Our Mission The Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights (SPUR) stands for all the objectives stated in its name. However, in a welter of claims and counter claims, myths and facts, illusions and realities, it is rather difficult for peace-seekers to make statements of their own without being accused of bias. Primary objective of this page is to present authentic and authoritative voices advancing the cause of peace, unity and human rights in Sri Lanka.

13A and 13P – The Bane of a Two Thirds Majority

Whenever Sri Lanka ruling party had a two thirds majority, India comes begging trying to impose its demands. Given the extreme unpopularity of Indian demands, which are often racist, there is no likelihood of any cooperation between the ruling party and the opposition. Only a two thirds majority of the ruling party can make dirty Indian demands happen.

Giving UPFA a two thirds majority has multiple problems. Severe abuse of power by the government from Angoda to Tangalle and right throughout the country was seen in the last one and a half years. Victims of these two events were not the ordinary Lankan, but victims of the full implementation of the 13A or 13P will be average Lankans who will never forgive the ruling elite for this crime. Using the two thirds majority, opposition parties have been subjugated. At first the government said it is for the common good of the country but now it is clear too much power has corrupted the ruling UPFA. Voters regret their grave mistake of giving the Rajapaksha government excess power than it needs to serve the people.

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Diplomats as buyers

The US Department of Justice announced in August, 2006 that four LTTE members caught in an undercover sting operation shopping for surface-to-air missiles in the New York arms black market had conspired to bribe some US State Department officials to remove the LTTE from the State Department's Foreign Terrorist Organisation list. The LTTE had offered a huge bribe including a $ 1 million up-front payment for that purpose, we were told. The suspects were brought to justice immediately.

Yesterday, we reported, quoting Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, that after the conclusion of the war in May 2009, a US diplomat had tried to bribe a serving Sri Lankan military officer, Maj. Gen. Prasad Samarasinghe, who was told that he and his family would be able to live in the US comfortably if he furnished 'evidence of war crimes'.

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On so-called scientific knowledge – XII

Feyerabend has shown in his "Against method" that there is no scientific method as such and that in fact anything goes as a so called method in western science. There is no method adopted by the paradigm shifters described in the previous instalment and very often they carry on without any experimental evidence as such. In Theoretical Physics there is no way to verify experimentally some of the predictions and it exemplifies how western science has progressed in the last four centuries after Galileo. The research methodologies taught to students in the Universities are good for those who have no insight or intuition and nothing more than lessons in cookery.

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India's Plans for Sri Lanka post-LTTE

We cannot deny the historical links shared between Sri Lanka and India. We cannot also forget decades of India's aggression camouflaged by diplomatic niceties with post-war observing an India totally in denial of its own links & support of LTTE terrorism. So much so that India's concern is none other than the Tamil civilians of the north and east and a steady flow of Indian "assistance" to be "taken" without argument. A Government that politically & militarily defeated terrorism should not need to fear "influences" for a nation backs any Government that does not compromise the territorial sovereignty and integrity of that country. This type of public backing is more powerful than any external military force should that be one of the threats being used. Just as the People must have confidence in the Government the Government must ensure that it is worthy of receiving the backing of the People. Must we remind India of its lists of interventions – through the LTTE, arrival of the IPKF, through economic assistance and now a steady flow of labor! The people are watching.

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President denies promising India to go beyond 13-A
All political party leaders to be consulted on national question

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday denied that he ever told India he would go beyond the 13th Amendment to the Constitution as a solution to the ethnic problem.

Responding to a question at a breakfast meeting with heads of print and electronic media yesterday at Temple Trees whether he had promised India to go beyond the 13th Amendment, the President said: "Oh, No! How can I make promises like that? I have referred the issue to Parliament. I have nominated government representatives to the PSC. But unfortunately, neither the UNP nor the JVP has nominated theirs. It is the same with the Tamil National Alliance as well."

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BBC Hard Talk – National Anthem in Tamil?

In his 9 part series(made 2010) BBC 'Hard Talk' host Stephen Sackur looks at the Sri Lankan government's child soldier rehabilitation programme (parts 7-9) He talks to the programme director, teachers ….. and to the teenagers themselves, about their horrific experiences and new lives. The programme, he says, poses a troubling question – "Should the victorious Sri Lankan military be responsible for the rehabilitation of traumatised and vulnerable Tamil teenagers?" He always stresses the point that the people engaged in this whole operation are "Singhalese" and the overall control is still with the "victorious Sri Lankan military" In his eagerness to harp on the fact that "Singhalese" are in total control, he calls the English teacher of the school, Bernadine Anderson a "Singhalese" ??

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GR rejects testimony attributed to unnamed Gen.
Reveals US attempt to bribe serving officer

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that none of the Majors General directly involved in eelam war IV had made a testimony to any US lawyer, in New York in 2010, alleging extrajudicial killings of civilians, surrendering LTTE cadres and dissident journalists during eelam war IV.

"Those directly involved in the campaign are still in service. They'll never betray the country for personal benefit,"

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Norwegian Tamil wanted as terrorist

"A 35 year old man living in Norway, who is supposed to be the new leader of the Tamil guerrilla organization LTTE, is wanted by Interpol for terrorism," Norway's NRK TV reported yesterday

It said "the suspected man has been resident in this country since 2005. He is resident in a municipality on the West Coast, where he has kept a low profile. The government of Sri Lanka believes that man is the leader or one of the leaders of the remnants of the LTTE.

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Snake bites and agonising cries

British Prime Minister David Cameron, a knight in shining armour on a much hyped crusade for human rights the world over, is strangely lamenting that the EU human rights laws have prevented his beloved country from being able to protect its citizens from terrorists. He did not mince his words when he said so before the Council of Europe the other day.

How would Britain and its friends have reacted if a leader from a developing country plagued by terrorism had dared make such a bold statement at an international forum? Cameron et al would have condemned him or her, bellowing their usual sententious rhetoric and insisting that human rights take precedence over everything else. After all, that was what Britain told Sri Lanka while the latter was struggling to neutralise the world's most ruthless terrorist group almost single-handed against numerous odds.

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Branding Sri Lanka: Thinking Sri Lankan

When Sri Lanka united to celebrate the defeat of 30 years of terror, the world ridiculed the way people of all ethnic groups and political parties joined the jubilation to celebrate freedom from terror. The world told Sri Lanka not to indulge in "triumphalism" and people were made to feel it was wrong to celebrate the end of terrorism. Thus, a golden opportunity that brought people together was crushed decisively. It is clear that most of these "reconciliation" acronyms being used currently by outsourced parties supposedly working towards bringing the people of Lanka together has bigger motives and their objectives are far from any desire for genuine reconciliation. Essentially, what we as citizens must remember is that unless we learn to love the nation we are born in and foster relationships among us demarcations on paper have little or no value. With the world closing in on Sri Lanka for varied reasons it is now time for Sri Lankans to think Sri Lankan.

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Is the Jaffna Tamil leadership fit to handle increased powers?

In April 2008 when the Security Forces were inching their way up the western coast and advancing towards the Madhu Church – a sanctuary of the Catholic Church for the Tiger "boys" — Bishop Joseph Ryappah, the prominent LTTE agent in the Catholic Church, did the unthinkable: he hijacked the statue of Holy Mary at Madhu and took it to Theavanpiddi, 70 miles away from Madhu into Tiger territory. He committed this anti-Christian act because the power devolved to the bishopric of Mannar allowed him to violate the fundamental rights of all Catholics to share the holy image of Mother Mary. It was a blatant political act. It had nothing to do with spirituality or any other Catholic doctrine. Besides, there was no need for him to hijack the Holy Statue because there was no threat either to the image of Holy Mary, despite shells fired from both sides.

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Misspoken, Mistaken, and Misunderstood 13th Plus ?

The recent utterances attributed to the Government display its indecisiveness on the 13th Amendment and its incapacity to rectify a miscommunication, which caused a misinterpretation that led to a misunderstanding.

The selection of a faulty phrase in the course of a discussion was pounced on by the Indian Foreign Minister Krishna to carry home an offering that sounded sweet to India. Not that he replayed it mischievously- the words and phrases amounted to indeed what he heard and repeated. But that was not what the president truly meant.

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Comments on TNA's response to LLRC report

The response below is limited to issues raised by the TNA that have a bearing on Accountability.

Paragraph ii of the TNA response states: "The Commission falls dramatically short of international standards applicable to accountability processes".

If, as assumed by the TNA, "international standards applicable to accountability processes" exist, the need for the UN Secretary General (UNSG) to appoint a panel to advise him "on the standards, benchmarks and parameters, based on international experience, that must guide any accountability process"(UN News Center, March 16, 2010) would not have arisen. The very fact that the UNSG resorted to such a measure confirms that "international standards" referred to by the TNA did not exist. Furthermore, the fact that the panel appointed by the UNSG did not fulfill their mandate clearly means that these standards do not exist even today.

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More supportive approach to Sri Lanka needed-EU group

(Brussels - 26 January 2012) MEPs from many different European countries and political parties, as well as EU officials from the Commission and External Action Service and other involved individuals, met in the European Parliament yesterday for a roundtable discussion on recent developments in Sri Lanka. Discussions focused on the recent 'Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission' Report and the need for Europe to be more supportive of Sri Lankan post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction.

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Day of infamy – January 25, 1998

"The attack on the Maligawa – a veritable storehouse of Sinhala Buddhist culture – compelled the Government to proscribe the separatist terrorist organization. India had already done so following Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991. But Sri Lanka's 'peaceniks' were unhappy because such proscription according to them was an 'obstacle' to the 'peace process' (which was already a farce). To these foreign-funded 'anti-war crusaders' it was not the Tigers' terrorist acts that worried them but the ban on the LTTE."

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If 13 Amendment is implemented the war will start again

Arun Thambimuttu's father, a former MP for Batticaloa, was brutally assassinated by the LTTE together with his wife. Arun, then aged 7, was taken away to England by his grandmother, where he grew up. Now Arun has returned to Sri Lanka and has been appointed as a coordinating officer for the Eastern province by the President. Arun is vehemently opposed to implementing the 13th Amendment.This is an interview Arun Thambimuttu had with Keerthi Warnakulasuriya of the Divaina newspaper.

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Unique You - Part 1

I am delighted to address and interact with the Students and Faculty Members of the University of Moratuwa in this beautiful environment of Colombo. My greetings to all of you. I found that the University has chosen the motto "Vidyaiwa Sarwadhanam – meaning Wisdom is all Wealth". This has an important and powerful message to all the students and faculty members. The study of the website of the University indicates that the University has a vision "To be the most globally recognized Knowledge Enterprise in Asia". With this vision, the University has a mission "produce world class graduates in technological fields who will be relevant nationally and internationally". I am happy to know that the students of the university are self confident, flexible, highly employable and are trained to become "employment creators" instead of being "employment seekers". I congratulate the pioneers both present and past who have created and nurtured a robust educational system in the University of Moratuwa during the last 33 years. Today, I would like to share few thoughts on the topic "Unique You".

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Unique You - Part 2

Friends, we live in an era of convergence; the future of innovation would lie at the interface of science and engineering. It is estimated that in the life of a scientist or an engineer, he or she will come across and work in at least seven new areas which are born out of convergence of multiple science and technologies. Such convergence has made the border between areas completely porous.

Let me discuss some examples.

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US and war crimes

On January 24th, a US military tribunal made a mockery of the so-called justice system in the US. It acquitted seven US Marines involved in the massacre of 24 innocent civilians in Haditha in Iraq. A marine named Sergeant Frank Wuterich only received a silly three month sentence because of a plea bargain because even though he admitted to leading the massacre. He was let go after admitting dereliction of duty in a plea deal with the prosecutors. He will not serve any time in prison. Six marines had the charges against them dismissed and one was acquitted arguably because of the clouds of war and the confusion of battle influencing their decision to murder civilians.

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Sri Lanka is not to be Divided

When a Government with a 2/3 majority in Parliament dodges making a decision on an issue that clearly demands prompt and clear deliberation, it calls for answers from that Government. A fault of all previous Governments has been to make promises that it cannot keep ignoring the desires of the country mass populace. The reality remains that any Government is only the custodian of governance. It is voted into power not to function to the dictates of foreign nations or to lobby minority parties that have no voice or to promise devolution of the country. All Governments must remember this at all times.

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Australian Ambassador's Crime

I refer to your 'senior' correspondent Daniel Flitton's great 'newsworthy' article on Ms. Kathy Klugman's 'controversial' appointment (http://www.watoday.com.au/national/controversial-diplomat-snares-gillard-role-20120118-1q6kl.html).

Perhaps, Daniel did not know that there were two Australian women who played a significant role in Sri Lanka recently.

The first, an Aussie nurse, Adele, married to a Tamil Tiger leader went and lived in Sri Lanka. She put in a great effort to train and make Tamil women into walking bombs and trained Tamil girls on how to commit suicide by biting on a cyanide capsule which she ceremoniously put around the necks of the young girls. You can see her in action here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqbj8PHTtHY. Your 'senior' correspondent Daniel did not have anything to say about this Aussie and guess what, this alleged war criminal leads a comfortable life in London now protected by the UK authorities.

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No ! not again. We have had enough of the 13th Amendment

What is the necessity to broach the 13 th Amendment once again, when people are beginning to forget about it, and has begun to live as a free people without Indian interference into their well earned peace ?

It all began again with the visit of the Indian External Minister Mr.S.M.Krishna, who our External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L.Pieries paying him a homage raised him to the status of a relative of the people of Sri Lanka.

The Minister Pr. G.L.Peries has said of the visit of the Indian Minister of External Affairs Mr.S.M.Krishna that the « ……the spontaneous attendance by …….. S M Krishna soon after his arrival in Colombo at the Thaipongal ceremony on the invitation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa emphasized that the relations between the two countries is not just a relationship among friends but among close relatives which was exemplified vividly on this occasion. »

Hence it is made apparent that the promise to implement the Amendment 13 plus, is a Thaipongal gift to our President's new found Indian relative S.M.Krishna.

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For the Restoration of the Dharma

What prompted me to write this short piece is a thought that crossed my mind on reading SL Gunasekara's Lore of the Law and Other Memories, which I thought was worthy of being shared with its readers.

Before elaborating on it I wish to express my appreciation of the noble task undertaken by SL Gunasekara in producing this work. It is a heroic attempt on the part of a sincere soul, who is overwhelmed by anguish and anger by the gradual collapse of the moral and ethical foundation of our society which most of us have come to accept without a whimper .He goes all out to expose those evil forces with the ferocity of a Knight in arms. This reminds me of the command given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagwath Gita – 'for the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being from age to age'. I see SL in that role.

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Visit of Canadian Parliamentarian Delegation to Sri Lanka to assess the post- conflict Reconciliation and Development situation in Sri Lanka (8th to 11th January 2012).

Re: Visit of Canadian Parliamentarian Delegation to Sri Lanka to assess the post- conflict Reconciliation and Development situation in Sri Lanka (8th to 11th January 2012).

I came across by chance the media release of your visit to Sri Lanka which renewed my faith in Sri Lanka-Watching-Canadian-Parliamentarians, and for that I want to say an effusive Thank You.

It is true that once in a life time that one comes across an honest 'shooting star' politician, and I have no hesitation to say you two have entered that realm in my estimation. The last time, it happened to be Stockwell Day, who spearheaded the banning of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (aka Tamil Tigers) in April of 2006. He had the honesty and he had the guts, when for 13 long years the Liberals led by Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, the Minister of Public Safety, defended the Tamil Tigers for not banning them when 30 odd western nations had banned them, and also let the Canadian Tamil Diaspora stuff the Tamil Tiger war chest with two million dollars a month to purchase explosives and sophisticated arms to kill my Sinhalese people and also the Muslims, like swatting flies in the thousands with claymore mines and suicide bombs.

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Controversial diplomat snares Gillard role

A TOP Australian diplomat heavily criticised for her role in ''rehabilitation'' ceremonies for alleged Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka has been rewarded with a job in Prime Minister Julia Gillard's department.
Kathy Klugman will become head of the international division in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, a key foreign policy job.

Ms Klugman, who was high commissioner in Colombo until this month, was condemned by rights groups in October for handing out certificates to Tamils after they were held for two years in a detention camp by the Sri Lankan government.

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Reflections on two-nation theses

It is good when people criticize. It is better when those who criticize also happen to be responsible individuals in that they have not fallen back in paying dues, are humble enough to acknowledge error, are remorseful enough to attempt correction and are not ungracious in the matter of counting blessings. The above would be a good reality-check we can self-administer or assess one another with, especially those given to ranting and raving at the drop of a hat as though the world somehow owes them something.

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The Suicidal 13th Amendment: No and Never!

The 13th Amendment (13A) was forced upon us by India. It has caused enough trouble and waste. Billions of taxpayer's rupees are squandered every year to keep these white elephant Provincial Councils afloat. A province in Sri Lanka is minuscule compared to a typical US state or Chinese province but for each province we have a laughable post known as a "governor" thanks again to the 13A. The best thing for Sri Lanka is to abolish the cancerous 13A altogether the same way our war heroes rid our motherland of the LTTE pestilence (also created by India!). Unfortunately our politicians seem to be caving in to Indian demands to implement this suicidal amendment.
India has plenty of problems and priorities to address before meddling with the internal affairs of Sri Lanka or other neighbors like Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Kashmir needs a proper political solution before anything else. No cities in India have a continuous water supply according to the 2007 Benchmarking and Data Book of Water Utilities in India published by the Asian Development Bank. As reported in the Los Angeles Times on March 22, 2010 an estimated 638 million Indians lack access to basic toilet facilities. The World Food Program states that 230 million Indians go starving which corresponds to a quarter of the starving population of the entire world. According to the World Bank 37% of Indians over 15 are illiterate, which would translate to around 300 million (and the gold medal for illiteracy in the world). Under such conditions it is surprising how India is capable of giving "aid" to other countries. The Dalits of India still face the most inhuman discrimination anyone can imagine.

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Panel advocates indigenous recognition

The first Australians should be recognised in the body of the constitution, an expert panel has recommended.

Labor has promised to hold a national referendum on the constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians on or before the next federal election, due in 2013.

An expert panel of 19 indigenous leaders, politicians and legal minds travelled the country last year holding public meetings on the issue.

On Thursday morning they presented their report to the government at the National Gallery in Canberra.

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Hedge Fund Manager Raj Rajaratnam Found Guilty On 14 Counts Of Insider Trading

In what has been a heavily-watched insider trading case, Galleon Group hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam has been found guilty on all 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy, according to multiple reports. The announcement was made in a lower Manhattan federal court.

For now, Rajaratnam, who ran one of the world's largest hedge funds, will be free on bail, but will be fitted with an electronic monitoring device. Reuters has more on the Rajaratnam verdict:

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Problems in devolving powers to the provinces

I wish to refer to the imbroglio between the GoSL (Government of Sri Lanka) and the TNA (Tamil National Alliance) on the proposed devolution of powers to Provincial Councils. It has apparently got stuck on a sticky wicket on the question of devolving Police and Land powers. They are not new or recent demands on the part of Tamil politicians.

The present demand for Police and Land powers for Provincial Councils is based on the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution passed in November 1987. As it is well known, from the time the 13th Amendment became a part of the 1978 Constitution, that Amendment was agreed upon and was signed under duress, by Mr. J. R .Jayewardene, the first Executive President. It was also the only such Amendment out of the 16 amendments passed during his tenure of office. Similarly, Ranil Wickremasinghe, the then Prime Minister, too seems to have agreed to a CFA (Ceasefire Agreement) which was put up to him by Norway, on behalf of the LTTE and was signed by him, apparently in good-faith, in February 2002, perhaps under the impression that it will give a respite to the fighting between the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and the GoSL and would lead to peaceful co-existence between them. But what happened thereafter, is now history.

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Thriving on the sufferings of the Tamils

In the heyday of the LTTE, the TNA had it good. While the Tamils whom they claimed to represent suffered indescribable hardships, torments and agonies by reason of being under the jackboot of the Tigers with their little children being regularly kidnapped and their hard earned money extorted from them by the LTTE, the TNA which was supposed to represent them raised not a whimper of protest, but on the contrary, functioned as obedient servants and respectful acolytes of the Tigers, acknowledged them as being the sole representatives of the Tamils and obeyed their every whim and command. As a result of the patronage they received from the Tigers, not only did the members of the TNA secure seats in Parliament together with which they received relatively handsome salaries, a veritable cornucopia of perquisites all paid for by the long suffering public of the Republic of Sri Lanka which they disowned and sought to dismember, and were able to tour the capitals and flesh pots of the western world at the expense of others without spending a cent of their own money. All this was done by them purportedly to serve the Tamils – but even a mentally retarded child would realize that that could not be so because they never spoke a word against those tormenters of the Tamils who were kidnapping their children and extorting their money from them, either in Parliament or in those foreign climes. The only persons whom they attacked, supposedly in order to serve the Tamils, were those who were making every effort at unimaginable sacrifice, to liberate the oppressed Tamils from the oppression and thrall of the LTTE, namely the Government of Sri Lanka of whatever colouration, and its armed forces.

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Thirteen minus not thirteen plus

The thirteenth amendment was forced on us by India following the infamous Indo Sri Lanka Accord, without considering the historical, cultural and geographical background and the Sinhala opinion. India for a long time had acted without listening to the Sinhala majority, without even taking into consideration the importance of Sri Lanka in respect of security of the subcontinent. Delhi listened only to Tamil Nadu, which had ulterior motives and hence to the Tamil Vellala leaders until non Vellala Prabhakaran appeared in the picture. As far as India was concerned there was repression of the Tamils by the Sinhala people but never wanted to find out the truth of the allegations made by the Vellala leaders. India should have at least learnt a lesson at the Thimpu talks that they cannot impose their views completely even on J R Jayewardene. The delegation sent to Thimpu by the government rejected the so-called Thimpu Proposals but India failed to realize that there was a Sinhala opinion against devolution of power to the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the country, based on historical cultural and geographical facts. India wanted the Sinhalas to recognize that those two provinces were the historical habitats of the Tamils; it turned a blind eye to the fact that the two provinces had been creations of the English (British Raj) and that final demarcation of the nine provinces was carried out only in 1889 three years after Ananda Vidyalaya was established. The term historical habitats which really meant Tamil homeland as far as the Vellalas and Prabhakaran were concerned, was never acceptable to the Sinhala people.

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Logically And Militarily The Tamil Tigers Will NEVER Resurge In Sri Lanka If Proper Measures Are Set In Place. Yet The Dangerous Rhetoric Of Some Sympathisers From Within, Continue In Abandon Needing A Response.

In the fancy words of some, laced with quotes from musings of bygone literary elites to moot, it has been suggested that the Hon. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has predicted that "the dead Tiger might arise!" But it might also be asked with a bit of tongue in cheek ~ "Where? Not in Sri Lanka surely ! and no more than a caution by the Hon Defence Secretary perhaps whose own musing at times are hinged to his broadminded sense of satire given his intellect of a very high elevation and his own perception of the theme "Prevention is better than cure!!

Then of course, " the Tigers rising from the ashes of an annihilating defeat" has always been wishful thinking by the residue of the vanquished LTTE and their supportive Tamil diaspora hopefuls where that "near-miraculous resurrection" refered to by certain self assertive scribes would be exactly that, a never transpiring impossibility in Sri Lanka where it is not only the majority Sinhalese led by the assertive team of Rajapaksas, their legislators , law enforcers and their administrators who will ensure this reality but also the real freedom loving Sri Lankan Tamils who are appreciatively aware that it was Tamil Tiger terrorism in the first place that let to their terrible sufferings and have openly declared their allegiance to the Rajapaksa regime with immense gratitude and not merely in a manner of speaking but in collective open defiance. They have asked the Tamil Tiger "would be resurrectors" to go to hell! To those who missed it this information was posted in the global media recently althought there may have been attempts to suppress it for very obvious reasons.

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Russia assails US over Guantanamo prison

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused the U.S. of breaking international law by keeping terror suspects in indefinite custody without trial at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
In a statement posted on its website Sunday, the ministry said the prison at the U.S. Navy base in eastern Cuba represents a "flagrant violation of international law."

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Eelaam Homeland struggle was to hide Tamil Caste difference & unify discontented Tamils

In understanding the nature of Sri Lanka's conflict it is important to not only understand the nature of the Tamil caste and class system but analyze how intricately absorbed it is into the social, political, economical, religious hierarchy of how Tamils live or rather should live. The "ethnic" tag was introduced simply to sideline the divisions existing between Tamils & showcase a united front locally and internationally.

Using "ethnic discrimination" by Sinhalese against Tamils was a perfect theme and perfect reason to start a conflict. The conflict enabled higher caste Tamils to keep a hold on lower caste Tamils by camouflaging the real intention and lower castes had no choice but to accept this homeland utopian vision. This did succeed to a great extent. It is now time for the world to know the truth and falsity of labeling Sri Lanka's problem as "ethnic".

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The karawala-mallun of addressing citizenship anomalies

There is a number that scrambles the number 13. That number is 54, and, worse, it is a number that references an increasing trend, leading to further scrambling. Yes, I am talking about the 13th Amendment to the constitution, with '54' referring to the percentage of Tamils living outside the so-called traditional homelands of the Tamils.

Thus, quite apart from the untenable nature of posturing in terms of history that can be substantiated, the territorial fixations regarding resolving for citizenship anomalies seem utterly silly for demographic reasons. I am yet to see a compelling answer from the ardent champions of the 13th Amendment (as per addressing Tamil grievances/aspirations) to what I call 'The Number 54 Dilemma'.

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Tamil taxidermists stuff Tiger skins with stamps

The Tamil separatist movement is littered all the way, from the peak of the resolution passed in Vadukoddai (1976) to its lowest depths in Nandikadal (2008), with attention-getting stunts. These stunts and strategies scored heavily on propaganda. But in real terms their stunts and strategies failed to achieve any of their political goals. Some even boomeranged on them like the stamps issued in France. All their stunts and strategies have been expensive in human costs. Their investments in stunts, strategies and most importantly in violence have taken them at best into exile and at worst into Nandikadal.

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UK Government on Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report

London, 13 January, (Asiantribune.com):
The United Kingdom's Government has urged the Sri Lankan government to move quickly to implement the LLRC report's recommendations. Some recommendations could be completed in a matter of months and others may take time to implement fully, but initial steps can be taken now. It was further emphasized that, "Ultimately, the success or failure of the LLRC will be judged on the Sri Lankan government's implementation of its recommendations."

The written ministerial statement on Sri Lanka's 'Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report' was submitted yesterday by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Alistair Burt, who further said, "On accountability, implementing the report's recommendations would represent a useful first step. But we continue to believe it is important that an independent, credible and thorough mechanism is put in place to investigate all allegations of grave abuses."

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Bullying Sri Lanka while US/NATO crimes go unpunished

We are all aware why powerful nations of the world championed a drive to depose men they called "tyrants". Ironically these very men were one time their "friends". Friends became tyrants in order to take over the wealth of these nations. It is a small group of people who rule the world who will decide who is friend & who is tyrant. Anyhow, we all know that these nations are today suffering far worse consequences of believing in "freedom" chants promised to them. Kosovo is a country flourishing in "prostitutes" where women have no other means of livelihood. Iraq's children & women are far worse than they were during the reign of Saddam, the same takes place in Afghanistan & now Libya. Lest we forget Egypt is far worse than. These western crusaders of freedom & human rights are not even remotely embarrassed by the continuous footage of US/Nato soldiers humiliating Iraqi's, Afghans – urinating on them, raping women & children, using uncivilized methods upon these people. It is possibly these acts committed by their own soldiers throughout the nations that western nations today occupy which prompts them to think that our Lankan soldiers conduct themselves in similar fashion. We can proudly say – Sri Lankan soldiers are far more disciplined.

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Some Lessons to be Learnt from China

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was mandated to (a) learn why the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) failed, (b) to investigate humanrights abuses in the war, (c) recommend steps for national reconcilliation, preventing future conflict. Investigating (a) and (b) are fair. However, can the learned panelists, or anyone, recommend steps to ensure peace in the future?

The causes of aggression have been shrouded in myths about 'civilising the heathen', 'class struggles', 'lack of democracy and humanrights' in the developing world, etc. However, scientific studies of aggression, even in simpler species, have hardly commenced. Animals, be they Lions, Tigers or ants, are known to fight for territory and food. Laboratory mice deprived of proteins reproduce mightily and become aggressive. The numerous young fight each other, and get naturally culled.

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The Catholic Church as the backbone of the international LTTE resurgence.

In a recent comment I made to a lead article appearing in Lankaweb, I expressed the above opinion. A commentator labelled it as 'NONSENSE' and that such a thing could NEVER be. I have spoken about this issue more at length in my book: The kingdom, the glory and the power. This short write-up is a clarification.

The Catholic hierarchy is a monolithic structure. The declaration of Christ to Peter, the first pope already indicates it in unambiguous terms: Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. What Peter binds on earth is bound in heaven and what Peter loosens on earth is loosened also in heaven. The Church structure is that of 'one shepherd and one flock'. This monolithic entity came under the assault of Luther and others such as Calvin and Zwingli. The separated groups formed the 'protestant churches'. At least they were honest and called themselves Protestants. In any case they were all excommunicated and expelled from the Catholic Church.

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Karzai condemns video of urination on corpses

WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday condemned a video depicting what appears to be four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters.

A presidential statement described the act as "completely inhumane" and called on the U.S. military to punish the Marines.

The Marine Corps said Wednesday it is investigating the YouTube video but has not yet verified its origin or authenticity. The case has being referred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Navy's worldwide law enforcement organization.

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The monster has stirred again

Pro-LTTE groups in Tamil Nadu, all out to paint a black picture of President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a person whose hobby is to kill Tamils have set upon a prominent Sri Lankan Tamil for being the husband of one of his cousins. In so doing, they have unwittingly let the world know that President Rajapaksa has Tamil relatives––a fact they have suppressed in a bid to make him out to be anti-Tamil to the core.

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Guantanamo Bay Anniversary: Former Detainee Tells Of Torture, Mistreatment

Ten years after the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo Bay, the United States is observing a somber anniversary. In the video above, Democracy Now! interviews Omar Deghayes, a former detainee, who describes his horrifying experiences behind bars.

Deghayes spent nearly 6 years of his life in the prison. He told The Guardian how he was severely tortured, and lost sight in one eye after a guard at Guantanamo pushed his fingers inside his eyes.

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Visual Evidence II: Torture Images on Channel 4 … and Weiss

Pictorial imagery was a major dimension of the reportage and propaganda in such LTTE web sites as Tamilnet.com and TamilCanadian.com. I was taken in once by a Tamil supporter who sent me a photograph of the corpses produced by the suicide bomb attack that killed Janaka Perera in Anuradhapura as proof of killings caused by shelling in the Vanni pocket in 2009 (see my illustrative entry in Senaratne 2011). One must therefore attend to the possibility that some video footage of alleged government atrocities was manufactured in 2008 as the LTTE realised that it was on the backfoot. Grapevine information indicates that Channel 4 was working secretly in LTTE territory from 2007 or 2008 and that Nick Paton Walsh entered Sri Lanka to complete the final phase of this cooperation; but was deemed suspect and unceremoniously turfed out by the Sri Lankan government in May 2009 – a humiliating outcome which added revenge to the other motivations promoting Channel 4s commitment to the Tiger cause and its targeting of the Sri Lankan government for a public hanging.

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"Security wise, we are dependent on Sri Lanka"

"Security wise, we are dependent on Sri Lanka – there are large security concerns that can affect both countries in the Indian Ocean. We would like to continue to keep on the right side of Sri Lanka", said Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in an interview with the Business Standard on January 1st.

Relations have improved but they were always good even when Prabhakaran was riding high on the LTTE banner. The Indian government has never provided overt or covert assistance (to any group in order) to maintain bilateral relations with Sri Lanka, he further said.

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Who started the Drug Trade?

Afghanistan besides being known for Taliban suicide attacks is also the largest Opium producer. It is estimated Afghanistan produces and exports 3,500 tons of heroin (processed Opium) to the western nations. Heroin is a highly addictive drug, it is a depressant that affects the brain's pleasure system and interferes the brain's ability to perceive pain. This lucrative business helps fund the Taliban and many politicians in Kabul and the provinces. Many nations are alarmed at the rate of heroin addiction and want the poppy fields of Southern Afghanistan destroyed. Ironically some of the British and American bases in Helmand are surrounded by poppy fields. American solder's watch poppy farmers using their tractors to cultivate poppy and watch them reap the harvest after a few months. The argument is; if you destroy the poppy field, the farmers will join the Taliban. At least these farmers are not hostile and not shooting at the soldiers.

