country were resettled and allowed to live in dignity and with equal constitutional rights as the Sinhalese.” You must be joking Jayalalithaa. Being an actress, I believe you were reading the wrong script for your next role in the Cinema of Fairytales, or perhaps it is that time of the month when you hallucinate unless you smoked something that morning that gave you a high which energized you to say, “Hey! I will get you bastards for eliminating the Tamil Tigers who gave me and my 61 million Tamil Nadu people a remote chance to have our own separate state – Dravida Nadu (Dravidastan). I still have the intention to separate Tamil Nadu from India and incorporate other Tamil speaking regions into my cluster like the Dravidian speaking regions of Andra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa, Maharashtra and of course North Sri Lanka and name it either “South India”, or “Deccan Federation” or may be “Dakshinapath.” Jayalalithaa, you couldn’t care two Bhajas dipped in Pyaaz ki chutney for the Sri Lankan Tamils. You just want your damn Dakshinapath, don’t you? “Exterminate” Tamils you said pointing your finger at the Sri Lankan government. You are a sick lady unable to see clinically the ground reality in Sri Lanka. Try a couple of Aspirins before you get to bed for the next 30 days and see whether that would help (LankaWeb : 18 June 2011).

LTTE laid 1.4m landmines in district: Demining on fast-track in Kilinochchi - by Chamikara WEERASINGHE - Sri Lankan Army and UN-sponsored de-mining teams have cleared 60 per cent of mine-containing land in Kilinochchi. The National Steering Committee on Mine Action (NSCMA) yesterday said LTTE had laid over 1.4 million landmines in the Kilinochchi district. "They are being removed, de-mining is on a fast track," NSCMA sources said. Nearly 90 per cent of an estimated quarter million displaced were resettled, sources said and added that Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu remain to be cleared of landmines. Meanwhile, the government on Thursday and Friday resettled 4,000 displaced families in Jaffna. The 4,000 families or 18,000 men, women and children were resettled in the 9,000 square meter High Security Zone (HSZ) with the security clearance being given by the Ministry of Defence. Resettlement Ministry Secretary B M U D Basnayaka said they will resettle the rest of the IDPs no sooner the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu lands are cleared of landmines. IDPs at Manik Farm will be resettled soon in their places of origin. Basnayaka said they will be able to end the the process of resettlement before the end of December. Asked about the facilities given to IDPs and the resettled, he said there is more than enough food, water and sanitary facilities at their welfare camps with the number of IDPs being reduced to less than ten per cent. He said Economic Development Ministry is looking after the resettled. The Ministry is looking after their livelihood maintenance. 'The Economic Development Ministry has started a number of projects in resettled villages to revive their livelihoods with fisheries and agriculture, he said. The Ceylon Electricity Board is providing electricity to resettled villages free of charge, he said. Deputy Resettlement Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan visited Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi IDP camps to meet the IDPs to discuss their matters, who had told him they were satisfied with the facilities inside the camps. Asked why they were unable to resettle some IDPs in several cleared areas, he said they will be resettled in these areas once their ownership of land is verified with respective District Secretariats in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi (Daily News : 18 June 2011).

Lanka Expects UK to Thwart LTTE Plans – Island June 15,2011- by Ira de Silva London, Ontario - The Editor The Island Colombo, Sri Lanka; Dear Sir: It was with disbelief and dismay that I read this news report that the GOSL “believes that the UK wouldn’t throw its weight behind those seeking to undermine post-war stability to avenge the LTTE’s defeat in May last year”. Are they not aware of all the news reports in the U.K., world media and the local media that members of the current Government, the Opposition etc. in the U.K. have banded together to represent the views of the LTTE rump in the U.K. and are hell bent on crucifying Sri Lanka? The Members of Parliament in the U.K. are interested only in themselves and pander to the LTTE Tamil vote to get elected. Proof of this was when David Milliband stated that he spent 60% of his time wooing the Tamil vote in the U.K. Today, Joan Ryan, a former Labour M.P. who regularly led the LTTE efforts when she was an M.P. is working for the Global Tamil Forum of the U.K. The British Government has no interest in helping Sri Lanka, is only interested in satisfying their Tamil voters and if it means dividing Sri Lanka to satisfy these voters that is what they will do. This is the same scenario in the European Union, Australia and Canada, where a Tamil M.P. supportive of the LTTE, has lost no time to call for war crimes investigation. When is the GOSL going to wake up? What information are Sri Lanka’s representatives overseas sending back to the Government? I hope that least the media in Sri Lanka will forcefully bring this type of information to their notice. Please highlight that the millions that are in the LTTE coffers overseas are now directed at funding these Members of Parliament and NGO’s such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch etc. ably supported by their paid servants in the NGO’s in Sri Lanka to convict Sri Lanka on war crimes and crimes against humanity. This was clearly illustrated in Geneva at the U.N. Human Rights session and can not be ignored (LankaWeb ; 18 June 2011).

The sudden wake up for those 600 policemen - As if from a deep slumber Sri Lankan authorities after 21 years have woken up to Commemorate the more than six hundred police personnel who were brutally killed by the LTTE on June 11, 1990 after they surrendered to the outfit on the orders of the “higher ups.” The police Department held special religious rites in a special commemoration ceremony last Saturday. These hapless police personnel serving in the Eastern Province, especially in the Ampara District were never before considered to be reckoned with, leave alone someone commemorating them. In fact their killing was hidden from the public eye by the state for some time until the government of President Ranasinghe Premadasa on whose orders they were said to have surrendered to the LTTE used the incident to counter international allegation of human rights violations. The Present Government too seems to be attempting to use this unprecedented horrific massacre by the Tamil Tigers to ward off the allegations by the Western countries and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. Hence, perhaps, the sudden awakening. However, it is interesting to note that an investigation into the incident was not at least considered so far by any of the governments that had boasted to be patriotic. Also, since the day the incident was revealed to the world, human rights groups, local and international, have been treating it as an un-serious or less serious issue and they never have called for a probe into it (Daily Mirror ; 18 June 2011).

Dayan denounces Channel 4 claims as akin to WMDs in Iraq - Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to France, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, in comments to Radio France International (rfi), pointed out that the campaign in sections of the western media were similar to the claims once made regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq. Ambassador Jayatilleka further questioned the scurrilous claims being made of tens of several thousands of people having been intentionally killed in the last stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka, while noting that there wouldn’t be 11, 000 former LTTE cadres who surrendered and were undergoing rehabilitation, if that had been true. The comment was carried on a News and current affairs programme on RFI in response to the programme screened by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 14 June 2011 (Sri Lanka Guardian ; 17 June 2011).

Bid to stop deportation of SL Tamils thwarted British MPs, HRW, AI involved in failed attempt - By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London - The UK on Thursday night deported 26 Sri Lankans including Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in spite of strong protests by some MPs and Tamil groups. Responding to a query by The Island, sources said that among the deportees were failed asylum seekers, those who overstayed visas and illegal immigrants. A special flight carrying the group and British escorts was scheduled to arrive at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Friday. A last minute attempt by several British MPs, Human Rights activists representing Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and lawyers hired by the deportees failed to prevent the special flight leaving the Gatwick airport. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, too, are deeply involved in the anti-Sri Lanka campaign. Sources alleged that a section of the media had made an attempt to identify all deportees as failed asylum seekers. A senior Sri Lankan official said that some of those involved in the ongoing attempt spearheaded by the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and the Channel 4 television station targeting Sri Lanka, had thrown their weight behind the operation to stop the deportation. The labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, Ms. Siobhain McDonagh, who recently moved a motion in the British parliament attacking Sri Lanka over alleged war crimes lashed out at the government for going ahead with the deportation. Addressing the House of Commons, the MP said that Tamils shouldn’t be deported due to continuing abuses, including torture and extra-judicial killings. The Labour MP alleged that the Tamils were vulnerable due to UK Border Agency (UKBA) sharing their information with the government of Sri Lanka. Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle rejected McDonagh’s call for an emergency debate on the issue. In spite of a deportee making a suicide attempt by hanging himself with his duvet in an airport detention centre, British authorities put him onboard the special flight. A senior spokesperson for the Sri Lankan High Commission in London told The Island they hadn’t shared information regarding the deportees with UKBA, though the HC identified the 26 individuals as Sri Lankans and issued travel documents for them to travel to Sri Lanka. The official emphasized that there was absolutely no basis for claims that the failed asylum seekers had been tortured in Sri Lanka or would face torture once they returned. That was nothing but one of their tactics to secure asylum in the UK, he said. British Immigration Minister Damian Green said that the UK took its international responsibilities seriously and considered each claim for asylum on its individual merits. He further said that if an applicant sought international protection they would grant it (Island : 17 June 2011).

Former TNA parliamentarian Kanagarathnam who was present at the final stages of the humanitarian operations says the “channel 4” documentary is completely devoid of the truth - The “Channel 4” television of Britain was engaged in another attempt to discredit the Sri Lankan government and the security forces before the international community. The intention of this channel was to convince the world that the security forces were engaged in a brutal massacre of innocent civilians. However, this television has deliberately shun from the viewers the strenuous efforts of the security forces personnel rescuing pregnant women children and elders from the clutches of the tiger terrorists. The channel has used a woman named Mani Kumar of Britain as the main resource person. This person had acted with the LTTE during the last stages of the humanitarian operation. Doctors working in the Wanni have established the fact that she was closely associated with the LTTE. The “channel 4” was engaged in a valiant effort to portray the information received from a such a person and also from LTTE friendly and anti security forces elements as the opinion of the ordinary civilians. The “channel 4” presentation also included photographs and scenes of tiger leader Ramesh. Ramesh is a blatant terrorist who had given leadership to many brutal terrorist acts. He had also taken the lead in attacking army camps and civilians in the northern and eastern provinces. However, this channel does not mentioned of any of these incidents. Former Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian S. Kanakaratnam, who saved his life in Wellamulli-waikkal said none of the incidents reported in the “channel 4” television programme was witnessed in the final stages of the humanitarian operation. He stressed that it was the tiger terrorists who inhumanly massacred the civilians. He further points out that certain groups living in western countries are engaged in various acts for their sustenance. He adds that none of the persons engaged in the preparation of the programme had witnessed the humanitarian operation through their own eyes. He pledges that this was a programme without any truth (SLBC ; 17 June 2011).

BBC’s Apology on Faked Footage and Channel 4’s ‘Killing Fields’ - "The BBC will make an on-screen apology to fashion chain Primark after a report found it was ‘more likely than not’ that it included faked footage", so says a Daily Mail Reporter on June 16. BBC was the gold standard in journalism. There was a time when anything that BBC said was taken as the Gospel truth, whether it was the content that it gave its listeners and readers or the style and the erudite manner in which it was stated. The world has changed a great deal, and it is sad that BBC, as symbolic of the UK as the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, British Museum, Oxford Street, Harrods of Knightsbridge or the Lord’s Cricket Grounds, has to come down from its pedestal. All anti-Sri Lankan groups and individuals - Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu (past and present), the LTTE remnants and its backers in the UK, Canada, US or Australia and Navi Pillay and other bigwigs of UN – are agog with excitement after the UK Channel 4 broadcast its Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, and are demanding that the political leadership of Sri Lanka and its armed forces are hauled before an international court of justice for war crimes. When the high priests of journalism are ready to accept faking, mere mortals such as Channel 4 going all out to sensationalise and attract viewers is hardly surprising (Island : 17 June 2011).

