The International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) presented Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera with an award for “Special contribution to reconciliation and coexisting of different groups in Sri Lanka.”

The director of the IFIMES Dr Zijad Becirovic in his congratulatory speech, commended Mangala Samaraweera’s contribution to the “development of  Sri Lanka into a successful and equitable multi-ethnic, multicultural, multireligious and multilingual country.”

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The government is recruiting more Tamils to the police, armed forces and prisons department said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe yesterday in parliament. 

Responding to a question raised by leader of the EPDP, Douglas Devananda, Mr Wickremasinghe noted that Tamils had historically been in the police force but issues arose after 1978. He blamed the reduction of Tamils in the police force and armed forces on the 1983 riots and the LTTE.

Two men were charged on Friday over attacking the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, Ibrahim Sahib Ansar in Malaysia last Sunday, the Malay Mail reported. 

A Kalaimughilan and V Balamurugan, 25 and 34 respectively, face up to two years in prison and a fine if found guilty. 

A bail of RM 7000 was granted in one surety each, with a trial date fixed for October 7th. 

The pair's lawyer has requested a reduced bail as both are from low income families. 

Sri Lankan soldiers oversaw the distribution of food at the famous chariot festival of the Nallur temple in Jaffna last month, as criticism of the military’s involvement in civil life in the North-East continues.

A court in Sri Lanka on Thursday ordered the exhumation of the body of the former Sunday Leader editor, Lasantha Wickremetunge, as part of a police inquiry, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Wickremetunge, who was critical of the then Rajapaksa led government, was assassinated in January 2009. 

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sri Lanka in May 2017, claimed Sri Lankan Health Minister and Cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne.

The trip to the island will be Mr Modi’s second visit, since he arrived in March 2015, where he also toured the Tamil North-East and met with Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran.

Mr Senaratne made the announcement as he met with India’s health minister J P Nadda at a yoga session in Colombo on Wednesday.
 

The commander of the Sri Lankan Army’s 53 Division, which is accused of committing war crimes during the final stages of the armed conflict, denied all reports of human rights violations, in an interview with Daily FT.

Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were massacred in the closing months of the fighting, as hospitals were shelled and the Sri Lankan government declared “No Fire Zone” was repeatedly attacked. Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne though stated that he “strongly refute[s] these allegations”.

A group of high ranking Sri Lankan military officials are in London to take part in a UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial summit to be held on Thursday.

Ministers from 80 countries, including Sri Lanka, are scheduled to take part in the event, which will discuss plans to improve the planning of peacekeeping operations by the United Nations.

The event is being hosted by Britain’s Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon and will take place in Lancaster House, London.

The official spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General said his words “spoke for themselves” when Ban Ki Moon compared the massacres in Sri Lanka to the genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica.

Spokesperson Farhan Haq was responding to a question from The Island, regarding the Secretary-General’s remarks in Colombo, where he admitted the global body had made “serious mistakes” in its conduct.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Ports and Shipping stated that special attention should be paid to security concerns, during the development of Kankasanthurai (KKS) Port in Jaffna, on a recent visit to the region.

Arjuna Ranatunga, the former cricketer turned politician, told Sri Lanka Port Authority officers that “national security” should be at the forefront during the development of the port, which is taking place with the help of the Indian government.