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Time to go beyond the13th

Dialogue is good as long as there is genuine intention to obtain progress in resolving issues. On the other hand, dialogue must be inclusive and open-ended. One in ten Muslims was displaced courtesy the conflict and therefore any discussion that excludes that community will necessarily be incomplete and unsatisfactory. This is why the TNA's delay in sending names for to Parliamentary Select Committee is disappointing.
The Bishop's reductionism on aspirations is however troubling. Aspirations and grievances are usually conflated for political expediency, but when it comes to serious negotiations that seek lasting solutions, it is important to keep things real. This requires greater weight to be placed on legitimate grievances and not on wild aspirations which could potential rub people the wrong way and construct unnecessary walls between communities. The contention about 'own soil' falls into the realm of aspirations since that claims is at best contested and at worst unsubstantiated in terms of history, demography and geography. Co-existence, inter-communal harmony and the forging of a national identity stamped with the notion of togetherness are consequently compromised.

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Vile Vellahla Violence stamped on Tiger flag

Over and above all other factors there is only one single over-determining character that defines the culture of Jaffna in all its dimensions - and that is caste. Jaffna without caste does not exist. Nor is there a peninsular culture outside the rigid caste system. Focusing on the "caste character" embedded in Tamil society, Sebastian Rasalingam, Toronto, Canada asked: "Can there ever be a "historic Tamil village" without its caste system?" (Lanka Guardian - July 4, 2011) Indeed, no!
Jaffna without caste is inconceivable like Romeo without Juliet; or the peninsula without panamkottay. The caste culture of Jaffna is identified primarily with the greatest cult figure of orthodox Hindus - Arumuga Pillai who was later lionized as Arumuga Navalar (the Orator). He created and consolidated new caste architecture by restructuring the hierarchy according to the prevailing ground realities of Jaffna society.

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AN UNRELIABLE WITNESS Gordon Weiss, The Cage and Sri Lanka

Gordon Weiss was a spokesman for the United Nations organisation in Sri Lanka for two years at the end of that country's civil war. His 2011 book, The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers, is said to be a close study of the last months and weeks of the conflict in the Vanni.1 The Cage is a controversial, anti-government view of the end of the war. His book is well-written, as might be expected of an articulate, middle-class and well-educated international bureaucrat. The problem is that it is a deeply-flawed account of a crisis that in several key respects was impossible to document – most notably with regard to civilian casualties. The events said to have been described in The Cage were infinitely complicated. Leaving aside mistakes in historical detail and other simple fact 2, it is Weiss's inability to answer key questions he begrudgingly or accidentally poses; selectivity with information and a particularly self-serving slant on the events in the Vanni from late 2008 up until May 2009 that are of concern to anyone expecting an accurate account of the crisis.

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What Sri Lanka has given Tamils but will not give the Eelaamists

It is apparent that inspite of the elimination of the LTTE that the sole obstacle to reconciliation remains the inability to differentiate between what the Tamils have or do not have and what the Eelaamists desire and aspire but will not be given.

Therefore, it is important that those proclaiming to forward proposals for future peace must first determine if Tamils have been marginalized throughout Sri Lanka and how far the aspirations of the Eelaamists have become jumbled into these demands giving rise to the confusion to find any solution. In so far as determining rights denied exclusively to Tamils, it is obvious that such discrimination in the public sector or the private sector, socially, economically or even politically is clearly nonexistent.

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An appeal and a memo by two groups of Tamil speaking civilians

A salutary letter was published in The Island newspaper on Jan. 06, entitled 'An appeal to the Tamil Community and its civil and political representatives'. It has been signed by sixty eight authors, starting with Ms. Jovita Arulanantham and ending with Mr. Ronnie Yogarajaha. This is the first time that a responsible group of at least nominally Tamil-speaking intellectuals stood up for the rights of Muslims evicted to satisfy the 'exclusive Tamil-homelands dream' originally enunciated in the Tamil-language handouts of the 1949 Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi resolution. Participants of that meeting called for 'driving out the invaders (Muslims and Sinhalese) from the traditional homelands of the Tamils'. I salute these sixty eight individuals as they have taken a step that some of us, dissident Tamils who have been oppressed and marginalized by the land-owning elite-class Tamils, have always asked for.

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Undermining a Popular Regime Considered Inconvenient

By Mathias Keittle - Back from a study visit to Colombo

Developing countries grappling with the daunting challenge of improving the conditions of their own people in accordance with their own priorities have the additional burden of warding off regime change efforts orchestrated elsewhere.

The challenge may become further complicated by those who are supposedly there to help, wittingly or unwittingly contributing to the process of regime change.

One simple technique the LTTE adopted to influence donor government and UN thinking was to get close to the rank and file of their officers sent to Sri Lanka.

Young, mostly single and lonely, many of the rank and file have little in depth knowledge of the country. Most are there for the money and the opportunity to spend three years in the sun. In Colombo they hang out with each other at expensive night spots or with social contacts critical of the government. (Once, a young UNHCR chick, returning late after a drunken night out marched in to a neighbour's residence and complained furiously about a religious pirith ceremony which was disturbing her attempts to fall asleep!). When in the North or the East, they are regaled with food, flattery and favours by elements favourable to the LTTE creating the ideal background to establish an anti government mindset. A similar development was nipped early in the bud in China with a carefully organised monitoring system.

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LLRC, TNA and the LTTE

My intention is not to comment on the LLRC report which has made a number of recommendations on what is fashionably called reconciliation. The Sinhala and Tamil communities could have lived amicably if not for the Tamil Vellala politicians who were used by the English (British if you wish) to deny the Sinhalas, especially the Sinhala Buddhists their due place in the country and to weaken if not destroy the Sinhala Buddhist culture. The LLRC is another commission appointed in the tradition of the Colebrook –Cameron Commission, which I suppose is the first commission appointed by the English. Colebrook – Cameron took the first step to weaken the Sinhala Buddhist way of life by abolishing the Rajakari system and paving way to introduce the English educational system building on the then existing schools established by the Dutch. Almost all the members of commissions appointed by the governments even after so called independence that gave us limited political independence but not cultural or economic independence, have been products of the schools established by the English, and their thinking is invariably guided by the education that they had received. There are people who have broken away from this educational system and those who have attended so called vernacular schools (the word vernacular demonstrates the contempt that the English had for Sinhala and Tamil) but they are not appointed as members of the commissions appointed in the Colebrook – Cameron tradition.

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Devolution:
A recipe for break up?

When the Scottish Parliament was created with extensive devolved powers it was considered a landmark solution to Scottish demands for separatism and independence from the English. A prominent Scottish politician, George Robertson even claimed that devolution would "kill [Scottish] nationalism stone dead". I must admit, that I too then thought, that perhaps this example would provide a solution to our terrorist plus separatist problem. I did have my doubts and did express them in an article in The Island on the 24th Sept. 2007, under the title "Devolution Revisited" my book: In Defence of the Country. Today independence of Scotland is openly advocated and discussed by influential persons in UK and a Referendum before 2016 has been promised by Alex Salmond, the Chief Minister in the Scottish parliament. Prime Minister Cameron has also established a Cabinet Sub-committee of senior ministers to consider his government's approach to a Scottish Referendum. Let me repeat my assertion of 2007, devolution is only a temporary Service Halt on the highway to separatism and independence. One country, one nation will soon perish once we enter the charmed portals of devolution. I say this despite LLRC's favourable strictures on devolution. Beware all politicians!!

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The Indian Ocean Frontier in the evolving Security Architecture in South Asia

In many instances the territorial integrity is challenged by internal secessionist movements. In addition, the territory is only one element of the security reference of the state and other elements include the people and its institutional web. Hence, the comprehensive security of the state must incorporate the political, economic, societal and environmental dimensions of security.

It is in this framework that the 'non-traditional' security concerns and in-border and trans-border non-state sources of threat acquired primacy in security analysis. After nine-eleven, trans-broader terrorism became a foremost concern of the global security agenda. However, long before the nine –eleven, South Asia had been grappling with the challenge of terrorism. In the year 2000, Asia accounted for 75 percent of all terrorism related casualties world wide. Asia's Terrorist violence is concentrated mainly in its southern belt encompassing Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The diverse usages of the Ocean by cross-broader terrorism become a new element of Indian Ocean security in the post-Cold War environment

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Stamps bearing LTTE pics, symbols: France admits blunder

The French embassy in Colombo yesterday claimed that 'Groupe La Poste' of which French postal services were a part had issued a set of stamps bearing pictures and symbols of the LTTE by mistake.

The admission was made in the wake of External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris strongly condemning the French move at a meeting with the French Ambassador in Colombo Christine Robichon yesterday. External Affairs Ministry told The Island that the international community should thwart LTTE plans to propagate extremist views and sanitize terrorists.

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"PERSONALISED" TIGER STAMPS, NOT IN ANY WAY OFFICIAL; LA POSTE APOLOGISES FOR MISTAKE

With regard to stamps originating in France, bearing various symbols representing the LTTE, a terrorist organization listed as such by the EU, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Paris wishes to make the following statement:

The Embassy of Sri Lanka has been in communication with La Poste which is the issuing authority for official stamps, with regard to the matter of stamps bearing the symbols of an organization which was responsible for many atrocities that are well known by the world community.

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Bahrain's ruling family dealt a blow by debate result

Bahrain's ruling family was dealt a blow after an audience of mainly young Arabs said the monarchy was unlikely to make good their promise to reform.

The motion: This House has no confidence in Bahrain's promise to reform was passed by a resounding 78 percent in favour and 22 percent against - a slap in the face for a government promising its people long-awaited political change.

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Killing the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg – The Tangalle Incident of Continued Violence by UPFA Politicians

When it happened in Angoda, the main culprit (a ruling UPFA MP who is a close associate of the Rajapaksha family) got away despite the fact that the victim was a presidential advisor. UPFA is not alone in the steady decent to criminalisation. The UNP leader is accused of torture, murder and war crimes in his direct involvement in the Batalanda Torture Chamber Incident of 1989. In addition a recent charge sheet by a section of UNP MPs including Rosy Senananayaka, Buddhika Pathirana, Dunesh Gankanda, Imtiyaz Markar, Chandra Gankanda, Shiral Lakthilaka, Bandulal Bandarigoda, Lakshman Lanarolle cited that the UNP leader used sexual abuse against party members including Buddika Pathirana (UNP MP). The character certificate of other parties in parliament is not better. The JVP is headed by a mass murderer who escaped to UK to escape arrest while the TNA is headed by a proxy of the terrorist LTTE organisation who was an accomplice of LTTE war crimes. The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is accused of playing a part in the death of Kumari Cooray and was an accused. EPDP leader Douglas Devananda is accused of multiple murders and violence. The UPF leader Periyasamy Chandrasekaran was also accused of murder and terrorism and was arrested in 1994. Other parties represented in parliament contested in coalition with major parties. Apart from the above mentioned political parties, there are no other elected political parties in Sri Lanka!

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RCMP Targets Tamil Funding

A non-profit organization shut down last year for financing terrorism paid three fundraisers in Montreal to collect money for the Tamil Tigers guerrillas, according to newly released RCMP documents.

The alleged role played by the "paid activists" is revealed in thousands of pages of documents, photos and video filed in Federal Court this week as part of an effort by counter-terrorism officials to dismantle the World Tamil Movement.

The RCMP says the World Tamil Movement is the Canadian fundraising and propaganda arm of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, a banned Sri Lankan terrorist group known for its suicide bombings and assassinations.

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Accountability, reconciliation and community

There are two words that certain people are fascinated with: accountability and reconciliation. They are so fixated - possible out of a bad dose of 'Sour Grapes', exacerbated with undisguised hatred – that they conflate the two or, in the very least, consider the former as part of latter. Interestingly their venomous discharges are marked by a conspicuous reluctance to indulge in self-reflection. Neither do they take issue with many crimes of omission and commission on the part of the LTTE, their backers and themselves.
Kumar David, a man who unabashedly wished for a terrorist victory over the Government Security Forces, for example, feels duty-bound to treat Tiger-claim as fact. As a result he has to treat any objection to exaggerated claims and unsubstantiated allegation as 'defence of the indefensible'. He was referring to my objections to wild claims made by Channel 4 and a motley bunch of intellectually dishonest operators calling themselves 'International Crisis Group' in a recent article in the Sunday Island. I always knew that Kumar doesn't have a leg to stand on; this piece demonstrated that he is visually handicapped too. He was commenting on a panel discussion in New York (which I participated in via Skype) and proved that he hadn't been watching or listening. Poor man.

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Immortalising dead monsters

Dejected LTTE activists now have something other than their wounds to lick––a controversial stamp France is reported to have issued with Prabhakaran's picture on it. Since the Tiger sympathisers no longer have Prabhakaran's blood-stained boots to run their servile tongues around, they could disport themselves in licking that stamp. Three more stamps depicting LTTE symbols like its flag, the so-called Eelam map and the 'national' flower of Eelam have reportedly been printed in France.

The ruling party politicians of this country are likely to tuck up their sarongs and hurl abuse at their French counterparts over the stamp controversy. Such reaction is uncalled for, we reckon. Let our heroes be urged to hold their horses. For, we do not know what the French government is really planning to do. Maybe France is working on a series of stamps on dead monsters. Last year Royal Mail (RM) of Britain released several stamps featuring wizards, witches and enchanters. In 2008, RM issued a stamp celebrating the first Dracula film that had been produced decades back. So, the possibility of France planning a monster series cannot be ruled out.

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Scrap the Thesawalamei Law that is Discriminative, Racist and Outdated

Not every Sri Lankan is equal before the law at the moment. Those who have the option of governed by the Thesawalamei Law have far more rights than others. The only remaining law in the entire world that legitimises caste discrimination is the Thesawalamei Law of Sri Lanka! It is a matter of shame on all Sri Lankans for keeping this highly discriminative law that glorifies caste divisions when the whole world is against it. Before major constitutional and legal changes are made for the purpose of reconciliation, simple yet highly effective available means should be used. Scraping the Thesawalamei law is the first step to effective reconciliation, human rights, women's rights and equal rights to all. The longer it is kept, the more the hatred will be between ethnic communities and within the Tamil community between so called high caste Vellahlas and low caste Tamils.

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Extremists Tamil Politicians, the LTTE Diaspora and Separatist Church men should be held accountable for future Tamil Violence

The Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) notes with regret that some Tamil leaders, ecclesiastical and lay, who paved the path for the failed politics of Tamil violence, based on the disastrous Vadukoddai Resolution which declared war on May 14, 1976, are attempting to drive the Jaffna Tamils, through devious ideological perversions, into bloody conflict once again.

Our most serious concern is that those who were responsible for the launching, encouraging, financing and propagandizing violence through intransigent politics are now back in the same old business of demonizing the Sinhalese and whipping up communal hatred with the sole aim of pushing Tamil peninsula politics to the extreme again.  So far neither the international community nor the state has insisted on investigating and accounting for their role in which thousands of Tamil women, children and the elderly were sacrificed to sustain geographical and historical myths. We believe that since the Tamil leadership is guilty of promoting, financing, directing brutal violence against the Tamil people a truth-finding mechanism is essential to ease the pain of the victims of Tamil violence.

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LTTE plans second armed struggle!

Military intelligence uncovers details

Intelligence authorities have uncovered a plan to resurrect the LTTE through an attempt to register an organisation for displaced in Vanni targeting another armed conflict, highly placed intelligence sources revealed.

They said the plan behind the move was to recruit rehabilitated LTTE cadres who were in LTTE's military units back to the now defunct LTTE terror group. They have also reached former LTTE military members who left the organisation earlier to the defeat of the LTTE. The planned organisation had designed itself to operate under three arms of the LTTE overseas based - Nediwayan, Rudrakumaran and Emmanuel Groups.

These three LTTE 'foreign-based arms' were operating from the USA, Norway and Europe, sources revealed. The Defence Ministry has taken measures to educate the youth in the once war-torn areas on the impending dangers of the hidden plan mooted by LTTE sympathisers here and abroad.

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A WISH-LIST FOR 2012

Landmark days, like the 1st of January and, more importantly for us in Sri Lanka, the AluthAvurudda in the month of Bak, are about renewal, discarding of hang-ups and errors, and a fresh page. We are now done with 2011. The year 2012 is ours to inhabit, revel in and decorate. It is ours to mess up too.
Landmark days, like today, are made of kiribath, some decorations, greeting cards and everyone wishing everyone else makes for good cheer. That's all nice but in the end is but thin cover that other imperatives dissolve and pretty fast too.
The year that left us or which we left, like all years, was yet another endorsement of the ata lo dahama. Individuals, collectives and institutions were all subjected to the perennial vicissitudes; profit-loss, joy-sorry, praise-blame, and fame- obscurity. It is unlikely that things will be any different in 2012, except for the shape and wrapping these things arrive in.
Still, it is as good a moment as any to take stock, jot down some home-truths and make a few recommendations.

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LLRC report covers all relevant ground - Australian MP

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report sets the framework for practical reconciliation in Sri Lanka, said Australian Member of Parliament Telmo Languiller who is on a brief visit to look into the ground situation in post war Sri Lanka.

Addressing a media conference in Colombo yesterday he welcomed both the LLRC report and the government's response to it, stating that these provide a very good opportunity for Sri Lanka to build a peaceful country. He observed that the report has covered all relevant aspects and has included the comments of all relevant parties concerned. He also stated that it was a very good step in the right direction.

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The Indian Ocean Frontier in the evolving Security Architecture in South Asia

Since the birth of maritime civilizations in the 'ancient orient', the Indian Ocean had played a crucial role in shaping the historical development in the broader Indian Ocean region. The unique geo-strategic form of the Indian Ocean, being a huge bay surrounded on three sides by a landmass and islands and its regular cross-oceanic monsoon winds, made it a mode of connectivity, a huge moat of security, an infinite supplier of food and occasionally a battleground in the struggle for political and economic hegemony of the maritime centers of civilization spotted around its land frontier and in littoral islands from the dawn of history.

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A second 88-89 unaffordable!

Colombo looks pretty. There are lotuses blooming on the surface of the water bodies of political ferment. Regimes can never afford to be complacent and it is unlikely that the warning signs have not been read. What is important is not just to meet threat head-on but to recognize and correct what the threat feeds on: flaws of omission and commission.

It is hard to think of anyone who reads the political equation as astutely as does President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He can think and he can act, of this there can be no doubt. The stress, one hopes, is on 'think' at this point, for although we are not close to a present-day version of 1989, we cannot rule it out altogether either.

History is a teacher but only for those who have the will and courage to learn, citizens and politicians included.

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Victor Base 1, Vallipunam - LTTE"s secret prison & torture chamber for POWs & Tamils

LTTE the world's most brutal international terrorist organization may be no more yet how much of its inhuman atrocities is the world aware of or even ready to finally acknowledge? Why would those posing as "liberators" maintain torture prisons & run secret killing camps whose victims were its own men, women & children far more than State soldiers?

The Victor Base 1 situated in Vallipunam was one such camp that was kept a dark secret known only to the top hierarchy of the LTTE & from where the dead will provide clues to take the LTTE to international trial for its crimes against humanity.

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LTTE Human Right Violations and War Crimes against North East Muslims

Before the Ceasefire Agreement of 22nd February 2002

With the increased activities of the Tamil militants in the early part of 1985, the animosity and resentment of the Tamils towards the North East Muslims took a more acrimonious turn. Consequent to it, numerous incidents of extortions of money, robbing jewellry and other valuables at gun point, and threat to co-operate with the separatist movement took place.

The breaking point came when the Tamil terrorists tried, in the course of robbing a rich Muslim trader, to take his daughter as hostage in Akkaraipattu, a predominant Muslim Town, in the Ampara District. Angered by this, the Muslims registered their protest by a- peaceful hartal from 08th to 12th April 1985 and hoisted Sri Lanka National Flag in the bazaar, declaring solidarity of the Muslims with the government and their rejection of the division of the Country.

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LLRC report addresses issues of last stages of humanitarian op - Lankan envoy

Sri Lanka will hold accountable every person accused of irregularities during its decades-long conflict, the nation's ambassador to the US Jaliya Wickramasuriya said.

Wickramasuriya said the suspects' names are disclosed in eyewitness testimony posted on the website of the government-appointed commission that issued the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report.

"There are no names [in the report], but there is a process to check accountability," Wickramasuriya said in an interview with editors and reporters at The Washington Times.

The Sri Lankan government has opposed an international investigation, and Wickramasuriya said that position has not changed.

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LIVE UP TO EXPECTATIONS OF PROGRESSIVE OPINION

The positive comment on the LLRC report coming from India and Russia is something Sri Lanka should warmly welcome. We need hardly say that the two countries in question are vital members of the world community and are pivotal to moulding international opinion in constructive ways. When they speak, the world is likely to sit up and listen.

Therefore, we could say that India and Russia have once again proved to be very worthy friends of Sri Lanka. Through their comments on the LLRC report they have helped in enhancing the credibility of the report and have alerted world opinion to the fact that there is ample substance in the document which should not pass unnoticed. Accordingly, their comments are an ideal rebuttal of the negative views which are being aired in some quarters about the report.

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TNA & LLRC

Whatever one may think of the LLRC and NORAD reports, it is incontrovertible that two of the three major players in the last stage of the Sri Lankan conflict have undertaken and undergone a preliminary audit of sorts—the Sri Lankan state and the Norwegians– while the third (and the second in importance) has not, and not even thought to. There has been no equivalent from within the Tamil civil society or the 'Tamil nationalist movement'.

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LTTE arm funds Amnesty Int'l

The world's self-proclaimed human rights watchdog – Amnesty International (AI), was now being bought over by the pro-LTTE organisations in Canada, reports from Toronto said. The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), an ardent supporter of the LTTE, has now completed collecting a first grant of US $50, 000 for AI. This grant has been confirmed by Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International in Canada. The pro-LTTE CTC kicked off collecting funds for AI from last September, organising a Canadian Tamil Walk-A-Thon at Thomson Memorial Park, Scarborough.
AI has been aware of how the pro-LTTE CTC plundered money from Canada's Tamil population since 2005. Ignoring all such anti-human actions, AI is now accepting grants from the CTC, the report added.
In August 2006, nine Tamil Tiger supporters, including four from Canada, were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US for attempting to buy Russian-made missiles and firearms for the LTTE, a group listed as a 'terrorist' organisation by the U.S. One of the Canadians, Sahilal "Sahil' Sabaratnam, was described by the authorities as the financial mastermind of the operation. At the time, Sahilal Sabaratnam was listed as the Director, Communications, of the CTC.
Human Rights Watch has accused the LTTE of extorting money from Canada's 250,000 strong Tamil population for years. Yet, the CTC has continued to deny such reports, effectively whitewashing the LTTE of its role in terrorising Canadian Tamils. According to well-known international terrorism analyst Professor Rohan Gunaratna, the CTC has also been identified as an LTTE front due to its links with the LTTE and its activities.

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US Indefinite Detention – Sri Lanka PTA and Robert Blake

Daya Gamage – Asian Tribune Foreign News Desk Analysis, Washington, DC. 22 December (Asiantribune.com):
The United States intensified its diplomatic pressure in the last decade or so, and Robert Blake, as American ambassador to Sri Lanka (07-09) and now as assistance secretary of state for South/Central Asian Affairs, talked (and presently talks) of the virtues of removing the 1979-enacted Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

To Mr. Blake and to his state department, the PTA is a draconian piece of legislation; however it was targeted to counter terrorism in Sri Lanka, which erodes universally-accepted human rights.

It is the same United States which endeavors to erase the PTA from Sri Lanka's statute book is presently on the verge of enacting the most draconian law, in the name of combating terrorism, to indefinitely detain American citizens, resident aliens and others under military custody.

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If you are gullible to Western media,there is news

If the West makes all the wars, then the Western media rules over the war of words.
What's amazing however is to count the number of so-called reasonable and intelligent people who are duly duped.
The issue is more than ever germane to us, when we as a nation await the international community to pass judgment on the LLRC Report, a document that stands between condemnation and punishment in international tribunals, or exoneration and final vindication for Sri Lanka's embattled leadership.

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The Crusaders' Crimes

"The United States urges the United Nations to end, once and for all, its actions in relation to the Goldstone Report … As we made clear when the Goldstone Report was first presented we did not see evidence that the Israeli government intentionally targeted civilians."

This is what US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice told the apex world body in April, 2011, urging it not to be preoccupied with the Goldstone report which accused Israel of committing war crimes during the Gaza War. The US led a high pressure campaign to railroad Justice Richard Goldstone into making a retraction. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Rice said the Goldstone report (2009) based on an investigation by a panel appointed by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) must simply disappear while the Congress pressured former South African Judge Goldstone to amend it. The US succeeded in having the advance of the report through the UN system stymied effectively.

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U.S. Response to Report from LLRC

I refer to the response of the U.S. as stated by Ms. Vctoria Nuland. If ever there needs to be an example of expecting others to follow concepts of transparency and accountability while violating and disregarding these concepts in their own conduct, this is the best.

Ms. Victoria Nuland said the U.S. has concerns that the report prepared by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission does not fully address all the allegations of serious human rights violations that occurred in the final phase of the conflict. Ms. Nuland refers to allegations of human rights violations in the case of Sri Lanka. In the case of the U.S. they are not "allegations", there is proof of gross violations of human rights in U.S. conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan that have been in the public domain for over a decade which the U.S. has made no attempt to investigate or remedy. There is never going to be accountability or remedy because the U.S. policy is that the rights of non-U.S. citizens are expendable in imposing U.S. policy.

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Ms. Victoria Nuland, US State Department Spokesperson -Your statement on Sri Lanka's LLRC Report

I just read the Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror report titled, " LLRC doesn't address all allegations: US." And it continued to say, "The United States Government said on Monday (19 December 2011) that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report does not address all allegations of human rights."

Well, Victoria, all that is a bit of Yankeeing around poking your American bully-fingers into another sovereign country's internal business, isn't it.? Coming out of you, isn't it true that you Yankee-doodle-dandies' are at fault, when you all have still not produced a War Bible – How to Win a War without Killing Anyone for Dummies. Nor has the smart-Alec UN's Secretary-general Ban ki-Moon produced a War Bible – "How to Win a War without Killing Anyone for Dummies or else I will Moon You", either.

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LLRC report to British Parliamentarians

Sri Lanka High Commissioner in the United Kingdom Dr Chris Nonis briefed British Parliamentarians from the House of Commons and the House of Lords, academics and Think Tanks, at an interactive dialogue on the LLRC Report in Portcullis House in the British Parliament on December 20.

Dr Nonis articulated that the holistic approach of the LLRC is entirely consistent with restorative justice embedded with accountability. He further stated that it is a comprehensive, objective and impartial report which demonstrates the integrity of the LLRC, and it is set in the context of International Humanitarian Law incorporating the principle of distinction and principle of proportionality.

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SMH found guilty of misleading story on Tamil Tigers

The Australian Press Council has upheld a complaint against the Sydney Morning Herald over its reporting of the final stages of the civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers.
According to the judgment, published by the SMH today but not yet online on the APC website, an article was misleading and inaccurate in its cover age of a UN report into an incident where surrendering Tamil leaders were allegedly killed while under a white flag. The headline on the report was "Australian entangled in a final act of civil war".

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Press Council adjudication on Tamil Tiger report

THE Australian Press Council has considered a complaint about an article in The Sydney Morning Herald on May 14, 2011, headed ''Australian entangled in a final act of civil war''. It concerned events at the end of the long war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Tamil Tigers).
A reader, Harshula, complained about the article's treatment of an incident in which surrendering Tamil leaders, allegedly under a white flag, were reportedly killed by government troops. He said it should have mentioned that a United Nations report specifically categorised this allegation in a group about which it had been "unable to reach a conclusion regarding their credibility". The article had later quoted the UN report as saying that it was "unable to accept the version of events held by the government", yet this comment actually concerned events other than the ''white flag incident''.

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Prof. Peiris decries US stand on LLRC

External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday decried a statement attributed to US State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, on the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report, as the most unreasonable statement issued by the State Department.

Minister Peiris said that Ms Nuland's statement had exposed again the double standards adopted by a section of the international community targeting Sri Lanka.

The External Affairs Minister was addressing the editors of national

newspapers and senior representatives of the electronic media at Temple Trees during President Mahinda Rajapaksa's monthly meeting with the media.

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A Man in Tunisia, a Movement on Wall Street, and the Soldier Who Ignited the Fuse

One year ago today (December 17th), Mohamed Bouazizi, a man who had a simple produce stand in Tunisia, set himself on fire to protest his government's repression. His singular sacrifice ignited a revolution that toppled Tunisia's dictator and launched revolts in regimes across the Middle East.

Three months ago today, Occupy Wall Street began with a takeover of New York's Zuccotti Park. This movement against the greed of corporate America and its banks -- and the money that now controls most of our democratic institutions -- has quickly spread to hundreds of towns and cities across America. The majority of Americans now agree that a nation where 400 billionaires have more wealth than 160 million Americans combined is not the country they want America to be. The 99% are rising up against the 1% -- and now there is no turning back.

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High Level Australian Parliamentary Delegation concludes successful visit to Sri Lanka 8-14 December 2011

Colombo, 23 December, (Asiantribune.com):
A five member Australian parliamentary delegation visited Sri Lanka on the invitation of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa from 8-14 December 2011. The delegation was led by Maria Vamvakinou M.P., of the ruling Labour Party and included Rowen Ramsey M.P., (Liberal), Harry Jenkins, M.P., (Labour) who till recently was the speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Andrew Southcott, M.P., (Liberal) and Senator Helen Kroger (Liberal).

The Australian MPs called on Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa at the Parliamentary complex in Sri Jayawardenapura and also witnessed the budget debate in the house. During the discussion both sides welcomed the opportunity to enhance cooperation between the two respective Parliaments and to broaden the dialogue between law makers of the two countries.

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Does humanitarian aid prolong wars?

Last month the claim that Band Aid famine relief money had been used to arm rebels elicited a fierce response from Bob Geldof. He accused the BBC, which aired the allegation, of "disingenuous posturing", distortion and a failure to provide credible evidence. He also said that it would be a "tragedy" if people stopped giving to charity and requested that journalists "stop venturing palpably untrue statements dressed up as fact".

It was a characteristically heartfelt response, filled with anger and indignation. No wonder he was annoyed. In effect, the BBC report had said that his vision of humanitarian intervention, which had galvanised a generation, was, at least partially, a sham.

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Ex-Secretary Apologizes for W.M.D. Scare

Ex-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice reassured soldiers that the Bush Administration had known well before the invasion that Saddam Hussein lacked weapons of mass destruction.

"Now that all of you brave servicemen and women are returning, it's important to us to reassure you, and the American people, that we were certain Hussein had no W.M.D.s and that he would never launch a first strike against the U.S.," Ms. Rice told a group of wounded soldiers at a Veterans' Administration hospital yesterday.

"I want you to know that if we had had the slightest suspicion that Saddam could use W.M.D.s against you, we never would have sent hundreds of thousands of you to be sitting ducks on the Iraqi border for several months."

Mr. Rice was referring to the fact that by August 2002, eight months before the ground invasion, the US had over 100,000 troops stationed in countries throughout the Gulf, a number that grew to over 300,000 shortly before the 2003 attack on Baghdad. Most of these were within range of the Scud missiles used by Mr. Hussein in the 1991 Gulf War, that could easily have been fitted with chemical or biological weapons if they had existed.

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2012: Which Turn will it Take?

The message heard is loud and clear. This government with a 2/3 majority is performing poorly to that elected in 2005 without a majority, on whose success the war was won in 2009; rewarded with overwhelming gratitude withelection victories coming up to 2011 due to the smart footwork of the 2005 government. As 2012 approaches the line holds strongin the rural belt but is increasingly thinning among the urbanites. There is no movement towards the UNP but from being plus positive for a MR government, is sliding ominously towards the passive negative gradient- enthusiasm for the UPFA is gone but it has not worked its way to the UNP.Where it will float, time will only tell.