Sierra Global conducts CSR activities in the North - Sierra Global Network Private Limited, one of the leading telecommunication infrastructure development and management services firm has donated large number of decks shoes to students in the Vaddakachchi Maha Vidyalaya in Kilinochchi district which is one of the oldest schools in Kilinochchi district. There are over 100 students currently studying in Vaddakachchi Maha Vidyalaya which is located close to the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Iranamadu base camp. This donation has been organized as part of the Iranamadu base camp 2nd year anniversary. “We are continuing our support to people in the Newly Liberated Areas (NLAs) as part of our commitment to develop the Northern Province which falls under our company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program. In the past we have given number of scholarships, donated school books, school bags and other needy items under the same program” said Dr. Arosha Fernando, Director / CEO of Sierra Global who frequently travels to the Northern Province to monitor the progress of telecommunication expansion projects in the region. Iranamadu has been a strategic location during the war as LTTE has built an airstrip in the thick jungles of Iranamadu near an irrigation reservoir, when the area was under their control. The air strip is 300m long and 20m wide and is believed to be used for LTTE’s trainings and emergency landings. This makeshift airstrip is to be turned into an aviation complex under the government’s post-war reconstruction plans. The proposal is part of the regional development plan for the Northern Province and will be equipped with a training and research institute as well (Daily Mirror : 17 June 2011).

Would Prabhakaran be subject to same war crimes charges, if alive? - Khaleej Times online - The question here is — would things be any different if the slain LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who trained the most efficient squad of suicide bombers in the world, were alive? Would he be subject to the same war crimes charges for the killings and ethnic cleansing and a hundred other atrocities he had committed?, the Khaleej Times online questioned. The British Channel 4 documentary titled Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, aired last Tuesday, has brought on a fresh onslaught of international wrath on the alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan army during its last and victorious offensive against the LTTE, the Khaleej Times online said in an article titled ‘Of war crimes and double standards’ published on June 17 2011. Three decades of war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, proscribed as a terrorist faction by most countries and organisations, including the UN, the UK and the US, shredded the country’s economy and growth by the end of the war in 2009, the article acced. The documentary is disturbing enough. For those who have little or no background knowledge of one of the worst guerrilla onslaughts on a country for 27 years, the film would leave them siding with politicians asking for a war crime trial for the country’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Channel 4 presenter Jon Snow uses subtle and persuasive journalism tools and phrases like "unequal war" and "oppressive president" to leave an indelible final impression of the Sri Lankan army and its government as the bad guys. There is just a little bit of film on the Tigers, who "cannot be distinguished from the civilians", according to Snow, using Tamil civilians as human shields. But that’s about it. To think that anything would be fair in war is a fallacy. If the film were factual, killing civilians is wrong. Raping and molesting women cadres is wrong. Shooting at a naked and bound terrorist is wrong. Even if it is done by soldiers who have reached the end and have seen their men mutilated, shot and hacked to death, POWs tortured, women and children raped and decapitated by terrorists, it is still wrong (Island ; 17 June 2011).

I’m beginning to feel normal again – Ex-LTTE combatant - Today I feel free of my past, but more importantly I am beginning to feel normal again, a rehabilitated ex-LTTE member said. Thayasevan, aged 36, was released recently after rehabilitation. "I lost my leg fighting for the LTTE and until recently felt I had lost my entire life," he told IRIN. "It was a gruesome time being with the LTTE. I have suffered physically and emotionally. I could not even attend to my dying mother due to LTTE regulations. It was a very heart-breaking time," he said. "After the war, I was placed in a rehabilitation centre, while my wife and two children returned to our village and resettled," he said. "Last year [in the rehabilitation centre] was particularly tough for us financially - so tough that my wife had to take up fishing to feed our children." He said: "When I returned from the rehabilitation centre in 2010, I wasn’t really able to manage things for my family and wondered what the future held. "Without a job I felt disabled and soon found myself having to borrow money to get by. It was a terrible time for us. "Fortunately, after two months I was able to find work lagoon fishing. "Today, things are slowly improving and I have paid back my debts and even bought a small plot of land for a house. More importantly, however, the community has accepted me back - accepting me as one of their own, Thayasevan added (Island ; 17 June 2011).

A’sangaree demands withdrawal of troops from N & E - The Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front has demanded that army be withdrawn from the North and the East and the administration be given back to the civil officers. TULF leader V. Anandasangaree, condemning the recent alleged interference of the army officers in a TNA meeting held at Alaveddi in Jaffna, inaugurating their political campaign for the forthcoming local government elections said in a statement: (Island ; 17 June 2011).

No genuine attempts made - Gota - Secretary Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa who graced the ‘Ranaviru Punyanumodana-2011’ ceremony as the Chief Guest today addressed the gathering, he stated - ‘Time has come again for all of us to unite together and voice our concerns against attempts being made by LTTE rump and Tamil Diaspora at international level, in order to achieve what they could not reach through terrorism in the past. Heroic efforts of our War Heroes are belittled and insulted by those interested parties, by projecting our armed forces as members who have committed war crimes, according to whims and fancies of interested parties who influence the international community. As a nation who salvaged this country from scourge of terrorism, it is our duty now as patriots to rise to the occasion and defeat those international attempts, meant to bring discredit to the country,’ Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa said. ‘Some of those elements are serving the agenda and requirements of the terrorist leader, Prabakaran while using the international community. Some run to western embassies for complaint before they report even to the Police when any incident occurs. Channel-4 video conveniently forgets to mention even the name of the terrorist leader, Prabakaran who cold-bloodedly butchered unarmed 600 Policemen, numbers of Buddhist monks, villagers, passengers, et al in the country. Nobody appears taking any interest in talking about how US operational troops in Pakistan shot and killed the wife of Bin Laden at first during their swoop’, he added. Mr Rajapaksa referring to the non-participation of certain western powers in the recent Army-organized seminar, ‘Defeating Terrorism - The Sri Lankan Experience,’ noted that had those countries genuinely wanted to learn how the Sri Lanka Army fought terrorism, they would have sent their representatives to the seminar, enabling the Army to respond to any queries or clarifications as they required. Some of them want to provide a lifeline for revival of terrorist aspirations, he added. Paying a tribute to the organizers of the event, Mr Rajapaksa added that the memory of our War Heroes should always be kept in mind without forgetting them, and we, as a united nation, should strive and rise against allegations of the international community against our War Heroes, most of which have been largely influenced by pro-terrorist elements operating at international levels (Daily Mirror ; 17 June 2011).

Information on previous distorted and biased programmes of the channel four television has been revealed - It has been reported that charges have been levelled on the programmes televised by the channel four television of Britain earlier as well. The first court case against this channel was filed in 1992. The case was submitted by South African media person Jani Elan protesting on the manner she was depicted in a documentary programme. Strong protests were lodged on the channel four television for misrepresenting facts in a television programme on global warming telecast on the 8th of March 2007. Specialists expressed strong opposition on the inaccuracy of the facts presented in the programme. They were of the view that the programme was based on unilateral information. The Ofcom Institute, which is the British television regulatory institute, received 246 complains in this regard. The scientist and the science organisation said the facts presented by themselves were distorted. Another documentary televised by the channel four television strongly criticising the green movement also came under strong condemnation. A programme was edited distorting the opinions of the persons participated in the interviews. The two types of accusations filed against the channel four television for being unilateral and spreading communalism. The analysts further say the big brother programme telecast through this channel used words insulting the black racial groups. Intense controversy has also arisen regarding a programme on drugs telecast under the heading drugs live. It has been charged that the programme was presented in a manner with the sole intention of attracting viewers by addressing to their feelings. The channel four television has commenced transmissions on the second of November 1982. Although it commenced operations as a public service television network, the channel is now being maintained on independent funds. The government has sternly rejected the facts contained in a recently televised video tape regarding the humanitarian operations conducted in Sri Lanka. The government has stated that it was a programme telecast on a unilateral basis to fulfil the needs of the LTTE. Attorney at law Gomin Dayasiir says the channel four is a totally biased media. This channel was expelled during the time of the war for conducting close connections with the LTTE. Attorney at law S.L. Gunasekera said the channel four television is trying to take revenge from Sri Lanka unable to bear the war victory. Head of the faculty of media communication of the Kelaniya university Professor Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa said it is a responsibility of the media to give a correct understanding on the true situation regarding the channel four incident (SLBC : 17 June 2011).

Leading lawyers point out the “channel four” media is biased - Senior advocate Gomin Dayasiri says “channel four” TV channel is not an impartial media. The channel had maintained very close relations with the LTTE during the war period. A group of journalist of the channel was evicted from the country during that time. Although Sri Lanka has established peace in the country by now some elements are still attempting to revitalize the LTTE. Senior lawyer S.L.Gunasekara says channel four is not happy about Sri Lanka’s victory over terrorism. Therefore it is attempting to discredit Sri Lanka by broadcasting false propaganda. Prisoners of war in the Gwantanamo-Bay in the USA are subjected to torture today as well. But channel four does not broadcast US war crimes. Mr. Gunasekara further said that no one conduct international investigations into the crimes committed by the USA (SLBC : 17 June 2011).

The defence secretary says the patriotic people should rally to counter the international challenges against the motherland - Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says time has come for the patriotic people to rally for countering the international challenges posed against the motherland. Remnants of the LTTE in the international arena with the pro LTTE elements are attempting to carry forward their separatist movement again. Some local elements as well are trying to support the LTTE by devaluing war victories. The Defence Secretary made these remarks at a ceremony held in Nugegoda to convey merits to the fallen heroes. Mr. Rajapaksa pointed out that some persons are keen to complain even simple incidents to the diplomatic mission in Sri Lanka. Some European countries were willing to participate in the Defence Seminar held recently in Sri Lanka to share the experience of humanitarian mission. However, the LTTE diaspora prevented those countries from taking part in the seminar. The Defence Secretary requests therefore, all patriotic movements in the country should rally round with the government to counter these vicious forces against the country. An almsgiving was offered to Maha Sangha to convey merits to the fallen heroes. Scholarships were awarded to a group of children from the war heroes families (SLBC : 17 June 2011).

Deported Lankans landed - About 40 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers, who were deported from Britain, arrived here this morning, police said. A senior police officer confirmed that currently statements were being recorded from them by a special team from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). “We were just recording statements from them, once the procedure is over we will allow them to go soon,” the official said (Daily Mirror ; 17 June 2011).

LTTE rump ignores ex-LTTE combatants undergoing rehabilitation

Why did the Guardian fail to probe the reasons for its lies? - Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP - When I was asked by al-Jazeera television to be interviewed with regard to an article in the Guardian about the latest Channel 4 film on Sri Lanka, they kindly sent me a link which showed previous stories on Sri Lanka. The most prominent below the current story was an article by Gethin Chamberlain entitled ‘Civilians held in Sri Lanka camps face disease threat’. The name and the headline brought back many memories of the tremendous threats Sri Lanka faced back in 2009. The article was written by Gethin Chamberlain in Menik Farm on April 20th that year. This was part of an effort we made then to show journalists what was going on. Most of them reported honestly, in particular the Indian journalists, who were able thus to assuage the fears of many of those in Tamilnadu who might have succumbed to negative propaganda (Daily News : 17 June 2011).

Medical specialists condemn controversial Darusman Report - A group of leading medical specialists and consultants in healthcare services said they are appalled by the contents of the controversial Darusman Report. "We have noted serious flaws in this report and feel that it is highly biased and prejudiced to a great extent," the specialists and consultants which included presidents, past presidents, office-bearers and members of main Professional Medical Associations in the country said. "The panel has disregarded the fact that most violations of human rights and abductions were seen in defacto areas under the control of the LTTE rather than in areas managed by the government. The 'shelling' of hospitals and schools have been reported without verification," they said. "It is obvious that this report would lead to both disruption and undermining of the prevailing peace and harmony among all ethnic groups in the country. It is sad to note that this report appears at a time of peace and reconciliation, when the harsh memories of the conflict are fading from the minds of people of all communities." "During the reign of terror, the enormity of the fear psychosis was such that parents were reluctant to send their children to school fearing they would not see them return home alive, while family members travelled separately fearing the loss of the entire family," the specialists and consultants said (Daily News : 17 June 2011).

