<p>Ramkarpal Singh, MP for Bukit Gelugor, said there is no need to keep those detained for suspected “LTTE links” under the Security Offences Special Measures Act 2012 (SOSMA) as the investigation has concluded, Malaysiakini reported.</p> <p>Singh noted&nbsp; that investigation papers have been submitted to the Attorney General, therefore, “there is no need for the detainees to be further detained, although they have been remanded for a period of 28 days under SOSMA,” he said.</p> <p>He also urged that the detainees should be granted bail if they are charged. Singh also reiterated his call for SOSMA to be repealed.</p>

 

Nigeria’s army has a sent a delegation of six members, to receive five days of training from the Sri Lankan armed forces in Maduru Oya.

Major General G Oyefesobi, the director of the Nigerian Army, led the delegation and spoke with Sri Lanka’s Army Commander, Shavendra Silva.

According to a press release from the army, the delegation has stated they are considering “sending more troops to Sri Lanka for Special Forces training in [the] future”.

A former Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member has accused the Sri Lankan government of duplicity over its claims that Tamils are allowed to freely commemorate their dead, after he was questioned by Sri Lankan counter-terrorism police over his involvement in genocide memorial activities.

Former NPC member A Puvaneswaran was summoned to Colombo and questioned for three and half hours on October 24. Before his appointment Puvaneswaran was told nothing about the subject of the inquiry.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, Manuela Goretti, has urged Sri Lanka to exercise prudence and fiscal discipline in the lead up to Sri Lanka’s presidential election as well as structural reforms.

During an interview Manuela Goretti told reporters;

“Our advice remains prudent policies along with fiscal discipline and vigilant monetary policy to shore up market confidence. It is important to strengthen Sri Lanka’s resilience to internal and external shocks, given the country’s remaining vulnerabilities”

Residents of Vavuniya were alarmed by an unexpected patrol by Special Task Force troops around the town while Deepavali celebrations were ongoing on Sunday.

In some places the troops stopped their patrol bikes and questioned residents.

Residents said patrols and search operations were happening more and more frequently in the district, with ad-hoc check points set up where they had previously been dismantled.

The US Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asia in the State Department told the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week that the appointment of Shavendra Silva to the head of Sri Lanka’s army had “deeply concerned” Washington.

“We are deeply concerned by the appointment of Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva as Army Commander and the negative message the appointment sends for Sri Lanka’s purported commitment to post-war accountability,” Alice Wells told the committee.

Wells, who is the top US diplomat for South Asia, went on to add,

Tamil demonstrators staged a protest in Jaffna today, as former Sri Lankan defence secretary and front running presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa visited the city and met with a notorious paramilitary leader.

The presidential candidate for the United National Party (UNP) Sajith Premadasa has pledged to protect accused war criminal Shavendra Silva “no matter what”, at a rally in Homagama this weekend.

"No matter what pressures, I will protect Shavendra Silva and he will continue as the Army Commander,” declared Premadasa.

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa paid a Deepavali visit to Batticaloa prison to see his associate and paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, who is currently in remand for the 2005 assassination of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham.

<p>India’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has shifted its policy to explore establishing cross-border electricity with Sri Lanka.</p> <p>This plan comes after the rejection of an undersea power transmission link which was seen as too expensive. The aim of this project is to counter Chinese influence in the region through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China’s BRI project has provided billions of dollars in infrastructure development including railways, ports and power grids across the developing countries in Asia and Africa as well as some countries in Europe.</p>