Joint appearance of SLFP foes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 18:15 GMT]
Mr.Anura Bandaranaike, a senior minister and the brother of incumbent President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge appeared with Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister on the same platform Wednesday and declared that he would support Mr.Rajapakse in the coming Presidential election as the candidate of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), sources in Colombo said. Both candidates have aspired for the SLFP Presidency and canvassed support separately till Tuesday.


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EPDP cadre shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 05:30 GMT]
Mr. Pankirajah George, 39, a cadre of the paramilitary group Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), was shot and killed by an unidentified gunman riding a bicycle Tuesday night around 11:00 p.m., Batticaloa Police said. The incident took place 2 km. south of Batticaloa town, at Chinese Road in Puthur located close to the Valaiiravu airbase, within the High Security Zone of the Sri Lankan forces.


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SLFP to announce candidate for SL Presidency

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 04:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge is likely to announce the names of candidates for President of Sri Lanka and the post of Prime Minister of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) at the central working committee of the SLFP which is scheduled to be held on Thursday or Friday, government sources said.
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SL President convenes meeting of top military brass

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 15:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga convened a meeting of senior officers of all three armed forces in Colombo at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) Tuesday, and spoke on the current political trends, sources in Colombo said.
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JVP launches campaign against CFA in south

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 15:58 GMT]
More than 1500 cadres and supporters of Marxist Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) staged a protest demonstration against the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) demanding Colombo to make the CFA null and void. The main protest was held in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station Monday evening from 4:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. Similar protests were also held in Kalutura, Puttalam, Kandy, Matala, Monaragala, Ratnapura and Anurathapura on Monday.


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Kumaratunge meets Tokyo co-chairs

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 15:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga met with diplomatic representatives of the four Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference Monday to discuss the current state of the peace process and the status of the CeaseFire Agreement (CFA), a media release issued by SL President's Office said. On 15 July the co-chairs issued a statement expressing alarm at the escalating violence, and called on the LTTE to stop killings, and the Government of Sri Lanka to disarm all paramilitaries and to guarantee security to unarmed LTTE cadres.
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Environmental Commission formed in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 July 2005, 11:25 GMT]
The inaugural event of the Thamileelam Commision for Environmental Governance (TCEG) was held at the Planning and Development Secretariat (PDS) located in Kilinochchi presided by Liberation Tiger's Head of Political Wing S P Thamilchelvan at 10 am Saturday, sources in Kilinochchi said. The main mission of the Commission is to ensure environmental protection in the NorthEast, PDS officials said.
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TNA seeks govt. stand on Trinco Buddha statue issue

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 06:06 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance ( TNA ) parliamentary group leader and Trincomalee district parliamentarian made a statement in parliament Wednesday morning seeking the Government to reveal its stand on the Trincomalee Buddha statue issue following the withdrawal of the case filed by the Attorney General in the Trincomalee District Court for the removal of the statue.
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New Ministers take oath

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 July 2005, 10:22 GMT]
Five Cabinet Ministers, a non Cabinet Minister and six Deputy Ministers took their oaths today Monday, 18th July 2005, before Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, a media release from the Presidential Media Unit issued in Colombo said Monday.
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Armed forces chiefs visit Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 July 2005, 16:29 GMT]
High-level defence team headed by Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri, Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy and the Joint Chief of Staff of three armed forces Friday evening visited Trincomalee on the instruction of President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge and held discussions with top officials of the Army, Navy and Air Force and Police based in the east port town to bring the tense situation under control. Defence team comprised Commanders of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Air Force the Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police, security sources said. Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge briefed the high level defence team Friday morning before it left Colombo to Trincomalee, Colombo sources said.
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More than 200 000 participate in UNP march, Colombo at standstill

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 July 2005, 08:20 GMT]
The final lap of the protest march organised by the opposition United National Party (UNP) drew around two hundred thousand anti-government protesters in Colombo on Tuesday as it reached the final destination. The protest demanding the UPFA Government and President Chandrika Kumaratunge to hold the Presidential polls this year crippled the traffic in Colombo city. The march commenced at 9 am in Dehiwala along the main Galle road was led towards Lipton's circle in the heart of Colombo. Armed forces and the Police were deployed to guard Government institutions and departments which remained closed. Routes leading to the President's residence were shut down.
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Sri Lanka sends condolence message to Londoners