Sri Lankan diaspora in US briefs Congress : SL’s reconciliation on track - SL-American voters - LLRC bringing country together - Discuss peace, redevelopment, economic progress - Includes more than 100 meetings - Nearly 100 Sri Lankan - Americans throughout the United States travelled to Capitol Hill, Monday to brief Congress on reconciliation and post-conflict progress in Sri Lanka as part of Sri Lankan-American Day on Capitol Hill. The meetings with member of Congress and their staff were organized by the Sri Lankan community, with the help of the Sri Lankan embassy in Washington, DC. The sessions focused on economic and social progress in Sri Lanka two years after it successfully ended its war against terrorism. Members of the Sri Lankan diaspora in the US met with one-fifth of the Congress in just one day, pressing for a broader understanding of Sri Lanka’s decades-long conflict and its post-conflict reconciliation efforts. Rep. Robert Aderholt, (R-Ala.,), Co-Chair of the Sri Lanka Congressional Caucus, said that he had visited Sri Lanka following the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami. “I don’t think I would recognize Sri Lanka today given the progress that has taken place since then,” he said. “It is clearly a very dynamic country where a lot has changed for the better.” Aderholt and Rep. Steve Chabot, (R-Ohio), Chairman of the House subcommittee on the Middle East and South East Asia, and Congressional staff members also visited with the diaspora during a luncheon reception in the U.S. House of Representatives Rayburn Office Building. Monday’s event was the first-ever Sri Lankan-American Day on Capitol Hill. The large turnout demonstrated the support among the Sri Lankans in America for Sri Lanka’s post-conflict programs, lasting peace and reconciliation efforts. The U.S. and Sri Lanka, Asia’s oldest democracy, have had diplomatic relations for 63 years - since Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain in 1948 - and trade relations for more than 200 years. Sri Lanka experienced 26 years of conflict when the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began a campaign of terror against the government and people of Sri Lanka. The conflict ended in May 2009 with the LTTE’s defeat. Diaspora members told members of Congress that Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission(LLRC) is examining events of the conflict, with a broad mandate to pursue rights violations. They argued that an international investigation of the conflict would be a set-back for reconciliation among Sri Lankans (Daily News ; 17 June 2011).

The enigma that is Jayalalitha; a force not to be dismissed or scorned - By Raj Gonsalkorale - Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jeyaram has won and lost elections, all by landslides, demonstrating how India’s southern tinsel town politics works. You are either swept in or swept out by voter floods. From all accounts Ms Jayalalitha is a very intelligent person who took to acting mainly due to her family’s economic circumstances. She excelled in her carrier winning many awards and accolades. Her successes in politics have not been as spectacular as her acting, so far. She has been embroiled in many law suits filed against her for corruption and malpractices, but she has been acquitted from these, and some in Tamil Nadu strongly suspect these cases had been politically motivated. Although lacking in formal educational qualifications, she has been conferred with six honorary Doctorates from numerous universities in Tamil Nadu. She obviously can hold her own amongst all sections of the Tamil Nadu community. Jayalalitha as an actress wanted the limelight and recognition of her abilities. One’s persona does not change when carriers change, so what she craved for then, she wants it now. Scorning her could be quite detrimental and could generate a lot of fury. The Union government of India knows this, and so should Sri Lanka (Asian Tribune : 17 June 2011).

Of war crimes and double standards - The British Channel 4 documentary titled Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields aired last Tuesday has brought on a fresh onslaught of international wrath and local denials on the alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan army during its last and victorious offensive against the LTTE. Three decades of war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, proscribed as a terrorist faction by most countries and organisations, including the UN, the UK and the US, shredded the country’s economy and growth by the end of the war in 2009. The hour-long video, which comprises just a few minute’s footage of “atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan Army”, has been doctored, says the Sri Lankan government which assigned its own experts to examin the video. Rejecting the contents of the film, Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that “pro-LTTE elements have used the Channel4 news agency after giving money to them (channel4) in order to tarnish the image of both the Sri Lankan government as well as the army”. The Sri Lankan Ministry of External Affairs stated that the documentary, like the Darusman Report, does no more than put together a sequence of events and images, to justify a conclusion arrived at in advance. It added that the origins of this footage have not been established, and no one has so far taken responsibility for its contents. “It is a mere collection of visuals previously aired through LTTE websites and a miniscule section of the international media, at the behest of parties with vested interests to undermine the present efforts at reconciliation and development taking place in Sri Lanka. The views expressed in the film are without any guarantee of authenticity,” says the government statement. The documentary is disturbing enough. For those who have little or no background knowledge of one of the worst guerrilla onslaughts on a country for 27 years, the film would leave them siding with politicians asking for a war crime trial for the country’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa (Khaleej Times : 17 June 2011).

LTTE rump ignores ex-combatants undergoing rehab; UK, US, Norway, Japan, Australia to the rescue - By Shamindra Ferdinando - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is seeking financial assistance to help ex-LTTE combatants reintegrate back to civilian life following rehabilitation under military supervision. Additional funds are needed to sustain the exclusive project spearheaded by the IOM. Norway, Australia and Japan are among the countries ready to support the IOM initiative, which is implemented in support of the rehabilitation project undertaken by the government of Sri Lanka. IOM is confident of obtaining additional funds from sources other than Norway, Australia and Japan. Since the launch of the project some time after the conclusion of war in May 2009, the IOM has received funds from the UK, the US and the Netherlands. The UK and the US have assured the IOM of additional funding for the project. LTTE activists abroad have not contributed even a single dollar to the rehabilitation project, according to IOMsources. Once ex-LTTE personnel are released from Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation centres (PARCs), the IOM steps in with its assistance-carries out individual socio-economic profiling of each other and issues them a special identity card. At the conclusion of the conflict, the government held about 11, 600 in its custody, though over 7,000 were released in batches over the past two years. The IOM is of the opinion that failure to help them resume normal life could cause security problems. Denial of reintegration assistance and advice to ex-LTTE personnel may not only undermine their re-assimilation into normal society but also catalyze a return to hostilities leading to a deterioration of security and potentially a return to conflict, according to IOM (Island : 16 June 2011).

SL exposes ‘C4 lie’ - By Shamindra Ferdinando - The government says the very basis of the Channel 4 programme, telecast on Tuesday (June 14), that the Defence Ministry forced the UN agencies to vacate the Vanni to allow the military to target the civilian community at will is baseless. Although UN agencies vacated the Vanni in Sept. 2008, the ICRC remained until Jan. 2009 after the fall of Kilinochchi, the military said. The UK based Channel 4 could verify this information with the ICRC in Colombo or Geneva, a senior government spokesman told The Island. C4 quoted former UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss as having said that the removal of the international organisations was to give the military free hand. Responding to a query by The Island, the ICRC on Thursday said that they had vacated Puthukudirippu in January 2009 due to fighting in the area. In spite of another expatriate, based in Kilinochchi, being quoted by the British channel as saying that the civilians strongly opposed the UN vacating the LTTE-held territory, thereby exposing them to the advancing army, the presenter ignored the presence of the ICRC. The LTTE went to the extent of detaining two Tamil UN employees for helping civilians escape to the government-held area. The UN mission in Colombo had withheld that information from its headquarters, while it held clandestine talks with the LTTE to secure their release. The LTTE also thwarted repeated attempts by international humanitarian agencies to move at least local staff and their families to safety. Responding to allegations that the government had denied food and medicine to the Vanni population, a senior military officer told The Island that the government had moved supplies in ships. The military said that the World Food Programme (WFP) provided large stocks of food items and the Channel 4 could easily check with the WFP office in Colombo. The WFP and the UN would be able to brief the Channel 4 of the total amount of food, medicine and other supplies moved overland to LTTE-held areas during the Vanni offensive, he said (Island ; 16 June 2011).

Of Scoops, Spooks, Stoops etc - by Dr Bandula Kothalawala London - The C4 “documentary” on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka telecast on 14 June 2011 has brought forth a great deal of comment from all quarters. C4 programmes are in general reflective of the abysmal depths into which the media in the UK has sunk in its sordid endeavours to increase circulation or audience. Dorothy Byrne, Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4, writing on the programme in the Independent (10 June 2011), warned people about watching the horrific scenes contained in it. “The images will remain in your mind, maybe, for years”, says Dorothy. I did not want these horrors to haunt the rest of my life, especially, as there is a strong likelihood of the footage being fake! I had, therefore, decided not to watch them at all. Incidentally, Dorothy’s manifestly disingenuous crude blurb is reminiscent of the ploy employed by producers of sexually explicit films of yesteryear who would hope against hope that the censors would come down hard on them.”Worst images are in the last part”, reassures Dorothy, ostensibly to warn vulnerable adults, but certainly to ensure that as many people as possible remain glued to it till the end. So much for integrity and work ethics at C4! It certainly gives an interesting insight into the mindset of those responsible for the programme (LankaWeb : 16 June 2011).

Channel 4 film, bid at harming Sri Lanka - LLRC entitled to space and time to complete its work - INGOs critical of SL turned down invitation to give evidence - The channel 4 documentary titled ‘Sri Lanka’s killing fields’ is a mere ‘collection of visuals previously aired through LTTE websites and a minuscule section of the international media, at the behest of parties with vested interests to undermine the present efforts at reconciliation and development taking place in Sri Lanka, a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said. “The views expressed in the film are without guarantee of authenticity,” it added. The External Affairs Ministry was responding to a statement by the British Foreign Office Minister for South Asia Alistair Burt on the Channel 4 documentary telecast on June 14, 2011. The statement of the Ministry of External Affairs: (Daily News ; 16 June 2011).

Govt. shamelessly endorses "LTTE agent" UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s re-election bid – Ravi K - by Zacki Jabbar - After accusing the UNSG Ban Ki-moon of being an LTTE agent, the government has shamelessly endorsed his bid for re-election, the UNP said yesterday. UNP National Organiser Ravi Karunanayake, MP, addressing a news conference in Colombo said that the Rajapaksa regime and its ministers were behaving like clowns by changing their positions from time to time. He queried as to how a person accused of being an LTTE agent and violating Sri Lanka’s sovereignty by commissioning an Experts Panel Report that alleged war crimes against the political and military leadership of the country, suddenly became suitable to lead the UN for a second term. The government had called Ban Ki-moon various names including "LTTE Agent", "Western Stooge","Rogue" and "War Monger" and one Minister even staged a bogus death fast in front of the Colombo UN Office, but has now swallowed its words and also disgraced the country by not backing another candidate for the office of UNSG (Island ; 16 June 2011).

Commemoration not enough - S. Abeywickrama, Nugegoda - After 21 long years, steps have been taken to commemorate the 600 policemen who were killed in cold blood after they surrendered to the LTTE on the orders of the then president Ranasingha Premadasa who wanted to maintain his "dignity" by saving the peace agreemen’t with the LTTE. It was very unfortunate that the policemen were not given an opportunity to engage the LTTE and die an honourable death if they couldn’t defeat them or chase them away. Nobody wanted to even talk about them much less do anything about them while Premadasa was alive for fear of reprisal. Nor did his successors do anything about them for the last 17 years for reasons not known to the public. The 600 policemen were a forgotten lot except for the fact that a few readers kept reminding the govt. from time to time of the need to compensate their dependents. Dependents of all other security forces and police personnel who were killed in the war have been compensated but those policemen had to fend for themselves without any compensation. Now that a start has been made by taking steps to commemorate them the govt. must take immediate steps to identify the victims and their dependents and compensate them adequately without any further delay. Better late than never! (Island ; 16 June 2011).