The search embarked was to find reasons for the fault line. Answer came easy -those wearing UNP underwear carry forward UNP policies dressed in UPFA overalls with their loyalists in tow leaving the party policies out in the cold. There are no monitors in the class to check on them. The old Left, left in the party, is left to sounds alone. Rumblings among the microscopic nationalist forces in the government are not taken seriously; their days in the government are numbered for their own sustainability.

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Obama to approve 'indefinite detention' bill of US citizens and aliens

By Daya Gamage - Asian Tribune US National Correspondent Washington, DC., 18 December (Asiantribune.com):
A bill initiated in the US Congress by both the Democratic and Republican Parties codifying into law the indefinite detention without tial of American citizens, resident aliens and others about to be passed will now get President Obama's tacit approval despite the White House earlier had mixed feeling.

The Asian Tribune earlier exclusively broke the news with some internet web sites but blocked the news by US national media.

The 'indefinite detention' bill was buried in the 700-odd page Defense Authorization Act for 2012 until some internet news sites such as the Asian Tribune unerathed it.

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LLRC report tabled in Parliament: "Security Forces had not deliberately targeted civilians in the NFZs" - LLRC

Colombo, 17 December, (Asiantribune.com): The final report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was tabled in Parliament on Friday by the Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva.

"In evaluating the Sri Lanka experience in the context of allegations of violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), the Commission is satisfied that the military strategy that was adopted to secure the LTTE held areas was one that was carefully conceived, in which the protection of the civilian population was given the highest priority. The Commission also notes in this regard that the movement of the Security Forces in conducting their operations was deliberately slow during the final stages of the conflict, thereby evidencing a carefully worked out strategy of avoiding civilian casualties or minimizing them," the report stated in its Principal Observations and Recommendations.

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Asia Society – Panel Discussion on "Sri Lanka's Civil War" : Seeking the truth or hampering reconciliation?

The Asia Society is considered a forum where current issues are debated against a background of impartiality and honesty. This of course was not the case when the Asia Society organized a discussion last week, about Sri Lanka's conflict and the international community's perspective.

A panel that "Prabhakaran" himself couldn't have hoped for was assembled, including an overzealous moderator, who continued to make subjective remarks such as, "the Killing Fields contained credible allegations of war crimes" while simply dismissing the government's response as being "propagandistic".

As to whether the Channel4 video was propagandistic remained unaddressed. The only voice of moderation seemed to emerge from a TV with a satellite feed from 14,000 miles away.

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Would a unified Tamil political movement be a double edged sword?

Minister Douglas Devananda has called for all Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka to unite, possibly into a Tamil political umbrella group.

If this were to happen, it would have many negative implications to the unity of Sri Lanka, and finding a solution to the political problem that has bedeviled Sri Lanka for decades.

Firstly, formation of such a group would reinforce a Tamil view that they are firstly Tamils, and only secondly, Sri Lankans.

Secondly, based on such a view, an enhanced bargaining power of such a collective "Tamil" view could undermine the efforts of moderates on both sides who are advocating the view that we are all Sri Lankans first and either Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims second.

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Visit of an Australian Parliamentary Delegation to Sri Lanka

A five member Australian parliamentary delegation is currently visiting Sri Lanka on the invitation of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa. The delegation which arrived on December 8, 2011, is led by Maria Vamvakinou MP, of the ruling Labour Party. She's accompanied by another Labour Party MP, Harry Jenkins who till recently was the speaker of the House of Representatives. Three other members from the opposition Liberal Party are also part of the delegation.

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Junkyard Gives Up Secret Accounts of Massacre in Iraq

BAGHDAD — One by one, the Marines sat down, swore to tell the truth and began to give secret interviews discussing one of the most horrific episodes of America's time in Iraq: the 2005 massacre by Marines of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha.

The 400 pages of interrogations, once closely guarded as secrets of war, were supposed to have been destroyed as the last American troops prepare to leave Iraq. Instead, they were discovered along with reams of other classified documents, including military maps showing helicopter routes and radar capabilities, by a reporter for The New York Times at a junkyard outside Baghdad. An attendant was burning them as fuel to cook a dinner of smoked carp.

The documents — many marked secret — form part of the military's internal investigation, and confirm much of what happened at Haditha, a Euphrates River town where Marines killed 24 Iraqis, including a 76-year-old man in a wheelchair, women and children, some just toddlers.

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The Canada Revenue Agency Revokes the Charitable Status of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Dec 09, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will revoke the charitable registration of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation (the Foundation), a Toronto-area charity. The notice of revocation will be published in the Canada Gazette with an effective date of December 10, 2011.

On November 7, 2011, the CRA issued a notice of intention to revoke the charitable registration of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation, in accordance with subsection 168(1) of the Income Tax Act (the Act).

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Tamil rebels recruited children for last stand against Sri Lankan army

Tamil rebels holed up in ever-diminishing territory in northern Sri Lanka forcibly recruited children to take part in final defences against government troops, according to a former senior official. Some of the youngsters were sent to fight with just one day's basic training. A number of civilians who tried to escape to the government side were shot.

The official, who held a non-military position with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said that in the spring of 2009, the rebels found themselves in an ever-worsening situation that led them to step up their forced recruitment of civilians between the age of 14 and 55. He said more than 300,000 civilians had intentionally been held to provide cover for the LTTE fighters.

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Canada should be humble for the sake of the First Nation Reserves

An open letter from Asoka Weerasinghe asking the government of Canada to take a good look at their own actions before rushing to condemn others. "Remove the beam from your eye before trying to remove the mote in another's eye."

Canada better get her act together and stop being so down right smug when telling the developing countries how to run their business.

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More supportive approach to Sri Lanka is needed" says Geoffrey

(Brussels, 12 December, (Asiantribune.com): Following his recent visit to Sri Lanka in his capacity as Chairman of the transnational, cross-party group "Friends of Sri Lanka" in the European Parliament, Geoffrey has called for more supportive engagement with the country as it recovers from 30 years of conflict.

Whilst there he met the President and senior Ministers, as well as MPs from a range of government and opposition political parties including the Tamil National Alliance. He met the Northern and Eastern Regional Governors, and on his visit to the former conflict areas in the North and East of the country, the Bishop of Jaffna, military commanders and many local people. He also visited the Detention Camp at Boosa and a post-Tsunami village at Weligama.

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European MP demands LTTE rump ends hostility towards SL, support economic revival

Chairman of the European Parliament's 'Friends of Sri Lanka' Group Geoffrey Van Orden has urged European countries to throw their weight behind ongoing post-LTTE reconciliation efforts undertaken by the Sri Lankan government.

A statement issued by his office quoted Conservative member and Defence Spokesman Orden as having said: "I was encouraged by indications that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, has come up with robust conclusions that will address many international concerns. The report will be presented to Parliament shortly. I believe Sri Lankans must deal with these matters in their own way and require our constructive support and encouragement in this. Undoubtedly there have been allegations of human rights abuses which need to be properly addressed by the government in coming to terms with the past. The most serious and consistent abusers,

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Election-meddling fiasco hits US-Russia relations

Modus Operandi of US Interference in the internal affairs of other countries exposed

Revelations about email transactions between the US State Department and the Russian election watchdog Golos prior to Russia's parliamentary elections threaten to bring the reset to a grinding halt.
Before a single vote was cast in the parliamentary elections, a string of incidents indicated that foreign governments were already exerting influence over the election process.
Golos, an independent watchdog that has been monitoring elections in Russia for 10 years, was fined 30,000 rubles ($1,000) last week by a Moscow court for publishing "election-related opinion polls and research" after a deadline for publishing such material had passed (it is illegal in Russia to publish such information five days or less before an election).
Duma officials who petitioned to start a probe with the prosecutor's office argued that the NGO was funded by "foreign organizations" hoping to influence the results of the elections.

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The Language Act and Tamil services

Anne Abesekera (AnnA) has written an article entitled the "language Issue" on 29 November in the Island newspaper. She is amazed that the Government hadn't had the grace to acknowledge its failure – and … of previous governments – to implement the Official Languages Act for so long. Cold comfort to the Tamils who have waited in vain for several decades to receive official communications in Tamil and to have the right to use their mother-tongue when dealing orally or in writing, with Govt. departments. Then she quotes Prof. Sasanka Perera: " The vast gap between … Tamil as an Official Language and the practical implementation … is yet to be bridged. As recently as 2005, … The facilities of communicating with the central government in obtaining its services in Tamil are minimal. The situation amounts to a violation of constitutional rights of the Tamil speaking citizens of this country. Apart from the indignities they are made to suffer, they are put into innumerable inconveniences in transacting business with the Government. The provincial administration … miserably fail in serving citizens inhabiting those areas…"

Neither Prof. Perera, nor AnnA, asks (i) How does Sri Lanka compare with other multi-ethnic countries like USA, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Canada ? (ii) Why is it that the Tamils wait for the government without acquiring some of the needed capabilities themselves?.

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Massive fortune available for war-raped Wanni

Realizable if there is courage to say "Open sesame" to the Diaspora hoarders

Toronto's notorious communication lie factory Canadian Multicultural Radio (CMR) in its morning news service Thursday December 9 quoted TNA Member of Parliament Sivasakthy Anantham and said that the Wanni people were not even left with a nammoty as if this is news that has hitherto been unknown.

Mr Anantham should have known this long ago being a member from the Vavuniya district. Wanni farmers were equipped with dummy guns for training purposes of providing human shields for the LTTE and the metal part of the mammoty went for other obvious use.

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US clampdown worse than the great firewall

If you thought China's Internet censorship was evil, think again. American moves to clean up the Web could hurt global surfers

TWO PARTICULARLY terrible pieces of legislation — the PROTECT-IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) — have been introduced in the US Senate and House of Representatives. If passed, the US administration will be empowered to shut down specific websites using the same four measures it employed in its failed attempt to shut down WikiLeaks — domain name system (DNS) filtering, blocking financial transfers via financial intermediaries, revoking hosting and sanitising search engine results. SOPA represents the perfect policy interest overlap between a State clamping down on freedom of expression and IPR-holders protecting their obsolete business models. After all it was Bono who publicly articulated the unspoken desire of many right-holders: "We know from China's ignoble effort to suppress online dissent that it's perfectly possible to track content."

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FOX, lies & the wrong videotape: What's NOT happening in Moscow

Or how the Western media fakes news.

With so much going on in the world today, one can see how easy it would be to get confused. Are those pictures of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan? Poverty in Somalia or Congo? And what's a news program to do if there aren't any good pictures?
So producers all over the world search, and talk to their own crews or news agencies who provide feeds for everyone, and find the best shots to grace their air time.
Or – in some cases – ANY shots that look more or less similar to the covered topic. Case in point: protests in Russia and the ever-blundering FOX News.

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The Covert Intelligence War Against Iran

There has been a lot of talk in the press lately about a "cold war" being waged by the United States, Israel and other U.S. allies against Iran. Such a struggle is certainly taking place, but in order to place recent developments in perspective, it is important to recognize that the covert intelligence war against Iran (and the Iranian response to this war) is clearly not a new phenomenon.

Indeed, STRATFOR has been chronicling this struggle since early 2007. Our coverage has included analyses of events such as the defection to the West of Iranian officials with knowledge of Tehran's nuclear program; the Iranian seizure of British servicemen in the Shatt al Arab Waterway; the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists; the use of the Stuxnet worm to cripple Iranian uranium enrichment efforts; and Iranian efforts to arm its proxies and use them as a threat to counteract Western pressure. These proxies are most visible in Iraq and Lebanon, but they also exist in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

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Kyoto row at Durban climate talks

World talks on climate change struggled to overcome a rift on the future of the Kyoto Protocol with only two days left on the clock to bridge the gap.

Sharpening the sense of division in Durban, Canada declared that, for it, Kyoto was now history.

It confirmed it would not renew pledges after the landmark pact's first roster of carbon curbs expires at the end of 2012.

"We have long said we will not take on a second commitment under the Kyoto Protocol. We will not obstruct or discourage those that do, but Kyoto for Canada is in the past," Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent said.

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Blood stones & hypocrisy

Global Witness (GW), a human rights group, is reported to have left, in protest, what is known as the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), a regulatory mechanism to ensure that diamonds entering the mainstream markets in the world are ethically mined. It has accused the international diamond regulatory group of turning a blind eye to links between diamonds and human rights violations, according to a Daily Telegraph dispatch we reproduced yesterday in the World View section.

A countless number of innocent men, women and children in Africa get killed, raped, tortured and forced into slavery at the hands of armed desperadoes dealing in diamonds, for the super rich elsewhere to indulge in vanity. GW has lashed out at Zimbabwe for the inhuman conditions under which people are made to mine diamonds. There have been shocking accounts of their living conditions and the civilised world must do everything possible to deliver them from their suffering. However, it is not only from Zimbabwe that blood diamonds find their way into the global market; diamonds that come from all parts of Africa have blood and tears of hapless people on them.

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The Collapsed House of Norwegian Cards

The over 200 page statement of failure on the Norwegian attack on Sri Lankan sovereignty in its faulty "Pawns of Peace: Evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka, 1997-2009" is a document on lessons we should learn. It was but a culmination of the 500-year attempt by the West to dominate us in cahoots with their local lackeys. It was the failure of a “spiritual and temporal conquest of Sri Lanka" as the Portuguese historian Queyroz termed the Portuguese intrusion.

After the Portuguese had brutalized the country, Queyroz said that the Sinhalese were "pride itself"; and think only they in the world "observed and maintained the art of government, cleanliness and propriety and that all the other nations are barbarous, low and wanting in cleanliness and propriety - especially Europeans."  He said the Sinhalese considered those who do not eat as they do are the lowest and those who do not wash properly "neither clean nor proper" and that they do not bow to foreigners.

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AN INSIGHT INTO LTTE-ADMINISTERED SCHOOLS IN EUROPE - THE RADICALIZATION OF CHILDREN

The Concept and Beginning of the "Thamilcholai" School System

Examining the beginnings of the 'Thamilcholai' school system, it is clear that it was designed and created by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist movement, initially within Sri Lanka. The beginnings of this school system can be seen as beginning as an orphanage in and around the year 1990 in accordance with the wishes of the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabakaran. This orphanage was established with 90 children aged between 2-12 years. In the years 1991 and 1993 the LTTE established two orphanages namely 'Sencholai' for female orphans and 'Kantharuban Aravichollai ' for male orphans (Kantharuban was the name of the first LTTE "sea tiger" suicide cadre who took part in a suicide operation to destroy the Sri Lanka Navy ship "Edithra", in 1990). These orphanages were controlled and administered by the LTTE but to the outside world they were presented as orphanages run by an independent social welfare group.

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U.S. Congress enacts laws to hold civilians under indefinite military detention without trial

Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune, Washington, DC. 01 December, (Asiantribune.com) Under Sections 1031and 1032 of the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2012, the United States Congress has proposed to give the Department of Defense the explicit power to take civilians into military custody, detain them indefinitely with no charges or trial.

Well hidden in the 682-page long National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Bill under the title 'Detainee Matters' has received tragically sparse coverage in the American national media, widely-read national newspapers and broadly-watched national television channels blocking the existence of this impending legislation described by rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as a draconian piece of law.

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DEPLORABLE ASSAULT ON EDITOR

The dastardly assault on Lakbimanews Editor Rajpal Abeynayake by a lawyer at an event of great importance to this country's legal fraternity is yet another unsettling reminder that tolerance of each others views is not at all a strong point among sections of local civil society.

In a vital way, this is an assault on the inalienable right of a citizen to express his or her views on a matter of crucial importance, without running the risk of being physically harmed over it.

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Tut, tut, JJ

UNP MP Jayalath Jayawardena seems to have risen from a slumber like Rip Van Winkle. He has suddenly realised that Prabhakaran's chief arms procurer turned self-appointed LTTE leader KP is a terrorist and wants him handed over to Tamil Nadu, where an arrest warrant has been issued for him. Where was JJ when an elusive KP was at large? Why didn't he call for the arrest of that terrorist while Prabhakaran was alive and kicking?

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The Butcher

Defence writer and Deputy Foreign News Editor of Divaina, Keerthi Warnakulasuriya will launch 'samula gathakaya' (the butcher) shortly. It is a Godage publication

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Accountability queries: legitimate and laughable

Accountability is an issue that's talked about a lot with respect to Sri Lanka's efforts to eliminate the terrorist menace. There's been a lot of self-righteousness in the demands. A lot of double-tongue too. The entire discourse of accusation, sadly, has been marked by the word 'allegation', which in turn appears, again sadly, to have been constructed from claims made by the most dubious of sources.
It is in this context that one has to consider the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister's comments to MPs recently. Minister John Baird stated, 'Sri Lanka needs to take accountability for the serious allegations of war crimes committed'. One notes that it is downright silly to ask anyone to account for 'allegations', except of course the accusers whose burden it is to offer tangible proof of systemic and unacceptable levels of transgressions that warrant the use of the terms 'war crimes' and 'crimes against humanity'.

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Rajiv Malhotra's 'Breaking India', listing conspiracies to split the country, released by Dr. Swamy

Noted Indian-American thinker Rajiv Malhotra's book that details the nefarious design of Western powers to split India, was released last week at Bangalore. The book throws ample light on the conspiracies being hatched by the west funded Church-funded powers for instilling a false sense of victimhood and identity separatism among India's underprivileged classes. Dr. Subramanian Swamy, currently the most successful anti-corruption warrior in India, and a published scholar on Hindu nationalism himself, released the book in a simple ceremony. Well known educationalist Prof P V Krishna Bhat, who's the National Convenor of Prajna Pravah was also present at the function, held at the R V College auditorium at Jaynagar, Bangalore.

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Worshiping foreign gods

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is one of the politicians who apparently lack the wisdom of hindsight. He continues to grovel before the western powers no end. An anglophile to the core, he has recently demanded to know why Sri Lanka opposed a move by a section of the Commonwealth to appoint a commissioner for democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The government is, he says, averse to the setting up of such an institution as it does not want its human rights record to come under scrutiny. External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris has said that several other countries including India joined forces to prevent the creation of that post, and urged the Opposition Leader not to outsource the functions of the Opposition to the international community.

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Canadian Foreign Minister's Insistence About Sri Lanka's Alleged War Crimes Baseless With Leanings Towards Tamil Sympathy Forgetting The Root Cause Of The Conflict ~ Terrorism.

While it sounds like a legitimate call to investigate alleged "War Crimes" from Canada;s Foreign Ministry and the Hon. Mr. Baird obviously echoing similar sentiments to those of his head honcho the Prime Minister Harper, there still remains the question of where is the proof based on tangible evidence thus far?

It might also be asked "does Canada have a right to this call and is it not interference?"

Why is it that Canada going back in time continues to harp on ( no deliberate pun intended towards Mr. Harper's direction ) this theme of war crimes and attrocities in near moronic perspective when the crux of the matter rests and always will rest on the main cause of military actions taken and related to the elimination of a deadly terrorist group acknowledged by pretty much the entire world in a manner of speaking?

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Lies on SKY: The British Media Circus comes to Russia

In the sewer where the British media resides, pride of place in this festering cesspit, alongside the British Bullshit Corporation, must be reserved for SKY News, where lies on SKY abound, where stories are turned around or upside down, where gross manipulation rules the day and where insinuation goes hand in hand with reporting what are supposed to be facts.

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US Senator Robert Casey wants human rights in Sri Lanka: But supports indefinite

US Senator Robert P. Casey has become a well known champion of human rights, rule of law and justice in Sri Lanka.

His voice is so loud that even the Sri Lanka embassy in Washington couldn't ignore; Ambassador Jaliya Wickremasuriya used his charm and diplomatic skills to reach to Senator Casey to explain conditions in Sri Lanka.

But here's some breaking news to the Government of Sri Lanka and its Washington diplomats.

Senator Robert Casey who champions human rights in Sri Lanka, a nation in South Asia that successfully defeated the most vicious terrorist movement in the world – LTTE – after a 26-year battle in May 2009, is one of the prominent US Senators to wholeheartedly support a US Senate bill that will give the US Defense Department all authority to subject American citizens, resident aliens and others to indefinite military detention without charges and trial on American soil.

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US-PAK relations: America's pride prevents apologizing to Pakistan over killing of soldiers

The U.S. president Barack Obama will not make that mistake again: saying 'sorry', offering formal condolences and apologizing to the Government of Pakistan for the deaths of two dozen soldiers in NATO airstrikes last week, overruling State Department officials who argued for such a show of remorse to help salvage America's relationship with Pakistan.

America's strained ties with Pakistan have been buffeted by crises this year, from the killing of two Pakistanis by a C.I.A. contractor to the raid inside Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden.

But apology – NO, even at the cost of such an agreement. The history of the United States shows that it's national pride does not allow for it to 'stoop so low'.

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Documents confirming SL's ownership of Kach tabled

The Government yesterday tabled in Parliament the two agreements signed between India and Sri Lanka in 1974 and 1976 under which Sri Lanka's sovereignty over the Kachchativu island was confirmed.

The agreements were tabled in response to a question raised by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayaka about various claims made by some Indian politicians asserting an Indian claim over the island.

"Kachchativu was not given or ceded to Sri Lanka. Therefore, the question of India officially giving up her claim on Kachchativu does not arise," External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris said in response to the query from the UNP MP as to when India officially gave up the claim on the island.

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The Collapsed House of Norwegian Cards

After the Portuguese had brutalized the country, Queyroz said that the Sinhalese were "pride itself"; and think only they in the world "observed and maintained the art of government, cleanliness and propriety and that all the other nations are barbarous, low and wanting in cleanliness and propriety - especially Europeans." He said the Sinhalese considered those who do not eat as they do are the lowest and those who do not wash properly "neither clean nor proper" and that they do not bow to foreigners.
As Norwegians did the dirty on us we must ask who wrote the report, which publications they read and whom they interviewed. An examination of this gives a list of those in the forefront of subverting our sovereignty and misinterpreting us to foreigners. And the misleading, apologetic report is the outcome. And I personally know the major institutions and the persons involved, having written about the latter in two books published by two leading Western academic publishers.

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'Reconciliation will be achieved through local efforts'

Excerpts from the keynote address delivered by Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the inaugural National Conference on Reconciliation, hosted by the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies last week.

The late Lakshman Kadirgamar was a great servant of this nation, whose determined and selfless contributions to Sri Lanka were tragically cut short by an LTTE sniper in August 2005. During his life, Mr. Kadirgamar strongly believed that "People who live in Sri Lanka are first and foremost Sri Lankans". As this country builds its future on the foundation of peace resulting from the defeat of terrorism, these are words for us all to remember.

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Census can dispel doubts about civilian deaths – Japan

Former Japanese peace envoy Yashushi Akashi yesterday said that a recently conducted census in the Northern and Eastern Provinces could help Sri Lanka to establish the number of civilians killed in the final phase of the conflict in 2009.

The 80-year-old Japanese special envoy said that census could drastically bring down varying counts of deaths given by different parties.

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SPUR stresses need to counter rump LTTE's manoeuvres

In the aftermath of a series of attempts by the LTTE to discredit Sri Lanka in international fora including at the prestigious Commonwealth Heads of State conference (CHOGM) recently, a Sri Lankan activist in Australia fighting LTTE propaganda said it is time the Government addressed the core of this issue.

"The rump LTTE is trying hard to build a case so that their 'transnational government' will be able to get the UN to divide Sri Lanka and create their 'dream Eelam' for them, just like Kosovo and East Timor."

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Outing A Counterfeit Guerrilla

The objective of this research note is not only to uncover the truth or otherwise of the "memoir" by Niromi de Soyza (nom de guerre) titled Tamil Tigress: My story as a child soldier in Sri Lanka's bloody civil war, but to go beyond and investigate the purpose/s of publication of her "personal story" and reason/s for hiding her real name and identity.

This research note is based on the reading of the book under scrutiny in its entirety, promotional blurbs and reviews of the book by journalists in Australia, critical reviews of the book by two persons of Sri Lankan origin living in Australia, listening to the author of Tamil Tigress at a literary festival, and discussions with few people among the Tamil diaspora in Melbourne and Sydney. In addition, I sought an interview with Niromi de Soyza, in order to afford her an opportunity to respond to my doubts, which she tried to postpone for two months (but did not refuse to meet) for reasons best known to her. In spite of her instant granting of interviews to media personnel (both print and electronic) in Australia and participation in almost all the literary/book festivals held around Australia since the release of her book in mid-2011, her evasiveness to meet a researcher from her place of origin compounded my suspicion about the author of the book.

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Fake Charity From "Tigress" Author

Last week, 'Tamil Tigress' authoress Niromi de Soyza was featured in these pages. De Soyza claimed that she was one of the first female LTTE cadres in her book, which was released earlier this year.
Soyza claimed at a literary event that proceeds from her book were going to the "SJC87 Initiative" a charity that provided scholarships to war-affected children in the North and East. Her Facebook page also noted that 15% of "Tamil Tigress" sale proceeds were going to the charity, which is run by the St' John's College batch of 1987.
However, this statement is completely false. Further investigation reveals that de Soyza is not donating book proceeds to St. John's College, nor was it ever her alma mater as she reportedly claimed.

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Friendship and hosanna-singing

Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he was sworn in as the fifth President with executive powers in November 2005, made a stirring speech at Galle Face. He spoke of friends and friendship. He said 'I believe my friends are those who offer just criticism and not those who sing hosannas in my praise'.
While we don't know whether the President has assessed friendship-worth of hosanna singers. It is very clear that in the six years that have passed since that significant political moment there has been no lack in the matter of singing hosannas. Indeed it would seem those who are in a position to sing praises, metaphorically and literally, have not understood the friendship parameters outlined by the President six years ago.

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Gaffes and gumption made in Washington

First things first. Ban Ki-moon got some shady individuals to write a report on Sri Lanka in contravention of all UN protocol. The feeders of misinformation duly dubbed it 'UN Report' and the movers and shakers of the story followed suit. Lackeys in I/NGO, academic and media circles felt no shame in doing the time-honoured 'going along'. Slavishly, one might add.
Now we learn that Hillary Clinton, a woman fascinated with Xeroxing (photo-copying, that is) has demanded that Patricia Butenis, the US Ambassador in Colombo, be given a preview of the LLRC (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission) Report, BEFORE THE GENERAL PUBLIC GET TO SEE IT! This lady Butenis, as Wikileaks exposures of secret communiqués show, is a classic US busybody who acts as though she's Viceroy, doing her utmost to script political developments in Sri Lanka and naturally chagrined when the key players, namely the people of the country, refused to play ball.

That being said, the communiqué to the Minister of External Affairs, delivered by Butenis' predecessor and an equally obnoxious meddler, Robert O Blake, is all about 'accountability', we are told. We are also informed, inter alia, that failure to address allegations contained in the rogue document submitted to Ban Ki-moon would 'give rise to a resurgence of violence in Sri Lanka and undermine the country's progress so far'.

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Why Burt should look at Chilcot

Alistair Burt the UK's Foreign Office Minister gave the impression of a jack-in-the-box when he leapt into the ring to call for accountability by Sri Lanka, no sooner the Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission handed in its report to the President.

The news channels are full of so many matters of foreign policy that are directly affecting the United Kingdom, much closer home and with much more impact than the situation in Sri Lanka. But, Sri Lanka was on top of the list of Alistair Burt. One wonders whether his demand for immediate accountability by Sri Lanka, on the many charges being made against it by a whole lot of pro-terrorist propagandists and well manipulated politicians, think-tanks, and rights activists had anything to do with the widely announced Mahaveer Day celebrations due to take place this week beginning today.

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'White Breed' at Channel 4 and concocted videos…

Once again the 'White Breed' at Channel 4 who speaks and write English, a language falsely claimed as the 'Queens Language', though it has its original roots to a tribe in Germany centuries ago as evidence, are now preparing another concocted video on baseless and unfounded 'war crimes' in Sri Lanka, displaying the venomous pattern of the old imperial hegemony in insulting the people of Asia, as they've done to Africa and Latin America from time immemorial.

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RECONCILIATION, OUR WAY

Reconciliation is certainly on the cards, but it will be entirely our way and not in the manner in which some obtrusive external quarters would like to have it. This is one of the many thought-provoking points which were made by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in the course of his recent address to the inaugural National Conference on Reconciliation held in Colombo. Besides, Sri Lanka's conflict resolution effort would be entirely home-grown and would be in keeping with our indigenous cultural and social values, the Defence Secretary pointed out.

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The age of the thug, the vagabond and the sycophant

Unruly scenes and episodes of thuggery in what is, for some quaint 'reason', termed the "August Assembly", namely Parliament, are regrettably, nothing new. Perhaps a new "low" was established by the scenes of rampant thuggery in the presence of the President of the Republic and the leader of the UPFA/SLFP while the President was reading the budget speech.

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Keynote Speech National Conference On Reconciliation

'External solutions not for Sri Lanka' Sri Lanka as a sovereign nation with a rich culture and a proud heritage does not need external guidance? to achieve post conflict reconciliation. This will be achieved through an organic, local effort consistent with our culture and our values, and not based on external ideals imposed by others, Def Sec Gotabhaya R said. He was delivering the keynote address at the inaugural National Conference on Reconciliation at the L. Kadirgamar Institute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vvxaKxcZwc

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The final Report will be handed over to Sri Lanka President on 20 November – LLRC

The LLRC was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 15, 2010. The Commission held 57 public sessions and undertook 12 field visits at over 40 locations to talk to the people in the North and East and in other affected areas of the country.

In response to its public notices, over a thousand people appeared before the Commission to make representations and the Commission additionally received and analyzed over 5100 written submissions.

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IMPORTANCE OF INDIAN OCEAN SECURITY

The current conduct of Galle Dialogue 2011, focusing on security and related issues in the Indian Ocean region, under the aegis of the Lankan state, could be considered a signal honour that Sri Lanka has earned for itself. Issues centering on the Indian Ocean region were a hot topic in the fora of developing countries over two decades or more ago, but after the crumbling of the Cold War the vital importance of the Indian Ocean in world affairs has been allowed to be eclipsed somewhat by questions which the West considers important, such as, the so-called 'Clash of Civilizations.' Nevertheless, in the thinking of the developing world in particular, the Indian Ocean remains a Peace Zone and it would be in the fitness of things for the international community to bear this in mind.

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Who Got the Money?

What follows are some extracts from the report of the evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka commissioned by the Norwegian government. This article deals with the disbursement of money by the Norwegians in Sri Lanka during their period of peace mediation.

Economic development and donor involvement were closely connected to the conflict in Sri Lanka, partly because donor policies and programmes inadvertently contributed to political instability and inter-ethnic tensions. Several bilateral donors including Norway became engaged in conflict-related issues as a core aspect of their work. In a few cases, funding to Sri Lanka was also reduced. Prior to 1998, however, Japan, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank which together provided some 70% of the aid funds, continued to regard the war in Sri Lanka as an internal problem and chose to leave it out of the negotiations on development assistance.

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Colombo NGOs major recipients of Norwegian funding

Perhaps the principal financial beneficiary of the Norwegian-led peace process is a group of Colombo-based NGOs and their Norwegian partners, according to the much awaited report on 'evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka (1997-2009)' released in Oslo on Friday.

But the Norwegians, according to the report had been involved in Sri Lanka as far back as 1991 with the blessings of the then Ranasinghe Premadasa government.

The Oslo-funded report confirmed what we have been saying over the years that the NGOs had been the main beneficiaries and funding was continuing in spite of the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009.

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India held secret meetings with LTTE, Solheim says

Oslo: Indian officials met in "secret" with the LTTE ahead of Sri Lanka's 2002 truce although New Delhi considered the Tamil Tigers a terrorist group, Norwegian cabinet minister Erik Solheim has revealed.
The former envoy to Sri Lanka also said India played a covert role in events that led to the Tamil Tigers and Colombo signing a ceasefire agreement nine years ago.
Solheim spoke at length at his office here after addressing a meeting where a report was released on Norway's role in Sri Lanka's peace process.
According to Solheim, the minister for environment and international development, Indian officials held a "secret meeting" with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) before the ceasefire was signed in February 2002.

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Lessons unlearnt

Norway seems to have sought to counter a perceived attempt by Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to blame Oslo for the collapse of the disastrous 'peace' deal (2002-2009). Ahead of the submission of the LLRC report to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Norway has released the findings by its version of a lessons learnt commission in a report titled, Pawns of peace-Evaluation of Norwegian Peace Efforts in Sri Lanka, 1997-2009. (The executive summary of the Norwegian report refers to 'some broader lessons for peace-building elsewhere'––emphasis added.)