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 July 2005, 01:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Thursday sent a condolence message to the British Government expressing her and Sri Lanka's citizens' grief over the death and destruction caused by bomb blasts, sources in Colombo said.
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Supreme Difference

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 July 2005, 15:24 GMT]
The Supreme Court, the most visible institution of the judicial branch, often plays a pivotal role in promoting trust in the government in a polarized society. Fundamental to the effective functioning of a supreme court is a secular constitution which protects minority rights, and a nation’s executive and legislative branches which practice good governance to enact laws benefiting the nation. Debates on new appointments to US Supreme Court and its recent controversial rulings render an opportunity to look at the functioning of the United States' “final arbiter of the law” to that of Sri Lanka’s.
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Sri Lanka's Security Council to discuss LTTE ultimatum

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 July 2005, 17:11 GMT]
Following the discussion held Friday between Mr.Hagrup Haukland, Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and Dr.Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary General of the Government Peace Secretariat, Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge has arranged to meet the National Security Council to take a decision regarding the ultimatum issued by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to ensure security of the LTTE cadres when travelling through the government controlled area as mandated by the Cease Fire Agreement, political sources in Colombo said.
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Tsunami hit Soodaikuda village relocated

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 June 2005, 02:58 GMT]
Tsunami destroyed Soodaikuda, a coastal village in the Muttur east in the Trincomalee district has been relocated two hundred meters away from the shore on a twenty-five acre land with each displaced family is given about twenty perch plot with a transition home constructed by the International Organization of Migration (IOM),
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Bhikku Front accuses Kumaratunge of betraying Buddhist Prelates

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 June 2005, 15:05 GMT]
"President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge is the number one enemy of Buddhism in Sri Lanka," said the National Bhikku Front (NBF), an organization of Sinhalese Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka in Colombo Monday. The NBF urged the top Buddhist Prelates to withdraw the blessings they gave Ms Kumaratunge as Head of the State and to declare her as a non-Buddhist.
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Unite to help the tsunami affected, appeals SL President

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 June 2005, 17:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge appealed to all parties to "put aside divisive and confrontational politics and work as a team to alleviate the sufferings of those affected by the tsunami," in a press release issued Friday from President's House in Colombo.
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Colombo tense, Norwegian Ambassador to visit Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 June 2005, 02:44 GMT]
Security has been tightened in Colombo as the city remained tensed amidst anticipated signing of aid deal Friday, sources in Colombo said. While Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge kept the details of Friday's planned events private, informed sources said, Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr Hans Brattskar, is expected to travel to Kilinochchi to meet Mr S P Thamilchelvan, Political Head of the Liberation Tigers at 12.45 pm, indicating that signing of the aid deal is imminent. The sources in Colombo added that a "Deputy-level" official in the Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation will sign the agreement on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka.
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Kumaratunge hands over JM document to Buddhist prelates

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 June 2005, 15:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Thursday handed over copies of the Joint Mechanism (JM) proposal to the Mahanayake Thera of the Asgiriya Chapter Most Venerable Udugama Sri Budddharakita Thera and Mahanayake Thera of Malwatte Chapter Most Venerable Thibbotuwe Sri Siddharatha Sumangala, sources said. The Joint Mechanism defines an administrative structure and aid disbursment protocols to facilitate rehabilitation and reconstruction of tsunami destroyed coastal areas in the northeast province.
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Muslim Clerics meet SL President, voice concerns on aid deal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 June 2005, 11:52 GMT]
Senior Muslim clergymen from Batticaloa, Amparai and Trincomalee districts met with Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Tuesday and insisted that "the Muslim community be allowed to participate in the reconstruction of tsunami-affected areas through their representatives," according to a media release issued by the Office of the President Tuesday.
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