The National Radio denounces the video tape televised by the Channel Four television - The National Radio in Sri Lanka totally rejects the video tape televised by the Channel Four television of Britain recently. The video has been fabricated to appease the needs of pro-LTTE Tamil community. The video tape has attempted to portray the Sri Lankan security forces were engaged in war crimes. The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, the national media institute, sternly condemns the unilateral act of the British Media Institute, which advocates for upholding an advanced democracy and media civility. This transmission has attempted to violate the sovereignty and reputation of another country. The SLBC points out that this media channel should have inquire from the Sri Lankan government or the security divisions at ethical grounds before telecasting the so-called video tape. The BBC of the Great Britain is a state institution run by public funds. It is regrettable fact that the channel four television of the Great Britain also disregarding basic media principals. The LTTE had severely violated human rights by engaging in a 30 year old separatist war and there are enough evidences to substantiate the killings conducted by this group. The same group used innocent Tamil people as a human shield to protect themselves. They shot at the unarmed people who were fleeing after being liberated from the terrorists. The channel four has not paid any attention on this sort of atrocities committed by the LTTE. The national radio expresses its strong apprehension on the charges made by the channel four regarding the alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan security forces (SLBC : 16 June 2011).

Professor Rohan Gunarathne stresses the need of a well organised campaign to combat false propaganda of the LTTE sympathisers - Professor in Terrorism Studies of the Nanyan Technological University, Singapore Rohan Gunarathne says the government should commence a well organised campaign to combat false propaganda carried out by the LTTE sympathisers internationally. He pointed out that if government does not react to the false propaganda, more media contents such as fake channel-4 video will come to the scene in the near future. This awareness programme should be carried out at international level as a concerted effort of the Defence, External Affairs and Mass Media Ministries. Even though the LTTE was uprooted in Sri Lanka, remnants of the terrorist outfit are still alive at the international level and launching false media campaign against the country. The professor noted that global experts in terrorism studies who attended the Defence Seminar held in Colombo recently praised the development in the Northern and Eastern provinces soon after the gruesome war. Professor Rohan Gunarathne added that Yugoslavia needed more than a decade to mark this kind of development after the war. He also said that the government should endeavour to educate the international community regarding this kind of positive steps taken to rebuild the nation (SLBC : 16 June 2011).

Sri Lankan Defence Secretary says pro-LTTE elements have used Channel 4 to tarnish the country's image - Rajapaksa has said that some pro-LTTE elements have used the Channel 4 news agency to tarnish the image of both the Sri Lankan government as well as the Army. Rajapaksa has reportedly said that the government has received information that a fake video had been created by Channel 4 news after obtaining money from pro-LTTE elements. "Once again some pro-LTTE elements have used the Channel4 news agency after giving money to them (Channel 4) in order to tarnish the image of both the Sri Lankan government as well as the Army," Rajapaksa has said. The local media has quoted the Defence Secretary as saying that during the war, the army was always committed to save the lives of innocent civilians and never harmed their lives. Rajapaksa has explained that the lives of civilians as well as the families of the LTTE leaders, such as widows of LTTE Sea Tiger Leader Soosai and the LTTE Political Chief Thamilchelvan, who were stranded due to the war, were protected by the armed forces during and after the war. Meanwhile, the government said it would carefully review the gruesome video aired by the Channel 4 on Tuesday night. Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has told the Daily Mirror yesterday that the government will take a close look at the documentary and have its own forensic experts and foreign experts to look at the footage and respond accordingly (Colombo page : 16 June 2011).

Response to Tamil Nadu Tactics - by C.Seneviratne - Jayalalitha’s government has called for economic sanctions on Sri Lanka , the latest in the continuing saga of political interference into Sri Lankan affairs by Tamil Nadu state politicians. It has become the norm for them to whip up nationalistic feelings to gain support to achieve their political end. They thrive on the immediate political splash which generally fades away without much stir. Credit should go to the Central government who rubbishes off these with little or no annoyance. However these utterances and speeches filled with enmity do hurt ordinary Sri Lankans who are in the process of reconciliation. There may be a case here for our provincial, municipal or local councils in the country to take up these matters as a response and pass resolutions and deliver speeches condemning Tamil Nadu tactics probably with equal venom. Of course Sri Lankan government cannot be held responsible for local government measures which could be the outlet for grass root Sri Lankans to express their feelings. Minister Rambukwalle has rightly clarified the government’s position in dealing only with the Central government. I call upon the local councillors in the country, government or in opposition to take up these matters in earnest which is not within the grasp of our government (LankaWeb : 16 June 2011).

Taking on Aggressive Journalism of Channel 4: Look up to the Royal Family for Inspiration - If those who have been watching the video clips aired by Channel 4, the British TV channel, for the past two years come to the conclusion that the channel seems to be having an axe to grind, the size of the sharp object in the phrase must be enhanced in proportion to the exaggeration of the atrocities attributed to one side of the prolonged conflict, that the Channel has been telecasting since the day a few of its journalists were deported from Sri Lanka at the height of the war. When the programme makers of the Channel can go to such a level to show petty-mindedness, then it inevitably casts an extended shadow over the integrity of even the good journalists who are working for the Channel. Even fair-minded British people now ask as to why Channel 4 is taking this issue on a regular basis with no sign of abating, while knowing very well the inevitable facets of a war. By giving its latest programme the title, ‘Sri Lanka’s killing fields’, the television channel has gone far beyond the normal boundaries of fairness; Channel 4 proved that it can not only be petty-minded, but also be pretty vindictive, if it doesn’t get its way or a governments crosses its path (Asian Tribune : 16 June 2011).

Sri Lanka responds to UK ultimatum ‘C4 engaged in move to push Sri Lanka back to war’

Sri Lanka responds to War crimes claims - Al Jazeera - Rajiva Wijesinha, a Sri Lankan member of parliament, and adviser on reconciliation to the president, responds to claims and footage aired by British broadcaster which alleges Sri Lankan troops carried out atrocities near the end of the civil war (U-Tube ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdrCR-X4iH0).

Fake, made for LTTE money: Gota - While rejecting the contents of the video aired on the British Channel 4 news channel, Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday said they have received information that a fake video had been created by Channel 4 news after obtaining money from pro-LTTE elements. Fake, made for LTTE money: Gota “Once again some pro-LTTE elements have used the Channel 4 news agency after giving money to them (Channel 4) in order to tarnish the image of both the Sri Lankan government as well as the army,” Mr. Rajapaksa said. He also said that during the war, the army was always committed to save the lives of innocent civilians and never harmed their lives. According to Mr. Rajapaksa, the lives of civilians as well as the families of the LTTE leaders, such as widows of LTTE Sea Tiger Leader Soosai and the LTTE Political Chief Thamilchelvan, who were stranded, were protected by the armed forces during and after the war. “As examples, the army is still giving protection to the families of Soosai and Thamilchelvan, who were top level LTTE leaders and also carefully protected the mother and father of slain LTTE leader Prabhakaran, until their death” Mr. Rajapaksa said. Mr. Rajapaksa also added that the army always behaved professionally giving utmost priority to safeguard the lives of innocent civilians and the allegation against the army is clearly to tarnish the image of the army internationally. DM quote While rejecting the contents of the video aired on the British Channel 4 news channel, Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said they have received information that a fake video had been created by Channel 4 news after obtaining money from pro-LTTE elements (Daily Mirror ; 16 June 2011).

Credibility of the UN Expert Report on Sri Lanka - By Dr. Laksiri Fernando There are two reasons why Sri Lanka should take the UN (Darusman) Expert Panel report on ‘accountability issues’ during the last stages of the war in 2009 serious. First is the simple fact that this report is somehow associated with the United Nations for the right or wrong reasons. Second is the more weighty fact that this report alleges certain violations related to human rights and international humanitarian law with some information that Sri Lanka itself should investigate. Otherwise the report, contrary to its ‘expert’ nomenclature, is not professional, objective or unbiased, with considerable factual and methodological errors. It may be a good example of ‘how not to write a UN human rights report’ in the future. The very first sentence of the report in the Executive Summary is erroneous. It refers to “the Secretary-General’s visit to Sri Lanka on 23 March 2009” as prelude to the report, while the correct date was 23 May 2009 and not in March. This is not a trivial matter because any UN report should have been edited and proof red carefully before publishing (Asian Tribune ; 16 June 2011).

Better information dissemination strategies required - by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP - Having heard the various presentations at the seminar about Defeating Terrorism, I think that second only to admiration for the systematic work of our forces was regret about the deficiencies Rohan Guneratne noted, with regard to presentation of the story. I hope government will swiftly take up his suggestion that we develop better information dissemination strategies, not only in the Foreign Service and the Information Ministry but also within the services themselves. Several years back, when I was Academic Coordinator of the degree programme at the Sri Lanka Military Academy, I drew attention to the failure of our officers to set down their experiences in writing, and indeed to analyse defeats as well as victories. I recall being told then that it might be difficult to have instituted projects on say the loss of Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi and Pooneryn in the nineties, and Elephant Pass in 2000, since some of the officers responsible for those setbacks were still in the Army (Daily News ; 16 June 2011).

SL for truth, justice and reparation - The government of Sri Lanka recognizes that the ‘Process of reconciliation, which remains a priority for it, involves truth, justice and reparation and the LLRC is proceeding in this direction, having heard the experiences of those affected and examining such testimonies to elicit the truth’, Sri Lanka stated at the General Debate on Human Rights Situations Requiring Council Attention, at the UN Human Rights Council’s, 17h session in Geneva, on June 15. Sri Lanka was exercising the Right of Reply to observations made on Sri Lanka by the US and some countries of Europe. The full Sri Lankan statement: (Daily News ; 16 June 2011).

Viru Daru Diriya (VDD) donations to "War Heroes" exceed A$131,340 (Rs 12.67 million).

Viru Daru Diriya (VDD) Fund was established in Melbourne, Australia to help the children and families of the Sri Lankan armed forces. We strongly believe that helping the education of the children of those who have sacrificed to protect our motherland Sri Lanka is the prime duty of all Sri Lankans (see details)

Sponsoring over 500 Children of "War Heroes"

Please help this welfare organisation in Melbourne

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http://www.virudarudiriya.com

Are we serious about a solution based on Indo-Lanka Accord ?

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What was really happening in Sri Lanka was that a blood thirsty racist group led by some misled Tamils called LTTE was terrorizing against the Government of Sri Lanka and its people irrespective of their ethnicity with an intention of carving out a separate state. There is no conflict as such between Sinhalese and Tamil communities in Sri Lanka. In fact, the majority of the Tamil community lives in peace and harmony among the Sinhalese population through out the country apart from the Northern part of Sri Lanka. The entire Sinhalese and the Muslims population who lived in the Northern area for centuries were either killed or chased away completely by the LTTE Tamil Tiger terrorists. At the moment, not a single Sinhalese or Muslim is living in Jaffna, but, many thousands of Tamils are living in Colombo in peace with the other communities. Based on 2001 census, the Tamil population in Colombo district is 12.1% (see 2001 census). So, who is discriminated ? Tamils or Sinhalese? Do you need more evidence ?

What is this 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka

Are we serious about a solution based on Indo-Lanka Accord ?

Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to find a "political solution" to a "terrorists problem"

Is PSC the only way out? (The Nation : 3 July 2011).
Resolution on PSC in parliament this week (The Nation : 3 July 2011).

