UNP to participate in APRC meeting

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 November 2006, 11:28 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) has nominated parliamentarian Professor G.L.Peiris, and Mr.K.N.Choksy, former Finance Minister to participate in the All Party Representative Council (APRC) meeting. They will for the first time attend the APRC meeting scheduled to be held on Monday.
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Jaffna Bishop calls for urgent help to avert humanitarian disaster

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 November 2006, 00:30 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Savundara- nayagam, has sent an urgent telegram Thursday to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse requesting him to immediately open a landroute to Jaffna peninsula to allow the flow of desperately needed food and other essential materials to Jaffna residents, civil society sources in Jaffna said Thursday.
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Kuchaveli villagers under paramilitary threat- TNA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2006, 12:38 GMT]
Many residents from villages in Kuchavel Pradeshya Sabha division, who have been returning to resettle after being displaced before 2002, are again fleeing the villages due to threat from paramilitary cadres, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader, Mr Sampanthan complaiend in a letter sent to Sri Lanka's President, Mahinda Rajapakse, Tuesday.
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Rajapakse, Wickremesinghe to co-chair MoU monitoring committee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 October 2006, 14:47 GMT]
The high level committee appointed to monitor the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), and the main opposition United National Party (UNP), is to co-chaired by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse and the opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, political sources in Colombo said.


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Talks should address democracy, human rights, development- GoSL

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 12:43 GMT]
Expressing hopes that the talks will build the "required atmosphere and move the country forward to the realization of a just and honorable peace," Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, in the opening speech on behalf of Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) Saturday morning said, GoSL's APC is "formulating a political and constitutional framework for the resolution of the national question." He said that despite provocations of the LTTE, GoSL is continuing the dialogue, and cautioned "LTTE not to consider GoSL's commitment to the peace process as a sign of weakness."
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Peace process depends on ceasefire implementation - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 10:49 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers called Saturday for the full implementation of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA), saying "such actions will bring normalcy in the lives of our people, and help in taking forward the peace process towards a satisfactory conclusion." Addressing the opening session of the Norwegian facilitated negotiations in Geneva, LTTE's Political Head, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, said: "the best we can hope for from the current talks is therefore, the strengthening of the CFA agreement that has the potential to lead to a permanent, just peace in this island."
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Rajapakse, Wickremesinghe meet prior to Geneva peace talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 09:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse and Ranil Wickremasinghe, Leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), Friday morning met at Temple Trees in Colombo and discussed the issues related implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the UNP and monitoring MoU's progress, political sources in Colombo said.
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Ruling SLFP, opposition UNP sign MoU

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 October 2006, 08:04 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Monday signed a 10-clause Memorandum of Understanding to implement a four point common national agenda. The UNP, under the 2 year long MoU, said it would "extend support to the Government in the pursuit of a negotiated settlement to the on-going conflict while opposing terrorism in all its manifestations and upholding human rights."
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Cabinet to meet to finalize MoU

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 October 2006, 15:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse has summoned a special cabinet meeting Monday to decide on the final draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is to be signed with the main opposition United National Party (UNP) to implement the agreed six identified issues under the common national agenda giving top priority to peace process, sources said.
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US says backs Sri Lanka, urges talks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 October 2006, 22:41 GMT]
As the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers prepare for their first face-to-face talks since February, the United States Saturday, whilst supporting the negotiations, threw its weight behind the Colombo government. "We have excellent relations with the government of Sri Lanka. I have met with President [Mahinda] Rajapakse. We are signaling our strong support for the government of Sri Lanka. We do not recognise Tamil Tigers and we don't support them,” Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told a round table of South Asian journalists.
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Rajapakse briefs JHU, UPFA allies on MoU

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 October 2006, 16:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse in the capacity of the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) briefed the constituent parties of his United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and all monks party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) in two separate discussions held Saturday on the details of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the SLFP and the main opposition United National Party (UNP), political sources in Colombo said.


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Rajapakse, Wickremasinghe to meet to finalise MoU

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 October 2006, 11:36 GMT]
President Mahinda Rajapakse in the capacity of the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) are scheduled to meet on Saturday or Sunday to finalise the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the basis for power-sharing, sources said.


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UNP leader meets Buddhist prelates over MoU

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 October 2006, 22:06 GMT]
Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Thursday met with Mahanayaka Thera of Malwatte Chapter and Mahanayaka Thera of Asgiriya Chapter separately and briefed them about the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the two major political parties Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and UNP to forge a national consensus to identified six issues giving top priority to the ethnic conflict.
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US diplomat meets Rajapakse, Wickremasinghe, Hakim

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 October 2006, 16:19 GMT]
Richard Boucher, US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs Thursday held discussions with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. The discussions were centred on the proposed peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and on human rights situation in the country, diplomatic sources in Colombo said.
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Illiberal democracy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 October 2006, 16:08 GMT]
The electoral democracy in Sri Lanka, bolstered by regularly held "open, free and fair" elections, is often characterized as robust and vibrant by the international community. However, Sri Lanka has been plagued by decades of ethnic violence. Discriminatory legislation and a politicized judiciary have bred inequality, failed to deliver social justice, and have raised explosive issues related to sovereignty in the multi-cultural state. Reasons for Sri Lanka gaining increasing notoriety as a violator of international norms in human rights, and the State emerging as a killing field, can be traced to its polity's gradual, inexorable shift towards an illiberal democracy.
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U.S. Assistant Secretary Boucher to visit Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 October 2006, 12:45 GMT]
Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka Thursday and Friday in Support of Peace Talks, U.S. Embassy in Colombo said in a press release issued on Tuesday. Mr. Richard Boucher will meet with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, Mangala Samaraweera, civil society leaders, NGOs and will travel to Trincomalee to meet with local government officials and civic leaders, according to the U.S. Embassy. This is the second visit by Mr. Richard Boucher to Sri Lanka this year.
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Akashi arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 October 2006, 05:02 GMT]
Yashushi Akashi, Japanese special peace envoy arrived in Colombo Sunday night around 10 p.m. at Katunayake International Airport on a five day stay. He is scheduled to meet Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse Monday morning and Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva this afternoon at the latter's office regarding the proposed peace talks scheduled to be held on October 28 and 29 in Geneva.
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Observer Editor's sacking politically motivated, say Media Groups

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 October 2006, 11:48 GMT]
Five main journalists associations in Sri Lanka condemned the sacking of Rajpal Abeynayake from the Editorship of Sri Lanka's weekly broadsheet, Observer, and said the politically motivated act portends danger to Press Freedom in Sri Lanka, in a press release issued Saturday. Mr Abeynayake wrote a column critical of the Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapakse's speech to Sri Lankan diplomats in Colombo, in the Observer's 8th October edition.
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Staff boycott work after monk goes berserk inside Secretariat

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 October 2006, 22:11 GMT]
The staff of the Manmunai North Divisional Secretariat in Batticaloa boycotted duties for an hour from 10:00 a.m. Friday condemning the cantankerous behavior of the Buddhist Monk, Ampitiya Sumanarathna Thera, inside the Secretariat at 9:30 a.m., shouting and swearing at the working staff. Officials said the belligerent Thera falsely accused the staff of reneging on providing funds allocated to renovate the Sri Mangalaramaya Vihara where he is the chief priest, Secretariat sources said.
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UNP to decide Monday on joining UPFA cabinet

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 October 2006, 17:23 GMT]
The working committee of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) is scheduled to meet Monday to take a decision whether to join the Cabinet of Ministers in the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government and finalise the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent of the ruling UPFA, political sources said.


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