The Norwegian report indited in INGO lingo is full of bauble or gewgaws, which glitter without illuminating; it sheds no light on anything. Full of words, it lacks substance. It only recycles and regurgitates what is already known to us about Sri Lanka's failed peace process and obfuscates the main issues that led to the failure thereof.

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Questioned by police on sexual harassment charges
Peter Roebuck suicide

CAPE TOWN: Former Somerset captain and renowned cricket writer and broadcaster Peter Roebuck committed suicide at a hotel in South Africa on Saturday soon after reportedly being questioned by police.

A report by the Sydney Morning Herald, one of the newspapers Roebuck wrote for, said he had been questioned at his hotel at about 9.00 on Saturday, by a uniformed police officer and a detective over an alleged sexual assault.

The newspaper said Roebuck was in an agitated state and suggested one of the police officers was still in his room when Roebuck jumped to his death.

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Tamil Nationalists Suffer Multiple Humiliating Defeats in Australia, India and USA

Tamil Elamists have been defeated comprehensively throughout the world. When their floating weapons warehouses were sunk one after another, they didn't even admit it. They pretended nothing happened. It's the same pretending game they play now. All patriotic Sri Lankans who invested their time and effort must celebrate these defeats of Tamil nationalists. The few in number but dedicated patriotic web spaces deserve the praise of all.

It is Nanthikadal part fifty as nothing else compares to the gravity of the new set of defeats Tamil Nationalists suffered recently. They are well accustomed to defeats and stay very quiet in defeat without acknowledging it. In Australia they suffered multiple defeats. Hardcore Tamil nationalist Seeman was refused entry to USA! It dealt a very powerful blow to Tamil nationalists around the world just a few weeks after Global Tamil Forum head Father SJ Emmanuel was refused entry to India. To top it all, USA told the visiting Tamil national alliance delegation in no uncertain terms to shed Tamil homelands nonsense, stop complaining about changing ethnic composition of the north and the east and work towards a 'workable solution'. TNA leaders aired shock and disappointment when they met Tamil Diaspora at a series of meetings. All this happens just a few weeks to go for the report of the LLRC. At last, USA, Australia and India have allowed reconciliation a chance.

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Has LTTE stepped up smuggling and regrouping in Tamil Nadu?

The arrest in Tamil Nadu of two persons with LTTE links over gold smuggling has raised fears in the State that the LTTE has stepped up smuggling and regrouping.

Two people were arrested on Friday night in India when they attempted to smuggle about 20kg of gold from Sri Lanka, the Times of India reported. In another incident, a 45-year-old woman was taken into custody by Trichy Customs officials while trying to smuggle 1.2 kg of gold bars from Sri Lanka.

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When a nation looks for solace...

Sri Lanka's bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games ended in the early hours of Saturday. The good fight was fought and lost, 43 votes to 27. No shame there. Much has been written about the effort as well as the possible spin offs had the decision come Sri Lanka's way. Some have painted sunshine scenarios and others have predicted bleak fallouts. No great defeat, but still a good enough reason to ask 'what now?' The answer lies, perhaps, in President Mahinda Rajapaksa's SAARC address.

President Rajapaksa concluded his speech with a quote from the Dhammapada: 'atta hi attano nato. Kohi nato paro sia' (one's solace lies in oneself; what other master could there be?'

It is an idea that is of utmost relevance to SAARC and indeed to any regional gathering of nations. It is in fact the underlying logic of SAARC. The fact, however, is that such cooperation as is implied in the relevant articles of faith have been limited to the relatively easy terrain of cultural exchanges with trade agreements showing a tendency to go the 'global way', the big boys getting the small to agree to dance according to tune. It is called 'participation'. It is the democracy of 'bystandership' if you will. Critical issues, such as security, unfortunately, have been outsourced to those who have no interest in the region's prosperity or security. SAARC solace, it seems, has been bartered away to masters outside of SAARC

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Pawns of Peace: a Norwegian synonym for monumental diplomatic failure

London, 12 November, (Asiantribune.com): Norway, with the publication of the report - Pawns of Peace: Evaluation of Norwegian Peace Efforts in Sri Lanka, 1997-2009 - finally admitted on Friday, what we knew all along; its 12-year involvement in bringing peace to the island nation was a political disaster, despite the carefully-calculated spin applied over the catalogue of significant failures, in the very lengthy document.

Then, in the same breath, it went on to say that Norway cannot be solely held responsible for the final outcome which saw the elimination of the LTTE. Seasoned political analysts view it as a futile attempt to deviate the criticism from the liberal establishment for the debacle which cost many lives in the island and a colossal sum of money for Norwegian taxpayers.

The report was immediately condemned by the die-hard LTTE supporters of the Tamil Diaspora, by accusing Norway of washing its hands of what they called victims.

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" Hapless Harper Cuddles up to the LTTE for votes"

Stephen Harper's excited call for an "independent international investigation" into the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka, while being unbelievably misplaced, comes at a crucial juncture in Sri Lanka's history as it prepares to host the next CHOGM and the next Commonwealth Games.

In an interview with CMR, the cowboy from Calgary, also stated that he "Intends to make it clear to my fellow leaders that, if we do not see progress in Sri Lanka in terms of human rights and accountability issues, as the Prime Minister of Canada, I would not attend the Summit in 2013". These emotional statements by a somewhat conservative leader, who may not be occupying the PM's house in 2013, surprised the international community and the Sri Lankan authorities. Is this a reflection of Harper's vested interest and political aspirations?

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The Ally From Hell

SHORTLY AFTER AMERICAN NAVY SEALs raided the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in May and killed Osama bin Laden, General Ashfaq Kayani, the Pakistani chief of army staff, spoke with Khalid Kidwai, the retired lieutenant general in charge of securing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Kidwai, who commands a security apparatus called the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), had been expecting Kayani's call.

General Kayani, the most powerful man in a country that has only a simulacrum of civilian leadership, had been busy in the tense days that followed the bin Laden raid: he had to assure his American funders (U.S. taxpayers provide more than $2 billion in annual subsidies to the Pakistani military) that the army had no prior knowledge of bin Laden's hideout, located less than a mile from Pakistan's preeminent military academy; and at the same time he had to subdue the uproar within his ranks over what was seen as a flagrant violation of Pakistan's sovereignty by an arrogant Barack Obama. But he was also anxious about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, and he found time to express this worry to General Kidwai.

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Europe keeps LTTE alive

The tolerance that is shown by Europe's 'liberal' Governments and courts towards those who front for terrorist organisations, be it the LTTE or the LeT, the Taliban or Al Qaeda, only serves to underscore Europe's duplicity. While mouthing clichés on the need to fight terrorism, it allows bogus concern for human rights to ride roughshod over genuine concerns in countries (like India and Sri Lanka) which have to deal with terrorists. Ironically, Europe stands to lose the most because of this duplicitous approach. Germany allows the LTTE flag to be displayed at football matches and LTTE propaganda material to be freely distributed. The district court in The Hague may have held five Tamils guilty of extortion and other crimes to raise funds for the LTTE's revival, but that does not account for what 800,000 immigrant Jaffna Tamils are up to across the continent.

India cannot afford to take a casual view of this reality. Maoists have sympathisers among the Indian diaspora in Europe and human rights groups with considerable influence over European Governments jump to the defence of the Red Marauders every time they are brought to justice. Recall the extraordinary interest shown by the EU in securing the release of Binayak Sen on bail. New Delhi must forge a common front with Colombo. If it doesn't, Beijing will do so. China's gain will be India's loss, though not for the first time.

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Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

"The nature of contemporary conflicts has posed new challenges to the concept of the protection of civilians. The LTTE terrorist group, for example, made the Tamil civilian population under its control a part of their military strategy.

During almost three decades of combating LTTE terrorism in our country, the Government took utmost care to draw a clear distinction between civilians and terrorists while the terrorists callously used the civilians as a human shield, said Dr. Palitha Kohana.

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Australian Press Gets it Right for the First Time

Today for the first time the Australian newspaper, 'The Week End Australian' published an accurate picture of the ground realities of post conflict Sri Lanka and the growing presence of the LTTE in Australia by the veteran journalist Greg Sheridan.

As pointed out in the Australian press the villain in Sri Lanka is and was the LTTE. Thanks to their protectors overseas, and buying power both monetarily and electorally the war crimes and human rights violations are presumably from the government side and it is only a few who even refer to the atrocities committed by the LTTE in previous times, more to the point, decades.

The freedom to live without fear or favour, the freedom to move both in the South and the North, uniformity in laws and governance, and other fundamental rights of all citizens must be protected. Above all, being preeminently a multi cultural society no room must be allowed for ethnic ghettoisation, no matter in which guise they are presented; mythical homelands, ethno specific privileges in land use and habitation.

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Criticism of Sri Lanka ignores Tiger threat

THE criticism of Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he visited Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, left the key Sri Lankan villain out of the story.

The criticism was that the Sri Lankan government engaged in serious human rights abuses, shelling areas where civilians were present, at the end of its civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in May last year.

Both sides committed atrocities in this war, but the defeat of the Tamil Tigers was a decisive defeat of perhaps the bloodiest and most murderous terrorist group the world has seen.

Alexander Downer, Australia's foreign minister for 11 years of the war, tells me: "I know the Sri Lankan government played very hard ball and committed some human rights abuses, but it's a wonderful thing the Sri Lankan government won that war. I have always regarded the Tamil Tigers as absolutely a terrorist organisation."

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Bruce Haig does more damage to Tamils in Sri Lanka by helping the LTTE

Given that LTTE acts of terror were carried out inside the country, with the exception of the politically stupid murder of Rajiv Gandhi in India in 1991, and that the war is now over, it is probably time to drop the single-source vetting of former members and associates of the LTTE as terrorists; particularly when all members of the Tamil community in the north of Sri Lanka were associates of the LTTE in one way or another - Bruce Haig, retire Diplomat.

Bruce Haig, retired diplomat, writing in the Canberra Times today, has done a very undiplomatic thing by openly supporting the world's most ruthless terrorist organization banned in 32 countries, the LTTE, and showing his hand in attempts being made by several Australians, including retired Justice John Dowd, to transform a set of brutal terrorists into freedom fighters.

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Should Sri Lanka revisit its support for Australia on its bid for the Security Council?

The Australian attempt to secure a seat in the United Nations Security Council for the 2013-2014 terms is coming up for question. Why you may ask? The double or multiple standards they practice when dealing with terrorists and others, is undoubtedly a major cause for concern for many countries.

On the one front, Australia chose to stay on the good side of the remaining super power by joining the "coalition of the willing" on "the war against terror" and was part of the jolly ravaging of Iraq, whilst showing surprising leniency to LTTE terrorists using Australian territory.

Furthermore, these suspect policies were compounded by catering to the whims of external pressure groups allied with terrorists (mainly the rump LTTE) by blessing ridiculous and unsubstantiated allegations, which were enthusiastically broadcast by state media outlets. (Which appear to have their own agendas).

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COME ON CAMERON, LOOK BEHIND YOU

British Prime Minister David Cameron joined the rest of the "White Commonwealth" chorus that had launched its anti-Sri Lankan castigation weeks before leaders gathered in Perth for the biennial summit.
It was a single hymn sheet with these protectors of the rights of humans other than their own, urging, nay demanding, "independent investigations" into alleged crimes and accountability from those who supposedly commitment those crimes.
At the very time they were accusing others of war crimes and crimes against humanity some of the chorus such as Cameron's Britain which still calls itself Great despite it being a absolute misnomer had just completed its share of crimes against humanity and war crimes by aiding and abetting in the killing of thousands of Libyan citizens and murdering Muammar Gaddafi as the great denouement to a despicable charade.

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U.S. sets high barrier for Sri Lanka in Reconciliation Commission report

United States Department of State has been in a psychological warfare path for a month or so unofficially giving messages to the Government of Sri Lanka that it expects unvarnished analyses, observations, recommendations and transparency in the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission report scheduled for release in the third week of November.

The LLRC is expected to look into Sri Lanka's ethnic relations, reconciliation among ethnic communities, lessons learned from the long 26-year battle with the Tamil Tigers and what measures need to be taken to re-structure the polity.
At last Thursday's, November 3, daily media briefing in Washington the State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland openly reiterated what the United States expect of Sri Lanka when it releases the final LLRC document.

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WikiLeaks: Sampanthan-Fonseka secret pact revealed

A leaked US diplomatic cable recount details of a meeting the embassy had had with Tamil National Alliance Chairman R. Sampanthan and the political situation after Sampantha's announcement to support General Fonseka in the presidential election 2010. The Colombo Telegraph found the cable from WikiLeaks database. The cable written on January 1, 2010, classified as "CONFIDENTIAL" by the US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia A. Butenis.

The US ambassador Patricia A. Butenis wrote " we saw Sampanthan several times in the period leading up to and following his announcement of support for Fonseka and know that the decision weighed greatly upon him. The stakes are very high for the Tamil community, which had gained new-found clout in the split in the Sinhala vote between Rajapaksa and Fonseka but also has much to lose. Sampanthan told Ambassador he agonized over the decision but ultimately had to face squarely the fact that Rajapaksa had done nothing for Tamil beyond releasing IDPs." " Sampanthan also told us he hoped his announcement would not only galvanize Tamil to vote Fonseka but also would convince others that Fonseka had a real chance of winning. While we will not know until election day wheather these hopes will be realized, indications are that a Fonseka victory appears more possible each day" Ambassador Butenis further wrote.

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Mahinda's Perth victory outshines 2nd coming of Prabha

There were only two winners at the CHOGM held in Perth: Queen Elizabeth and President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Both got what they wanted. The Queen wanted succession to pass on to a female, overturning the British tradition of passing it first to the male even if the females are senior and she won. She also won the right to lift the ban on Catholics ascending the throne – a law observed since Henry VIII refused to recognize the supremacy of the Pope in the domestic affairs of England. She sailed through smoothly.
The big victory, however, was that of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He faced 54 nations – the largest international gathering of heads of states – and won all what he wanted in his political agenda.

To begin with, he won the right to hold the 2013 CHOGM against a formidable gang of the West led by Canada, with New Zealand, tagging along. This victory was great because he defeated the Tamil expats and the I/NGOs (most of all Amnesty International and Australian Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists) who moved heaven and earth to push the Commonwealth heads of states to deny Sri Lanka the scheduled opportunity to hold the next CHOGM meeting in 2013.

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The Jehan-Paikiasothy Awards Tango – stripes, tails and all!

Now the National Peace Council (synonymous with 'Jehan Perera' by the implications of his confession to me in Celigny, Switzerland on February 24, 2006) has found some cash and has decided to dish out some honours, a 'peace award' no less, and has picked Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu as maiden recipient. The relativism pertaining to ascertaining heroic quality alluded to above would not persuade anyone to think that this is against the run of play. It is the title that begs comment. Jehan has called it 'Citizens Peace Award'.

These two consistently refused to acknowledge that the LTTE was a terrorist outfit. They happily played along with the 'LTTE is the sole representative of the Tamils' thesis. They vociferously argued that the LTTE cannot be militarily defeated. They did their best to save the LTTE leadership at the tail end of the war so they could live to terrorist another day. And, in the aftermath of the war, with the man mostly responsible for the carnage this country suffered for 30 years out of the equation, shouted that the only 'past' that mattered was the last two months of the war and campaigned here and abroad for war crimes investigations led by war criminals. Jehan would consider all this as a shining example of decent citizenship, naturally.

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Fonseka-Sampanthan pact shows Butenis' slip

A few days ago, www.colombotelegraph.com broke the news that Sarath Fonseka had signed a secret pact with R. Sampanthan, the leader of the Tamil National Alliance. It was always known that the Fonseka camp had come to some agreement with the TNA during the 2010 Presidential Campaign. What was not made public was the full text of the pact.

The key member parties of that coalition, the UNP and the JVP have remained silent about these revelations, culled from Wikileaks files, subsequently clearly painstakingly perusalby the 'colombotelegraph' people.

The fact that the agreement was essentially one of confederacy, is therefore only of academic interest. What I found more compelling about this 'leak' and others related to the 2010 Presidential Election is the thinking of the USA, as articulated by that country's representative in Sri Lanka, Patricia Butenis.

The communiqués to Washington from the office of the US Ambassador, carrying her signature, are not cursory reports of political developments. The selectivity and emphasis contained in them indicate political preferences.
The fact that the Sampanthan-Fonseka agreement found its way to the US Embassy and not the voting public indicates the true location of Fonseka's (and by association, the UNP's and JVP's) political home was and is. It indicates that the USA had a huge stake in Fonseka's bid while the track record of interfering in the politics of other countries makes it difficult to assume that support did not include funds and promises.

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On the double-o licence of the powerful

Much of the discussion following WikiLeaks' clearly selective and structured disclosures has focused on political intrigue in high diplomatic circles, especially those pertaining to powerful nations.
With respect to Sri Lanka it has been about the lady with a long history of bullish meddling in the internal affairs of countries she's been posted to. That is Patricia Butenis, US Ambassador in Sri Lanka, by the way.

The 'leak' refers to information provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to US diplomats in 2005 on what they had discovered in Kashmir. These were confidential briefings, we are told. ICRC, like other international outfits operating in conflict-ridden countries, is mandated to maintaining dialogue with relevant authorities.

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Hillary's epiphany

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boasted the other day while making a statement to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee that her country had succeeded in 'devastating' al-Qaeda. True, that terrorist outfit has suffered a string of crushing losses during the past few months including the elimination of its elusive supremo, Osama bin Laden, and a number of its second rung leaders. But, how can she be so sure that the monster is really down and out?

Last week, the al-Qaeda flag fluttered mockingly on the Benghazi courthouse making many wonder if the post-Gaddafi Libya was on the verge of falling to religious fanatics driven by hatred and thirst for blood. There are many al-Qaeda militants among the Libyan rebels who ousted and killed Gaddafi. The US-led western bloc, as we have argued in these columns previously, should have known better than to plunge feet first into militarily backing the anti-Gaddafi forces with hardcore terrorists within their ranks. Fratricidal violence has already erupted in Libya among the rebels divided along tribal lines. There was a fierce gun battle near a hospital in Tripoli a few days ago. Two rebel factions clashed firing as they did heavy machine guns and even anti-aircraft weapons. Three patients died of shock and several combatants were injured!

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Further adventures of LTTE propagandists

I seem to have struck a raw nerve in making public my account of what Siobhain McDonagh's researcher was up to, in publishing false stories and possibly making up false videos too. He finally got in touch with me again, not to send me the clips he had promised of attacks on hospitals, the evidence he had second thoughts about sharing, but rather to upbraid me and tell me about his prominent friends.

Amongst them it seems it the British Defence Secretary. This seems to me highly unlikely, since Philip Hammond is not the sort to consort with terrorists, even if they might bring him a few extra votes. Perhaps Daran is counting on those who have recently, ever since they realized David Miliband was not going to bring home the bacon, been contributing massive amounts to Conservative Party coffers. But I cannot see Hammond succumbing to such blandishments.

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BID AT PROLONGING COLONIAL CONTROL

External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris has very rightly taken issue over a comment made by the British Prime Minister in regard to what is made out as human rights accountability, and the External Affairs Minister's observations go to the heart of the issue of sovereignty and the will of the people. In a democratic dispensation, a government is instituted on the basis of the popular vote and it is the prime task of the government to govern on the basis of the aspirations of those who voted it into office.

The question would not arise of the government bowing to the dictates of foreign states and kindred external actors and this needs to be recognized as a cardinal principle of good governance.

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President's maligner - top Tigress

Meena Krishnamoorthy - who was used in Australia to level baseless allegations against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Security Forces - has been found to be a second rung commander of the LTTE's 'Malathi' brigade.

The Army intelligence has uncovered that she had joined the LTTE international operations wing in December, 2003. She had subsequently traveled to a number of countries to promote LTTE activities. She at present acts as the chairperson of an LTTE supportive organization in Australia.

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TNA's move against the State

According to media reports a delegation from the TNA which is in the US on an invitation extended by US Under Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, had talks with US concerning the subject of self determination of Tamils in Sri Lanka among many other things.

The TNA was also scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during the US visit.

As reported in The Hindu, the TNA has the support of the main Opposition party, the United National Party.

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Rathika Sitsabaiesan on Sri Lanka in Parliament – October 29, 2011

An open letter to Hon. Deepak Obhrai, MP, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, House of Commons, Ottawa, on his speech in the Canadian parliament in reply to Rathika Sitsabaiesan's speech on Sri Lanka in Parliament – October 29, 2011.

I was delighted to read your response to the rookie NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan on October 26th, when she said: " Mr. Speaker, I would thank the parliamentary secretary for taking the time to be here tonight. On September 27, I was grateful to have the opportunity to co-host a screening of the Channel 4 documentary, Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, with my fellow parliamentarians, the Hon. Member for Scarbrough-Guildwood (Liberal John McKay), as well as the Hon. Member for Barrie (Conservative Patrick Brown). Also present was a representative from Human Rights Watch.

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When to celebrate a death: Prabhakaran and Qaddafi – West's hypocrisy

Washington, DC. 02 November (Asiantribune.com): The West stands accused of hypocrisy, since many who were quick to rejoice in the death of Muammar Qaddafi had been reticent about the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka two years earlier. Yet the Tigers' chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was no less monstrous than that the Libyan leader, says The Economist.

The following account was posted in widely-read The Economist weekly news magazine's web portal on November 1, and it is interesting to read.

Here's the full write-up under the caption When to Celebrate a Death.

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CHOGM 2011

It is reported that Canada had again raised alleged accountability issues in Sri Lanka under any other business at the end of the third session of ministerial-level talks. There is no indication as to what Sri Lanka's response was on "issues of accountability" but I hope that Sri Lanka raised the issue of Canada's accountability for LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka. It is not a mere allegation but a fact that the LTTE supporters in Canada raised money through various illegal means and sent two million dollars a month for decades for LTTE terrorism while successive Canadian governments and politicians, particularly in the Toronto area, provided political support going so far as to attend fund raising events of the LTTE. Further, it was established by Canadian security authorities that the cheque for the bombing of the Central Bank was sent from Canada. As reported in the Canadian media this year, two well known LTTE supporters were candidates for the Conservatives (Mr. Harper's party) so his statements are based on getting Tamil votes in the Toronto area. Domestic Canadian politics is what is driving his agenda on Sri Lanka.

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Will Sri Lanka's Tormentors Over The "Rights Issue" Ever Give Up? Here's Another Add On In Favour Of Sri Lanka!

While it is more than likely at all the finger pointing at Sri Lanka over the alleged Human Rights violations during the Country's Armed Forces campaign of almost three decades to put down the internal armed insurrection of the Tamil Tigers will never bring down Sri Lanka, the amazing persistence of those who continue to discredit the Island Nation will take a long time to subside. Why? because of the bipartisan support given to them by countries who not only maintain a double standard in outlawing the Tamil Tigers yet lend an ear to those who are visibly the mouthpieces of the deposed Tamil Tigers and continue to create a worldwide scenario tantampunt to cheap sensationalism and nothing more!

No hard evidence or cold provable facts except doctored videos, fake depositions and apathetic sobs stories of incredible sympathy pitch swallowed hook line and sinker by countries like Canada, the USA, Britain and Australia and the blinkered Ban Ki Moon led UN, despite expert opinion that all these are false, hold no tangible credibility and inadmissable in an international court of law.

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LTTE rump Meena Krishnamoorthy lied to ICJA and to the Australian people

Colombo, 01 November, (Asiantribune.com): She has made baseless allegations, as people were 'massacred' in the final stages of the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and she is presently the LTTE's coordinator of the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) in Australia.

She was recently interviewed by 'ABC's 7.30 News Report' and she said that the reason why she came forward to tell her story was because, "I always believed in Justice."

Though she tried to cover her real identity and come up with the concocted story, it has become clearly evidenced that she has told lies and half truths and misled the International Commission of Jurists, Australia (ICJA) with her distorted version about Sri Lanka on the last days of the battle between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam –LTTE the ruthless terrorist organization that was responsible for the protracted 30 year long bloody ethnic conflict and the security forces of Sri Lanka.

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CHOGM drama unveils Kangaroos with terrorist links: Will Australia move to prosecute them?

Perth, 01 November, (Asiantribune.com): The group of Commonwealth nations on Sunday collectively pledged to fight terrorism by preventing the use of their territories for terrorist acts.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, the 54-nation bloc committed to "unequivocally preventing the use of their territories for the support, incitement to violence or commission of terrorist acts".

If this is the agreed view of the Commonwealth Heads of Nations, then one needs to ask what their stand is on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the LTTE, banned in several countries, but not in Australia and most CHOGM nations. The question also should be asked why CHOGM, as a group of nations concerned about terrorism have not moved to ban the LTTE, and whether the latest communiqué is just empty rhetoric.

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Wall Street, Power & Democracy

Capitalism is a confidence trick, a dazzling edifice built on paper promises, gambling, bets and speculation. Wall Street doesn't make or produce anything. The Wall Street however attractive it may appear is built on paper. Wall Street only gambles and bets and speculates.

Modern day bank robbers are at Wall Street but they wear grey suits and not masks. Speculators, propagandists and financiers of Wall Street are given some unfair advantage over the average consumers and taxpayers and the cumulative effect of the people watching selfishness prevail over the public interest has been an undermining of the public's trust in the present US government. There's no question the Wall Street is rigged against the average consumers and taxpayers. The Wall Street has a lot more information. Wall Street jerry-rig the system so that Wall Street always win. If the Wall Street loses trillions, the US Treasury will bail the Wall Street out so it can go back and do it again.

Due to the oligarchs' rapacious looting and their purchase of a politically protected luxurious lifestyle, the people of the US are on the road to permanent serfdom under a police state. The democracy was not given to the people of the US on a platter. It is not theirs for all time, irrespective of their efforts. Either the people of US organize and they find political leadership to take this on, or they are going to be in deep trouble.

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From the pariah to the pinnacle - Sri Lanka turns tables at CHOGM

Perth, 28 October, (Asiantribune.com):
The motley lot who failed to call the shots at CHOGM has been exposed. They have been uncovered as LTTE supporters in the guise of Tamil human rights defenders omitting to tell the unsuspecting Australian public that they in fact were supporters of a brutal terrorist oraganisation that could be labeled as the mother and grandmother of the worst kind of human rights abusers in the history of Sri Lanka.

One of these unsuspecting and naïve journalists, Phillip Coorey of the Sydney Morning Herald referred to Sri Lanka as the pariah of the Commonwealth. If only he had done some investigations, he would have known that he had put his foot, rather both his feet, in his mouth, and that he should have been more circumspect with his choice of words.

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Tamil Tiger Suicide Bomber Attack Kills 10 Coalition Troops in Kabul

One man's terrorist is a terrorist to the entire mankind. This is the right approach to terrorism. Unfortunately, the dominant ideology on terrorism is the exact opposite. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. As long as this division continues, terrorists will be the only winners. Influenced, instrumented and inducted by Tamil Tiger terrorists, Taliban rebels detonated a human bomb in Kabul on October 29, killing 10 coalition troops and 7 civilians. A troop transport vehicle was attacked in an area known to be safe.

Tamil Tiger terrorists carried out a similar yet more devastating attack on Sri Lankan troops in 2006 killing over 116.

http://www.lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2982

http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/liberation_tigers_te1.asp

Without a doubt, Taliban rebels have copied this tactic from the LTTE.

http://archives.dawn.com/archives/42929

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The ABC of Shameful Journalism - an Australian Example

Gone are the days when the Western journalists were respected in Asia as professionals and unbiased reporters. We, Sri Lankans have no doubt about this fact. Their malicious campaign against our nation, aimed at damaging the ethnic harmony, instigating violence and discrediting our forces has given us ample proofs for our conviction.

There was a time, we used to follow BBC Sandeshaya, and similar other western media reports covering Sri Lanka's situation. Initially, we believed their stories to be true. As they continue to offend our sensibilities, we thought it was out of their ignorance of the reality and we blamed the government for not keeping them adequately informed. Now, we know they are doing this purposefully lured by money just like their counterparts in bogus rights groups like Amnesty and the club. Interestingly, the most unscrupulous ones of them now file stories featuring the vary agents of their benefactors- former Tamil Tiger terrorists!!!

Australian based ABC TV , a longstanding insidious campaigner against Sri Lanka , has switched from its covert mode to overt recently as it filed another hateful lie against our nation , this time featuring an ex combatant of a ruthless terror group . The story attempts to hoodwink the world by trying to show this terrorist as an innocent civilian-witness to some "war crime" committed by Sir Lankan forces. Moreover, ABC TV aired the story timing Sri Lanka's President's visit to Australia.

No doubt that the producers have been paid lavishly by the LTTE rump in Australia. Unfortunately, there are no "investigative" journalists to investigate into the underhand deals of other journalists. Neither could we expect the prigging Western governments to conduct any investigations into the income of unscrupulous members of media and so-called rights groups.

The following is the truth behind this abominable lie of ABC TV ... the story of the spawn of terror that make good business out of others' sufferings.

Watch the Video revelation giving lie to ABC campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/user/onslorg#p/a/u/0/UA5ycWfeOAM

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SL firmly against moves to tarnish LLRC

Speech by Sri Lanka's Human Rights Special Envoy, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe at the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee of the 66th session of the UN General Assembly meeting

It is my pleasure and privilege to address this Committee at a juncture when my country, Sri Lanka, stands on the brink of ushering in an era of peace, prosperity and progress based on equitable development and national healing. Many friends of Sri Lanka gaze appreciatively with wonder at the rapid gains made in the aftermath of the conflict which ended in May 2009. The successful conclusion of a humanitarian operation to free over 290,000 civilian hostages marked a watershed in the annals of Sri Lanka's history.

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The Real Reason for NATO Attacking Libya EXPOSED

Some believe it is about protecting civilians, others say it is about oil, but some are convinced intervention in Libya is all about Gaddafi's plan to introduce the gold dinar, a single African currency made from gold, a true sharing of the wealth.

"It's one of these things that you have to plan almost in secret, because as soon as you say you're going to change over from the dollar to something else, you're going to be targeted," says Ministry of Peace founder Dr James Thring. "There were two conferences on this, in 1986 and 2000, organized by Gaddafi. Everybody was interested, most countries in Africa were keen."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O35_Ai6EsMU&feature=related

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West's double standards

NO SOONER had news of Muammar Gaddafi's execution spread from Sirte than an outburst of celebration greeted commentary in some circles across the globe.

When an aide showed her a picture of Gaddafi's dead body, an excited US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exclaimed: "Wow!" And in poor taste, she announced: "We came, we saw, he died."

Her boss, President Barack Obama, described the occasion as a "momentous day."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy described the execution as a "disappearance" and said it was "a major step forward in the battle fought for more than eight months by the Libyan people to liberate themselves from the dictatorial and violent regime imposed on them for more than 40 years".

The number one peace tribune and international civil servant, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the execution "marks a historic transition for Libya" while at the same time calling for "healing and rebuilding ... generosity of spirit, not for revenge".

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Australian Based LTTE Network Exposed

Come on ABC, take the challenge - let the Australian people know the truth! Otherwise, people will know that you are a bunch? of paid worms trying to bring out sensationalism at the cost of destructing life of innocent people in Sri Lanka. Time to come clean - we are eagerly awaiting your response to this video clip!!!

Follow this link to view the documentry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zCxh_jynzhg

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A prominent Australian LTTE front organisation activst files war crimes indictment against President Mahinda Rajapakse

This Australian Tamil is Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran. He has alleged in the indictment that he was a witness to the killings of Tamil civilians during the last days of the Eelam war in Mullivaikal. He has claimed to have been working in Vanni as a humanitarian volunteer during the days of the war.

The truth is otherwise. Known as "Jegan", Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran is a well known among the Tamils of Sydney as an LTTE activist. He was a former President of the Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC) Sydney Branch which has been identified in Australia and worldwide as an LTTE front organisation. Some prominent members of the Tamil Coordinating Committee were convicted of terrorism charges in Australia for collecting funds through TCC. Australian Federal Prosecutor charged Rajeevan, an accountant who controlled the Tamil Coordinating Committee funds, with intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation, providing support or resources to a terrorist organisation and making an asset available to proscribed entity. He was subsequently found guilty and sentenced.

