By Dr. S. Narapalasingam The current moves of the powerful government in post-war Sri Lanka are mainly for sustaining the wartime military strength, preventing the resurrection of the smashed LTTE and developing the infrastructures, notably the roads and rail network,...

By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya The External Affairs ministry has just issued a statement (Fri. Nov 5) indicating that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to London, in response to an invitation to address the Oxford Union, has been postponed “to a more suitable...

Members of the National Union of Journalists at the BBC are taking part in a two-day strike in a dispute over proposed changes to the pension plan

Labor Minister Gamini Lokuge has denied allegations leveled against Sri Lanka by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). He has said the government has honored all it’s commitments on labor conventions ratified by the government of Sri Lanka. Responding to allegations made by the ITUC, Minister Lokuge has been quoted in the media that when ...

By Lee Yu Kyung It seems no one bothers about “them” in Sri Lanka. No lawyer or rights groups in the country dare to talk of “their” basic rights. Do they deserve to be abandoned or “disappeared”? Alleged former members...

UK author Alan Shadrake was found guilty of insulting the Singapore judiciary in a book he wrote about the death penalty. The 75-year-old will be sentenced for contempt next week; he also faces trial on defamation charges. In his book, “Once a Jolly Hangman – Singapore Justice in the Dock”, he criticised how the death ...

Deputy Resettlement Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan has said the government has no plans to acquire land owned by the Tamil people in the Wanni. Muralitharan has denied reports that the government has seized Tamils’ land especially in Puthukudiruppu and Murukandy areas. The BBC has reported

by Charles Haviland BBC News Nails are being hammered and beams secured in Silavatturai. SJM Shajahan, a good-natured man in his 40s, watches and helps the men at work. Fishing is big business nearby and Mr Shajahan, a boat mechanic,...

Sri Lanka pays a top PR firm about £3m ($4.7m) a year to try to enhance the country's image, the BBC understands.

The Sri Lankan government is paying a top British PR firm about £3m ($4.7m) a year to try to enhance the country's post-war image, the BBC understands.

The UN panel of experts appointed by the Secretary General on Sri Lanka has called for written submissions. The panel was set up to inquire into the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka. The BBC has reported

The family of BBC journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan express anger over the failure of police to find the killers after ten years.

The JHU has said that more than 150,000 Sinhalese families have been displaced in the North and East due to the war. JHU Leader Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thero has been quoted in the BBC as saying that more than 150 Sinhalese families are stranded in the Alfred Duraiyappa stadium and Railway Station

By Saroj Pathirana Activists have criticised India's decision to invite Sri Lanka's president to attend the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Delhi. Sri Lanka's government said President Mahinda Rajapaksa would be the guest of honour at Thursday's event. The move...

(Lanka-e-News, Oct.11, 2010, 7.50PM) The BBC news service has reported that the wives of LTTE former media spokesman Rasiah Ilantheriyan and Batticaloa LTTE intelligence unit leader...

Two prominent LTTE leaders in Sri Lanka are missing after arrest by the army last year, their wives have told a presidential commission, BBC reports. .

By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo In Sri Lanka this year it has well and truly been a case of the mighty falling, as the man that led the military to victory against the Tamil Tigers found himself placed in...

from BBC News Sri Lanka's former military commander has lost his parliamentary seat after a military court sentenced him to jail for 30 months, authorities say....

(Lanka-e-News, 06.Oct.2010, 4.20PM) The British Foreign Ministry Secretary William Hague had confirmed that the BBC World service is facing cut backs on...

In a rare interview, a former member of Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil Tiger rebels has been speaking to the BBC about his feelings on being released

“Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people…” — Charlie Chaplin The Dictator By Tisaranee Gunasekara President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech to the UN General Assembly consisted of the usual banalities and platitudes, with one outstanding exception. That exception was a perniciously riveting idea symbolic and symbiotic of the Rajapaksa ethos, a transformative concept which, if ...

(Lanka-e-News, Oct. 04, 2010, 3.50PM) It is reported that despite the fact that the British Foreign Minister William Hogg had confirmed that...

by M.Y.M. Ayub The BBC’s Sinhala service, Sandesaya quoted United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Tissa Attanayake on September 26 as saying that there was no need for a federal political solution in Sri Lanka. This might have disappointed many Tamils especially politically conscious ones who have been demanding more devolution than what had already implemented, for the p...

“Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together in new shapes of your own choosing.” -George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty -Four) The end was never in doubt; President Rajapaksa would confirm Gen. Fonseka’s jail sentence and the bête noire of the Ruling Family would be duly incarcerated. Only the blindly optimistic would have...

by Tisaranee Gunasekara “Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people…” — Charlie Chaplin ~ The Dictator President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech to the UN General Assembly consisted of the usual banalities and platitudes, with one outstanding exception. That exception was...

By Karu Jayasuriya As a Sri Lankan ex-Army Officer and a person who believes strongly that those who have contributed towards the welfare of this nation should be shown unending gratitude, Thursday was one of the saddest days of my...

from BBC News online Sri Lanka's president has endorsed the 30-month jail term of former army chief Sarath Fonseka, an official in the president's office has told the BBC. Mr Fonseka was found guilty of breaching arms procurement guidelines on...

Sri Lanka's president endorses the 30-month jail term of former army chief Sarath Fonseka, the president's office tells the BBC.

Sri Lanka's president endorses the 30-month jail term of former army chief Sarath Fonseka, the president's office tells the BBC.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake has pointed out that there is no need for devolution of power under a federal system which was agreed during peace talks with the LTTE at that time. Mr. Attanayake had made this reference participating in the BBC “Sandesaya” programme from England recently