The EPDP today rejected allegations that it was responsible for several murders and violent acts targeting Tamil politicians.

EPD leader Douglas Devananda, speaking in parliament today, said that the allegations are part of an agenda carried out by his political opponents.

“All these are politically motivated fabricated allegations leveled by my political opponents in order to tarnish me and my party’s image as well as to tarnish the image of the Government I am aligned to. With all the character assassin

India through its boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) can isolate Sri Lanka and rope in friendly countries to vote against handing over the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office (CIO) to its President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol. Thirumavalavan.

Addressing a demonstration organised by his party against India’s participation, he said once Mr. Rajapaksa assumed the office of the Chairperson it would be extremely difficult to subject him to any internatio

Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa says at a time when the city of Colombo is developing rapidly it is imperative to replace shanties and slums with sky high housing schemes.

The Ministry of Defence quoted him as saying this after he announced that the newly constructed ‘Mihidhu Senpura’ 500 housing scheme situated in Dematagoda is ready to be handed over to the public this month.

BJP today said it will be very difficult for it to support the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Sri Lanka to participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting if the Centre does not clearly spell out the agenda it will pursue in the conference.
Stating that the party national leadership had not yet taken a formal position on CHOGM participation, BJP National General Secretary and party in charge for Tamil Nadu, P Muralidhar Rao told reporters here that the Centre had not spelt out its agenda for the meet.

Sri Lanka has approved on arrival visa to controversial UK Channel 4 Director, Callum Macrae, despite the fact that he has not been granted a visa to enter India to join a delegation led by UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, who will be in New Delhi on 14 November.

Macrae, who earned the ire of Sri Lankan authorities for his documentary, No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, was expecting to fly to Sri Lanka to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), after his visit to India.

Prime Minister John Key will attend the meeting in Colombo, amid calls for him to send a strong message to Sri Lanka about its alleged human rights abuses.

Human rights advocates want an independent investigation into allegations Sri Lankan government forces committed war crimes towards the end of a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009.

The United Nations says 40, five months of the conflict.

Less than a fortnight ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s plans to attend the high-profile conclave remain uncertain amid signs of pressure mounting from a section of the Congress.

Though hotel rooms have been booked and contingency arrangements are in place for Dr. Singh, highly placed diplomatic sources told The Hindu that a decision had not yet been made.

Minister of State for Environment Jayanthi Natarajan has become the latest Congress leader to c

The chairman of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and former Attorney General C.R. de Silva passed away today.

He was receiving treatment at a private hospital where he was pronounced dead this morning.

C.R. de Silva was educated at Royal College Colombo where he Captained Royal College at Rugby Football in 1968, most notably at the Bradby Shield Encounter.

Over been reported missing in the North, according to data handed over to the Presidential commission investigating alleged disappearances.

A civil society organisation in Mannar handed over to the data to the commission after conducting research on those reported missing in the North.

The report states that in the Jaffna District 904 people are still missing while in Kilinochchi the number of missing stands at 610, Vavuniya 181, Mannar 138 and Mullaitivu 468 people.

British Prime Minister David Cameron will urge a “thorough” investigation into the fate of thousands of missing people in Sri Lanka when he attends a Commonwealth summit in the country, British Foreign Secretary William Hague has promised.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, the Foreign Secretary endorses a call made by this newspaper for a new inquiry into disappearances in Sri Lanka. The United Nations has recorded 5,676 “outstanding cases” of missing people – more than anywhere else in