Doctored Video in Channel 4

SL police arrests Briton in connection with Channel 4 video (MSN News : 9 July 2011).
Sri Lanka holds Briton over video (BigPond News ; 9 July 2011).
Reconciliation in the Context of Channel 4 allegation - By: Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha (Sri Lanka Defense Ministry : 8 July 2011).
Govt focused on legal action against Channel 4 (Daily News ; 8 July 2011).
CHANNEL 4 VEDEO TITLED KILLING FIELDS OF SRI LANKA- by JANAKI CHANDRARATNA (Lankaweb : 7 July 2011).
Channel 4 video on Sri Lanka - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada (LankaWeb : 7 July 2011).
BBC Hard Talk by Prof Rajiv Wijesinghe (click here)
Sri Lanka's Killing Fields by Channel 4 _Analysis on the One Video Clip Published By Channel (U-Tube).
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 (LankaWeb ; 6 June 2011).
ABC and C-4 video - by Malin Abeyatunga (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 Abeyatunga (Sri Lanka News Online ; 5 July 20110.
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 (Daily News : 4 July 2011).
Evidence from the past -How the LTTE committed atrocities wearing Sri Lankan Army uniforms - by Ramanie de Zoysa (LankaWeb ; 4 July 2011).
Govt exploring avenues for legal action : Channel 4 video, a blatant lie (Sunday Observer : 3 July 2011). Sri Lanka News Online : 3 July 2011.
THE GLAMOUR BOYS OF WAR CRIMINALITY PARTY TO DEATH IN LIBYA - by Malinda Seneviratne (LankaWeb ; 3 July 2011).
Moon, RW to watch channel 4 (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 (Sunday Observer : 3 July 2011).
Film described as ‘misleading and misrepresentative’: UK’s Ofcom to probe Channel 4 documentary (Sunday Observer : 3 July 2011).
Sri Lanka military says real video of Channel 4 visuals found (Deccan Herald : 3 July 2011).
“Comments submitted on ABC Four Corners Web Page on July 3, 2011- by Mahinda Gunasekera (LankaWeb : 3 July 2011).
SL High Commission’s letter to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Island ; 1 July 2011). (read full details in Sri Lanka News Online)
Sri Lanka receives unaltered video (Daily Mirror online : 1 July 2011). (Click here for the unaltered video footage).
SLN responds to Channel 4 News allegations:How come ICRC evacuated 12,000 persons if forces denied access to Tiger territory? (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 (LankaWeb ; 1 July 2011).

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

UK's Goebbels 4 TV bucks SL's 19 May 2009 verdict (Sri Lanka Defense Ministry ; 30 June 2011).
Ch 4 video has no recognition in United Kingdom - Minister (Daily News ; 30 June 2011).
Terrorist-Propaganda Exposed: “Channel 4” and Ofcom Owe an Explanation to Sri Lanka and Her Citizens - By L. B. Wasantha (USA) (LankaWeb ; 30 June 2011). (The "original" video footage in Tamil which which had been dubbed in Sinhalese by the media is linked in this article). (Click here)
Why did ‘genocidal’ GoSL save 300,000 civilians, 11,000 LTTE cadres Ex-Foreign Minister asks (Island ; 29 June 2011).
Fake Homelands, Fake Grievances, Fake Aspirations, Fake War Crimes and Now Fake Videos (LankaWeb ; 28 June 2011).
Miliband- Kouchner: Comes to the Party after Long Silence - by Gomin Dayasiri (Daily Mirror : 27 June 2011).
An analysis of Ch 4 video by Warna Hettiarachchi (PDF file)
Research on LTTE - by Warna Hettiarachchi (PDF File)
Commonwealth sans commonsense (Island ; 26 June 2011).
Lanka Taking Channel 4 To Court (Sunday Leader ; 26 June 2011).
A postscript to journalistic quackery à la Channel 4 - by Malinda Seneviratne (The Nation : 26 June 2011).
Channel 4 drama: Maj Gen Shavendra Silva sifts fact from fiction (Sunday Observer ; 26 June 2011).
Is British Broadcasting getting funds from Terror groups? (Asian Tribune ; 25 June 2011).
Shavendra slams Channel 4 and uninformed critics (Island ; 25 June 2011).
Channel 4 gets flak on truth and ethics (Daily News : 25 June 2011).
Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields - By Ira De Silva (LankaWeb ; 25 June 2011).
Check Their Bank Balances - By Malin Abeyatunga (Sri Lanka News Online ; 24 June 2011).
LANKA'S AMBASSADORS CLARIFY FACT FROM FICTION: INGO attempt to mislead UN gathering foiled (Sri Lanka Defense Ministry : 24 June 2011).
Channel 4 Frustration (Island ; 24 June 2011).
Ch 4 should get off its moral monopoly - Dr.Stuart Reiss, U.K. (The official web Portal of the Government of Sri Lanka : 24 June 2011).
Sri Lankan security forces have nothing to hide: Prof. Gunaratne (Daily Mirror ; 24 June 2011).
Acting SL HC in London refutes Channel 4 Allegations in live BBC Radio debate (Sinhale Hot News : 24 June 2011).
Channel 4 video: Another failed attempt to harm Sri Lanka’s reputation (Daily News ; 24 June 2011).
In New York - Dirty intentions of Channel 4 video documentary exposed (Asian Tribune : 23 June 2011).
Shavendra Nullifies Channel-4 in New York (LankaWeb ; 23 June 2011).
Lanka’s ambassadors clarify fact from fiction: INGO attempt to mislead UN gathering foiled (Daily News : 23 June 2011).
Shavendra Silva Dismantles the Channel 4 Lie - Answers offered by Sri Lanka’s make Ch 4 conspirators speechless (Watch the video in the Official Portal of the Government of Sri Lanka ; 23 June 2011).
Sri Lanka proves the fake nature of the Channel Four Video at the UN (SLBC ; 23 June 2011).
UK Sunday Times criticises Channel 4 for its shoddy journalism - By Raj Gonsalkorale (Asian Tribune ; 23 June 2011).
UK Tamil answers pro-LTTE fibs: Tamils who escaped terror praise SL Army - Tigers shot dead Tamils - Tamils were held hostage by LTTE (Daily News ; 23 June 2011).
C-4 project suffers debilitating setback in New York Int’l HR groups stunned by UK film maker’s ignorance (Island ; 22 June 2011).
It is confirmed, Channel-4 video is fake (SLBC ; 22 June 2011).
THIS IS BBC CALLING - NOW CLICK ON TO CHANNEL 4 - by Gomin Dayasiri (Daily Mirror ; 21 June 2011).
Channel 4 journalist, an LTTEer - Defence Ministry (Daily News ; 21 June 2011).
Channel-4 and hidden paws (Daily Mirror : 21 June 2011)
SL highlights ‘Channel 4 News’ role in C4 episode - ‘Producer and broadcaster different, Tamil Diaspora leadership evident’(Island ; 20 June 2011).
Issipriya an LTTE cadre – Ministry of Defence (20 June 2011).
Reflections on that Channel 4 ‘documentary’ - by Malinda Seneviratne (The Nation ; 19 June 2011).
Reflections on that Channel 4 ‘documentary’ - by Malinda Seneviratne (The Nation ; 19 June 2011).
War Crimes: UK playing politics at SL’s expense - (Part II) - by Shamindra Ferdinando (Island ; 19 June 2011).
Channel Four Doctored Video Shows Tamil Terrorists Wearing the Uniforms of Captives Killing Captured SLA Soldiers! - by Geoff Wickrema (LankaWeb ; 19 June 2011).
C 4 Video ‘Killing fields of Sri Lanka’ – LTTE propaganda - by P.A.Samaraweera, Australia (LankaWeb ; 19 June 2011).
Lies , Damn Lies & Channel 4 - by Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM Spokesperson, United Sri Lanka Association, Wellington New Zealand (Lankaweb ; 19 June 2011).
Channel 4 video of Sri Lankan Killing fields - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada (LankaWeb ; 19 June 2011).
Issipriya not just an innocent civilian as portrayed by the Channel4 – Defense Ministry (Asian Tribune ; 18 June 2011).
Lanka Expects UK to Thwart LTTE Plans by Ira de Silva (LankaWeb ; 17 June 2011).
Dayan denounces Channel 4 claims as akin to WMDs in Iraq (Sri Lanka Guardian : 17 June 2011).
Bid to stop deportation of SL Tamils thwarted British MPs, HRW, AI involved in failed attempt - By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London (Island ; 17 June 2011).
Former TNA parliamentarian Kanagarathnam who was present at the final stages of the humanitarian operations says the “channel 4” documentary is completely devoid of the truth (SLBC ; 17 June 2011).
BBC’s Apology on Faked Footage and Channel 4’s ‘Killing Fields’ (Island ; 17 June 2011).
Information on previous distorted and biased programmes of the channel four television has been revealed (SLBC ; 17 June 2011).
Leading lawyers point out the “channel four” media is biased (SLBC ; 17 June 2011).
The defence secretary says the patriotic people should rally to counter the international challenges against the motherland (SLBC ; 17 June 2011).
Of war crimes and double standards (Khaleej times ; 17 June 2011).
SL exposes ‘C4 lie’ (Island ; 16 June 2011).
Of Scoops, Spooks, Stoops etc - by Dr Bandula Kothalawala London (LankaWeb ; 16 June 2011).
Channel 4 film, bid at harming Sri Lanka - LLRC entitled to space and time to complete its work - INGOs critical of SL turned down invitation to give evidence (Daily News ; 16 June 2011).
The National Radio denounces the video tape televised by the Channel Four television (SLBC ; 16 June 2011).
Professor Rohan Gunarathne stresses the need of a well organised campaign to combat false propaganda of the LTTE sympathisers (SLBC ; 16 June 2011).
Taking on Aggressive Journalism of Channel 4: Look up to the Royal Family for Inspiration (Asian Tribune ; 16 June 2011).
Sri Lankan Defence Secretary says pro-LTTE elements have used Channel 4 to tarnish the country's image (Colombo page ; 16 June 2011).
Sri Lanka responds to War crimes claims - Al Jazeera (Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe defends. Watch the Video).
Fake, made for LTTE money: Gota (Daily Mirror ; 16 June 2011).
SL responds to UK ultimatum ‘C4 engaged in move to push SL back to war’ - By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London (Island ; 15 June 2011).
Channel 4 Video titled ‘Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’ to be aired on June 14, 2011 - by Mahinda Gunasekara, President of SLUNA (LankaWeb ; 14 June 2011).
Channel 4 Screening Of Doctored Film Portrays; The Bourgeoise Mentality Of British TV Together With British Ministerial Comments Which Reek Of Duplicity! - By Sunil Kumar (LankaWeb ; 14 June 2011).
‘Channel-4 video a fake’– Video forensic analyst - Seventeen frames of video inconsistent with original video - Tigers carried out atrocities against their own people (Daily News ; 14 June 2011).
"Channel-4 video a fake" - video forensic analyst (Island ; 13 June 2011).
Amnesty International hosts Channel 4 at the U.N. (Daily Mirror ; 13 June 2011).
UK Channel 4, fools a naive home audience with low grade TV Programmes with faked films, and Discredits a Sovereign States for a « fistful of Dollars - By Charles.S.Perera UK (LankaWeb ; 12 June 2011).
Opinion on Channel 4 video after LLRC verdict: Govt (Sunday Times ; 12 June 2011).
Just a fake - New Channel 4 Video Alleging Extra-Judicial Killings in Sri Lanka (Island ; 11 June 2011).
Media Release by SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA (SLUNA in Canada) : Channel 4 Video is Fake, Edited and Video taken by Video Camera - June 9, 2011 (LankaWeb ; 10 June 2011).
Channel 4 Video is Fake, Edited and Video taken by Video Camera - Siri Hewawitharana, Sydney Australia (Asian Tribune ; 6 June 2011).