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Freedom Speaks

From: onslorg | Oct 14, 2011 | 1,244 views
A documentary about unspoken ground realities of Sri Lanka's war

A group of young filmmakers travels once forbidden area of their motherland. They meet their brethren who had been separated from them for almost 30 years. They exchange their mournful experiences about the war and discover a shocking truth behind the misery that ripped their lives apart. "Freedom speaks" is a documentary based on their experience.

"Freedom Speaks" is about the people who incredibly endured more than two decades of horror and hardships and emerged with hope and dignity. It speaks about the fears they have for their future knowing that the forces profited from their sufferings still striving to recreate what they hate most.

"Freedom Speaks" is for the ignorant world that unknowingly supported terrorism in Sri Lanka. It is against the malicious lies spread around the world about our country by vicious individuals and organizations wanting us back in war. It is to ease the agitated minds of all Sri Lankans watching this unholy campaign against them helplessly.

This documentary is done at the personal cost of the young filmmakers behind it for free distribution. If you wish to obtain a HD copy of the documentary please contact Isuru Wakkumbura on 01194 777 873 589 or email to isuruinfo@yahoo.com. (less info)
View comments, related videos, and more

Follow these links to watch the two parts of this documentary:

(Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/user/onslorg#p/a/u/1/hebFnxsJFF4

(Part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/user/onslorg#p/a/u/0/pAShAHaH-G4

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Hillary Clinton knew of Qaddafi 'White Flag' truce: US drone fired at Qaddafi convoy after negotiated truce

Washington, DC. 27 October (Asiantribune.com): Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi was traveling under a negotiated "White Flag" truce last Thursday in an agreement to leave Libya. More claims from sources inside Misrata, Libya that the Libyan National Transitional Council did in fact agree to allow Qaddafi and his convoy safe passage out of Libya.

In addition rebel sources in Misrata claim US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was informed of the "White Flag" truce negotiated and agreed to by Libya's NTC while visiting Libya Wednesday October 19.

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As an elder Statesman, Mr Malcolm Fraser must respect a country's sovereignty and international conventions

It is unfortunate that Mr Fraser has now become the latest victim of misinformation fed to him by LTTE operatives in Australia. He probably does not know that the person who filed a case against the Sri Lankan President, Mr Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran is the brother of Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar -- known as AC Shanthan who was jailed for two years for aiding the LTTE, the notorious Tamil Tigers militia outlawed in Britain as a terrorist organisation.

Shanthan, the founder of the British Tamil Association was found to have acquired electrical componentry and military manuals for the LTTE.

Mr Fraser seems to be unperturbed about the murderous activities of the LTTE, and the fact that they had been responsible for the worst form of human rights violations in recent history, and the death of more than 100,000 people as a consequence of the violence perpetrated by the LTTE.

When such atrocities took place for nearly 30 years, there is no record of Mr Fraser expressing his shock about them, and calling for a stop to such activities let along asking for any kind of investigation.

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Towards Tamil Eelam: Via Wall Street

Two events over the last fortnight have uncovered the role of the Catholic Church in fostering Tamil separatism in Sri Lanka, with the aim of carving a separate Christian country out of India's Tamil Nadu and the Tamil areas of the island-nation. The first was India's deporting the Sri Lankan Tamil Catholic priest, Fr. S.J. Emmanuel, back to Dubai, when he arrived at Chennai hoping to meet chief minister Jayalalithaa, and to attend some events at Chennai University and later, at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

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Sri Lanka spokesman rejects human rights allegations

Political editor Lyndal Curtis asks a spokesman for Sri Lanka's president about allegations of human rights abuses committed during the country's civil war.

Click on this audio link to listen:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-27/sri-lanka-president-spokesman/3603454

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World Leaders must stop humiliating Sri Lanka

It has become a tedious effort ever since the fall of the LTTE to continuously embarrass Sri Lanka internationally by front organizations of the LTTE living abroad who have through the power of the money they possess the ability to purchase foreign parliamentarians & representatives of international bodies to point fingers at the Sri Lankan Government on allegations of war crimes. Farcical as this call is when the LTTE is declared a banned terrorist organization it is the LTTE that should have been investigated by international bodies ever since it first started its crusade of suicide killings which would have put an end to 30 years of LTTE terror. That the world kept silent never initiating crimes against humanity by the LTTE, makes good grounds for the families of all those who lost their lives to LTTE to demand why the world kept silent? This practice of humiliating a nation that has been the only country to have defeated terrorism needs to stop forthwith. If accountability has been of concern it is for these nations to wonder what they did to stop the LTTE from killing year in & year out for 3 decades when the entire world went after the Al Qaeda for just one targeted killing.

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Australian ICJ joins Tamil Tiger Rump to Stir Up New Allegations Against Sri Lanka

An Open Letter By Mahinda Gunasekera - Honorary President, Sri Lanka United National Association of Canada

The Tamil Tiger rump in Australia...partnered with the Australian ICJ have churned up new allegations with intent to embarrass Sri Lanka just before the Commonwealth Heads of Government hold their bi-annual meeting in Perth.

The source of the present allegations come from an Australian resident of Sri Lankan Tamil origin named Meena Krishnamoorthy, who claims she visited Sri Lanka to learn Tamil and became a witness to atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan Army against the civilian population like herself during the latter stages of the military action in 2009.

It is indeed strange that Meena Krishnamoorthy waited two and a half years after the conclusion of the hostilities to come up with her allegations, especially when several leading INGO such as the ICG, HRW, Amnesty, Channel 4,and the UNSG's Darusman Panel were loudly calling for such accounts, to instead bring up her stories just before the CHOGM sessions commenced in Australia in 2011.

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Australian based terrorist kingpin exposed

In a major breakthrough giving impetus into tracing and neutralizing of the LTTE's international network, defence intelligence sources claimed to have figured out vital information of Arunachalam Jegadeeswaran alias Jeganwaran, an Australian based terror activist cum sympathizer.

Jegadeesawaran and his family members are well-connected to the LTTE hierarchy for a prolonged period. During the final days of the conflict Prabakaran who had sniffed the outfit's inevitable defeat had entrusted Arunachalam Jegadeeshwaran to escort the former's parents to safe sanctuary with the security forces. It was Jegadeeshwaran who had handed over Prabakaran's parents at the IDP receiving center in Vavuniya.

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The long arm of the Australian Greens, and their disregard for the Tamils in Sri Lanka

Sydney, 25 October (Asiantribune.com):
The war crimes case against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajappaksa submitted to a Melbourne Magistrates Court court by Sri Lanka-born Sydney man Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran, reportedly an uncle of Brami Jegatheeswaran (Brami Jegan) who ran for a senate seat in NSW under the Greens ticket in 2010 has been refused a hearing by Federal Attorney-General of Australia, Robert McClelland."

Sources have revealed that Mr Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran is the brother of Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar -- known as AC Shanthan -- was jailed for two years for aiding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the notorious Tamil Tigers militia outlawed in Britain as a terrorist organisation.

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Australia, beware of LTTE Terrorism

What makes Al Qaeda different from the LTTE? Both are terrorist organizations. Just a single incident in 2001 sufficed to make Al Qaeda top a global crusade referred to as the "war on terror" while the world cared not to apply the same criterion against the LTTE for its crimes against innocent people irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or gender through 3 decades. Terrorism is not Muslim fundamentalism. This is the mistake western policy makers & global peacekeepers appear to make. LTTE banned in 32 countries excepting Australia (which has chosen to ban only 19 Islamic organizations as terrorists) was making USD300m annually through a network of nefarious global activities connected to other crime networks that international bodies & foreign governments were all well aware of. Its international crime network ranging from credit card scams, to human smuggling, to global prostitution, narcotics & contract killing leaves LTTE far more dangerous than the Al Qaeda despite its guerilla base now lost in Sri Lanka. The question that needs to be answered is why have western policy makers kept silent over LTTE terrorism & how far are they willing to allow LTTE to prevail?

Foreign governments are all guilty of clandestinely associating with terrorist organizations & this is why there is no general list of banned terrorist organizations. Can there be good & bad terrorists? Terrorist groups cannot be banned on whims & fancies of a government in power. A terrorist organization is termed such because it cares little for the lives of people, property or peace. Courting terrorist groups by successive US Governments have left US citizens in fear of their lives & their country. The same has been for the UK & nations in the EU. Australia need not join that list & Australians must ensure that its politicians do not commit the same set of fallacies that the US, UK & EU have made in allowing their countries to be bases for terrorism. Just because the terrorists who use foreign offices as bases do not terrorize these nations it does not make them good terrorists & it is only time that their terror can strike those very countries that gave them safe haven. Indira Gandhi & Rajiv Gandhi are good examples of how terrorists nurtured by them turned their guns on them.

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Response to "Do the right thing and have Samarasinghe recalled"

Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya
The Editor,
CanberraTimes,

This in response to Bruce Haigh's article "Do the right thing and have Samarasinghe recalled" that appeared in CanberraTimes on the 21st October 2011

I only quote from the former Premier Mr Carr, during his time in office, eloquently described Justice Dowd as "utterly irresponsible", "extraordinarily insensitive" and "divisive".

"For goodness sake, can't John Dowd get into his thick head that Bali occurred, that we have a problem here, that these threats are real, and, when triggered, police ought to have the powers to arrest people, to question people, to search people?" Mr Carr said at the time.

I must must thank Mr.Carr for using these words in advance giving me the satisfaction to recycle effortlessly! I believe Mr. Carr would make no exception depending on ethnicity, gender or a country, a terrorist is a terrorist here, there and everywhere!

Mr Howard also accused Justice Dowd of ignoring the separation of powers between government and judiciary by attacking the legislation "in a very partisan way".

"Well, you know, you can't have it both ways," Mr Howard said then.

This is how the eminent politicians assessed present ICJ President's irresponsible quips in the past.

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Be warned Australian Greens, Tigers never change their stripes

Colombo, 25 October (Asiantribune.com):
Yesterday's attempt by the LTTE to kill EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda using a woman suicide cadre stands to prove that Tigers never change their stripes, leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front, V. Anandasangaree said. Eelam People's Democratic Party leader Devananda survived the attack which killed his Coordinating Secretary who was at his Narahenpita office when the woman clad in suicide kit detonated it inside the structure. Condemning the incident, TULF leader V Anandasangaree said that it was typical of the LTTE to kill and dominate, and they do this on purpose to live by the gun to ensure that Tamil people do not raise their heads against them. "They do not know any other way and apply this principle to rule every one," he explained. – News item dated November 29th, 2007

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has killed more Tamil political leaders than Sinhala and Muslim political leaders. They have done so because the Tamil political leaders wanted a peaceful resolution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka, and the LTTE led by Prabakaran wanted a separate State for Tamils by force.

Many within the Tamil Diaspora supported the LTTE either by choice or because they were threatened by the LTTE elements within and outside Australia. The same activists within the Diaspora are now supporting the establishment of a separate Tamil State in Sri Lanka. They have now appeared in new masks as front organizations leading the accusations against Sri Lanka about alleged war crimes. These very same activists in Australia are now being supported by the Australian Greens.

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Three Women on the Tiger Trail

That the LTTE propagandists of today know the value of women in their work is no different to the importance the military leadership of the Tamil Tigers attached to women who they trained as suicide cadres, to carry some of the most bloody terrorist activities in Sri Lanka and India.

That a woman can fool a person with tears, as well as their ability to move people with harrowing tales of suffering that may not be true is a well documented fact, which casts no slur on all women. Just now the LTTE, or its so-called Diaspora wings in many parts of the western world, are using three women who can spin some tales of unbelievable horror against Sri Lankan troops, all of them claiming to be eye-witnesses, and whose words are being lapped up by unethical journalists, human rights activists and even by jurists who are expected to apply higher standards to ascertain the veracity of statements by alleged witnesses.

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Commonwealth Report by Eminent Persons

It is too easy an exercise for the 11-member Eminent Persons Group to tell the 54 Commonwealth nations, that unless human rights are respected that the Commonwealth of Nations will face demise.

What should be more relevant is to tell these nations that they will be penalized if they help a non-democratically elected group to try and destroy a sister Commonwealth nation by destabilizing that democracy with war.

The case in point is Sri Lanka, which is now being accused of alleged human rights violations for the very reason of getting rid of the most ruthless terrorist group in the world on 19 May 2009, the Tamil Tigers, after haemorrhaging that island nation for 27 bloody years where they saw the 'right-to-life' of its 22 million people being hijacked with 388 suicide bombings and detonating claymore mines at street corners during rush hours and inside puiblic transport vehicles.

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Evil triumphs over evil

We have seen during the NATO-led war in Libya the very antithesis of what the West pontificates to the rest of the world about. Having stepped in on the pretext of saving civilians, NATO abused a UN resolution to the hilt to effect a regime change and install a puppet regime. The western coalition including 'peaceful' Norway not only bombed Libya into the Stone Age but also involved itself in the ground operations in violation of the UN mandate as evident from the meteoric graduation of the anti-Gaddafi forces from a ragtag army to a well-equipped killing machine. A few months ago they were about to be massacred by Gaddafi's forces but they bounced back and marched on his bastions finally killing him, in record time.

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What!! War Crimes Allegations again? Just Before CHOGM

The Australian media, led by the usual suspects Sarah Dongal and Ben Doherty, has begun a feeding frenzy once again on war crimes allegations targeting the Sri Lankan leadership as we lead up to CHOGM. The old fuddy-duddy, John Dowd, (remembers the tailor in "Are You Being Served"?) has joined the bandwagon.

The ABC, SBS, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and other news papers have been used as ready vehicles to purvey their views. It is interesting that a quick search of official records show that none of them has been to Sri Lanka during or after the conclusion of the conflict. But they have taken upon themselves to sit in judgment over Sri Lanka's conduct of the war against the terrorist LTTE relying exclusively on material supplied by other sources, including the rump LTTE which is on propaganda overdrive in Australia. The explanations painstakingly provided by the Government or the readily visible evidence on the ground are totally ignored.

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Rump LTTE has their women operatives to spin stories to West NGO's to satisfy their urge

Sydney, 22 October, (Asiantribune.com): Sri Lankan community has come across two women - Damilvany Gnanakumar and Meena Krishnamurthy. Today both of them have played vital roles in the campaign against Sri Lanka.

Damilvany was the key player in the Channel 4's – 'Sri Lanka the killing field' and now Meena Krishnamurthy a new face but very old with LTTE, is from Australia featuring in the ICJA's report against Sri Lanka.

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LTTE very much alive in Europe – Dutch Prosecutor

While the LTTE have been defeated in Sri Lanka, "here in Europe they are very much alive," Dutch prosecutor Ward Ferdinandusse told The Hague District Court during the trial of five Tamils accused of being members of the outlawed organization, running illegal lotteries and laundering money.

A USB stick found in a tea cup at the home of one of the defendants revealed him to be the international bookkeeper for the worldwide Tamil diaspora, prosecutors allege. The data disclosed a financial plan for 2010, and indicate that Tamil exiles remain faithful to the goal of independence in northern Sri Lanka for the country's Tamil minority, the prosecution claims, the AP reported.

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Fr. Emmanuel's snub, a major setback to LTTE front

International observers say that India's denial of entry to Fr. S.J. Emmanuel, a leading propagandist for the LTTE, could be viewed as a major setback for the outfit's attempt to regroup using Tamil Nadu as a base.

Fr. Emmanuel is the President of the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF), a leading LTTE front.

A diplomatic source told the Sunday Observer from Canada that the vociferous LTTE activist who is allegedly a de-facto LTTE leader working through humanitarian and religious fronts collects funds to revive the LTTE. He said Fr. Emmanuel was in Canada on a fund raising mission last month. "He was in Canada and Europe to raise funds and mobilise pro LTTE groups to brush up the anti- Sri Lankan propaganda in the Western world."

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Heavy hand on Fox raises questions on cozying up to LTTE
Sauce for the goose not sauce for the gander in Britain?

The Sri Lankan government yesterday expressed shock and dismay over the resignation of British Defence Secretary Liam Fox on Friday over his friendship with Adam Werritty (34), who acted as his private secretary for many years, whereas British politicians maintaining close contacts with LTTE front organizations in the UK and Europe are given a free hand though the LTTE remains a proscribed organization.

The international press quoted Fox, 50, who oversaw military operations in Afghanistan and Libya, as having admitted he had allowed the lines between his personal and professional life to blur.

Now that Dr. Fox had quit, it would be pertinent to inquire into the relationship between UK politicians and LTTE operatives, a senior government spokesperson told The Sunday Island.

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Raj Rajaratnam simultaneously funds Sri Lanka terror group and US Democratic Party

Washington, D.C. 17 October (Asiantribune.com): The FBI arrested and indicted Sri Lanka born U.S. hedge fund magnate Raj Rajaratnam, according to the details disclosed by the ABC news network, has given more than US $3.5 million to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) whose assets were frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department in November 2007 because of its alleged ties to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers. Rajaratnam is the single largest known U.S. contributor to a charity linked to the Tamil Tiger terror group in Sri Lanka, according to the ABCNews.com.

ABC also notes that the TRO fund coordinator Ranjithan's home was raided by the FBI in 2006 because of his ties to TRO.

Raj Rajaratnam is also known as a big donor to the Democratic Party and to Obama campaign last year.

It turns out arrested hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam -- charged in a $20 million insider trading case -- has given big to the party in power.

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Wake-up call for Sri Lanka from EU 2011 Terrorism Report: LTTE fund raising identified

Washington, DC. 16 October (Asiantribune.com):
The Asian Tribune alerts Sri Lankan authorities, who seem to be in a deep slumber about the rejuvenated activities of the pro-Tamil Tiger (LTTE) elements, their ignorance that the colossal amount of funds collected in the European region are well used to destabilize the Sri Lankan regime, build a pugnacious policy stance against the Sri Lankan regime by the West, influence lawmakers and their policy staff in Western nations, bring law suits against Sri Lankan officials who were involved in the elimination of the LTTE terrorism and finally haul Sri Lanka to international court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and even genocide.

In a 46-page report just released by the Europol the 2011 EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report highlights the LTTE's 'rejuvenation' not in the area of actual terrorism but the collection of funds through numerous legal and illegal means.

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Sri Lanka urged Norway to consider banning LTTE

Oslo, 16 October, (Asiantribune.com): Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva, the Leader of the House and the one who led Sri Lankan side for negotiations, has urged Norway to consider banning LTTE. He has told that Norway's soil should not be made use for the terrorists to regroup themselves.

Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management and the Leader of the House together with Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Minister of Environment were in Norway for a high level meeting with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway.

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The Group OF Tamil Dissidents In Their Attempt To Discredit The Government Move Towards Integration, Through Pleas To India Are Misguided!

And who is bickering over the official move to integrate Sri Lanka ethnically and racially as though it is unacceptable for reasons brought on by their own connivances and their own perceptions of what's good for Sri Lanka ? None other than three groups of Tamil dissidents who are pro-active Tamil Tiger fronts themselves under the guise of political platforms they affiliate themselves with and truly needs to be put into perspective. If one evaluated the credentials of the three Tamil politicians who have complained to India that the Government of Sri Lanka was settling Sinhalese in Sri Lanka's dominantly Tamil north without resolving the festering "ethnic problem"as well as their related rhetoric it becomes plainly visible where they seem to be coming from.

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India is cute!

India says that it doesn't want to thrust policy down Sri Lanka's throat. Instead, India tells the Government of Sri Lanka, 'talk with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA); sort it out with them'. 'How very understanding and good neighborly of India!' one might think. Dig deeper and the bonhomie doesn't really look inviting.
For years, the TNA was the mouthpiece of the LTTE and this is something that the likes of Sumanthiran are not comfortable to talk about. For years, the LTTE was Delhi's creature, armed, fed, funded and trained. The LTTE was used by Rajiv Gandhi in his determined plan to 'Bhutanize' Sri Lanka. The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) tasked with Bhutalization later found that Delhi's terrorist baby had grown to be an incorrigible pest. Spanking Prabhakaran was not as easy as was first believed. Slaps were exchanged. The Bhutanists packed bags and went home. Bhutanism did not die, of course. Prabhakaran did. India helped, but not in a 'friendly way' but in a pound-of-flesh manner.

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Why are UK MPs supporting LTTE terrorism?

(October 09, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) When a terrorist organization has its international head office openly functioning from London & when its Government did pittance about it for decades what are we to think. When a terrorist organization is able to generate 40% of its foreign funds from UK, what are we to think? When UK MPs gather to bring endless proposals against a democratically elected Government citing international laws related to human rights, war crimes etc…we can simply ask what was the world doing or thinking when the LTTE were killing people, destroying property & bringing chaos?

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May: Scrap the Human Rights Act
Home Secretary calls for hated laws to be axed

HOME Secretary Theresa May risked angering the Lib Dems by calling for the hated Human Rights Act to be axed last night.
Mrs May said she would "personally" like to see it go because of the problems it has caused.

Her comments will endear her to many infuriated by foreign terrorists, killers and rapists who use the law to avoid deportation.

Speaking on the eve of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Ms May said: "I'd personally like to see the Human Rights Act go because I think we have had some problems with it."

"I see it, here in the Home Office, particularly, the sort of problems we have in being unable to deport people who perhaps are terrorist suspects.

"Obviously we've seen it with some foreign criminals who are in the UK."

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Sri Lanka should apply Universal Jurisdiction on matters pertaining to Terrorism – Prof. Rohan Gunaratne

The US Government applies Universal Jurisdiction on matters pertaining to terrorism. Sri Lanka too should follow this example emphasized Professor Rohan Gunaratne.

He said, "The terrorist campaign in Sri Lanka by the Tamil Tigers, was largely funded by LTTE led diaspora organizations. It is essential to bring those LTTE leaders who have provided and it is important for the Sri Lanka Government to identify and file cases against LTTE activists who are still seeking to poison the Tamil minds."

An international terrorism expert, Professor Rohgan Gunaratna speaking to Asian Tribune , said those activists include V. Rudrakumaran , Father S.J. Emanuel, Nediyavan, and Vinayagamoorthy.

When speaking about the rump LTTErs filing court actions against President Mahinda Rajapaksaa, Sri Lankan Diplomats and Sri Lankan Activist in the West, Professor Rohan Gunaratne said that it amounts to one of Osama Bin Laden's wife filing law suits against the US President Barack Obama and the US special forces.

Professor pointed out, "One should never be afraid of terrorists, as they are the worst human rights violators. He further said that no one should cow down to the legal thuggery unleashed by rump LTTE activists.

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The Australian Greens: dumb pawns of terrorism?

The word 'green' has benign political connotations. It is a proxy for things related to environment and ecology, especially in terms of conservation. Greens are environment-friendly. Considering their opposition to the dominant modes of development and critique of capitalism given the destruction that particular economic model unleashes on the environment might believe they are radical and revolutionary. Hence the sobriquet 'Green-Reds'. Such 'greens' are called 'watermelons', for they are green outside and red inside or at least considered to be thus coloured.

Sri Lanka, according to the Australian Greens is resisting the setting up of a tribunal to investigate war crimes. Now would the Greens applaud and support moves to set up a tribunal to investigate war crimes perpetrated by Australia (in supporting mass slaughter courtesy NATO), or crimes against humanity perpetrated for centuries against aboriginal peoples in their country? Let's assume that Australia is not guilty of any such transgression and that these are mere allegations mouthed by parties interested in vilifying Australia. Would the Greens agitate for the Australian Government to accede to demands for an investigating tribunal?

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Libya and the Big Lie: Using Human Rights Organizations to Launch Wars

The war against Libya is built on fraud. The United Nations Security Council passed two resolutions against Libya on the basis of unproven claims, specifically that Colonel Muammar Qaddafi was killing his own people in Benghazi and Libya. The claim in its exact form was that Qaddafi had ordered Libyan forces to kill 6,000 people in Benghazi as well as in other parts of the country. These claims were widely disseminated, but always vaguely explained. It was on the basis of this claim that Libya was referred to the U.N. Security Council at U.N Headquarters in New York City and kicked out of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

False claims about African mercenary armies in Libya and about jet attacks on civilians were also used in a broad media campaign against Libya. These two claims have been sidelined and have become more and more murky. The massacre claims, however, were used in a legal, diplomatic, and military framework to justify NATO's war on Libya.

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Harper's dilemma

Occupy Wall Street protest in New York seems to be gaining momentum. The US government, which demands that protesters in other countries be handled gently and their grievances redressed, has resorted to large scale arrests to contain trouble in New York and prevent it from spilling over into other parts of the country. Egypt, Libya, Syria etc incurred President Barack Obama's wrath by taking punitive action against protesters bent on toppling governments. But, the police have been unleashed on the Wall Street agitators who have taken to the streets not to effect a regime change but to condemn corporate greed!

When trouble erupted in Libya, the US forced Gaddafi to allow heavily armed, violent protesters with al-Qaeda combatants and other mercenaries among them, to do as they pleased, but in New York, those opposing 'exploitation by Wall Street of Main Street' cannot so much as march across a bridge peacefully without being arrested! President Obama finds himself in an unenviable position. A proponent of Arab Spring, he has been compelled to do everything possible to abort American Spring!

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Enforcing 13th Amendment will not prevent War Crimes against Sri Lanka

It was never a surprise when Sri Lanka began to be admonished for completely defeating an international terrorist organization. The wave of admonishes coming from foreign Governments including international peace agencies disregarding the success of the first military defeat of a terrorist organization while carrying out the worlds largest humanitarian rescue operation simply reveals the hypocrisies that prevails in international laws & international thinking. Sri Lanka's public is not surprised & Sri Lanka's public is also aware that the "wish lists" presented by the West including India attempting to entice he Sri Lankan government to agree to various implementations to prevent war crimes against Sri Lanka is only a ploy & Sri Lanka's Government should not fall prey.

Saddam Hussein agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors to avoid US pressures – the outcome was report after report surfacing giving credibility for the US action & eventual invasion of Iraq. The collateral damage caused to a country & its people in order to kill one single dictator who was once the US's friend reveals that Sri Lanka should trust no foreign power.

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Canada, UK target SL on C'wealth front
Prof. Peiris fumes over proposals targeting govt.

The Sri Lankan government yesterday (29) alleged that a small but influential section of the Commonwealth was carrying out an anti-Sri Lankan campaign ahead of the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, Western Australia.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to attend CHOGM 2011 in late October 2011.

External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, while expressing serious concern over the move, stated that a disgraceful attempt was being made to manipulate the Commonwealth to undermine a member state. Prof. Peiris criticised two sets of proposals prepared by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) and the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on the revamping of the association. Prof. Peiris was flanked by MP Sajin Vass Gunawardena and Foreign Secretary Karunathilake Amunugama.

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What has the UNHRC really achieved?

Established in 2006, the UNHRC is now on its 5th year & an important question that needs to be answered is what has it really achieved? It replaced the UN Commission on Human Rights & was supposed to "promote & protect human rights" in a "principled, effective & fair" manner but we wonder who is benchmarking its success & in whose interests the UNHRC is really working.

Let us remind those of whom may not know or may like to forget that the US voted against the UN General Assembly resolution that created the council. The main reason for this was the fact that the US cannot tolerate any focus against Israel at any UN forum & vetoes every motion brought against Israel. The irony was that the worst human rights violating country even refused to run for a seat in the council for two consecutive years on the grounds that human rights abuses were not being punished. The US apparently has forgotten or refuses to accept its own human rights violations & what surprises most of us is why the US has not been accused of any war crimes. The fact that international bodies that are mostly aligned to Western mindsets & values remain silent to the atrocities carried out by the West clearly showcases the failure of the UNHRC.

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On U.S. soil, Sri Lanka president Rajapaksa gives subtle message to the West:"Don't impose your might"

New York, NY. 24 September (Asiantribune.com): Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa, despite his regimes initiative to rebuild the 26-year terrorist-devastated nation these last 30 months after the defeat of the world's most ruthless terror group LTTE, was frustrated with many Western nations when he remarked during his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday 23 September that "the might of powerful nations cannot prevail against justice and fair play."

Without naming he reminded the western nations, obviously the U.S. included, who frequently lend their ears to sections of expatriate Sri Lanka Diaspora more frequently that has led to some Western nations to accuse Sri Lanka of violating international humanitarian laws (IHL) and engaged in war crimes during the final states of the military battle against the LTTE, Mr. Rajapaksa warned "terrorist groups frequently operate under the guise of front organizations. Conferring legitimacy on these has the inevitable effect of providing comfort and encouragement to the merchants of terror."

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Tough and consistent approach against terrorism vital

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's call at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) for a consistent approach to eradicate world terrorism has struck a responsive chord with the international community, especially countries facing the threat of terrorism.

In a landmark address to the UNGA on Friday, President Rajapaksa said that terrorism remained the greatest threat to stability and progress of nations worldwide.

The President's speech received wide acclaim within the UN and in the wider international community, as no other leader had elaborated in such extensive detail about the menace of terrorism.

Several leaders who met the President on the sidelines of the UNGA had commended him for his frank and forthright views on the subject. The UN News Centre was among the media outlets that gave prominence to the speech, under the headline "At UN, Sri Lanka urges tough and consistent global approach against terrorism".

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Should Britain be expelled from the commonwealth?

There has been opposition from western human rights groups to Sri Lanka's bid to host the Commonwealth Games in Hambantota. Canadian PM, Stephen Harper says he will not attend the Commonwealth conference if it is held in Sri Lanka. This has been taken even further by some who have called for Sri Lanka to be expelled from the Commonwealth. We might take as a specimen charge Siobhain McDonagh's speech in the House of Commons on 24 March 2009. "As the Sri Lankan Government have not been willing to end the conflict, I would like my Government to call for their suspension from the Commonwealth."

On 15 September 2011, she again spoke in a Commons debate to condemn Sri Lanka. It would be instructive to read the exchanges, although the amount of smugness and self-congratulation and mutual back-scratching from MPs of all parties might induce projectile vomiting.

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LTTE rump files case against Mahinda in New York

The LTTE in the US has filed a case against President Mahinda Rajapaksa for killing 'Colonel' Thambirajah Ramesh during the final phase of Sri Lanka's successful war against the LTTE.

Sri Lankan government received information regarding the LTTE move shortly after President Rajapaksa addressed the 66th UNGA in New York.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told The Sunday Island yesterday that the move on the part of the LTTE and those who couldn't stomach Sri Lanka's victory wasn't surprising.

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Who will pay for LTTE's crimes?

Heinous crimes the LTTE committed for over two and a half decades against civilians are only too well known and it is those atrocities, besides narcotics trade, gun running and money laundering, that compelled the US, the EU (especially the UK), Canada and many other countries to ban the outfit as a foreign terrorist organisation. Even the UN named and shamed the LTTE for crimes against children.

The LTTE's military leaders may be long dead but their confederates must be held answerable for those barbaric crimes, as the Sri Lankan diplomats have cogently argued. Vishvanathan Rudrakumaran actively involved in LTTE activities, is a US citizen. He champions LTTE's cause openly with impunity. The late Anton Balasingham's wife, Adele, believed to have served at Prabhakaran's 'suicide bomb factory', where hundreds of men, women and children were brainwashed and turned into 'children of fire' or human bombs, has found sanctuary in Britain. Thousands of other terror backers who made Prabhakaran's terrorist war possible by raising funds for lethal weapons and explosives continue to operate freely in western capitals hobnobbing with senior politicians and manipulating political institutions there.

The US and the UK, being two countries campaigning hard for a probe into unsubstantiated allegations of war crimes against the Sri Lankan military ought to take action against the LTTE activists, especially the likes of Adele, as there is prima facie evidence of war crimes against them. Let Washington and London prove their bona fides by arresting the LTTE backers and pressing war crimes charges against them.

Will AI, HRW etc call for the arrest of terror backers who assisted the LTTE in committing war crimes? They have welcomed the UNSG's advisory panel report, haven't they? It contains 'credible evidence' of the LTTE's war crimes. So, before asking the Sri Lankan government to act on what is stated in that report, they have to do so themselves.

