Muslim government officials, including all ministers and two governors, resigned yesterday from their posts following mounting pressure from senior Buddhist clergy and politicians.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce urged the Sri Lankan government to maintain law and order, expressing concern about the rising ethnic tensions in the island. 

In a letter to the Secretary of Defence, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said, "As the highest ranking official vested with responsibility for the maintenance of law and order, we expect you will ensure that all necessary measures are taken to maintain peace, law and order and prevent the occurrence of unlawful and disruptive activities that will disturb the peace of the communities." 

Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe met with the opposition leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa today to discuss economic issues following the Easter Sunday bombings. 

The MPs Dinesh Gunawardena, Susil Premajayantha, Bandula Gunawardena, Udaya Gammanpila, and Gamini Lokuge have accompanied Rajapaksa, who has publicly criticised the government for failing to prevent the bombings. 

The Minister of Finance, Mangala Samaraweera is also said to be taking part. 

An elderly Tamil man was hit and killed on Sunday by a Sri Lankan army vehicle in Nedunkeni in Vavuniya district.

Witnesses said that the army officer driving the vehicle had been speeding when he hit the man on a bicycle in front of Nedunkeni Maha Vidyalayam.

Aiyathurai Nadesan was remembered by journalists and media workers at commemorative events in the North-East on the fifteenth anniversary of his assassination.

Sri Lanka's police chief, who was suspended after the Easter Sunday bombings, has accused the president of failing to prevent the attacks. 

Inspector-General Pujith Jayasundara submitted a 20 page complaint to the Supreme Court stating there were communication gaps between the intelligence agencies and pointing to Sirisena as being ultimately responsible. 

"The head of the SIS, Nilantha Jayawardena, did not take seriously the intelligence shared by neighbouring India which warned of an impending attack by the NTJ," Jayasundara said in the complaint, AFP reported. 

A Tamil civil society organisation in Mannar was raided by the Sri Lankan army and harassed by a senior army official on Thursday.

The Mannar Social and Economic Development Organisation (MSEDO), a group that has supported land rights campaigns around Mannar was subjected to a sudden search operation involving dozens of army personnel.

Despite the staff acquiescing to the search, the senior army official present threatened and verbally abused the staff present and ordered them to switch off the office’s CCTV camera.

<p>A Sri Lankan army personnel was killed and two others severe injured from an explosion in Palaly, reportedly caused by a land mine in the occupied area.</p> <p>The personnel were clearing some land within the army camp’s premises, reportedly setting off a landmine when attempting to move a large rock.</p> <p>One personnel died on the spot from the impact. The other two were admitted to hospital.</p>

On midnight 31^st May 1981, the Jaffna Public Library, famous for being the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage, was set ablaze by Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs. The burning has since been marked by Eelam Tamils as an act of genocide.

Over 95,000 unique and irreplaceable Tamil palm leaves (ola), manuscripts, parchments, books, magazines and newspapers, housed within an impressive building inspired by ancient Dravidian architecture, were destroyed during the burning. Some texts that were kept in the library, such as the Yalpanam Vaipavama (a history of Jaffna), were literally irreplaceable, being the only copies in existence. It was one of the largest libraries in Asia.

A senior Buddhist monk, Athuraliye Rathana today launched a hunger strike in Kandy calling for the removal of a Muslim minister and two Muslim governors from their posts.