(Sri Lanka Defense Ministry : 24 June 2011).

Worlds' most ruthless megalomaniac Terrorist Leader Prabhakaran shot dead by the Sri Lanka heroic Security Forces

(for details click here). Video by Sri Lanka Army

Please re-visit news, from 15 to 23 May 2009.

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KP knows who holds LTTE cash (Island ; 26 June 2011).
Know who's holding LTTE cash: Prabhakaran successor (Indian Express ; 26 June 2011).
Norway the Villain; response to Chaminda Weerawardhana by Malin Abeyatunge (Sri Lanka News Online ; 31 May 2011).
UN tried to rescue LTTE leaders: KP (Daily Mirror ; 26 May 2011).
UN and a Western country offered a ship for LTTE leaders to leave - KP (Island : 25 May 2011).
UN tried 'to help Tamil Tigers flee': report (AFP).
LTTE'S Chief Arms Procurer KP Revealed How The UN And A Western Country Tried To Offer A Ship Fo (Ground Report : 24 May 2011).
KP's interview with THL Mediagrove (U-Tube)
Now, KP reveals LTTE-DMK links Begs India’s forgiveness for Rajiv Gandhi assassination (Island ; 24 May 2011).
UN had offered safe exit to LTTE in the last days of war - See exclusive interview with KP (First Post.com : 23 May 2011).

WANTED by INTERPOL (Click here)

United Nation's "so-called war crime probe and report"

Malinda Seneviratne Darusman report rebuttal Part 6 of 6 (U-Tube)
Malinda Seneviratne Darusman report rebuttal Part 5 of 6 (U-Tube)
Malinda Seneviratne Darusman report rebuttal Part 4 of 6 (U-Tube)
Malinda Seneviratne Darusman report rebuttal Part 3 of 6 (U-Tube)
Malinda Seneviratne Darusman report rebuttal Part 2 of 6 (U-Tube)
Malinda Seneviratne Darusman report rebuttal Part 1 of 6 (U-Tube)
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS CASTIGATE BAN KI-MOON’S MOCK PANEL - By JAYANTHA GUNASEKERA, PRESIDENT’S COUNSEL (Daily Mirror ; 2 June 2011).
Re: Rathika Sitasabaiesan, NDP MP for Scarborough Rough River : her set priority in the House is to form an All Party Parliamentary Committee to study the unapproved Security Council UN (Darushman) Report on Sri Lanka - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada (LankaWeb : 30 May 2011).
BAN KI MOON AND HIS PANEL - Legally disqualified from the very commencement - By Jayantha Gunasekera (Daily Mirror ; 28 May 2011).
UN tried 'to help Tamil Tigers flee': report (AFP ; 24 May 2011).
LTTE'S Chief Arms Procurer KP Revealed How The UN And A Western Country Tried To Offer A Ship Fo (Ground Report ; 24 may 2011).
Mr Ban ki Moon: Why have you forgotton the Chagossian Islanders?- By Garvin Karunaratne (Lankaweb ; 23 May 2011).
Nationalists unhappy about joint statement after Delhi talks (Island ; 21 May 2011).
A closer look at the Darusman Panel - Jayantha Gunasekera - President’s Counsel (Daily News : 21 May 2011).
Tigers and the Darusman Panel: Using food as a weapon - by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP (Daily News ; 20 May 2011).
Darusman Report seeking to discriminate against Sri Lanka - Gomin Dayasri (Daily News ; 16 may 2011).
A view to a kill - By Rajiva Wijesinha (Island ; 15 May 2011).
SL drew clear distinction between civilians and terrorists - Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohona (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 12 May 2011). (Re-produced in Sri Lanka News Online ; 14 May 2011).
Accusations based on strange hopes - by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP (Daily News : 12 May 2011).
Lanka respects the principals of the UN security Council - Dr. Kohona (Sunday Observer : 11 May 2011).
Consequences for the LTTE as party to ‘Internal armed conflict’ - By Neville Ladduwahetty (Island : 10 May 2011).
Robert Blake’s insistence on ‘equal rights’ and interference in Sri Lanka’s Internal Affairs - by Dasarath Jayasuriya (Island : 10 May 2011).
How Darusman Panel found excuses for the LTTE taking hostages - by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP (Daily News ; 10 May 2011).
The Panel’s showpieces - By Prof. Rajiva WIJESINGHE (Sunday Observer ; 8 May 2011).
Why Moon selected Darusman - Inside Story By Gomin Dayasri (Island : 7 may 2011).
Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha replies (Daily Mirror ; 7 May 2011).
Panellists moved by insidious intent - The following letter was sent by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP, to UN Secretary General Bank ki Moon (Daily News ; 6 May 2011).
Darusman report on Sri Lanka - By Neville Ladduwahetty (Island ; 3 May 2011).
The panel report reveals an underlying pattern - By Prof G. L. Peiris Minister of External Affairs (Island : 3 May 2011).
Letter to Ban Ki-moon – UN Secretary-General - by Prof Rajiva Wijesinghe (Website of Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe: 2 May 2011).
Involvement of UN officials in the programmes of NGOs and Patricia Butenis - Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP (Island : 1 May 2011).
The tentative world of Darusman Panellists - by Prof Rajiva WIJESINHA (Sunday Observer ; 1 May 20111).
The many personalities of ‘Kiki’ Darusman - by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha (Sunday Observer : 1 May 2011).
UNSG?s Panel of Experts Report on Accountability in Sri Lanka - Media Release by SLUNA in Canada (Sri Lanka News Onile : 30 April 2011).
Postscript to a fiasco (Island ; 30 April 2011).
The UN network of informers - Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP (Daily News ; 30 April 2011).
Panel Report, Tamil National Alliance and National Reconciliation - By Malin Abeyatunga (Sri Lanka News Online : 30 April 2011).
The many personalities of Kiki Darusman - by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe (website of Prof. Raviva wijesinghe ; 28 April 2011).
Another form of terrorism! - by S Akurugoda (Sri Lanka News Online ; 26 April 2011).
Panel report trying to tarnish Sri Lanka’s image (Daily News ; 26 April 2011).
Another form of terrorism! - by S Akurugoda (Island ; 25 April 2011).
Wijedasa Rajapakshe’s letter to UNSG (Island ; 25 April 2011).
The Ban Ki Moon panel report - Part 8 : The Case against Sri Lanka (II) (Island ; 25 April 2011).
Whither Reconciliation with Tamils? By Malin Abeyatunga (Sri Lanka News online ; 25 March 2011).
‘Ban move will negate national reconciliation’ (Island ; 25 April 2011).
UN principles violated: Panel report only for Ban’s info - External Affairs Minister (Daily News ; 25 April 2011).
Duplicity of United Nations Secretary General Exposed - By K.T.Rajasingham (Asian Tribune ; 25 April 2011).
The Case against Sri Lanka (I) The Ban Ki Moon panel report - Part 7 (Island ; 24 April 2011).
Role of the UN and vested interests (Sunday Observer ; 24 April 2011).
UK, US behind UNSG’s War Crimes Report - How British political establishment props up those undermining SL - Only Basil R opposed endorsing joint communiqué with UN (Island ; 24 April 2011).
Stand taken by Moon’s panel: Brutal misuse of hospitals by LTTE Contradictory reports: Claims of Forces’ systematic shelling not substantiated: By Prof. Rajiva WIJESINGHE (Sunday Observer : 24 April 2011).
Ki-moon panel’s report and strippers it spawned - by Malinda Seneviratne (The Nation : 24 April 2011).
‘Europe, UN want division among SL communities’ (Daily News ; 23 April 2011).
Darusman, Ratner, Sooka Report on SriLanka - by Asoka Weerasinghe (LankaWeb : 23 April 2011).
Report boomerangs: makes Moon a war criminal - by H. L. D. Mahindapala (LankaWeb ; 23 April 2011).
UN influenced by super powers - NFF (Daily News ; 23 April 2011).
SPUR Reject Ban Ki-Moon’s Panel Report on Sri Lanka and Condemn his Double Standards (Sri Lanka News Online ; 22 April 2011).
The ‘white flag’ incident and other matters Extracts from the Ban Ki Moon panel report (Part 6) (Island ; 22 April 2011).
The Secretary General’s Expert Panel on Sri Lanka - By Neville Ladduwahetty (Island ; 22 April 2011).
Moon in Blind Man’s Bluff on Sri Lanka (Island ; 22 April 2011).
Extracts from the Ban Ki Moon panel report (Part 5) Detention, Executions, Rape and Disappearances EXCLUSIVE! (Island ; 21 April 2011).
'UNSG's panel report biased' (Daily News ; 22 April 2011).
America must stop its cowardice acts ! (Sinhalaya.com; 20 April 2011).
UN “Expert” Report: False Conclusions, False History - By Dr Susantha Goonatilake Part 2 (Daily Mirror ; 20 April 2011).
Extracts from the Ban Ki Moon panel report (Part 4) Understating the number of Tamil civilians EXCLUSIVE! (Island ; 20 April 2011).
UN “Expert” Report: False Conclusions, False History - By Dr Susantha Goonatilake Part 1 (Daily Mirror ; 19 April 2011).
What would Ban Ki–moon do next? - By Nalin de Silva (Island ; 19 April 2011).
Extracts from the Ban Ki Moon panel report (part 3) - Shelling hospitals (Island ; 19 April 2011).
TNA's complicity in LTTE's crimes (Island ; 19 April 2011).
UN experts’ mindboggling arithmetic (Island ; 19 April 2011).
UN Security Council briefing: Russia opposes talks on Sri Lanka (Island ; 19 April 2011).
Hulugalle on that LTTE-UN agreement (Island ; 19 April 2011).
Final days in Vanni: 600 Tamils shot and killed as stray dogs- First Person Revelation (Asian Tribune ; 19 April 2011).
America Falls Into The Indian Pit In Sri Lanka - By H. L. D. Mahindapala (Lankaweb : 18 April 2011).
PANEL REPORT BY THREE STOOGES OF BAN-KI-MOON - Malin Abeyatunge (Sri Lanka New Online ; 19 April 2011).
Assessing UN Secretary General’s Panel Report - By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe (Sunday Observer ; 17 April 2011).
Prof. Rohan Gunaratne questions the legality of UN committee on Sri Lanka (Sinhale Hot News ; 17 April 2011).
UN report: Govt. launches major counter-offensive Teams to visit Non-Aligned countries; White paper to explain justification for use of force to end terrorism (Sunday Times ; 17 April 2011).
UN Panel’s Report on Sri Lanka - by Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya (LankaWeb : 17 April 2011).
Summary of UN Panel report (Daily Mirror ; 16 April 2011).
The Ban panel report (Island ; 16 April 2011).
Ban Ki Moon’s Expert Panel Report (Island : 16 April 2011).
A conspiracy against our country - By K Godage (Island ; 15 April 2011).
How UN colluded with the Tigers (Island ; 15 April 2011).
Open letter to UNSG Ban Ki-moon - by N.P.Karunadasa, SLAS (Retired), Kandy (Island ; 23 March 2011).
Sri Lanka Eliminates Terrorism and Restores Right To Life Of All Her Citizens - by Mahinda Gunasekera, Canada (LankaWeb : 30 December 2010).
Reject the Moon panel - by Ranjith Soysa (Island : 28 December 2010). (Re-produced in Sri Lanka News Online ; 29 December 2010).
Moon’s ‘three stooges’ and related mattersBy S. L. Gunasekara (Sinhale Hot News : 28 December 201).
Mr Ban-Ki Moon,”UN Panel” and War Crimes - Dr Bandula Kothalawala London N7 (LankaWeb ; 12 December 2010).
Productive talks between President and Ban Ki-Moon (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 26 Sept 2010).
Ban’s committee "not empowered to investigate charges against SL’’(Sunday Island ; 26 Sept 2010).
‘Panel has no legal mandate to investigate’ (Sunday Observer ; 26 Sept 2010_
Three Member Advisory Panel On Sri Lanka (LankaWeb : 9 Aug 2010).
Why is Moon blind to West exporting terrorism? Part II. - H. L. D. Mahindapala (Lankaweb ; 8 Aug 2010).
Ban ki-Moon: Keep your hands off Sri Lanka - by Asoka Weerasinghe (LankaWeb : 29 July 2010).
Moon is sinking into a black hole - by H. L. D. Mahindapala (Lankaweb : 23 July 2010).
OPA expresses 'grave concern' over UN Advisory Committee (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 23 July 2010).
A 'hero' shamed - Island Editorial (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 23 July 2010).
UN lacks transparency or accountability under Ban Ki Moon (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 22 July 2010).
Moon lets the cat out of the bag - by Ira De Silva, Canada (Island : 22 July 2010).
War crimes in Korea: Who cares? - by Durand Appuhamy (Island : 22 July 2010).
An Expert Panel needs to first investigate effectiveness of UN - By Shenali Waduge (Island ; 22 July 2010).
Ban lets the big cat out of the bag (Island : 21 July 2010).
Senior UN Auditor launches attack on Secretary General (Island : 21 July 2010).
OPEN LETTER TO BAN KI MOON -YOU ARE NOT AUTHORISED - By Stanley Perera from Melbourne (Lankaweb : 16 July 2010).
UN is not clean. There are skeletons in their cupboards - By Malin Abeyatunge (Sri Lanka News Online : 14 July 2010).
Some random thoughts about the UN International Advisory Panel - By Dr. Lakshman Marasinghe,Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Daily Mirror ; 14 July 2010).
Is Sri Lanka a culprit or a victim? By Dr. Edward Perera (Sinhale Hot News : 13 July 2010).
Ban Ki Moon’s Expert Panel & revisiting the real Human Rights culprits - by Shenali Waduge (LankaWeb : 13 July 2010).
‘Peace dynamics’ and national treachery - By S. Akurugoda (Sri Lanka News Online : 13 July 2010)
Liberal Party Statement on Sri Lanka – July 8,2010 - By Ira De Silva, Canada (LankaWeb : 11 July 2010).
Well said Your Excellency - by Nimal Bhareti (Island : 11 July 2010).
UN and EU riding together - by Eymard de Silva Wijeyeratne (Island : 11 July 2010).
UNSG’s Panel on Sri Lanka - by Mahinda Gunasekera (LankaWeb : 11 July 2010).
Ki-moon chopping the UN to spite Colombo? - by Malinda Seneviratne (Nation : 11 July 2010).
Ban Ki Moon ensure LTTE atrocities are investigated first - by Shenali Waduge (LankaWeb : 10 July 2010).
Ban Ki-Moon betrays his agreement with President Rajapakse - by H. L. D. Mahindapala (LankaWeb : 10 July 2010).
Ban Ki Lands on Moon to Scrutinize Sri Lanka’s War Crimes - by Asoka Perera (LankaWeb : 10 July 2010).
IT IS TIME TO “IMPEACH” BAM KI MOON FOR DESTROYING UNITED NATIONS - By Hasaka Ratnamalala (HR Blog on Sri Lanka : 10 July 2010).
Ban Ki-Moon is dragging UN down to his level-Part II - by H. L. D. Mahindapala (LankaWeb : 9 July 2010).
The UN-Neocolonial partnership - by Shenali Waduge (LankaWeb : 9 July 2010).
KANGAROO COURT OF DR BAN KI MOON- EPISODE NO.2 (Appeal to Mr Marzuki Darusmaan to respect Indonesians and resign) - By Dr M D P DISSANAYAKE (LankaWeb : 9 July 2010).
No war crimes committed in Sri Lanka - SF (Island : 8 July 2010).
Without visas Ban Ki-Moon is heading nowhere - Part 1 - by H. L. D. Mahindapala (LankaWeb : 8 July 2010).
NFF supporters to launch hunger strike today To teach Ban Ki-moon a lesson (Island : 8 July 2010).
‘War crimes’ galore! (Island : 7 July 2010).
An Independent Afro-Asian UNO to replace the Western dictated UNO? - by Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (LankaWeb : 7 July 2010).
Sri Lanka & the UN panel to probe war crimes - by Asoka Weerasinghe (LankaWeb : 7 July 2010).
UN Secretary General’s Panel on Sri Lanka is a Blunder of Serious Proportions - Media Release by Mahinda Gunasekera, Honorary President – SLUNA (Sinhale Hot News ; 6 July 2010).
Winning War Against Terror, Human rights violations and War Crimes - An open letter to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the UN, Ms. Navi Pillay, UN Hign Commissioner of Human Rights , Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special representative of the UN SG for Children in Armed Conflict by Warna Hettiarachchi, Canada (Sinhale Hot News : 6 July 2010).
Ban Ki-moon and human rights - By K Godage, Former Ambassador (Island : 5 July 2010).
Ban demands ‘a pound of flesh’. Is this a fair trial? By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya (Sunday Times : 4 July 2010).
Non Aligned Movement’s Challenge To Ban Ki Moon On Sri Lankan Panel Plausible! - LankaWeb Weekly Editorial July 4th 2010.
Report on Sri Lanka – June 30,2010 - by Ira de Silva London, Canada (Lankaweb ; 2 July 2010).
Justifying arm-twisting by EU and UN - Stanley Weerasinghe (Island : 2 July 2010).
WHAT IS GOING WRONG? - By Gomin Dayasri (Lankaweb : 1 July 2010).
False reporting by UN and lack of integrity in UN reports- Open Letter - by Ben Silva (Lankaweb : 1 July 2010).
Ban-KI-Moon and EU-dragon with two heads - by Malin Abeyatunge (Island : 30 June 2010). (Re-produced in Sri Lanka News Online)
The lies & double standards of International Humanitarian Laws - by Shenali Waduge (LankaWeb : 29 June 2010).
The UN is dishing out lunacy, idiocy and knee-slapping humour! - By Malinda Seneviratne (Daily News ; 29 June 2010).
THE SINISTER DUO MOON AND EU CANNOT FEED GRASS TO SRI LANKAN LIONS - by A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA (LankaWeb : 28 June 2010).
Mr Moon’s questionable sanity - by Ben Silva (LankaWeb : 28 June 2010).
The panel is about Ban-Ki Moon saving his skin -by Ajit Randeniya (LankaWeb : 28 June 2010).
UN Chief Appoints Expert Panel - by Ira de Silva London, Canada (LankaWeb : 27 June 2010).
Let Ban Ki-moon appoint a million panels! -by Malinda Seneviratne (Lakbima News).
UN Bullying Sri Lanka for defeating a ruthless terrorist outfit, LTTE - by Dr.P.A.Samaraweera (LankaWeb : 26 June 2010).
Ban Ki-moon, dude, ctfd!!! - by Malinda Seneviratne (Daily News : 25 June 2010).
The UNSG’s expert panel on Sri Lanka - By Neville Ladduwahetty (Island : 25 June 2010).
United Nations: Advisory panel named on Sri Lanka war - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada (LankaWeb ; 24 June 2010).
Government strongly opposes the appointment of the Sri Lanka - Panel of experts by the UNSG (sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 23 June 2010).