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Australia's Call For Revoking Sri Lanka's Commonwealth Membership Rings As Hollow As Canada's Call For Boycotting Colombo

AUSTRALIA'S ' Greens' are said to be readying to launch the first major challenge to Sri Lanka's Commonwealth membership today when the party calls for its suspension pending a full investigation into allegations of war crimes committed in the final months of the country's civil war. It needs to be noted that this call is based on allegations and that the definition Civil War is a misnomer where it was not a civilian uprising against the Nation but a armed internal insurrection by terrorists! Here the brain capacities of the pundits orchestrating this call against Sri Lanka show either a shortage of grey matter or else their biases and conflicts of interest in favour of the Tamil lobby seems to have an unprecedented air of urgency for very obvious reasons both in the case of Canada as well as Australia who seem to be very partial towards Tamil sobstories and paying homage to them where one wonders if the motive behind all this is to canvass electoral votes and appease a certain infiltration of Tamil influence amongst them in return for a nod at the polls which some believe is more than likely albeit speculative.

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Commons told 40,000 civilians, 60,000 fighters killed in 5 months of SL war
Defence Secy wants claim substantiated

Long standing LTTE supporter Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden) (Labour) told the House of Commons on Sept. 15 that Sri Lanka's war, in its last five months alone, had claimed the lives of 100,000 people, 40,000 of them civilians.

MP McDonagh alleged that the Sri Lankan military continued to control civilian life in what she called the Tamil areas, including aid, and routinely stole Tamil property for use by military personnel and their families.

UK based sources told The Island that about 70 per cent of the debate had been taken up by the Jammu and Kashmir issue with the number of participants being about 30 out of the 640 member House of Commons.

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LTTE Diaspora as a criminal outfit

Although it is the hand of the LTTE terrorists that killed innocent people, it is the mind of the LTTE Diaspora as well, which is equally culpable for these crimes. The LTTE Diaspora collected funds and procured weapons for the purpose of these killings. In Criminal Law they are equally guilty of murder and mayhem. They are clearly guilty of aiding and abetting these crimes.

This LTTE Diaspora are the real war criminals, who should be hunted and taken before a War Crimes Tribunal.

The UN and the corrupt Western politicians have caught the wrong end of the stick by attempting to charge the Sri Lankan political arm and the military arm, which were duty bound to curb terrorists in order to protect the lives and property of all Sri Lankans.

When quelling the riots that broke out in August 2011 in the UK, this is what Prime Minister David Cameron quite candidly said, "a fight back is underway and Phoney Human Rights cannot prevent the British government from savagely silencing the protesters." One can imagine what he would do if he had to deal with terrorists!

It is Cameron's policy that has to be followed when a democratic government is duty bound to put down terrorists. Why then are the Western powers at the behest of the LTTE Diaspora, trying to punish Sri Lanka for quelling (according to the US, UK and a host of other countries) the world's deadliest terrorist movement?

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Why the Report of the Panel on SL should be rejected

An analysis of notices published by the UN Panel of Experts (POE) calling for submissions and email correspondence this writer has had with the Panel show that the Panel has effectively denied the citizens of Sri Lanka an opportunity to be heard by the Panel.

The POE has surreptitiously given more time for detractors of the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) by publishing on scribd.com a notice calling for submissions which few were aware of. Even an emailed reply to those who enquired less than two weeks before the end December 2010 deadline, did not mention the impending deadline although it had been extended for reasons best known to the POE.

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Addressing concerns about treatment of surrendees

What is termed the White Flag case has caused much controversy over the last two years. A number of different versions have been advanced as to what has happened, and debate over this will not die down. Sarath Fonseka, both when he was serving as Chief of the General Staff, and when he was a Presidential candidate, is alleged to have made statements about the matter, and government has also kept the matter in the public eye through a case that has been brought against Fonseka. It is clearly not a matter that can be ignored.

What seems uncontested is that several LTTE operatives, including the head of its political wing, the former Sri Lankan policeman Nadesan, and the head of the LTTE Peace Secretariat, Pulidevan, were killed in the last days of the war. As Pulidevan's counterpart in Colombo, I feel a particular interest in his fate, though he never spoke to me in spite of several efforts to get in touch.

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THE AUSTRALIAN GREENS SENATOR LEE RHIANNON'S 'ROUND TABLE' AT CANBERRA PARLIAMENT HOUSE

MEDIA RELEASE -20-SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUP Canberra ACT 2601
THE AUSTRALIAN GREENS SENATOR LEE RHIANNON'S 'ROUND TABLE' AT CANBERRA PARLIAMENT HOUSE ON 20 SEPTEMBER 2011 – PART OF THE SINISTER MOVE TO SPLIT SRI LANKA INTO TWO, AND CAUSE DESTRUCTION, MAYHEM AND HAVOC TO SRI LANKA – A NATION THAT IS COMING OUT OF ITS LONG WAR BATTERED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DOLDRUMS

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Of that House of Commons debate

How uninformed some of the British MPs are about the Sri Lankan situation came to light when Robert Halfon claimed 17,000 Tamils were caged behind bars and 200,000 others held in transit camps. There are only 3,000 LTTE cadres in custody out of over 11,000 taken in; others have been released. The number of IDPs is well below 10,000. Halfon is either ignorant of the situation here or has tried to mislead the British public by uttering such falsehoods in the Commons. Another MP claimed that the people driven out of the North in 1990 were Tamils, though they were all Muslims. Perhaps, he, too, did a Goebbels thinking that a blatant lie repeated many times over would pass for the truth ultimately.

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Sri Lanka Protests at the Undiplomatic act of the World's Top Diplomat

The Asian Tribune reliably learns that the government of Sri Lanka strongly protested against the unprecedented move by Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the UN, to share the famously-biased Darusman report with the UNHCHR, before informing them - which is the accepted norm in the diplomatic sphere.

The government views it as a slap in the face: it is lnot only the lack of basic courtesy but also a dangerous deviation from the normal practice.

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Mohan Peiris slams US for threatening Sri Lanka

At a side-event at the UN Human Rights Council held on September 11, 2011, Mohan Peiris, the former Attorney-General, lambasted the American Ambassadress, A. Donahue, when she threatened Sri Lanka with "growing pressure from the international community" if it does not demonstrate a willingness or ability to conduct an independent inquiry. In other words, America had already prejudged the outcome of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and insists that Sri Lanka must obey the dictates of America or else…..?

The main thrust of the Western bloc is to downgrade and devalue the LLRC and impose an investigative mechanism with handpicked panelists of their own (like the Advisory Panel of Experts(APES) handpicked by the UN Secretary –General Ban Ki Moon) to produce a report that could be used by the West against Sri Lanka.

America's provocative statement threatening to interfere in the domestic affairs of Sri Lanka under the cover of human rights and international humanitarian law was met with a sharp response from Mohan Peiris, who using all his forensic skills, told America bluntly that Sri Lanka is "averse to being threatened into submission". He added in the same combative tone that Sri Lanka will not bend down to "veiled threats".

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Canada Nudges Lanka Over Accountability Issues – Sept. 15, 2011

The Canadian Prime Minister is entitled to attend or not attend any conference, Commonwealth or other, if he so chooses. However, that he should make such a statement in the form of a "threat" is not acceptable because by doing so he is disregarding the rights of a sovereign country and the human rights of all the people of Sri Lanka. Further, the Commonwealth is composed of many countries and the decision to hold the games in Sri Lanka was made in 2009, why did Canada not object then? To make this statement now just creates the impression that he is a spoilsport.

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Harper wants to boycott the Commonwealth Summit of 2013 in Coolombo

Prime Minister Stephen Harper lost my admiration when he announced his agenda of the GTA Tamil vote-buying vulgarity, when he wanted to play Pied Piper among the Commonwealth of Nations, wanting to drag the rest of the nations to boycott the 2013 Commonwealth summit to be held in Colombo.

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US diplomatic cables: US/Norway initiated LTTE surrender to 'Third Party'

Washington, DC. 18 September (Asiantribune.com):
In one of the US State Department classified diplomatic cables dated 05 March 2009 sent by Ambassador Robert Blake to assistant secretary Richard Boucher was very clear that the LTTE, in the face of a total military defeat in the hands of the advancing Sri Lankan forces, was not prepared to lay down their arms and surrender contrary to reports that later emerged about their attempted surrender.

The diplomatic cable titled 'Co-Chair ambassadors discuss ways to pressure GSL and LTTE', it quoted the Norwegian ambassador as saying about his dialogue with the LTTE leadership that "He told the LTTE that Norway´s highest priority is saving as many lives as possible. He emphasized that the LTTE must lay down arms. The LTTE acknowledged that they face military defeat, but did not indicate that they were prepared to lay down their arms. The LTTE has made clear to Norway that they do not see outright surrender as an option."

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MISFITS SULLY GOOD NAME OF INTERNATIONAL BODIES

The transparency and sincerity of some officials holding top positions in key international organisations are highly questionable, especially after last week's developments at the 18th regular sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)in Geneva.

It seems that certain countries and international bodies are still reluctant to come to terms with the reality that Sri Lanka was the only country to eradicate terrorism. Hence, they are making a shameful attempt to penalise Sri Lanka for the 'sin' of vanquishing the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit.

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Re-TNA's "Slamming" Of Minister Samarasinghe's UN Statement ~ A Rebuttal !

Once again it needs to be reiterated that the Government of Sri Lanka should not be dictated to in any way by the TNA simply because the Tamil Diaspora paints them as legitimate politicians and some world leaders buy their lines despite somewhat curiously their countries banning the LTTE underground operatives who appear to continue working hand in glove with the TNA which given their bold agitations of late to which they have no entitlement seem to be getting carried away. It needs to be remembered that they were and in all probabilities still are a proxy for the Tamil Tigers and the GOSL probably should get a declaration from them denouncing and disassociating themselves from LTTE objectives which is visible to the discerning eye before being permitted to continue as a political entity or face the axe!

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BLAKE SHOULD INVESTIGATE HOW THE US FUNDED THE LTTE

The funding received by the TRO , a well known LTTE front organization should be an important item in the discussions between the Sri Lankan Government representatives and Robert Blake, a crusader of human rights now in Sri Lanka. In fact it is an acknowledged fact that the LTTE was able to operate as a State within a Sate mainly due to the funds ,arms ?and training received from some of the Western countries including the USA.

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Pillai unashamedly in lockstep with the Tiger ghetto dwellers

Navi Pillai bears a visceral aversion to truth striving to take up the mantle of the vanquished terrorist bunker dwellers whose residuary odds and ends want her to be the tigress of the dark ghetto they occupied for decades. Geneva has become her fortress where a scorched-earth policy against Sri Lanka was being hatched. She is in lockstep with the sinister strategy repeating ad nauseam the false charges against Sri Lanka hoping that they would stick. Pillai has generated a surfeit of venomous testosterone polluting the sober debating purpose that UN has followed. Tamara Kunanayakam Sri Lankan ambassador to UN Mission in Geneva put it succinctly: the partiality of the High Commissioner Pillai has once again been manifestly demonstrated in the Council in Geneva. .

Pillai is even ignorant or chose to ignore that the UN had invoked the right of self defence and called upon the international community to neutralize or combat terrorism by non-state actors by UN resolutions 1368 and 1373 of September 2001—in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

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U.S. 'Grand Design' for Sri Lanka: Secret State Department diplomatic cables give a glimpse

Washington, DC. 11 September (Asiantribune.com):
In one of the classified diplomatic cables sent by the American Embassy in Sri Lanka by Ambassador Patricia Butenis dated 14 December 2009 following state department assistant secretary Robert Blake's visit to Colombo was the conclusion and determination of the U.S. Foreign Service Cadre that Sri Lanka and her government headed by President Rajapaksa need 'external push and manipulation' to make them move forward to adopt a policy what the state department, activists of the Tamil Diaspora and some Sri Lankan Tamil politicians envisage.

The 14 December 2009 WikiLeaks'-disclosed State Department classified diplomatic cable made a significant policy determination. On issues of reconciliation, devolution of power to predominantly Tamil provinces in the north and east of Sri Lanka and accountability of events during the final months of the GSL-LTTE battle, the Butenis-signed diplomatic cable noted "Blake argued", to get the government to focus on those issues it is necessary to "push the government from its current state of inertia."

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Hypocrites in the crosshairs

In what is described as a fresh embarrassment to the British government, prima facie evidence has surfaced that Britain sold sniper guns and other lethal weapons to Gaddafi weeks before the commencement of a popular uprising against his repressive regime. Arms that Libya procured through a deal facilitated by the British envoy in Tripoli at that time were used against the rebels, according to media reports. Gaddafi incurred the wrath of the international community and condemnation even from his allies for using marksmen to gun down hundreds of protesters. This revelation has come close on the heels of British Prime Minister David Cameron's passionate defence, in the Commons, of MI5 and MI6, which collaborated with Gaddafi's government to the extent of spying on the Libyan dissidents and handing over terror suspects to his 'Gestapo' for illegal detention and savage torture, as rebel commander in charge of Tripoli, Hakim Belhaj, himself has said.

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Minister Samarasinghe lashes out at Navi Pillai
UNHRC 18th Session in Geneva:
... opposes backdoor entry of Darusman Report

Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, Special Envoy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Geneva, in a statement at the UNHRC sessions yesterday faulted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for not having informed Sri Lanka of a decision by the office of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to transmit the report of his Advisory Panel on Sri Lanka to her office as well as that of the President of the Human Rights Council. The Minister said he had learnt of that decision from a third party at a luncheon meeting on Sept. 09, 2011.

Minister Samarasinghe said: "Previous to this communication, in the course of an interaction with you, Madam President, there was no direct reference to any such transmission. It was rather embarrassing that both you and I had to learn of it from a third party at the luncheon meeting in the presence of representatives of 29 Member States of the Council."

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Robert Blake, please answer Sri Lankans

There are confusions related to the context of terrorism, internally displaced, rehabilitation, reintegration, resettlement, human rights violations & the like – questions which the US, UK, EU, UN & a host of private NGOs seem to enjoy hurling at Sri Lanka & accusing it repeatedly. Despite these questions being thrown at the Sri Lankan Government from various fronts, the Government being elected by the people, which means us the public, we would now like to have some answers from you.

Was Saddam Hussein a terrorist for the US to launch "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in 2003? If not why did 198,200 troops invade Iraq? Was there WMDs? If Saddam was reason for US & allies to invade Iraq & he was captured on 13th December 2003 why did the US remain in Iraq?

A recent study by the Center for Public Integrity, top Bush Administration officials told at least 935 lies about Iraq on 532 separate occasions. These included 259 lies by Bush, 254 lies by Secretary of State Colin Powell, 109 lies by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, 109 lies by Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, 56 lies by National Security Advisor Condi Rice, and 48 lies by Vice President Cheney.

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Alleged war crimes: Lanka launches major diplomatic offensive

This week began with the continuing focus on issues related to the aftermath of the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas.

All of them appeared to be a scene setter for tomorrow's 18th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) in Geneva. Though there is no formal resolution against Sri Lanka and no indications of such a move have emerged, the government is taking no chances. In fact, the information the government has received, through its diplomatic channels, is that there would be no move at the UNHRC sessions this time. However, the instructions to the Sri Lanka delegation are not to relax.
Domestically, the much-awaited regulations under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) were published in a Gazette Extraordinary dated August 29, 2011.

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Not everyone is fooled by slumber-feigning

A few days ago approximately 500 ex-LTTE cadres spent five days visiting Colombo, Kalutara and Galle, travelling from Vavuniya by train and bus and stopping in Galle, Matara and Embilipitiya. Given that almost 70 per cent of LTTE cadres who had surrendered or had been captured have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society with marketable skills and/or having completed courses of study, this doesn't come as a surprise. What made me mention the fact is a comment by a US citizen: 'Can you imagine a group of hardcore ex Al-Qaeda members who had been 'rehabilitated' visiting Washington DC?' My tongue-in-cheek response was, 'they do, they do.....and have, have...virtually'.

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1953 US coup in Iran : Lessons for Sri Lanka

It is widely believed that the success of the Iranian coup & the coup in Guatemala by the US prompted its successive leaders to follow covert action & regime change as a foreign policy. Mohammad Mossadegh was the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran in 1951. His fall is seen as the perfect example of how a rich & powerful nation can create chaos in another nation.

Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt was tasked by the CIA to head the mission to overthrow the Iranian government. The mission was called Operation Ajax.

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Another win for terrorists

Wednesday's deadly explosion that ripped through part of the New Delhi High Court complex is a gruesome reminder that the biggest threat to the world emanates from mindless terrorism. In May this year a smaller bomb went off near the same location but luckily no one was hurt in that attack. Security lapses at the courthouse have been blamed for its vulnerability to terror strikes. But, it is not only there that terrorists have demonstrated their ability to strike at will. They have to be lucky only once, as the IRA once told Thatcher.

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Amnesty seeks int'l probe on Sri Lanka war crimes

(Reuters) - Between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians were killed in the final months of Sri Lanka's civil war but a national inquiry has failed so far to investigate war crimes by both the army and Tamil rebels, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

The London-based human rights group called on the United Nations to establish a credible international investigation into the killings at the end of the quarter-century conflict in 2009.

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'Let's stand up with One Voice'

Most certainly no allegations of war crimes or violations of human rights, can arise or be made against the independent sovereign State of Sri Lanka or her Head of State President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the eye of the supreme law of the land 'The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka', relating to the events that took place in the course of the relentless terrorist war, wage against the government of Sri Lanka for over three decades by the LTTE.

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Should the Government revoke PTA as demanded by LTTE proxy TNA?

(September 06, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka is not a fantasy island the TNA seems to think. We have a strong president elected twice with an absolute majority in the Parliament where no one can dictate terms to the Government and for that matter definitely not TNA who represents only a small percentage of the Tamil population in the North and East.

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MEDIA RELEASE – 05 September 2011 Australian Parliamentary Petition on Sri Lanka calls for the Rejection of UNSG Report

SPUR            (Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka Inc)

Reg: A 003 0777 M

PO Box 4066, Mulgrave, VIC 3170, Australia Tel: (03) 97957143            Fax: (03) 97957142

Email: ranjiths@spur.asn.au Website: www.spur.asn.au

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A petition signed by 1,342 citizens and residents of Australia was tabled in the House of Representatives on Monday 22 August 2011, requesting the Australian Federal Parliament to reject the divisive report of the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon’s arbitrary panel and to endorse Sri Lanka's initiative to conduct its own investigations. It also called on Australia to increase economic and humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka.

The Petition, which was co-ordinated by the Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR), was supported by a number of Sri Lankan organisations and individuals across several states in Australia.

Ranjith Soysa (Spokesman) The full text of the Petition is given below.

Sri Lanka

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives:

This petition of certain citizens and residents of Australia brings to the attention of the House that two years ago, Sri Lanka freed itself from the separatist terrorism of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which is banned by the international community. The UNHRC commended Sri Lanka in May 2009 for ending the conflict and saving 300,000 Tamil civilians held as a human shield by the LTTE.

Tamils who faced the brunt of the war are now settling down to normalcy with democratic rights to elect their own representatives. Large scale economic development, de-mining, restoring war damaged infrastructure, rehabilitation of LTTE cadres and resettlement of IDPs have been commended by international observers. More work is to be done and we gratefully acknowledge Australia's contribution towards these achievements.

Sri Lanka has initiated its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to investigate all aspects of the conflict with a view to ethnic reconciliation. But ignoring UNHRC's resolution and the LLRC, the UN Secretary-General has arbitrarily appointed a three-man panel of persons with known anti-Sri Lanka sentiments. Their report, based on hearsay of anonymous sources, is threatening to undermine the ongoing reconciliation process.

We therefore request the House to:

• • • •

Reject the divisive report of the UNSG's arbitrary panel. Endorse Sri Lanka's initiative to conduct its own investigations. Increase Australian economic and humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. Develop mutually beneficial links between Australia and Sri Lanka.

from 1,342 citizens

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TAKING THE FIGHT BACK TO SL'S CRITICS

Sri Lanka will be taking the fight back to its critics several notches higher today with the telecasting at the UN in New York of its sharp riposte titled 'Lies Agreed upon', to the Channel 4 fabrication which helped in adding more spite and venom to the campaign of falsehoods which has been unleashed against this country in some Western circles. Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Palitha Kohonne and his Deputy Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva, we learn, will be at hand at the telecasting of Sri Lanka's response, to elaborate on its contents to the international community.

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Wikileaks & spin docs

In the run-up to the UNHRC sessions in Geneva, the western media has got into the over drive mode to give a turbo boost to the on-going war crimes witch hunt against Sri Lanka's political and military leaders, who defeated terrorism. Under a screaming headline, Donors knew of shelling civilians, a BBC report on a leaked US diplomatic cable claims that 'international donors were aware of artillery attacks on Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan military in the last stages of the war against Tamil Tigers, according to Wikileaks revelations'. It adds in the same breath, "However, donor nations have stopped short of making their knowledge public."

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UN & ICC silent over UK & US Extraordinary Renditions in Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia belongs to a cluster of islands in the Chagos Archipelago located in the Middle of the Indian Ocean & just 900miles fromSri Lanka. The UK Government forcefully expelled over 3000 natives from the islands in order to give theUSa 50year lease of the "unpopulated" islands to expire in 2016. Diego Garcia was to be used for defense purposes of both countries as signed in the British Indian Ocean Treaty of 1965. Today Diego Garcia serves as an extraordinary rendition point where some of the most inhuman tortures are taking place under the eyes of the UN & the ICC & World Human Rights bodies.

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World Media a tool of Democratic Dictatorship

In a world where politicians are known to be people of flexible integrity the institution we call Media is certainly not without bias. Functioning as a money-making corporation can we expect today's media to be devoid of bias when media today belongs to members of an elite society who will never allow their status quo to change? Media today is the perfect tool that advances neo-colonial interests while denying us the Public the truth. The media is guilty of trying to spread a Western brand of morality & self righteousness which is making a mockery of our collective intellect.

Media is the outlet that provides us communication in varying modes & forms.

The context of what they relay & how it is relayed & what prominence they give that helps us to identify the "bias" to those that are able to understand that there is no balance in the reporting. Today's journalists lack ethics in what they report purely on the grounds that they are working for a media entity that functions for profit & these journalists are tied to a set of internal policy requirements that binds them through a contract.

How many journalists would really want to sacrifice their mode of income for truth & ethics?

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Of that human rights void

Where have all champions of human rights gone? Their silence is deafening! Is it that they have chosen to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil like those proverbial monkeys as they are wary of ruffling the feathers of the western governments by taking up the humanitarian catastrophe in Libya? They seem to know which side of their bread is buttered, don't they?

The western media may have succeeded in downplaying Libya's humanitarian crisis in the run-up to the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime, but no longer can they cover it up. NATO's mission was to oust Gaddafi regardless of the human cost their military campaign entailed. Even Norway, which once advocated peace talks at any cost in this country in spite of brutal terror attacks including high profile political assassinations, readily joined its western allies in carrying out air strikes in Libya!

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Wikileaks cable says Iraqi children shot in head during US raid

Washington - One of the US diplomatic cables in the latest batch released by Wikileaks offers evidence of US troops executing at least 10 Iraqi civilians in one incident, including women and children who were handcuffed and shot in the head.

In a communication to US officials dated less than two weeks after the March 15, 2006 nighttime raid, Philip Alston, the UN's special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said autopsies performed on the dead civilians showed all were handcuffed and shot in the head.

Among the dead were five children, all five years old or younger, and four women. In an email to McClatchy Newspapers on Wednesday, Alston noted both the US and Iraqi governments had not been forthcoming in his request for information, as "was the case with most of the letters to the U.S. in the 2006-2007 period," a time of peak fighting in the war-torn country.

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Regime Changes

The vast majority of the world comprising governments of Britain and France, plus other four North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members bombing Libya, plus Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have regime changed Tripoli. Syria maybe next. One may ask whether justification for R2P based interventions were more or less in Libya versus Syria?

The ICG in a report in July, 2011 recommendations on Sri Lanka states –''review military-military ties and suspend assistance until there is a credible investigation of the alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law identified by the UN panel of experts; and convene a high-level meeting of donors and other development partners, including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, before the end of 2011 to agree upon and ratify with the government a strong set of principles for the delivery and monitoring of assistance; those principles should incorporate and emphasise the need for the government to commit its own funds to benefit its war-affected populations; in advance of the meeting, the government should be required to propose an assistance strategy and timeline for demilitarization and return to civilian administration in the north and east.'

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R2P is now Right 2 Plunder

The white man's burden doesn't allow asking Africans what they think about the current Western/monarchical Arab onslaught on the northern shores of their continent. At least some are not beating around the bush.

Over 200 African leaders and intellectuals released a letter in Johannesburg, South Africa, stressing the "misuse of the United Nations Security Council to engage in militarized diplomacy to effect regime change in Libya", as well as the "marginalization of the African Union".

As for the Western "winners" in Libya, they are not even playing smoke and mirrors anymore.

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First Federal Reserve Audit Reveals Trillions in Secret Bailouts

The first-ever audit of the U.S. Federal Reserve has revealed 16 trillion dollars in secret bank bailouts and has raised more questions about the quasi-private agency's opaque operations.

"This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else," U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, said in a statement.

The majority of loans were issues by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY).

"From late 2007 through mid-2010, Reserve Banks provided more than a trillion dollars… in emergency loans to the financial sector to address strains in credit markets and to avert failures of individual institutions believed to be a threat to the stability of the financial system," the audit report states.

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Libya and hypocrisy of the West

This week saw Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi reaching the end of the road after 42 long years in power at the helm of affairs in the oil rich Arab nation, his removal from office being brought about by 'rebels' within that country, assisted by the military muscle of the Western bloc of nations.
In the weeks to come, Gaddafi's many misdeeds will no doubt be remembered in great detail and paraded before a worldwide audience. That in turn will serve the purpose of justifying the actions that led to Gaddafi's ouster.
Already, there are recollections of Gaddafi's actions such as the infamous Lockerbie bombing and ordering the shooting of Libyan refugees in London in the eighties. These will be enumerated endlessly to label Gaddafi as a terrorist and a psychopath.

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Diaspora's bid to mislead us will not succeed Says S. P. Thamilselvan's wife

The widow of the late LTTE political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan, Shashirekha in an exclusive interview with The Nation goes back to her youth, learning Bharata Natyam, becoming a dancing teacher, meeting with the LTTE leader Prabhakaran and Thamilselvan. She recounts her experiences in the terrorist group-controlled north including the fate that befell her. The unknown agonies she suffered after the death of her husband and the plight all Tamil people fell into under the LTTE and the warning that the Tamil diaspora is trying to drag the Tamil people into danger and destruction are told by her in this candid interview.

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U.S. reiterates 'international mechanism' will take effect to probe Sri Lanka's alleged war crimes

Washington, DC. 26 August (Asiantribune.com): We continue to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to meet its international humanitarian law and international human rights law obligations, and we continue to say that if they cannot do this nationally, then the international community will have to step in.

So Bob Blake will be talking about all these issues on his visit" declared State Department spokesperson as Thursday 25 August mid day media briefing.

The spokesperson Victoria Nuland responded to a question raised by India Globe correspondent Raghubir Goyal.

Ms. Nuland revealed, as the Asian Tribune earlier report noted, that assistant secretary Robert Blake "will be talking about all these issues on his visit" to Colombo end of this month.

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STORY UNTOLD ON CFA

An extraordinary story was unearthed placing the Ceasefire Agreement of February 2002 (CFA) in a frame hitherto unknown, when Sunday Island's investigative journalist Shamindra Ferdinando interviewed diplomat John Gooneratne, associated with the Peace Secretariat (2002 to 2006). It's a point of departure from which social scientists can research for conclusions on the CFA.

According to popular belief, Norwegians on the instigation of the LTTE rammed the CFA, down the throat of Ranil Wickremasinghe. It was presumed, administration was hardly given preferences by the Norwegians, at a time, militarily was depicted frail against the LTTE and the ground conditions were deemed insecure and unstable.

It was held out, options were virtually non-existent; peace was a paramount, available at a price. It was marketed as an instrument of peace. Defense Forces were aghast of the contents in the CFA. Expectation of no explosions and assassinations were attractive: CFA was lauded and denigrated.

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Sri Lanka seeks allies' support

Sri Lanka's foreign minister left on Sunday on a two-week mission to shore up diplomatic support ahead of a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting, where the Indian Ocean nation is expecting to face a fight over Western-led pressure for a war crimes probe.

External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris is scheduled to meet leaders from Singapore, Jordan, the Non-Aligned Movement and crucially, South Korea, the home country of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, a ministry statement said.

The minister's visit comes ahead of crucial U.N. Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva this month, where Sri Lanka is expected to challenge Western nations that want the Indian Ocean nation to submit to an independent war crimes probe.

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Giving Blake some food for thought

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, within a little over two years of the decimation of the LTTE's military muscle announced in Parliament last Thursday that his government would not extend Emergency laws, though, as is obvious, the LTTE rump is still active overseas and its threat to Sri Lanka's national security is far from over. The US State Department has, in its Country Report on Terrorism 2010 (released this month), stated that 'despite its military defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankan government in 2009, the LTTE's international network of financial support persists. It says the LTTE continues to 'collect contributions from the Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia. What the report, however, has not revealed is that some LTTE combatants operate openly in Tamil Nadu enjoying as they do patronage from Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa herself and other political leaders including Opposition bigwigs. It was only last week that Vaiko threatened that if the LTTE cadres sentenced to death over the Rajiv Gandhi assassination were executed, Tamil Nadu would secede! Jayalalithaa has vowed to carve out eelam in Sri Lanka. The Indian media has reported that the LTTE is planning to set up training facilities in South India, though New Delhi has sought to dismiss such reports as baseless. But, Sri Lanka came under tremendous pressure from the US, India, the EU etc to do away with its extraordinary laws aimed at countering LTTE threats.

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The "democracy" denied to Iraq & lessons for nations been overthrown

(August 27, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Iraq was invaded illegally, occupied illegally & Saddam Hussein its erstwhile leader was sentenced to death illegally. That was the West's democracy for Iraq. That the West freed Iraq from its "dictator" was all that really mattered & post-war Iraq in short is nothing but miserable. Dissent in Saddam's rule might have meant death, democracy post-Saddam means one can talk but no one listens or reacts. Where lies the difference for the people?

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World hasn't moved much since Dag Hammarskjöld

On September 18, 1961, a Swedish diplomat, economist and author was killed when the airplane he was travelling in was shot down over Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. 'Killed' is the word used by Harry Truman: 'Dag Hammarskjöld was on the point of getting something done when they killed him; notice that I said, "when they killed him".' Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld at the time was the Secretary General of the United Nations. The murder was covered up by British colonial authorities.

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Let's not be lazy on grievance or resolution

There was a time when 'talks' with the LTTE were touted, vociferously too, as the one and only way of combatting terrorism. There was a time when the champions of the 13th Amendment (principally the Old Left, various self-styled Left 'Intellectuals' and civil society activists - so-called- who were almost all anti-Buddhist) argued that power devolution will result in alternatives to the LTTE emerging from the Tamil community, thereby isolating the terrorists.
Now that all this has been proven to be just bunkum, the question that remains is whether or not power devolution resolves grievances of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, and here we are talking of grievances that can be proven and not those based on myths (e.g. traditional homelands) or aspirations dressed up as grievances.

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India should consider regional stability and not opportunistic TamilNadu demands

India should refrain acting as a big brother with a cane leading to tensions as the peace and stability in the region will be a win win situation for tens of millions of poor in India and other impoverished in the region. Sri Lanka can be a trusted friendly partner but, pushing Sri Lanka to a point of no return with holier than thou Indian strategy can only create anti-Indian feelings among the majority living in Sri Lanka which will ultimately lead to a divided region allowing interested interloping outsiders to fish in the troubled waters. India will be the looser finally as the interlopers will help the divisive political movements to balkaize the Indian territory on ethnic and linguistic lines.

Let Sri Lanka settle its internal issues democratically and regional issues based on pancha seela principles.

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LTTE FINANCING AND SL'S JANUS-FACED CRITICS

The document titled 'Country Report on Terrorism 2010' states that an LTTE network engaged in fund-raising for the group 'continued to collect contributions from the Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia, where there were reports that some of these contributions were coerced by locally-based LTTE sympathizers.'

While we are provided a glimpse of the remaining dimensions of the LTTE problem, and, hopefully, state action would be speeded-up from now on, to bust the remaining LTTE operations abroad, the Report should also be used by the state to impress on the international community the need for continued and accelerated co-operation world wide to put the LTTE completely out of action and business. Sections of the West have been doubly prompt in pointing an accusing finger at Sri Lanka on what have come to be known as accountability issues, but we wonder what they have to say about these disclosures of continued LTTE fund-raising under their very noses. Should not they be doing more and at a very accelerated pace too, to neutralize these LTTE underhand operations, if they are in earnest when they say that they have some humanitarian concerns?

