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Army completes capture of Jaffna
The Army yesterday afternoon completed the liberation of the
entire Jaffna Peninsula when troops of the 55 Division drove out
last of the LTTE presence between Nagarkovil and Vettilaikerni,
in the northern part of the neck of Jaffna.
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UN demands action from govt. over
incidents in east
The United Nations Refugee Agency has asked the Sri Lankan
Government to ensure security for civilians in the east, citing
a significant increase in the number of killings...
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Who done it?
A UNP Kotte Municipal Council member has been arrested on
suspicion by the Police in connection with the recent attack on
MTV/ MBC network at Depanama...
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Army’s new Jaffna Commander
Maj. Gen. Mendaka Samarasinghe and Wanni Commander Maj. Gen.
Jagath Jayasuriya yesterday congratulating each other at
Elephant Pass over the their respective troops linking each
other after the capture of this gateway to the Peninsula. They
and their fellow officers also had a simple ceremony where they
partook milk rice and traditional sweet meat |
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Lasantha’s final journey
Former Leader Publications Editor-in-Chief Lasantha
Wickrematunga takes his final journey tomorrow. The cortège will
leave the residence at 12 noon and proceed to the Assembly of
God, People’s Church...
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Stranded Lankans in Gaza rescued
Sri Lankan missions in
Israel and Jordan have taken steps to ensure the safe return of
two housemaids who were stranded in Gaza, a Foreign Ministry
official told The Nation yesterday.
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PS goons allegedly
assault wildlife officers
Two wildlife officials attached to Rawana Ella sanctuary were
allegedly assaulted by a top politico attached to the Ella
Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) on Friday for objecting to dumping garbage
in the sanctuary.
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NEWS |
Justice to Justice
A recent gathering of black coats, where nothing is taken
seriously during generally no- holds barred friendly banter,
however had erupted into a loud shout of “Buzz off” by a highly
respected retired senior judge, when a sitting senior woman
judge had passed a personal caustic remark while going past him.
Groovy pilot
Believe it or not, a senior SriLankan pilot who made a foul
landing in Chennai a few months back, during which 13 runway
lights were broken and four of the aircraft tyres were damaged,
had been recently...
SEE INSIDERoute licences of 77 errant buses
impounded
With the implementation of the 4.3% fare reduction, The National
Transport Commission (NTC) has impounded 77 licences of long
distance buses that failed to implement the fare reduction.
NTC Chairman Dr. Amal Kumarage told The Nation that these
offenders would be brought to book under an approved scheme of
monetary fines and cancellations with the hearing scheduled in
the coming week. However, he admitted that little could be done
by the Commission regarding buses that are not following...
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Businessman asks CJ for
protection
A
businessman in Colombo who is giving evidence against a well
known criminal in two court cases, has requested for protection
from authorities as he fears for his life.
President, Falcon International, M.G.M.S. Zurfick in a letter to
Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva on January 2 said that he feared
for his life from notorious Potta Nauffer who is now in death
row for his role in the murder of High Court Judge Sarath
Ambepitiya.
He said in his letter, that he was worried after he
read...
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Long awaited Insurance Corp.
judgment given this month?
Presidential Advisor and Attorney-at-Law Vasudeva Nanayakkara
who filed a Fundamental Rights Application over the sale of Sri
Lanka Insurance Corporation to Stassen Group, said yesterday
that he expected the much awaited judgment on the deal would be
delivered by the Supreme Court within two weeks of the new court
session.
The new court session will commence from tomorrow (12)
and according to judicial sources judges are in the
process of writing...
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Tiger int’l call centre nabbed
in Menikhinna, Kandy
The Police and intelligence officials have raided this week an
international communication centre of the LTTE operated at
Menikhinna in Kandy.
Information about this communication network had been gathered
after a thorough investigation into the telecommunication
network. They had found out that the network had been operated
by the LTTE using 60 CDMA telephone...
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US follows
Brits out of Kollupitiya
On the heels of the British High Commission shifting from Galle
Road, Kollupitiya to a new building complex at Bauddhaloka
Mawatha recently, the US embassy too is making arrangements to
leave the adjoining compound in Colombo 03, and is now looking
for a fresh location to put up a new embassy.
The United States Embassy for Sri Lanka and Maldives
will shift from their current location as a part of a
global initiative of the United States Government...
