Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF) announced that it had arrested a man in Kilinochchi this weekend, accusing him of possessing 2.4 kilograms of cannabis.

The man, who remains unnamed by Sri Lankan security forces at present, was arrested following a joint raid between the Sri Lankan navy and the STF on Saturday. 

He remains in Sri Lankan custody at present.

The Indian military is likely to transfer a Dornier reconnaissance aircraft to Sri Lanka as it looks to build closer ties to Colombo, having just completed a joint military training exercise on the island.

Toronto’s mayor John Tory met with members of the Tamil community last month and pledged his office’s support behind a drive to create a cultural and recreational hub for Tamil-Canadians.

At least four “Sri Lankan nationals” have been arrested at Luton airport this week on suspicion of membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation announced Britain’s counter-terror police on Friday.

According to a statement from the Metropolitan Police, British authorities “were made aware of the men” who had arrived in the UK on an international flight on the evening of Wednesday, 10 April.

The next day the police stopped them under Schedule 7 of the UK Terrorism Act 2000 at Luton airport. 

The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture has completed its first field visit to Sri Lanka earlier today and will now look to submit a confidential report on its findings to the government.

“The delegation visited police stations, prisons, remand prisons, military camps, rehabilitation centres, mental health institution, a rehabilitation centre for children, and held meetings with the Government representatives, Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission and civil society representatives,” said a UN press release.

Sri Lanka’s former defence chief, accused of overseeing the massacre of thousands of Tamils, announced he had taken steps to renounce his American citizenship as he arrived back in Colombo on Friday.

German authorities have indicted a Tamil man, accusing him of committing war crimes in 2008 whilst he was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Federal prosecutors said that 37-year-old Sivatheeban B stands accused of executing 15 Sri Lankan soldiers. The AP reports that he is also accused of killing two Sri Lankan soldiers a year later.

Other charges he faces include membership in a foreign terrorist organization, war crimes, two cases of manslaughter and 11 cases of attempted manslaughter.

See more from the AP here.

The Sri Lankan military announced that it had constructed houses in at least two Sinhala settlement villages in the North-East, as the militarised colonisation of the Tamil homeland continues.

The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) accused the Sri Lankan government of wanting to “keep the Tamil people as second-class citizens”.

A protest in Mandaitivu prevented government officials from surveying land intended for appropriation by the Sri Lankan navy.

The navy has been occupying the island since 1990 with its camp based on over 18 acres of land belonging to 11 Tamil owners.