United Nation's move to appoint an expert panel to advise Secretary General on Sri Lanka is ‘totally uncalled for and unwarranted.’

BONNIE AND CLIDE OF UN (LankaWeb : 13 April 2010).
Advisory panel on Lanka unwarranted - Minister Samarasinghe - (Sunday Observer : 28 March 2010).
OPA condemns UN stance (Daily News : 26 March 2010).
UN used as a terror weapon by a Tamil racist UN Official-Open Letter to Ban Ki-moon (LankaWeb ; 26 March 2010).
Japanese envoy rejects UN offer (Daily Mirror : 25 March 2010).
International Conspiracy-now led by Ban Ki Moon the Secretary General of the United Nations (LankaWeb ; 25 March 2010).
KANGAROO COURT of DR BAN KI MOON (LankaWeb : 25 March 2010).
Selection of expert panel on SL underway: Ban (PTI News : 25 March 2010).
Nambiar, Kohona discuss panel (Daily Mirror : 25 March 2010).
Ban Ki Moon Humanitarian Visionary Or Persistent Ignoramus Needing To Be Sent Packing? (LankaWeb : 25 March 2010).
Ban Ki Moon wields orchestra baton against Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 22 March 2010).
‘UN using one yardstick for the powerful and another for the weak’ – Minister G.L. Peiris (Sunday Island : 21 March 2010).
Mr.Ban Ki Moon, SHAME ON YOU..! (a letter from a Sri Lankan) (Sinhalaya News Agency : 20 March 2010).
JHU lashes out at UN (Island : 19 March 2010).
UNSG's panel of experts: Govt firm on its position against proposed move (Daily News : 19 March 2010).
Can the UN Secretary General be so irrational? (Daily News : 18 March 2010).
UN Chief to go ahead with proposal for panel on Sri lanka (Hindu : 17 March 2010)
UN chief defends plan for Sri Lanka human rights body (Sify News : 17 March 2010).
Moon barking up the wrong tree (Island : 16 March 2010).
Misguided agenda of UN Ban Ki Moon rebuked by Non-Aligned Nations for trying to violate UN Charter (Daily news : 16 March 2010).
Crying for the beloved - the good terrorists vs bad terrorists (Island : 16 March 2010).
Ban Ki Moon is moonlighting (Daily News : 15 March 2010).
Major diplomatic victory: China, NAM to support Sri Lanka (Sunday Observer : 14 March 2010).
NAM stands by Sri Lanka UNSG’s decision to appoint advisory panel (Sunday Observer : 14 March 2010).
Ban having second thoughts on panel of advisors (Sunday Times : 14 March 2010).
Time to reactivate the norms, rules and regulations to stop big bullies in the international politics (Sri Lanka News Online: 13 March 2010).
Tamil Tigress in UN (LankaWeb: 13 March 2010).
UN Secretary General’s Expert Group to assess Accountability in Sri Lanka (Island : 13 March 2010).
NAM strongly condemns UN Chief (Daily News ; 13 March 2010).
NFF condemns British interference in Lanka (Daily Mirror : 13 March 2010).
NAM concerned over Ban's move to set up advisory body on Lanka (Zee News ; 12 March 2010).
Experts panel on Sri Lanka: NAM expresses deep concern to Ban Ki-Moon (Daily News : 12 March 2010).
NAM flays Ban’s move on Lanka - (Daily Mirror : 11 March 2010).
Defeat Ban Ki – Moon at UNO (Sri Lanka Guardian : 10 March 2010).
'Ugly head of evil forces rising again' (InfoLanka News : 10 March 2010).
Mr. Ban Ki Moon – Why Sri Lanka? Why not Gaza (Asian Tribune ; 10 March 2010).
GTF’s pipedream (Sri Lanka News Online ; 8 March 2010).
Sri Lanka: Ha! Bank ki-Moon wants to appoint a panel of experts (Sri Lanka News Online : 8 March 2010).
How to Put the UN Back Where it Should Be (LankaWeb : 8 March 2010).
UN Move Unjustifiable Ban Ki Moon comes under Colonial Pressure (Asian Tribune : 08 March 2010).
President to Ban Ki-moon Special Panel on Sri Lanka uncalled for and unwarranted (Sunday Island : 7 March 2010).
Sri Lanka rejects UN plan to form human rights panel (Zimbabwe Star : 7 March 2010).
Sri Lanka rejects UN plan to form human rights panel (Thaindian News ; 7 March 2010).
UN Secretary General Apparently Wallowing In Muddied Bias In Requesting Accountability From The President Of Sri Lanka (LankaWeb : 7 March 2010).
UN Chief’s move on Lanka rejected (Sunday Observer : 7 March 2010).
President tells off UN Sec. Gen. “Act in keeping with principles of UN Charter on non-interference” (The Nation : 7 March 2010).
Lanka in diplomatic war with UN President warns Secretary General against appointment of panel of experts (Sunday Times : 7 March 2010).
U.N. move uncalled for: Rajapaksa (Hindu : 6 March 2010).
Sri Lanka: a fresh call to investigate alleged war crimes (LankaWeb ; 6 March 2010).
Ban assures no advice for Lanka (Daily Mirror : 6 March 2010).
War of words between UN and Sri Lanka (Hisdustan Times: 6 March 2010).
"Special Panel on Sri Lanka uncalled for and unwarranted" - President to Ban Ki-moon "Act in keeping with principles of UN Charter on non-interference" (Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 6 March 2010).
“Special Panel on Sri Lanka uncalled for and unwarranted” – President to Ban Ki-moon (Info Lanka : 6 March 2010).
UN PANEL OF EXPERTS (LankaWeb : 6 March 2010).
'Move to appoint a UN panel on rights unwarranted' (PTI News : 6 March 2010).
GOVT. REJECTS UN CALL FOR WAR CRIMES PROBE (Daily Mirror : 6 March 2010).
Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa dismisses UN human rights panel (BBC : 6 March 2010).
Sri Lanka rejects UN bid to set up rights panel (Deccan Herald : 6 March 2010).
NFF condemns Pillay’s pro-LTTE statement (Daily Mirror : 6 March 2010).
On Sri Lanka War Crimes, UN's Ban to Name Panel to Advise Only Him, No Pascoe, Nambiar Nepotism Follow Up (Inner City Press ; 5 March 2010).
Govt rejects Pillay’s call for probe (Daily Mirror : 5 March 2010).

