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Peace
Secretariat deputy chief gunned down at Dehiwala residence
 Deputy
Secretary General of the government Peace Secretariat Kethesh
Loganathan was shot dead by suspected LTTE assassins in Colombo
last night.
Mr. Loganathan was at his residence at Vandervert Place in
Dehiwela when two gunmen rang the bell and shot him in the head
when he came out into the garden to answer it, police officials
said. The victim had also taken shots to his chest and left arm.
The assassins had taken five shots although only three had met
their mark.
The shooting took place at 9 p.m. yesterday and Loganathan
succumbed to his injuries on the way to the Kalubowila hospital.
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Going to war
again – soldiers head out into the jungles of Palathoppur to
secure and clear the area as the Sri Lanka Army launches an
offensive against LTTE positions in Sampur. - Pic by
Ishara S. Kodikara |
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LTTE attempt to take over Jaffna thwarted
127 Tigers; 3 officers, 22 soldiers killed
in fierce battle
A push by the LTTE to recapture Jaffna yesterday was
thwarted by the security forces as they were driven back in
Muhamalai , Nagarkovil and Kilali forward defence lines.
Military sources said that the security forces were in full
control of the peninsula while heavy fighting between the army
and the LTTE continued as the Tigers attempted to breach the
forward defence line at several places.
Fighting became severe by yesterday evening as the LTTE made
several boat landings in Kilali and Kayts in the Jaffna
peninsula.
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| NEWS |
The Nation wins printing
award
 The
Nation on Sunday received the certificate of distinction
for being adjudged runner up in the competition for the
best newspaper broadsheet at Print 2006, organised by
the Sri Lanka Association of Printers.
I am King, Moneragala teacher tells
SC
A fifty-three- year -old teacher in Moneragala has filed
a petition in the Supreme Court praying that he be
declared as Sri Lanka’s Crown Prince in keeping with a
historic Scroll (Sannasa).
“Appears to be Eelam war IV”
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday said
the events happening during the past few days appear to
be the start of the fourth Eelam war.
“From the events that had been happening over the past
few days, it appears to be so. The LTTE is pushing the
entire country towards war,” he said addressing a press
conference yesterday evening.
 Blue
- eyed boy
The green leader is back to globe trotting and is taking
wing to the land of the queen. Guess who is accompanying
him this time, none other than the blue-eyed boy from
Kurunegala the youthful Akila.
Donors express serious concern
over N-E crisis
WASHINGTON, Aug 12, 2006 (AFP) - Sri Lanka’s
international donors have expressed serious concern over
a growing humanitarian crisis stemming from the island’s
ethnic conflict and called for an immediate cessation of
hostilities.
Uniform timetable in lieu of
bus fare hike
The government has agreed to operate both private and
CTB buses on the same timetable and do away with the
present competitive timetables instead of a bus fare
hike urged by the private bus operators after the recent
fuel price hikes.
Transfer of SSP might hamper
investigations
CID investigations into terrorist operations are to get
affected with the sudden transfer of SSP Ravi
Waidyalankara who was instrumental in cracking many of
the recent LTTE plots, police sources said.
SSP Waidyalankara was the chief investigator of the
suicide bomb attack on Army Commander Sarath Fonseka.
The Nation learns that there are attempts to transfer
him from the position.
 Visiting
Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer met Army
Commander Sarath Fonseka at the Army Headquarters last
week. They discussed a gamut of issues including the
present security situation of the country.
 Muslims
vent their anger: Muslims protested on Friday after
Jummah prayers over escalation of violence in East. A
person is seen attacking a shop at Panchikawatte,
Maradana Pic by Ishara S. Kodikara |
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| POLITICS |
Ire after fire
 The
aftermath of Mavilaru has created an upheaval in the Sri Lankan
polity especially with regard to the military campaign carried
out by the government to rescue the areas under LTTE siege.
The main opposition UNP and the SLMC were not in favour of the
government’s action and criticised the Rajapaksa administration
for being insensitive to the feelings of the people.
Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has said that the
Mavilaru controversy could have been resolved through diplomatic
means while SLMC Leader, Rauff Hakeem, maintained that the
government could have averted shelling the areas infiltrated by
the LTTE and sent ground troops to defend the areas in question.