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POLITICS |
General Elections
2009; a distinct possibility
 Last
week saw a momentous moment in Sri Lanka’s war against terror. The city
of Kilinochchi was liberated sparking national celebrations and
signifying that the Eelam war was being prosecuted to a finish.
The significance of the fall of Kilinochchi was described by many
analysts as being the hub of operations for the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It was the de-facto capital of the terrorists and
the centre from which they administered the areas
under their control. In that sense, and from its
central...
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Grand Opposition Alliance swimming in
troubled waters
 The
UNP last month submitted a no confidence motion against the
government, charging that by entering into an oil hedging deal
with five commercial banks, the government had lost revenue to
the tune of Rs. 25 billion.
UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, General Secretary Tissa
Attanayake, Chairman Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, Chief
Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera and MPs John Amaratunga,
Dayasiri Jayasekera and Renuka Herath signed the no faith
motion.
The no faith motion was included into the
Parliamentary agenda, without a date being
specified...
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NEWS FEATURES |
Sundays without Suranimala
 As we waited, breath bated for three hours while doctors
attempted to revive Lasantha Wickrematunga from fatal injury he
had received last Thursday, there was communal anguish. We wept
at the confirmation that he had succumbed to his injuries later
that afternoon and as we marched in protest at his brutal
murder, the anger and bitterness within the media community was
tangible.
The cold blooded killing of The Sunday Leader Editor in Chief,
Lasantha Wickrematunga has unleashed a wave of emotions...
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INSIDELTTE ban: Step towards law and order in
regained areas
 The Government of Sri Lanka while extending its military
victories to strategically important Elephant Pass last week,
took another crucial decision to declare the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a banned organisation.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa had earlier warned the LTTE to free
the innocent civilians in areas where there were intense battles
with the Security Forces or to face a possible ban. Although,
several other countries including India, United States and the
EU had proscribed the LTTE in their countries...
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Chigumbura, Utseya star in Zimbabwe
victory
Elton Chigumbura scored a solid 64 and spinner Prosper Utseya
bagged two key wickets as Zimbabwe defeated Bangladesh by 38
runs in a triangular one-day series match here on Saturday.
Zimbabwe rode on man-of-the-match Chigumbura’s eighth
half-century to post 205-9 before dismissing the hosts for 167,
thanks to off-spinner Utseya’s
 2-22 off 10 tight overs.
It was only Zimbabwe’s second win in their last 12 one-day
internationals against Bangladesh. The Africans take on Sri
Lanka here on Monday.
Each side will play two league matches before the top
two qualify for the final...
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Point Blank
Playing the waiting game
 Sri Lanka’s chance of getting India down for a five-match
one-day series next month rests solely on the appointment of a
new interim committee chairman to administer Sri Lanka Cricket.
The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCI), as reports
suggest, is keeping a close watch on the developments in Sri
Lanka before committing themselves to the tour.
The BCCI already has a bitter experience during Arjuna
Ranatunga’s 11-month tenure as interim chairman where cordial
relations built between the two Cricket Boards over the years
became strained by the unwarranted remarks and actions made
against them by the former captain.
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INTERVIEWS |
Sri Lanka: A nation of missed
opportunities
 Constitutional Affairs Minister D.E.W. Gunesekara says Sri
Lanka has a history of missed opportunities. Going back as far
as 1944, he says when the State Council first recommended that
Sinhala and Tamil be made official languages, the various
political parties at that time could not reach a consensus on
it. From there on, he says, every political party has only been
selfishly taking decisions, giving scant regard for the future
of the nation. “This is why the country is still bleeding. Even
now, why can’t the so called major political parties – the UNP
and the SLFP, agree to agree on something common, at least for
the sake of the country? Take for instance the APRC. What has
gone wrong? Why can’t political parties reach a consensus, so
that we can...
SEE INSIDEKilinochchi fall: Not end of political
war
 Democratic People’s Front (DPF) Leader and Colombo District
Member of Parliament Mano Ganesan observes that the fall of
Kilinochchi is not the end of the political war that successive
governments have been waging since independence. Admitting that
the fall was a military success, the MP said one cannot get
carried away by military victories. He said that the entire
nation could celebrate only when a concrete solution was found
to the national question. “The stumbling block to a political
solution is the lack of statesmanship at the national level,” he
told The Nation in an interview.
Following are excerpts
Q: How do you view the fall of Kilinochchi?
A: Fall of Kilinochchi does not surprise me.
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