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UK WAR CRIMES IN IRAQ

The invasion of Iraq had nothing yet everything to do with weapons of mass destruction. While Iraq did not have WMD, UK & US political leaderships wanted to use WMD as a strategy to bring about "regime change". If that rings bells about current accusations & allegations against other countries by the US & UK the world must be ready to admit that it is all because of their desire for "regime change" or to secure "economic & resources".

So the March 2003 invasion of Iraq was illegal.

In 1990 the UN adopted resolution 678 authorizing coalition forces "to use all necessary means" against Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait. The US used this resolution to provide legal basis for US Operation Desert Storm & ceasefire imposing obligations on Iraq to eliminate WMD.

The use of "weapons of mass destruction" as a pretext for the invasion is proposed to have come from UK in order to obtain UN backing as regime change was illegal under international law.

UK however argues that Resolution 678 can be revived & this formed the basis of force used in 1998 by both US & UK in the Operation Desert Fox & 2003.

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Media Release – SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUP, CANBERRA

Re. news story about the Tamil Credit Card fraud in Australia amounting to approximately $200 million – it is widely believed that the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers (LTTE) and/or their affiliated organistions are behind the scam.

Sri Lanka Support Group has vehemently lobbied the Australian Governments to ban the Tamil Tigers as a Terrorist Group in Australia. Liberal's Phillip Ruddock was adamant that he would not ban the Tigers. The same approach is now being followed by Labor's Kevin Rudd.

Australians are paying a high price for the lapses of our politicians.

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The Tamil problem

This document was presented by Gunadasa Amarasekera in his evidence before the Sinhala Commission last week (12-Nov-1997)

The English language established a socio-economic class hegemony centred in the commercial capital Colombo, that has remained largely unchanged from colonial times. On the other hand, the continuing transfer of surplus money, knowledge and skills from the rural periphery to the mercantile centre led to rural underdevelopment and exploitation, and its inevitable consequences: impoverishment, unemployment, and a marginalised angry, frustrated, militant youth, impatient for the fruits of the affluence being flaunted by the privileged minority in the mercantile centre, Colombo.

The rate of this transfer of surplus to Colombo was highest from the Tamil population in the North, for causes attributable, not to the Sinhalese, but the Tamils themselves. Asian cultures place high value on education. The conversion of material surplus into intellectual capital is an established tradition in these cultures. Governor Colebrook has made pointed reference to the extremely poor quality of both government and Dutch and British missionary education in the South, in the Sinhalese areas. On the other hand, he is full of praise for the endeavours of the American missionaries in the North, where he had noted creditable proficiency in mathematics, English and other branches of useful knowledge. Colebrook goes on to say: "As the northern districts of the island are chiefly indebted to these missionaries for the progress of education, the benefits of which are already experienced, it is but just to recommend that they should receive all the encouragement from the government, to which their exertions and exemplary conduct have entitled them".

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Sri Lanka: NDP, Liberals & Conservatives request for an Independent Inquiry

Kristen Shane's article 'Sri Lanka investigation calls about values or votes?' (August 10), invariably produces two questions that need answers for the curious.

Firstly, if according to 2006 census there are only 122,020 Canadians whose first language is Tamil, which would include the Canadians whose origins are not only Sri Lanka but also Tamil Nadu in India and Malaysia, then how is it that the Sri Lankan- Tamils in Toronto keep telling us that there are 300,000 Tamils in Canada concentrated mainly in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver? Does it mean that there are 177,980 Tamil refugees still waiting to have their cases heard to prove their legitimacy that they are indeed true convention refugees? Or is that number thrown at us for psychological impact to say that "our community is big in numbers!"

Secondly, if the NDP, Liberals and Conservatives are basing their call for an independent UN investigation into alleged Sri Lanka war crimes committed in the dying days of the Tamil Tiger terrorist war to the recommendations in the report released last spring by an advisory panel of experts that the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon, can we count on the report's honesty when the three panel of experts have their proven biases against Sri Lanka.

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'Passage to India'

Close on the heels of a much advertised meeting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the other day comes the news that the former has blown a fuse over some disparaging remarks an American diplomat has made of Indians.

US Vice-Consul Maureen Chao was quoted as having told a group of Indian students on Friday that a long train ride had left her skin 'dark and dirty like the Tamilians'.

Jayalalithaa's consternation is understandable and her protest justifiable. The US has sought to lay the matter to rest and avoid embarrassment by tendering an apology, which, however, has not taken the edge off Jayalalithaa's anger. This diplomatic affront should awaken her to the deep-seated racial antipathy of the West towards the 'dark and dirty' people inhabiting this part of the world. She ought to be wary of being used as a cat's paw by the westerners peddling hidden agendas to further their geopolitical interests.

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The War on Libya : An Imperialist Project to Create Three Libyas

TRIPOLI The division of Libya into three separate countries is part of the US-NATO imperial design. It is part of a project shared by the U.S., Britain, Italy, and France.

The NATO war launched against Libya in March 2011 was geared towards the breakup of the country into three separate entities.

The NATO led war, however, is back firing. The Libyan people have united to save their country and Tripoli is exploring its strategic options.

The mainstream media has been a major force in this war. They have endorsed and fabricated the news, they have justified an illegal and criminal war against an entire population.

Passing through the neighbourhood of Fashloom in Tripoli it is apparent that no jets attacked it as Al Jazeera and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) falsely claimed. Now the same media networks, newspapers, and wires claim on a daily basis that Tripoli is about to fall and that the Transitional Council is making new advances to various cities. Tripoli is nowhere near falling and is relatively peaceful. Foreign journalists have also all been taken to the areas that are being reported to have fallen to the Transitional Council, such as Sabha and its environs.

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US State Department believes Indian journalist on Sri Lanka issues

Washington, DC. 12 August (Asiantribune.com): When the Indian journalist Mr. Goyal who is accredited to the State Department in Washington makes a statement at daily press briefings spokesperson who conduct the briefings accept his submissions as 'Gospel truth'.

Either the spokespersons do not have facts in hand to refute Mr. Goyall's diabolical lies about the Sri Lankan situation allowing Mr. Goyal's accusations go unchallenged to make them international news, or they are incompetent to reach Sri Lankan diplomats in Washington to get the facts right.

Or, the Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry and its overseas diplomats along with their lobbying firm Patton-Boggs do not see the damage caused by the Indian journalist Mr. Goyal to Sri Lanka's image abroad.

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Rajaratnam sentencing may be a fight to the death

(Reuters) - A U.S. government request that Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam spend as much as 24-1/2 years in prison -- a term associated more with murder than financial crimes -- raises the ante in the biggest individual insider trading case in a generation.

Whether Rajaratnam, like Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, deserves the type of sentence often given to drug kingpins and Mafia bosses comes down, fundamentally, to the strength of the case against him, and the assessment of his presiding judge.

on July 20, Holwell sentenced Rajaratnam's one-time co-defendant Danielle Chiesi, a former New Castle Funds trader, to 2-1/2 years in prison. Prosecutors wanted three to four years, but Holwell said substituting community service for some prison time would help Chiesi "adjust her moral compass."

On the other hand, at Chiesi's sentencing, Holwell gave Wall Street what he called a "loud and clear" warning that people who commit insider trading will be caught, and if convicted, will go to prison.

And Rajaratnam has fought the government from the beginning. That makes him unlike Longueuil and Chiesi, who may have gotten shorter sentences in part because they pleaded guilty.

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The British Fall: London (cosmetic) must negotiate with London (real) right now!

The Western media, so ready to use the rag 'rebel' on any group, organized or otherwise, rising up against the establishment of unfriendly or less-friendly nations, have opted, understandably for the negative 'rioters' in the case of Britain. The truth is, apart from name and location, the modus operandi, the nature of the violence and the costs are identical. The summer's over and 'spring' seems too sprightly and flower-filled to use on a landscape marked by fire, broken-glass, overturned vehicles and smashed shop interiors. I know that the British still call it 'Autumn', but 'Fall' seems to be the appropriate noun.

Is it wrong to call them 'rebels', someone might ask. Right, because that's London-speak for those who attack governments, fellow-citizens and shops and in engage in arson and violence if it is all happening in some other country. I am not a British subject. To me, therefore, following London-speak, they are 'rebels'. The second reason is that these rebels are not venting anger without a cause. There's chronic unemployment in that country. There's been lots of spending cuts. And it's not 'out of the blue'. There has been sporadic rioting in that country for the past 30 years.

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Reaping the whirlwind

Riots flaring across the UK have left many dumfounded, unable to figure out the real causes of widespread violence, which some have naively attributed to a recent police shooting. That incident was only a trigger. If not for the pent up mass resentment awaiting the slightest opportunity to burst forth like molten lava from an erupting volcano, hell would not have broken loose in the great wen.

Britain may not have ever expected its wrong policy of promoting anarchy and mayhem to further its neocolonialist interests to boomerang in this shocking manner. In early 2009, the British government let thousands of terror backers lay siege to central London demanding that Sri Lanka be prevented from crushing the LTTE. Last year it allowed them to flex their muscles again and unleash mayhem to sabotage Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Oxford Union speech, in retaliation for the defeat of the LTTE. The British police claimed they would not be able to provide security to the venue of the lecture in view of threats from the LTTE rump. When the law enforcement authorities own up to their impotency thus, it is only natural that the anarchical elements take advantage of it. During the past few months, Britain in the armour of crusade has been at the forefront of a campaign to topple some foreign governments, in the name of democracy. Libya is being bombed into the Stone Age with the anti-Gaddafi rebels including diehard al-Qaeda activists armed, funded and coddled by Britain and its allies.

Britain has thus sent the wrong signals to the frustrated sections of its people. They must have asked themselves if others could have their wishes granted through anarchical violence with the blessings of the British government, why they should not adopt the same tactics to achieve their ends.

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Lies Agreed Upon - reply to C4

http://www.col3negoriginal.co/watch?v=13598 <http://www.col3negoriginal.co/watch?v=13598>

or http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dz5O1JAfRXew&h=dAQDUq-0i

SPUR welcomes the Sri Lankan Government's initiative to place the truth on record regarding the scandalous lies parroted by Channel 4 in England.

We also urge the Government to explore all possibilities to sue those such as Gordon Weiss profiteering from peddling information tarnishing Sri Lanka's image.

SPUR also urges ABC Four Corners Report and especially Kerry O'Brian to eat humble pie and have the courage to admit. It must correct its bias and broadcast the Video titled "Lies Agreed Upon".

We urge all patriotic Sri Lankans to down load this video and distribute it widely, including to MPs in the State and Commonwealth Parliaments in Australia.

Dr Dasarath Jayasuriya
PRESIDENT SPUR

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Sri Lankan Humanitarian Operation - A Factual Analysis

http://www.scribd.com/doc/61351728/Sri-Lankan-Humanitarian-Operation-Factual-Analysis-www-adaderana-lk

This report sets forth the factual background and operational context of theHumanitarian Operation undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka between July 2006 and May 2009 to free the country from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eela (LTTE).

An examination of these facts demonstrates why the Government of Sri Lanka engaged in a  military strategy against the LTTE, why Security Forces used the level of force they did, and how at each stage in the operation Sri Lanka took extraordinary steps to respect and protect the lives of civilians.

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Mujahideen-e Khalq: Former U.S. Officials Make Millions Advocating For Terrorist Organization

The MEK's delisting campaign is funded by a fluid and enigmatic network of support groups based in the United States. According to an MEK leader, these groups are funded by money from around the world, which they deliberately shield from U.S. authorities. These domestic groups book and pay for their VIP speakers through speaker agencies, which in turn pay the speakers directly and take a fee for arranging appearances. That way, the speakers themselves don't technically accept money from the community groups. If they did, they might discover what their speaker agents surely know: That most of the groups are run by ordinary, middle-class Iranian Americans working out of their homes -- people who seem unlikely to have an extra few hundred thousand dollars laying around to pay speaker fees and book five-star hotels to bolster the MEK's cause.

The speakers are just the type of national-security heavyweights a plaintiff terrorist organization needs. In addition to those named above, the commissioned figureheads include Obama's recently-departed National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones; former Bush Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge; onetime State Department Counselor Philip Zelikow and former CIA directors Porter Goss and James R. Woolsey.

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Let sanity prevail in London!

All things considered, all of Britain would I am sure understand that given the ground realities, it is incumbent on countries like Sri Lanka to do the needful in terms of ensuring the safety of Sri Lankans living in Britain. I quote here a 'Travel Advisory' drafted by my friend Vinod Moonesinghe:

'We advice against all travel to the United Kingdom. Sri Lankan nationals in Britain should leave now by commercial means whilst these are still available. Those who choose to remain in Britain, or to visit against our advice should be aware that it is highly unlikely that the Sri Lanka High Commission would be able to provide a normal consular service in the event of a further breakdown in law and order and increased violent civil disorder. Evacuation options would be limited because of likely communication and travel restrictions. If, despite our clear advice to leave you choose to remain, please make sure you and your family have a valid exit stamp on your travel documents if you need one to leave Britain.

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US intrusion into Sri Lankan air territories

The airspace covering a state's land territory and its adjacent territorial waters is what defined by the national space that offers the sovereign state a large degree of control over foreign air traffic. In Sri Lanka, it is a range of 200 nautical miles covering 380 kilometers of airspace. While civil aviation is normally allowed passage under international treaties, foreign military and other state aircrafts do not have a right to free passage through another state's national airspace. Accepted international norms require, anyone wanting to use the country's air space to file flight plans and obtain prior approval. However, it was heard that a squadron of ten US fighter jets has violated airspace so that Sri Lankan government will register its protest with the American Embassy in Sri Lanka over the issue. It was also heard that there have been periodic intrusions by US combat aircraft. The United States Embassy in Colombo has told that there was no intrusion by US fighter jets into Lankan air space and the official of the Embassy has refused to comment further.

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Dangers of India's business in Sri Lanka

(August 08, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) With the dawning of peace upon a nation that withstood 3 decades of terror, Sri Lanka is looking towards development & aiming at economic revival. While lobbying foreign investors to invest in Sri Lanka, it is no surprise to see India engage its neighbor – this time from the economic front.

Indians are no strangers to Sri Lanka & with peace Indian companies are keener than ever to put their foot into Sri Lanka through various development projects in the goods & service sectors as well as through Indian labor into Sri Lanka. Most of these projects have had land identified & Government approvals already obtained much of the time without taking into consideration the opinions of country-proud businessmen or professionals.

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KP urges Diaspora to help

Former chief arms procurer of the LTTE KP yesterday called on the Tamil Diaspora to stop their campaign that provokes anger and hatred.

Kumaran Pathmanathan, the former chief arms procurer now heads the North East Rehabilitation and Development Organisation (NERDO)

"I think talking about Channel 4 as a means of revenge is absurd. I plead to the Tamil Diaspora to stop their campaign that provokes anger and hatred.

They have to know the reality. We must live in peace," he said in an interview with the Daily Mirror in Mullaitivu.

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Negotiating with terrorists:
Norway can now really show us the way!

Last weekend's violent attacks in the Norwegian capital Oslo which claimed 92 lives sent shock waves across the globe. The international media, such as the BBC, the CNN and Al Jazeera, did not hesitate to call it a "terrorist attack" straight away. Some such international opinion makers even rushed to hasty conclusions that they were carried out by the Al Qaida or an affiliated Islamic fundamentalist group. But within the next 24 hours, the culprits were suspected to be "right wing Christian extremists/fundamentalists", and at the time of writing this essay (some 48 hours later) the same media agencies are pointing their fingers at an individual Norwegian who is suspected to be mentally off! Whoever the culprit for this horrendous crime be, the media and international political leaders continue to refer to these violent acts as "acts of terrorism".

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Notable signs of progress - UN

The newly-arrived chief of the United Nations in Sri Lanka is making his second familiarisation visit to the north of the country and says that there are many encouraging and notable signs of progress but substantial challenges remain ahead to improve the lives of those affected by the conflict.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Subinay Nandy, arrived in Jaffna on Wednesday, visited Mullaitivu District on Thursday and is travelling in Kilinochchi on Friday where he will finish his three-day mission. He visited Vavuniya District in mid-July.

"Listening and talking to people in the post-conflict area is very important to me to gain a real understanding of the situation and needs. The UN agencies are working in many different areas to meet the still ongoing humanitarian as well as the more long-term development needs," Mr. Nandy said.

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HRW and Brad Adams need to get some sleep

It was expected. Those who have uncritically and happily believed and continue to believe lies trotted out by terrorists and their minions in various garb, including human rights advocates, journalists and academics who ignore the most basic tenets of fact-finding, namely corroboration, reliability of source and verification, were not going to buy anything that would in effect show them up.

The Defence Ministry debriefing of military activities, titled 'Humanitarian Operation - Factual Analysis', released on Monday, August 1, 2011, is a comprehensive account of the challenge of ridding Sri Lanka of the menace of terrorism. It includes the all-important contextualization of the entire operation.

A full description of the principal enemy, the LTTE is offered, including atrocities against civilians, use of child soldiers, the systematic practice of ethnic cleansing, attacks on democracy, the global spread of the organization and relevant threats as well as responses by key members of the international community by way of proscribing the organization.

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Channel 4 paid to tarnish Sri Lanka's humanitarian rescue & terrorist elimination operation

(August 02, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) What is the aim of Channel 4 & its persistence to tarnish the image of a sovereign Government? LTTE is an internationally banned terrorist group & a sovereign Government has all the right to militarily eliminate it for the protection of its citizens. Sri Lanka remains the only nation to have given plenty of chances to LTTE terrorists to give up terrorism & enter democratic governance by coming into power by a vote & not through bullets. It was after 30 years of endless peace negotiations & ceasefires that served to only equip the LTTE to carry out daring attacks that finally resulted in the decision to militarily take on the LTTE while rescuing all Tamils kept as human shields by the LTTE. No other foreign Government has given so many chances to a terrorist group operating clandestinely internationally. With LTTE eliminated & after 2 years of peace we can but question the motive behind this campaign to vilify Sri Lanka?

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Iranian exiles pay US figures as advocates

An Iranian exile group is spending millions of dollars in a lobbying effort to be removed from the US's list of foreign terrorist organisations, recruiting a group of US national security luminaries to be its advocates.

Dozens of former officials across the political spectrum – from conservative John Bolton to liberal Howard Dean – have been paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak at events organised by supporters of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, or People's Mujahedin, in the US, the Financial Times has learnt.

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Spotlight On British Media As Professionalism Declines And Uncorroborated Allegation Abound

Bangkok, July 30th (Asiantribune.com):
British media has fallen on hard times as even a country that defends media freedom is beginning to think seriously of the need to rein in a runaway media industry and journalists who are ready to make the wildest charges without an iota of corroborative evidence.

The phone-hacking scandal by the now defunct British tabloid "News of the World" that has rocked the Murdoch media empire has much wider ramifications than previously assumed.

It has now engulfed British politics, the police and the press and many reputations are in danger of being dragged in the mire.

It is not at all surprising that a public opinion poll placed British journalists at the bottom of the ladder just one step above estate agents and one step below politicians. If public perception of the media is so low, the media has nobody to blame but itself.

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Melbourne Rally against C4 & ABC Fake Video

Sri Lankans living in Melbourne (Australia ) demonstrated their disgust towards unprofessional media conduct by ABC, Australia Broadcasting Corporation which demonstrated their disgust towards unprofessional media conduct.

Sri Lankans showed their opposition and disgust to ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation which telecasted on 30 July, the UK based channel 4 bias documentary twice on prime time TV.

It was revealed that there were many attempts by the Sri Lankan diplomats and Technical experts to explain the flaws of this video prior to broadcasting and tarnishing Sri Lanka's good name. Government run media channel neither allowed air time to demonstrate the flaws in the video nor took considerable amount of effort to validate the authenticity of video.

Not only once, ABC dared to tarnish mother Sri Lanka's name by broadcasting it twice within 48 hours time frame. After writing many requests and calling the program to authorities, they failed to provide fair solution for the damage done to Sri Lankans living in Australia. The untimely program did not serve any purpose as shown by many Australian journalists to the reconciliation process or the healing of a war torn country.

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A failed 'Shock and Awe' op

John Perkins, in his famous book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, tells us how jackals are called in when economic hit men fail to deliver the goods in facilitating the exploitation by the Gobal North of the developing world. These oppressive methods are, however, not confined to the economic front as could be seen from the on-going 'war crimes' offensive against Sri Lanka.

When the diplomatic hit men of the West fail to achieve their targets, their propaganda jackals are called in to prepare the ground for coercive action. Neo colonial forces have succeeded in making a cat's paw of even the prestigious western media institutions to paint a black picture of target countries before unleashing hell on them as revealed by former Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Nobel Laureate, Mohamed ElBaradei in his book, The Age of Deception, Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times. ElBaradei, as we have pointed out in previous editorials, laments that the reaction of the mainstream international media to the IAEA revelation that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the intelligence reports the US and the UK produced in justification of their invasion of that country were falsified, was 'disheartening'. He is quite critical of the manner in which even The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times handled such a vital issue. ElBaradei has been proved right. Over 800,000 people were killed in the Iraqi war. He and other eminent international civil servants keep asking why war crimes charges should not be pressed against former US President George W. Bush and his allies. Even the Human Rights Watch has mustered the courage to call for the prosecution of President Bush for torture. But, mum's the word on the part of the western media which promoted that illegal war. Instead they have joined a war crimes badger hunt by the West against this country making as they do wild allegations based on doctored evidence.

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C-4 granted permission to visit SL

The government of Sri Lanka has invited the UK-based Channel 4 News to visit Sri Lanka to study the ground situation.

Sri Lanka's No: 2 at the UN Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva has informed Foreign Affairs Correspondent of Channel 4 News, Jonathan Miller of Sri Lanka's readiness to facilitate a visit.

Ambassador Silva told The Island yesterday that he had informed both Channel 4 News headquarters in London and Miller the outfit could send a team to Sri Lanka.

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On keeping things in the neighbourhood in South Asia

Nirupama Rao, India's soon-to-retire Foreign Secretary, when asked about the Channel 4 video purporting to comment on the last days of the LTTE's military, is reported to have said that Sri Lanka should look at the video carefully. Well, that's already been done. Channel 4's mal-intent, unprofessionalism and scandalous lack of integrity have been adequately exposed. The good lady probably knows this.

On the other hand, she adds a comment: 'As per the video, there were human right violations during the last few days of the war they were fighting. It cannot be justified any way. But it was a war zone. It should also be taken into consideration that there were tragedies in Sri Lanka.'

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More garbage flowing down a sewer called Canal 4

Years ago, when I was an undergraduate, there was among us a highly talented boy. He was extremely intelligent and although he hardly ever studied or visited the library always produced excellent results at examinations.

This boy, who always spoke sense, would on occasion come out with a monumental gaffe. The running joke about him was that when he did slip, he slipped so bad, not least of all because he would add gaffe to gaffe in the process of trying to rectify things. Channel 4 reminded me of his a few days ago.

A few weeks ago, Channel 4 came up with a film on Sri Lanka, replete with a cast of shady characters all portrayed without mentioning their involvement in terrorist activities. It always happens. Hatred and ego are the parents of error. It was a full-of-holes production and the holes have been pointed out and indeed, a full review would, I believe, show that the holes are larger than actually seem.

It looks like Channel 4 (henceforth Canal 4, conveyor of foul-matter in the manner of a sewer) has decided that the best way to plug a hole is to stuff it with garbage. The piece of journalistic incompetence and investigative sloth forever marked by abysmal math skills and lack of integrity called 'Killing Fields' has been followed by an 'interview' of a couple of soldiers (or so Canal 4 claims) who claim to have been witness to what happened in the last days of the monumental hostage rescue operation carried by the Sri Lankan security forces.

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And some tears cannot go uncommented...

A few years ago, when I was associated with the National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT), I helped put together a booklet about media representation of the conflict. The title was 'Some tears are not newsworthy'. It spoke to inequality and privileging apparent in how the unfolding events were being portrayed in certain sections of the media, both local and foreign.

The book focused on the shameless downplaying and even non-mention of atrocities perpetrated by the LTTE. It was wryly observed that people generally misname terrorist as rebel if the theatre of operation is in any country other than one's own. The complicity of certain sections of the foreign media in the terrorist project was apparent even back then, i.e. long before Channel 4 became the post-war Voice of Tigers, so to speak.

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THE NATIONALIST PAPERS - White men don't kill, period

A few weeks ago, the world hadn't heard of a man called Anders Behring Breivik. Today he's a name on the street. A little over a week ago he was blood on the streets, bricks all over, smoke and bereavement, tears and fear.

The whole of Norway is gripped by fear. It is accompanied by brave-face announcements of resistance. Norway is operating as though terrorism is some kind of unknown tropical disease whereas Norway has for years been a staunch supporter of terrorist outfits and has done all it could to legitimate terrorism (by the LTTE and by Isreal, for example). Norway has been the default 'Eelam' of Tiger Terrorism.

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Poor man's smallpox affecting the rich

Pakistan alone has lost more than 35,000 innocent lives over the past 10 years to terror, not to speak of Sri Lanka, which confronted the scourge until a couple of years ago, and India which is continuing to face the malaise, and the indications are that the SAARC region would continue to be stalked by this spectre into the foreseeable future. The recent bomb blasts in Mumbai which exacted a heavy human toll bear witness to the grave magnitude of the problem of political terror. The truth should be countenanced that the region is yet to make any marked progress in the direction of containing or managing terror.

It is encouraging to note, though, that collective efforts are being made by this region to concertedly defuse the problem and we hope fora, such as the SAARC Interior Ministers' Conference which only recently took up the issue of terror afresh, would prove instrumental in cutting this Gordian Knot in the politics of South Asia. The problems Pakistan is continuing to confront on this score, testifies to the intractability of the problem as well as to its multidimensional nature. Terror usually grows out of socio-economic deprivations and power asymmetries within political communities. This aspect of the issue has been voluminously commented on over the years by knowledgeable sections and the Lankan state's current efforts to meet the development needs of Sri Lanka's North-East are testimony that the Lankan centre fully acknowledges this dimension to the problem.

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SAARC COOPERATION ON MANAGING TERROR

Duplicity of the developed world is the medium in which global terrorism thrives like maggots in muck. Time was when its tolerance of and support for terrorist groups, which plagued the Global South, seemed to pay in that it managed to be free from terrorism. But, today, it is hoist with its own petard as evident from the recent twin terror strikes in Norway.

Emerging evidence that ultra right extremists responsible for the attacks in Norway have links with some groups of their ilk in the UK has jolted the British government into keeping a close tab on those elements. But, the Cameron government, while taking such precautions against possible threats to British interests, has permitted a dangerous outfit, the LTTE, responsible for hundreds of acts of brutal terror, far worse than the London bombings and the attacks in Norway, to raise funds and gain legitimacy by operating a bus service in Britain, as we reported yesterday. It is indeed a very sad day for British democracy! The US is planning to cut aid that it claims to give Sri Lanka while allowing the LTTE to operate freely on its soil. The message other violent groups in different parts of the world have got from these two countries is that terrorism works!

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Norwegian 'peace evaluation' delayed

Norway seems to be reluctant to make public a costly evaluation of its unsuccessful peace efforts in Sri Lanka.

Although Norway initially planned to unveil the final report in the first week of April 2011, ahead of UNSG Ban Ki-moon's unsubstantiated 'war crimes' report, an influential section in the Norwegian government is concerned about the outcome.

Sources told The Island that in view of a spate of revelations made by WikiLeaks with regard to the Norwegian-led peace process since February 2002 the interested parties would not be able to manipulate the Norwegian evaluation. The Norwegian government may not want the report to cause further embarrassment to its allies by exposing sharp discrepancies in the UNSG's report.

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Alex Neve – Channel 4 Sri Lanka's Killing Fields video

I personally believe that AI has now taken the lead in the sinister international campaign aiming at reversing Sri Lanka's war victories and its reconciliation progress between the aggrieved communities through political and economic means. I also believe that AI's lead is to help a small section of the international media at the behest of certain vested interested groups of the Tamil Diaspora to push Sri Lanka back to a war by lacerating the wounded island that is attempting to heal after a 30 year long war. And let us not kid ourselves, if the reconciliation process takes hold in Sri Lanka, there shuts the window of the lucrative business opportunism for the LTTE rump to hoard millions and millions of dollars a month, and for the international human rights groups like yours for their funding survival as there will be one less issue to cough and exaggerate about. And that is the rub, isn't it Alex? This is no fairy tale. Looking for the motives of AI's involvement in Sri Lanka, you will see what this Crystal Ball reader is seeing and saying.

If AI's mandate is to independently verify any allegation made against a sovereign nation before taking any action, AI has consistently and persistently failed to honour that commitment when it comes to Sri Lanka. There is an obvious reason for this, isn't Alex? You AI people have left me guessing and I have come to my own conclusions and it is not a pretty one. It is a sordid one.

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Tamil migrant to be deported over war crime

A Tamil refugee claimant who arrived off Canada's West Coast aboard the MV Sun Sea last year has been ordered deported over allegations he committed a war crime in his home country of Sri Lanka.

The migrant, who can't be identified, appeared before the Immigration and Refugee Board in April. A written decision was issued this week.

The man admitted he was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, which is considered a banned terrorist organization in Canada.

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Eelam buses run in UK; registered as 'L77E'

In the wake of UK based Channel 4 telecasting 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields', British Tamils are stepping up their propaganda campaign targeting Sri Lanka. The campaign goes parallel to the UK-headquartered Global Tamil Forum (GTF) exploiting its contacts with the British Conservative and Labour parties to push for international war crimes probe.

A driver training school, set up by Tamil Diaspora in the UK, had recently launched 'eelam buses' to promote their macabre cause though the LTTE remained a proscribed organization in the UK. UK based sources told The Island that the project couldn't have been launched without the tacit understanding of British officials.

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Let's talk about innovation and creativity Ms. Clinton

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has voiced concern over the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka and said that the United States was looking at some innovative and creative ideas to break the impasse over the Sri Lankan Tamils issues. This was in Tamil Nadu, where she was being hosted by Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, once an LTTE sympathizer and a willing approver of Delhi's policy of arming, funding and training Tiger terrorists. Clinton, for the record, received campaign funds from a pro-LTTE group in the USA, let us not forget.

These are lovely and thought-provoking words and sentiments, though. It is good when anyone expresses concern about fellow creatures; 'love thy neighbour as thyself', 'may all beings be happy' and all that comes to mind. Let's start with the IDPs.

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A tale of two isles

Norway, still reeling from last week's twin terror strikes, is said to be struggling to make sense of the carnage. The criminals responsible for those cowardly attacks stand condemned for their barbarity.

The tragedy evokes one's memories of how Norway sponsored the LTTE in spite of the latter's mindless terror, which plagued Sri Lanka. Among the victims of LTTE terrorists who kept on attacking civilian targets here were many infants and even unborn children, some of whom were taken out of their dying mothers' wombs and dashed on trees and walls. LTTE death squads also targeted packed trains and buses killing men, women and children alike. In spite of such heinous crimes, Norway had no qualms about backing the LTTE to the hilt internationally, allowing it to raise funds on its soil for terrorist activity and about urging Sri Lanka to make peace with the outfit notorious for its insatiable thirst for blood. Had the remedies prescribed by Norway been adopted by this country, it would still have been experiencing massacres like the Utoya killings.

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UN Officials' Channel 4 Video Analysis 'Forensic Hoax'

July 24 - (UPDATE: SL_USA) - Two high ranking UN officials hell-bent on using the disputed Channel 4 'Killing Fields' video as a springboard for initiating an international war crimes investigation against Sri Lanka have misled the world and are getting away with it under the cover of 'forensic science.' An investigation into the background of the 'experts' the two officials, Special Rapporteur Philip Alston and Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns, commissioned to authenticate the disputed video has revealed some startling discrepancies and shocking professional lapses which question the validity and objectivity of their findings as much as their professional credentials.

In addition to hyping up and misrepresenting the qualifications of the 'experts' they commissioned to authenticate the video, the two officials used their high office to fool people into believing that 'forensic video analysis' – the apparent process their experts used to determine that the video was unaltered footage of live executions and atrocities by Sri Lankan forces captured on cell phone cameras during the final days of the war – is an objective, infallible scientific process.