How long will Mother India sit idle,
while war intensifies?
 The
Bay of Bengal is best known, in meteorological circles for its
bouts of ‘low pressure’ across the Palk Straits that usually
causes ripples of heavy weather in neighbouring Sri Lanka.
These days, the climate is slightly different, maybe not in
meteorological terms, but certainly in political terms: there is
‘high pressure’ being applied on Colombo from across the Palk
Straits.
Many a time has political arm twisting been attempted. And what
does New Delhi want, vis-ŕ-vis the war in the North and East and
the ethnic question?
Merciless killings of mercy
missionaries
 As
a last ditch effort to prevent the two sides from returning to
full-scale war, Japan’s special Envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi
Akashi was set to visit Sri Lanka mid-August. This visit was
scheduled after the visit of Norwegian Special envoy Jon Hanssen
Bauer.
But Ambassador Akashi was adamant that he would visit the Wanni
only if LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran would agree to see
him. Akashi was not willing to simply meet S.P. Thamilselvan. |
| NEWS FEATURES |
Blood spills in Jaffna
as Mavil Aru flows
Amidst war drums beating and hostilities resuming,
out of the blues the LTTE Peace Secretariat Chief S.
Puleedevan was desperately trying to reach his
counterpart Dr. Palitha Kohona. A move for peace
appeared to be in the offing. As he failed to make
contact, he passed the message on to the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission (SLMM). With great difficulty,
the SLMM got in touch with Kohona and inquired about
the conditions the government was placing on the
Tigers for talks. Kohona responded that there were
no conditions and invited the LTTE to come to the
negotiating table.Muttur
ignites Kantale fire
By Dharisha
Bastians in Kantale and Muttur
Kantale looks tsunami struck. Remember those
ubiquitous blue and white UNHCR tarpaulins along the
southern coast in the aftermath of the giant wave?
They are back in the thousands, in this agricultural
town, providing shelter for a people displaced by a
wave of violence in the north east, now facing the
secondary problems of mass displacement – a health
crisis. |
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| SPORTS |
 Cricket
captains play defensive
Captains Mahela Jayawardene and Rahul Dravid played it safe by
saying that they looked at the Unitech Cup Tri-series cricket
tournament as a tough challenge at its launching ceremony held
at Hotel Taj Samudra yesterday.
 No
sweat for CR & FC
It was a convincing win for the CR & FC whose outstanding
performance at their home grounds yesterday enabled them to
outclass the Havelocks Sports Club 37-5 in the Caltex Knockout
finals.
Just one more over
 “The
swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the
battle,………because time and unforeseen circumstances befall them
all.” These words from the Bible came to be in the life of
Herbert Clement Felsinger upon whom calamitous times fell
suddenly when he suffered a Cerebro Vascular accident (stroke)
at the height of his career as an International cricket umpire
in 1991.
Havies’ meteoric rise to fame
 Havelocks
Sports Club has given all indication that having a local coach
who knows the limitations of Sri Lankan rugby players gave the
club an advantage over other teams. Havelocks SC churned out
memorable performances this season... |
| INTERVIEWS |
EU Parliamentarian Niranjan Deva-Aditya
to contest for UN Secretary General’s post
“105 countries support me”
 Niranjan
Deva-Aditya is truly a global personality, having been born in
Sri Lanka, elected to parliament in the United Kingdom and then
elected to represent a regional European Union Parliament.
“There is no CFA now”
 JHU’s
parliamentary group leader Venerable Athuraliye Ratana Thera
questions the relevance of the ceasefire agreement in the face
of grave violations by the LTTE. He says that any solution to
the North-East problem is useless without eliminating terrorism
first. Venerable Ratana Thera points out that the President and
the government is “floating around” without taking a proper
stand on issues.
UNP, SLFP must arrive at consensus
 Constitutional
Affairs Minister and General Secretary of the newly formed
Socialist Alliance (SA), comprising all five left parties, D.E.W.
Gunesekara, has blasted the JVP for trying to force the
government to accept proposals not palatable to the nation.
We cannot sustain a war situation:
Samarasinghe
 Disaster
Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe who
joined the Cabinet of President Mahinda Rajapaksa after crossing
over from the UNP is a firm believer of a political solution to
the North-East conflict. |
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