Api Wenuwen Api

http://www.apiwenuwenapi.com/ is the official web site of the Api Wenuwen Api fund raising campaign. The Api Wenuwen Api Fund is a collaboration between the The Ministry of Defence and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to build 50,000 houses for the serving Tri-Service personnel. The gift of housing is one of the best and most tangible ways to demonstrate our gratitude and appreciation. This is the time for all Sri Lankans to support our brothers and sisters who are committed to bringing peace to our motherland Sri Lanka. All contributions from the campaign and fund raising events will be donated to Api Wenuwen Api Housing Project in Sri Lanka.

Thawalama Development Foundation

No. 5, Rajakeeya Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

The Thawalama Development Foundation (TDF) was established on 1994 April 25th to support and assist in the implementation of Project Thawalama approved by the Ministry of Defense on 1994 January 14th. http://thawalama.org

Sri Lanka Govt should investigate pro-LTTE NGOs in Sri Lanka

PSC’s observations on selected NGOs - by C.A.Chandraprema (Island ; 3 July 2011).
What the PSC on NGOs said - By C. A. Chandraprema (Island : 9 June 2011).
The legal basis of NGO impunity - NGO FINANCES - By C.A.Chandraprema (Island ; 7 April 2011).
NO NGO WITCH-HUNT, SAYS KEHELIYA (The Nation ; 3 April 2011).
The CPA’s Culture of Impunity - by By C. A. Chandraprema (Island : 31 March 2011).
NGO Funding - by Nimal Abeysinghe (Island ; 14 March 2011).
Govt. wonders how three NGOs spent half a billion rupees in 3 yrs (Island ; 13 March 2011).
Investigate the activities of NGOs who supported separatists and continue to campaign for foreign intervention - By S Akurugoda (Sri Lanka News Online ; 13 March 2011).
Foreign funds galore for three NGOs : Over Rs. 600 mn. received in 3 yrs; Norway leading donor (Island : 4 March 2011).

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission

LLRC

Website http://www.llrc.lk

List of Persons Invited to make Representations at the Sittings (Click here for the full list).

Submission to the LLRC by Dr Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. former Government Agent, Matara District, International Consultant-The Homeland and the Inland Traps (LanmkaWeb ; 12 January 2011).
Presentation made by Douglas Wickramaratne,UK to LLRC (LankaWeb ; 10 January 2011).
Submissions made on behalf of the Buddhasasana Karya Sadhaka Mandalaya before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) (PDF File in Sinhale Hot News).
Submissions to LLRC by Dr. M. Edward Perera from Germany (Sinhale Hot News ; 6 January 2011).
Lessons to be learnt - Theis is an extract from a written submission sent to LLRC by S Akurugoda, Melbourne, Australia (Sri Lanka News Online ; 4 January 2011).

LTTE chief ‘betrayed the people’ (The Nation : 19 December 2010).
No harm in Sinhalese settling in N & E - Muralitharan (Island ; 15 December 2010).
Norwegian funds used for LTTE arms Provincial Councils do not need police powers – Karuna (Island ; 13 December 2010).

Karuna claimed Norway gave LTTE money

Karuna deplores ‘US embassy lies’ (Island : 30 December 201010.
Solheim responds to allegations targeting Norway at LLRC In SL lies are used for political gains or to taint someone’s reputation’ Karuna reiterates call for probe on Tiger revenue sources (Island : 29 December 2010).
Karuna claimed Norway gave LTTE money – Asian Tribune (Asian Tribune: 29 December 2010).
Report by Norwegians Against Terrorism (NAT) dated 15 August 2008 (click here for the PDF copy)
Norwegian Foreign Ministry bombarded with protests after NAT exposes funding for Tamil Tigers (Asian Tribune ; 23 January)
Erik Solheim exposed by Norwegians Against Terrorism (Asian Tribune : 01 August 2007)

The ungrateful son, Rahul Gandhi, shall mind his own business in India and leave Sri Lanka alone

Letter to Rahul Gandhi - by Asoka weerasinghe, Canada (LankaWeb : 30 December 2010).
Rahul Gandhi’s stance on Tamil issue (Island : 29 December 2010).
Statement on Sri Lanka Seeking “Justice for Tamils” - by Ira de Silva, Canada (LankaWeb : 27 December 2010).
THE NATIONALIST PAPERS - Hail Rahul, newly crowned King of Justice! - by Malinda Seneviratne (Island : 25 December 2010).
Rahul Gandhi shall mind his own business in India and leave Sri Lanka alone - Shripal Nishshanka Fernando (LankaWeb : 23 December 2010).
Mr. Rahul Gandhi: Isn’t it enough what your grandmother did, nurturing the LTTE? - by Henry Jayaweera (LankaWeb : 23 December 2010).
Do Gandhi Dynasty Ever Learn? - by Prof. Hudson McLean (LankaWeb : 23 December 2010).

Please visit the website of Rajiv Gandhi assassination (Click here)

Despite LTTE listed as a banned outfit in UK British police turned blind eye while Tamil protesters waved LTTE flags

Tamil MPs condemn UK demo - Says blow to interracial harmony - Want diaspora to invest in North (Daily News : 6 December 2010).
Expose double standard of West -DM (Daily Mirror : 5 December 2010).
Despite LTTE listed as a banned outfit in UK British police turned blind eye while Tamil protesters waved LTTE flags (Island : 4 December 2010).
The West’s unconditional and ceaseless bashing of Sihale - by Kith De Silva (LankaWeb : 4 December 2010).
Anti-Sri Lanka protest in London (Daily News ; 4 December 2010).
Minister hits out at Britain (Daily Mirror ; 4 December 2010).
LTTE rump’s protest against President MR a flop – Govt. (Island ; 1 December 2010).

Open letter to US Ambassador to Sri Lanka

The politics of Patricia Butenis’ civil society angst - by Malinda Seneviratne (Sri Lanka Guardian : 13 March 2011).
Sri Lanka, Wikileaks and the spectre of ‘international investigation’(Island : 16 January 2011).
Reduce Sri Lanka, recycle myths and reap the whirlwind - by Ranjith Soysa (LankaWeb : 21 December 2010).
GL meets Butenis over ‘war crimes’ allegations. - Condemns C’bo mission for misleading Washington (Island : 21 December 2010).
Double standards of US Ambassador Butenis - by Dr P A Samaraweera (LankaWeb : 7 December 2010).
Open letter to US Ambassador to Sri Lanka - by Ira De Silva (Island : 5 December 2010).
Wikileaks on Sri Lanka - by Ira De Silva (LankaWeb : 4 December 2010).
Wikileaks and US Ambassador Butenis - by Ranjith Soysa (Island : 2 December 2010). (Re-produced in Sri Lanka News Online : 2 December 2010).

Political Settlement for a Terrorist Problem ???

Devolution for political expedience will exacerbate the ethnic divide in Sri Lanka - By Raj Gonsalkorale (Asian Tribune: 28 November 2010).
A POLITICAL SOLUTION FOR MR KRISHNA’S DILEMMA - by CHUTTA. Farnborough, UK (LankaWeb : 26 November 2010).
Visiting Indian Minster calls for a peace and development process in Sri Lanka through the 13th Amendment (Colombo page : 27 November 2010).
Time for political solution; Krishna (Daily Mirror ; 26 November 2010).
Krishna calls for a political settlement (Island : 26 November 2010).

A "Token of Appreciation" from Prabhakaran to Solheim or from Solheim to Prabhakaran?

Choice of Norway was a mistake – Gomin Dayasri (Daily Mirror : 29 October 2010)
Gomin wants Solheim declared persona non grata (Daily Mirror ; 28 October 2010).

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith making his submissions to the Commission

Returning to the Old Ways? - by Dr Susantha goonatilake (Daily Mirror ; 17 November 2010).
The role of the Catholic Church and Conversion - by Dr. P. A. Samaraweera (LankaWeb : 12 November 2010).
Reasons that Christian padres give at LLRC for the conflict is a ruse - by Herold Leelawardena (LankaWeb ; 12 November 2010).
Satan in Saints Clothing - By Malin Abeyatunge (Sri Lanka News Online : 10 November 2010).
Falling into the Homeland Trap - By Garvin Karunaratne (LankaWeb : 10 November 2010).
The Catholic Church and the Crusade of Cardinal Malcom Ranjith - by Charles S. Perera (LankaWeb ; 10 November 2010).
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THEIR ROLE IN SRI LANKA - by Harvey Perera (LankaWeb : 10 November 2010).
Thank God - by C. B. Punchibandara (Island ; 9 November 2010).
`CARDINAL’ ERRORS - by S L Gunasekara (LankaWeb : 8 November 2010).
THE LTTE AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF SRI LANKA - by Herman Pathige Watford UK (Lankaweb ; 7 November 2010).
The Cardinal, Catholic Church and the LTTE - by Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia (Lankaweb ; 7 November 2010).
Cardinal highlights ‘colonisation fears’ of northerners Church leaders pushing for devolution in North & East (The Nation : 7 November 2010).
Cardinal Walks on a Tight Rope between Religion & Government - Prof. Hudson McLean (LankaWeb : 6 November 2010).
Cardinal sins….a continuation - By Mario Perera, Kadawata (LankaWeb ; 6 November 2010).
The most cardinal thing about Rev. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjit’s representations made to the LLRC Commission - by Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (LankaWeb ; 6 November 2010).
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith’s Agenda - Dinesh Paiva (LankaWeb : 6 November 2010).
Cardinal Sins! - Kumar Moses (LankaWeb ; 5 November 2010).