In reality, the entire body of 'forensic science,' some of it a hodge podge of procedures developed by cops and popularized by CSI television shows, has come under attack in recent years. "There is no scientific foundation for it," Arizona State University law professor Michael Saks is quoted as saying. "As you begin to unpack it you find it's a lot of loosey-goosey stuff."

The 'loosey-goosey' discovered in unpacking the Channel 4 video 'forensic analysis' is set forth below.

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Sri Lanka elections & Tamil voter mentality

Democracy in Sri Lanka accepts the right for political parties to contest & people to vote for their choice but in reality governance will fall into one of two parties only. That is the undeniable truth. The recently concluded local body election results were proof that delivering peace, offering freedom, providing development has no bearing on the minds of Tamil voters. It is important that the rest of Sri Lanka & the world read the message behind the results. Why would Tamils continue to vote for separatism?

The propaganda campaign championed by separatist activists both home & abroad have orchestrated the necessity to separate & fight for a Tamil eelaam. Sinhala racism is what they use & Sinhala discrimination is what they say is enough grounds to seek refugee status & for foreign Governments to side with the separatist agenda & support a separatist homeland quest. Thus, 1million Tamils today have made up the Tamil Diaspora, in the height of the LTTE they were able to accumulate USD300m annually, foreign leaders & Governments have openly supported the quest for eelaam though banning it.

But there is a catch. The oft used excuse as the trigger point to take up arms has been the Sinhala-Only language policy introduced by then Prime Minister S W R D Bandaranaike in 1956. How was it that S J V Chelvanayakam formed the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) party on the basis of separating & creating an Eelaam in 1949?

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Norway gets its due reward for supporting terrorism

A bomb blast in a Norway office block gutted it with fire. A few minutes later a gun man opened fire on a youth congregation and this left 94 dead. Many are yet missing.

Retribution does come- sometimes in driblets and at times delayed and that is what the Superpowers do have to understand when they plan and implement forays into sovereign countries and become terrorists themselves in actual practice, though they function under the pretext of being peacenicks.

As F.Rovick of the Norwegians Against Terrorism has said, " the time is long overdue (for Norway) to issue a complete apology to the people of Sri lanka and other nations wherever Norwegian funds have been used to prolong or create conflicts"

Let us look at what Norway did to Sri Lanka.

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Without a doubt Tamils are happier without the LTTE

(July 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Connotation for happy will have mixed results. In a Tamil population of just 2.4million wherein 1million are already domiciled (legally or illegally) overseas it is easy to fathom who are likely to be unhappy & happy. In determining who is happier without the LTTE, we need to place the feelings of the North & Eastern Tamils far ahead of others. It is they who suffered the bulk of LTTE terror & it is their lives that have stood still throughout the 3 decades of LTTE terror campaign.

Whatever Tamils may say today, those living in foreign climes & those living outside of the North & East must feel guilty for letting their own people down. With the elimination of the LTTE & for those who traveled to the North & East would have seen the manner in which the people had been living. Despite food provisions sent even during the height of the war, LTTE had denied food for their own people to eat. The suffering that these people had to endure is what should be aired across the world & will shame channel four, the Tamil Diaspora & all others who have been for years using them as scapegoats to allow the LTTE to prevail. This is one reason why most Tamil leaders partial to LTTE are reluctant to conduct a census…the truth will soon emerge about the reality of Tamils actually living in the North & will also perhaps make us open our eyes to the possibility of where these additional "Tamils" would have emerged from. 3 decades is a lot of time & there is just a small space that divides Sri Lanka from Tamil Nadu! This is also good enough reason for the interference by India.

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Father forgive him, even though he knew exactly what he was doing

'The New Internationalist' is considered by some as a left-wing political magazine. Now left-wingers are notorious for assuming that all struggles against the ruling class or the state are noble and support worthy. This is perhaps why those who think they are 'left' will salute any rebel but in particular those operating in other countries. In their own land, there can be only one set of rebels as far as leftists are concerned, i.e. those who share membership in one's organization. The others are counter-revolutionaries, running dogs of imperialism, reactionaries, this, that and the other, but not deserving revolutionary-tag.

'The New Internationalist' had a reputation and its content was serious and informative. The editorial management, one assumed, was therefore more circumspect that the run-of-the-mill leftist. In the mid-1990's, the NI carried a letter-to-the-editor under the time-worn and tired title, 'Let my people go!' It brought back all the misgivings I've had about things labeled or perceived to be 'left'.

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When the outskirts of fear invade your home...

At least 91 people died when a gunman ran amok on Utoeya island, Norway, on Friday (July 22, 2011), hours after an Oslo bomb killed seven. Eric Solheim, Norwegian Minister and a long supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who is often described as the face of Norway's 'peace efforts' in Sri Lanka, was not dumbfounded by the attacks. He said it was too early to speculate about the identity of the gunman.

He also said that the 'horrible' massacre was 'an attack on Norway's democratic values'. He expressed 'enormous shock'.

He is 'shocked' and 'horrified'. He is livid about some nutcase attacking Norwegian democratic values. This man took part in LTTE-organized demonstrations against Sri Lanka. He facilitated the whitewashing of LTTE crimes against humanity and spared no pains to give political legitimacy to the LTTE, not to mention parity of status vis-a-vis the Sri Lankan government (with tacit and open support of the regimes of Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe and loud hurrahs from the 'civil society' czars of the I/NGO community and prominent members of the clergy belonging to various denominations).

Solheim cannot plead ignorance about how the LTTE threatened democratic values in Sri Lanka. If numbers help drive home a point, then the 90 plus dead in Norway is hardly worth comment, considering the tens of thousands slaughtered by Solheim's pals in Sri Lanka. That's no consolation to the loved ones of Friday's dead of course. Fortunately for us, in Sri Lanka, we are out of LTTE-days.

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Dr Kohona reiterates to AI chief: C 4 contains doctored footage

'Sri Lanka prides itself on being governed by the rule of law and by a long established legal tradition, Sri Lanka's permanent representative to the UN Dr Palitha Kohona told Head of Amnesty International Jose Luis Diaz at a meeting on Wednesday.

This was after the AI chief asked Dr Kohona about the Sri Lankan government's response to those who feel that the events close to the end of the conflict must be thoroughly investigated to prevent Sri Lanka becoming a model in similar conflict situations.

Dr Kohona responded by saying that Sri Lanka has no intention of being a model to anyone else.

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Darusman Report & Chanel 4 Video

I think you ought to give up hounding with a vengeance of the Sri Lankan soldiers and their Government who liberated the de facto Eelam and your Tamil people, 300,000 of them during the last five months that you seem to be concerned about, and pack up the idea of wanting to spearhead an All Party Committee to look into the alleged war crimes as told in those two fraudulent war crimes artifacts. You might as well believe me, Rathika, they are two fraudulent documents, period. Just be careful, as you are walking down the road which has a sign showing that it is leading to 'Dead End Embarrassment Cliff.'.

COMPASSIONATE JUSTICE FOR THE REHABILITATED

The civilized world could derive some comfort from the fact that the concept of 'Compassionate Justice' is getting some airing currently in the public sphere. It is probably the most meaningful phrase to surface in the present electoral campaign in the North and one only hopes that more will be heard about the concept in the days and even years to come.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa did right to broach the concept because a crucial issue at present in regard to the treatment of ex-LTTE cadres is the degree to which justice must be tempered with mercy and compassion. Considering that quite a few of these former LTTErs were 'misguided youth', there is indeed a great need to dispense justice towards them with a measure of compassion and caring. It is true that they took the fatal step of taking-up arms against the state, and that some of them even soaked their hands in the most bestial fashion in the blood of the innocents, but the degree to which a society is civilized is gauged by the extent to which it forgives, and Sri Lanka is underscoring its eminent eligibility to be counted among the civilized and enlightened by treating these one-time combatants with compassion and caring

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Responses to BBC queries regarding the latest ICG effusion

The ICG report says the SL govt has destroyed the LTTE by "adopting the insurgents' brutality and intolerance of dissent". Please respond/comment.

'The regime destroyed the Tigers by rejecting the more conciliatory approach of prior governments and adopting the insurgents' brutality and intolerance of dissent.'

A most nonsensical statement. The more conciliatory approach of previous governments was traduced by the Tigers, who used this to build up their strength and broke agreements arbitrarily with exceptional brutality - the killing of policemen who surrendered and the massacre of Muslims in the East and ethnic cleansing of them from the North.

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Hillary's words of wisdom

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, in New Delhi, that the US would fully cooperate with India to thwart terror attacks against the latter. This pledge is ironic in that about three decades ago the US just looked the other way when Sri Lanka pleaded for help to protect itself against separatist terrorism which India, a Russian ally at that time, promoted to penalise it for having crossed over to the US camp under pro-American President J. R. Jayewardene's government. Sri Lanka has received little or no military assistance from the US to fight terrorism. Former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jeffrey Lunstead told US Foreign Relations Committee on Feb. 24, 2009 that the US military relationship with Sri Lanka was almost nil.

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HRW and Amnesty show their true colors at Capitol Hill: Throws speculations and frenzy exaggerations when questioned

The disaster the world heading in terms of human rights was well demonstrated yesterday (July 15) at Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. It was really shocking and disgusting to witness how the so-called protectors of global human rights shamelessly tried to capitalise the sufferings of my kith and kin in Sri Lanka to fulfill their self serving objectives.

As a Tamil living in the USA, I travelled to the Washington D.C. expecting that these Human Rights protectors would finally do something meaningful to support the Tamils in Sri Lanka who had suffered immensely due to the three decades of civil war. I was informed by an email circulated among the Tamil community here that Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have organized a screening of "Sri Lanka Killing Fields" by Channel 4 at Capitol Hill. I have of course seen this video before, but this time, I thought that these organizations were trying to obtain some kind of support from the United States to make the lives of my friends in Sri Lanka better.

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Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees from Tamil Nadu are returning back

Some 2,800 Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu India have expressed an interest in returning home in the near future.

The UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) states that it is helping a growing number of Sri Lankan refugees to return to their villages in the war-torn North and East, two years after the three-decade long conflict ended in May 2009.

According to the agency, over 1000 refugees have returned so far this year. Most of the returnees are from the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, smaller numbers from countries such as Malaysia, Georgia and the Caribbean island of St. Lucia also have returned recently. Returning refugees have returned to Trincomalee, Mannar, Vavuniya and Jaffna and a few have gone to areas in Kilinochchi, Batticaloa, Ampara and Colombo.

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British Sri Lankans take to streets accusing Channel 4 TV of inciting race-hate:

Condemn Channel 4 TV's anti-Sri Lanka campaign as biased, and a disgrace to British media
Over 2000 British Sri Lankans of different ethnicities and political hues met in London in Sunday evening to stage a massive demonstration against the Channel 4 TV, which at present is going around the world with a "documentary", named "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields".

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Films Channel 4 cannot make

Dr. Noel Nadesan, a Tamil domiciled in Australia who edited the Tamil community newspaper 'Uthayam' for 14 years has responded to the recently released Channel 4 film (yes, not 'documentary') on Sri Lanka. He says, based on long experience with the Tamil community both in Australia and Sri Lanka, he's sad 'about the callous way in which the media is exploiting the suffering of (his) Tamil people for self-serving ends'. He argues, cogently, that the Channel 4 film does not help the long suffering Tamil people but indeed only makes things worse.

He has pointed out example by example Channel 4's malice and utter disregard for professional ethics. He has stated some truths that would make the makers of that film uncomfortable, but only if they are guilty of honest error. That's sadly not the case. Let's hear what Dr. Nadesan says:
'I travelled in Sri Lanka seven times during the last two years widely in war zones in Vanni and talked to the victims who were trapped in the war zones. They knew that they were targeted by both sides and they could not comprehend why the LTTE should expose them to retaliatory fire in the NFZ. They could not understand why the LTTE turned the NFZ into a war zone.

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Lanka, only democracy that defeated terror - US Congressman

US congressman Heath Shuler in an open letter to his fellow colleagues in the House of Representatives has emphasized that the US future policy towards Sri Lanka should be focused on supporting the country's reconciliation efforts and engagement with the US.

The member for North Carolina and a member of the Steering and Policy Committee, Shuler, who visited Sri Lanka in May 2009, just days after the operations against the LTTE concluded, begins his letter 'Today, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International-USA are screening a controversial documentary about Sri Lanka.

There is a great deal of misinformation and debate about what occurred during the final days of Sri Lanka's war.'

Recounting his experience, in the backdrop of the screening of the controversial documentary, he has said 'Sri Lanka is the only democracy to have defeated a terrorist organization in recent memory'.

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The Shadow LTTE's Subtle Propaganda Campaign in Colombo - A conversation with Mathias Keittle

Colombo, 16 July, (Asiantribune.com):
Mathias Keittle has been a student of Sri Lankan affairs for over twenty five years. He has visited Sri Lanka regularly. He is currently touring the country. A German and a graduate of Tubingen and Cambridge, he has unique insights to the political developments in Sri Lanka. He is planning to compile his thinking into a book to be published in the German language.

Asian Tribune interviewed Mathias Keittle and given below the excerpts of the interview:

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"Neutralise the Tamil Diaspora"

President's Counsel and United National Party Parliamentarian Wijedasa Rajapakse says neutralising the Tamil Diaspora will end the majority of the accusations and allegations made against the country by the international community and Non Government Organisations. He says that in order to have lasting peace in Sri Lanka, it is vital to neutralise the Tamil Diaspora and that it cannot be done by using force or with weapons.

Referring to the allegations in the UN report, Rajapakse says he fears people getting emotional and violent over the issue, which would ultimately lead to another catastrophe that would disturb peace the country is enjoying after almost three decades. Denying allegations that the reason behind his letter to the UN General Secretary was to join the Government once again, Rajapakse notes that it was his responsibility as the one and only President's Counsel in Parliament to come forward when there is a dispute with regard to the stability or integrity of the country.
Following are excerpts from the interview:

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'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' in US Congress: Sponsor Congressman McGovern, Supporter of Colombian terrorist FARC

Washington, DC. 15 July (Asiantribune.com):
Co-sponsor of the controversial documentary 'Sri Lanka's Killing Field' produced by Channel 4 scheduled to be screened at Capitol Visitor Center of the United States Congress on Friday, 15 July and the keynote speaker at the screening Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern has a dubious record of maintaining a rapport and supporting the Colombian rebel organization Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) whose main aim is to overthrow the democratic government of Colombia.

Now, Mr. McGovern is in league with organizations that are aiming to destabilize the democratic government of Sri Lanka, halt that government's initiation toward reconciliation and disrupt the consolidation of peace this South Asian nation gained with the defeat of terrorist/separatist Tamil Tigers or the LTTE in May 2009.

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Tamil Tiger Propaganda Photos Becomes Channel 4 Fact

MEDIA RELEASE -SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
The questionable Channel 4 video titled 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' screened in Geneva on June 6, 2011 during the UN Human Rights sessions and later broadcast in the UK on June 14th with subsequent airing by PBS and ABC Four Corners has been done irresponsibly without determining the factual position, with the sole intention of shaming and blaming the Sri Lankan government, the security forces and the people of that island nation. The accusatory tone, and misrepresentations made by the narrator Jon Snow does not in any way make the unverified pictures submitted by the pro-Tamil Tiger (LTTE) diaspora for inclusion in the disputed video any thing other than a deceitful attempt to pin the blame on the government forces for crimes committed by the tigers.

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SHED POLITICAL AGENDAS, DEFEAT GLOBAL TERRORISM

The recent terror attacks in Mumbai and Karachi have again stressed the need for a combined universal effort to eradicate global terrorism. While Sri Lanka beat all overwhelming odds to crush terrorism over two years ago, more countries are falling prey to international terrorism.

At a time the world is grappling to combat growing international terrorism, Sri Lanka, with its proven track record in crushing the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world, could play the lead role in the global effort to crush terrorism.

Three bomb blasts rocked India's largest city, Mumbai, in congested areas on Wednesday evening, killing at least 21 people and injuring more than 110 people. The bombings revived dreadful memories in a city that has suffered before, including the massive assault by gunmen that killed 164 people in November 2008.

It was only last year that US President Barack Obama visited Mumbai and signed a condolence book for the victims of the 2008 attack. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and US President Obama were among the first to condemn the latest terror attack in Mumbai.

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The FMM: Reinvented, ostrich-like or same old, same old?

Much celebrated in certain circles with dubious agenda and forgettable track-records, and treated with disdain in journalistic circles in Sri Lanka where integrity, consistency and honesty have value, the Free Media Movement (FMM) is in the process of re-inventing itself. No organization, whatever its track-record, is not beyond redemption or reinvention. I doubt if there's anyone in the FMM or anyone who has even passing interest in the issue of media rights is unaware that this organization has had a sorry and dark past. FMM was a decent enough operation at one time, even if one disagreed with their ideology or opposed their outcome-preferences. It was a great brand name too. All that's history now.
A new set of office-bearers, reiteration of commitment to vision and mission and actions that constitute a discernable departure from a forgettable past helps. They are necessary conditions for reinvention. They are not sufficient. Sufficiency involves criticism and self-criticism, an acknowledgement and outing of skeletons, naming of names, mentioning of mismanagement and theft with relevant numbers. This is important because transparency, accountability and truth-seeking make up the stated vision and mission of the FMM.

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Equal human rights for all in Sri Lanka - Ambassador Jaliya Wickremasuriya

Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States Jaliya Wickremasuriya, in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer, said the US should be aware that human rights have been restored equally to all Sri Lankans without fear or favour.

The Sri Lankan envoy in Washington has also told the Western media, who has been very cynical of Sri Lanka's human rights, that Sri Lanka has been very practical and implemented these rights equally unlike the Western world which is merely theoretical. The envoy also said 12 Fortune 500 listed multinational corporates have written to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month that Sri Lanka's investment climate was sound.

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Devolution and flat-earth theorists

When I read some apologists for the Eelam cause I think of a drowning man reaching out for straws. Now all devolutionists might not think of themselves as Eelamists and indeed might abhor the idea of separatism. They should actually be called 'Naïve Apologists for the Eelam Cause'. 'Naïve' can be replaced with 'Ignorant too', one observes.

There are all kinds of devolutionists. There are those who run for office in the Provincial Councils and those who vote for them. They can be called devolutionists. Indeed at some level all those who have no choice but to submit to a constitution in a power-devolved state are in effect devolutionists, one can argue. Stretch that argument a little and you find that all citizens of Sri Lanka are by default worshippers of dictatorship, given the dictatorial character of the constitution.

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Media and the suffering of the Tamil people

My experiences in dealing with the Tamil community, both in Australia and in Sri Lanka, make me feel sad about the callous way in which the media is exploiting the suffering of our Tamil people for self-serving ends. I think I could speak as an independent voice with no allegiances to the politics of either community or political parties. My main concern has been to help our Tamils in Sri Lanka who had to face the brunt of all attacks from the Indians soldiers, Sri Lankan forces and, above all, the so-called Tamil liberators, the LTTE. I have just completed building a small hospital in the island of Eluvaitivu, in which I grew up and, sooner or later, I plan to go back to serve our Tamil people who are desperately in need of help.

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Belling the cat, HRW way

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called upon the US government to investigate former President George W. Bush, his Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet for having authorised torture and war crimes. HRW, in a damning report on the US, urges other countries to prosecute American officials involved in crimes against detainees in accordance with international law.

It is not only Bush and other bigwigs of his administration who should be held responsible for war crimes and made to face legal action. There is prima facie evidence that the US and the UK jointly falsified intelligence reports to justify the invasion of Iraq––the mother of all war crimes and human rights violations at issue. President Barack Obama continues military operations in Iraq as part of that illegal war and, therefore, he and his military officers cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility for war crimes. HRW should call for investigating the present US administration as well.

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Children and Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka: Palitha Kohona clears misconceptions

Washington, DC. 14 July (Asiantribune.com):
Presenting detailed underlying realities of child soldiers and armed conflict in Sri Lanka that have been ignored by a report released by the U.S.-based Conflict Dynamics International which Sri Lanka's envoy to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona described as an endeavor "to stroke up embers of a bitter past and politicize the issue of accountability related to child recruitment", Sri Lanka told the U.N at an open debate at the Security Council July 12 that despite the impressive progress to end the child soldier era Sri Lanka continues to remain on the "Naming and Shaming List" of the UN Secretary General's Annexes.

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Doublespeak, doublethink with regard to alleged attacks on hospitals - Darusman, Weiss and Tamilnet at play

The second great set piece of both the Darusman Panel Report and Gordon Weiss's book is the alleged attack on Puthukkudiyirippu Hospital. The Report begins by claiming in Para 90 that 'PTK hospital was the only permanent hospital left in the Vanni, and its neutrality was recognized by the Government and the LTTE... More than 100 new patients were arriving each day, many from the NFZ. Many had severe or life-threatening injuries caused by artillery fire or burns.40 The casualties, many of them babies, young children and the elderly, were packed in every conceivable space - on beds, under tables, in hallways and outside in the driveway'. It is claimed that many photographs of this were relayed both to UN Headquarters and to the Government.

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LTTE Front Organizations to be held accountable for war crimes !

LTTE front organizations around the world are putting pressure on western countries and various human rights organizations to take action against Sri Lanka over alleged "war crimes". It is a well known fact that these were the same organizations that had been the lifeline to the LTTE during its three decades of terrorism.

Exploiting the liberties offered to them in the western countries these front organizations used many illegal and legal methods to raise funds for the internationally ban terrorist organization.

The terrorist activities by the LTTE include heinous crimes such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, bombing targeting civilians, suicide bombing, and child soldiering.

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No final decision that decides the future destiny of the nation should be reached without the approval at a referendum of the whole country.

The ugly and awesome ghost that is the 13th Amendment that was based on the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement of July 29th 1987 which I would call a veritable symbol of Indian imperialism, expansionism and naked diplomatic 'invasion' has again begun to hover all over the skies of our beloved Motherland echoing fear, terror and disaster.

In the wake of this dreadful threat it had been reported in the press that the President has decided to go for a Select Committee of Parliament to evolve out a political solution to the so-called ethnic problem that is supposed to exist in the North and the East. It was also stated that the Select Committee is expected to come out with a solution within a limited time frame that will be implemented after approval by the Parliament. This could be the confused reaction of a helpless government in front of the Indian bullying and the so-called "International" threats.

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KP flays Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, blames Nadesan for Prabhakaran's demise

Colombo, 14 July, (Asiantribune.com):
The Tamils of Sri Lanka pinned their hopes, trust and faith on the Tamil Nadu leaders, considered them as benefactors and redeemers, but they have miserably failed to practice what they preached. In the meantime, blame has been squarely placed on the former LTTE political czar B. Nadesan for the demise of the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Kumaran Pathmanathan or simply called "KP" blamed Nadesan for his lethargic approach and in the end which led ultimately for the demise of the LTTE leader.

South Indian Tamil leaders including Chief Minister J.Jayalithaa and the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi came up for a sharp criticism as Kumaran Pathmanathan lambasted them, "blood suckers," & "Parasites," who made use of the Sri Lankan Tamils' miseries, to enhance their selfish political agenda.

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LIKE THE WEST ASKING SRI LANKA TO SUBMIT ITSELF TO AN INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION, WE ASK THE CHANNEL FOUR TO SUBMIT ITSELF TO AN IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATION ABOUT THE 'KILLING FIELDS OF SRI LANKA' VIDEO

MEDIA RELEASE – SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUP, CANBERRA

The Channel Four video has brought forth immense disrepute to Sri Lanka and her people. It has depicted Sri Lanka and its people as brutals. This is an unfortunate situation. There had been worldwide condemnation of Sri Lanka. Based on this video Governments have proclaimed their foreign policy on Sri Lanka (such as the UK and Australia). Sri Lankan Government has vehemently maintained its stand that its forces did not commit such brutal, horrendous crimes and the video is unauthentic. We have shown 58 situations that very clearly show that the Channel Four video is not authentic

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"The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka"is proved a fake

"To enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain"
and the avowed values of the BBC:
"Trust is the foundation of the BBC, we are independent, impartial and honesty"

Channel 4 of the BBC in an attempt to haul the leaders of Sri Lanka before the International War Crime Courts, had produced a film " The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka" which was shown on UK Television and given ample publicity, shown at Geneva, New York and Australia, supported by Amnesty International and Human Rights Organizations.,

This is not the first time that the BBC has been partisan, totally misrepresented the real truth and has sacrificed all its aims and values.

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Radhika stabs Sri Lanka in the back again

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Under-Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict, was caught red-handed once again engaged in anti-Sri Lankan activities.

UN staff were shocked to find a daily press review issued from her office propagandizing the controversial footage of Channel 4 titled "Killing Fields of Sri Lanka". In her daily press review which she circulates within the UN she has gone out of her way to announce that this video was going to be aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation – a deliberate move to propagandize the ant-Sri Lankan footage among the UN and other international agencies. .

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Response to Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia Director, HRW

The issues raised by Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson in "Sri Lanka's Diplomatic Initiative Won't Make Killing Fields Disappear" are based on Channel 4's video and the report by an expert panel set up by the UN Secretary General. Two commentators in the Channel 4 video namely, Steve Cranshaw and Prof. William Schabas have judged the actions of the Sri Lankan Government by the "Rules of War". Therefore, this response is addressed from the perspective of "Rules of War".

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Patriot in a crate and ingrates

Sri Lanka's 'patriots' let out a howl of protest when British Defence Secretary Dr. Liam Fox, who had agreed to deliver the Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial lecture a few moons ago, backed out trotting out some lame excuses at the eleventh hour in view of a diplomatic brouhaha following the cancellation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Oxford Union speech owing to violent LTTE protests. He was flayed, insulted and even denounced as a Tiger sympathiser. But, at long last he came here and delivered the promised lecture on Saturday.

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Does the Free Media Movement love old wine?

The right to information is something that's made the news. Indeed it should not be in the news but ought to pervade everything associated with 'news'. We are not privileged in this regard. A few weeks ago I commented in this column about the burying of Karu Jayasuriya's Private Member's move to institute Right to Information legislation. The shrill objections from the Government benches indicated nothing if not regime-unease regarding the use to which such legislation could be put, never mind the fact that Karu's document proposed relevant and even necessary safeguards with respect to national security.

There are many things we need to thank Mahinda Rajapaksa for, but gratitude on one or more matters is not license for as-I-wish and certainly no reason to expect or demand gratitude, approval or silence on all things. We don't have the worst media policy on earth. When cowards and politically compromised individuals or organizations scream about media freedom or rather the lack of it, I am not impressed. There was a time when this society suffered all kinds of deprivations silently and consciously. 'Greater threat' was a legitimate excuse for silence. Absence of threat, however, makes certain deprivations and silences unacceptable.

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A note on Radhika Coomaraswamy's forwarding business

Perhaps it is a language/literacy issue or perhaps it's some fundamental human trait, but a significant number of people seem to believe that clicking the 'forward' option in email or mobile phone amounts to communication. Some words do go back and forth. Sometimes other people say better what we want to express. Still, it can't be just that, I feel. This world is made of compulsive forwarders. There's a lot of evidence in my inboxes.

This note is inspired by a forwarder, the forwarded and the forwarded to; in other words, a particular communication. The forwarder in this instance is Dr Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, former Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies and former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. This is not, then, some uneducated, ill-informed, too-much-time-on-hands person who doesn't know enough English to write an email or to minute a communication that is forwarded. When she says something, it comes with the full weight of office, qualification, experience and track-record. When the forwarding comes without qualifier and indeed includes an emphasis of selected sections of the original email, it is endorsement. Unqualified.

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Weiss gets wiser: denies 40,000 figure

Gordon Weiss, former UN spokesperson in Colombo, who claimed that 40,000 died in the last stages of the Vadukoddai War between January 2009 and May 18, 2009, has revised his figures again.

When he was in Sri Lanka he put the figure at 7,000. After he left his UN job and went to Australia he jacked it up to 40,000 to sensationalize his book, The Cage. At a book launch held in Melbourne last week, he changed his figure again and came down to 10,000 under questioning by Chanaka Bandarage, a lawyer.

Bandarage then asked why the brochure had mentioned 40,000. Weiss had disowned responsibility and passed the buck to the Deakin University which produced the brochure.

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13th Amendment is a poor way towards reconciliation

John Maynard Keynes, the economist, once said, "When the facts change I change my mind. What do you do"? The facts underpinning the call for devolution, and specifically the 13th Amendment, have changed dramatically, and beyond all recognition, in the past few decades. The positions, however, of supporters and opponents of the 13th Amendment have, if at all, hardened. The proponents wish to ram the 13th Amendment down the throats of an unwilling majority. The other side warns of a revolt of the masses nationwide if that happens.

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'Others can't solve our problems'

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, addressing a regional conference in Delhi recently, stressed the need for South Asia to battle terrorism without external help. He is sanguine about the region's potential to achieve prosperity. A concerted effort is called for to address the numerous frictions within the region, he has said.

One could not agree with the Indian premier more. External powers that reach out to this part of the world only peddle their hidden agendas on the pretext of helping solve the problem of terrorism etc. The remedies they prescribe or ram down our throats prove to be far worse than the maladies. How the West wanted Sri Lanka's terrorism tackled is a case in point. If this country had adhered to their roadmap for a 'negotiated settlement' and continued to appease the LTTE, it would have faced the same fate as Sudan. Perhaps, it would have been cut in half like a melon much earlier. Most of the foreign powers involved in Sri Lanka's peace process which was heavily weighted in favour of the LTTE were instrumental in creating the world's newest state, South Sudan, now in control of three quarters of the Sudanese oilfields, to which the West will have easy access. (It is not just for licking one's fingers that one harvests honey from a beehive, it is said in this country.)

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SL wants Fox to take up UNICEF
'missing children' report with LTTE

The government expects the UK to take up the issue of child combatants with the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and other LTTE front organisations operating in the country.

Defence Ministry and External Affairs Ministry sources told The Island that those demanding an international probe into accountability issues in Sri Lanka couldn't ignore the child combatants' issue. Their position is that the LTTE front organisations, which had raised funds overseas to procure armaments, should be held accountable for war crimes committed by the LTTE's military leadership.

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There are many ways to stand up, a man called Gamini reminded me

Anniversaries are for remembrance. We note certain anniversaries because they are significant. We note them because life overtakes incident and in that inevitable movement we not only forget moment and personality but lesson. There are 'days' dedicated to fathers, mothers, lovers, the earth and water. They make no sense to me. They are realities though. Some days, however, cannot be moved around at will. Birthdays, for instance. Death anniversaries.

Landmark days are good for remembering, I admit. Newspapers remember such days and it is good they do. Still, there are times when I feel we ought to remember randomly and collectively.

A little over a month ago I wrote about the Arantalawa massacre. Saffron robes turned chillie red that day. Thirty three bikkhus were murdered and four civilians too. Three bikkhus sustained critical injuries and one of them was permanently disabled. Among them was Ven Mahiyangane Dhammajothi Thera, then a young bikkhu just 21 years of age.

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News without ethics: media the Murdoch way

Fish rot from the head down. So do unethical businesses and corrupt societies. This is as true when the fish is an unethical business as one of the arm of liberal democratic government – executive, judicial or legislative. It is also true of the fourth estate or free press, the often forgotten power-centre that is the key to a functioning democracy.

Revelations that Rupert Murdoch's tabloid The News of the World was bribing police and listening to, and ever interfering with, the phone messages of average British citizens struck by tragedy – including the parents of murdered schoolgirls and relatives of those killed in the London underground bombings - has sparked a revolt by UK citizens and consumers of News media around the world.

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Channel 4 perpetuating lies and half-truths, to have a natural death

Channel - 4 continues to perpetuate lies and half-truths, expected to fold soon. British media excess will follow soon the plight of "News of the World," which was in existence for the last 168 years.

The TV channel, which is involved in shaming Sri Lanka, exploiting the people's miseries and challenging a sovereign nation of 20 million people with concocted video images, expected to follow suit soon the "News of the World."

What the Channel 4 is involved is to stop the reconciliation, rehabilitation and development process that has been put in place after a 30-year long separatist war, that led to the death of several thousands and destruction.

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Channel 4 Documentary: Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

Much has been written about the Channel 4 documentary - Sri Lanka's killing fields. John Snow's commentary in this documentary speaks out with much vengeance against Sri Lanka and sounds v