The home of the youth coordinator for the TNA on the islets in Jaffna has been targeted by a grenade attack, reported TamilNet on Tuesday.

Nishanthan, who is a former EPDP member, said he escaped the attack as the grenade hit a tree outside the house.

The young politician left the pro-government EPDP after discovering fraud in the municipal council of Jaffna, where he was elected for the EPDP.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) expressed ‘severe dissatisfaction’ with the comments made in Parliament by TNA leader Sampanthan.

The TNPF questioned why, if the TNA did not demand complete demilitarisation in the North-East, had TNA parliamentarians participated in protests calling for withdrawal of the army and signed a statement demanding demilitarisation in New Delhi in August 2011.

TNPF went on to accuse the TNA of acting falsely for the sake of winning the support of the Tamil people, and asserted that as parties forming the alliance and other TNA parliamentarians had not spoken out against Sampanthan’s statements, they must be assumed to agree with them.

Criticising Sampanthan for ‘undermining the Tamil people’s liberation struggle’ by portraying to the LTTE as terrorists. The TNPF stated that Sampanthan’s comments ammounted to justifications of the ‘war on terror’ argument offered up by the Rajapakse regime.

Extracts from the press release:

“Tamils see the Sri Lankan Army, which is 99% Sinhalese, as an occupational army. Reason being, this army is the prevalent tool employed in the Sri Lankan state’s scheme to destroy the existence of the Tamil nation.”

“Mr Sampanthan’s comments emphasising the reduction of military presence rather than demilitarisation is a sign of support for those forces that yearn to break the spirit of Tamil nationalism.”

The Ceylon Petroleum Company has stated that Sri Lanka still has not been able to obtain any crude oil from Iran, despite being granted a waiver from US sanctions.

Whilst seven students are reported to have been released today, three students are believed to have been arrested and detained at Joseph camp in Vavuniya, notorious for reports of torture.

Tamils in London protested on Monday against the on-going intimidation and arrest of Jaffna University students.

The Canadian MP for Kitchener Centre, Stephen Woodworth, reiterated his concerns over the human rights situation in the North-East, drawing attention to the recent incidents at the University of Jaffna.

In a statement, Woodworth said:

Indian officials have expressed concerns about recent moves by Sri Lanka which increased duty on Indian vehicle import into the country.

Sri Lanka has increased the duties for imports of vehicles from India, while giving exemptions to imports from Japan, reported the Sunday Times last month.

The paper also reported that a Chinese company was given clearance to set up a car plant.

Sampanthan outlines his views on militarisation of the North-East in the Sri Lankan parliament on Friday:

Here's a video of his address, extracts reproduced below: