The inquiry into the floating armoury, which was suspected to have been used by former defence chief Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has been dropped.

The CID informed the court it would not proceed with the case as per the instructions of the Attorney-General.

A magisterial inquiry into Avant Garde Maritime Services, a private firm, was established after police seized more than 3,000 weapons in 20 containers from containers, soon after the presidential elections in January.

The constituents of the new national government says it will extend the parameters of its Memorandum of Uderstanding to include a common, formal response to the report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL).

Speaking to the Sunday Times, UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema said the response to the OISL will be one of the highlights of the extended MoU between the SLFP and the UNP.

Sri Lanka’s former commander of the army praised China for supporting the government during the armed conflict, stating that without it “we would not have been able to finish the war”.

Sarath Fonseka, who was recently promoted to Field Marshal, told Xinhua that Chinese support for Sri Lanka’s war effort was crucial and praised their “historic relationship” with the government.

"Without China's support we would have not been able to finish the war, basically," said the former army commander on Friday. Fonseka led the Sri Lankan army during the final phases of the armed conflict where tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed. An upcoming UN report into the final weeks of the war is due to be released later this month, with many of the deaths due to Sri Lankan government shelling.

China sold large quantities of military hardware to the Sri Lankan government, including Jian-7 fighter jets, anti-aircraft guns and JY-11 3D air surveillance radars.

The National Freedom Front claimed that measures taken by the new government, including appointing the Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan as leader of the opposition, posed a threat to national security.

NFF spokesman Mohammed Muzammi told a press conference at party headquarters that "the national government has removed the check point at Omanthai and the High Security Zone as well as the Sampur army camp while releasing the LTTE suspects who were in remand".

Mr Muzammi went on to single out Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Patali Champika Ranwaka for remaining silent on issues of “national security” and warned that the present government was “paving the way for separatism”.

The US Embassy in Colombo is organising a public lecture on the right to information, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Press Institute, Colombo Page reported.

Senior advisor for open government to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Corinna Zarek, will deliver the lecture entitled "Right to Information-A responsibility for all" at the Sri Lanka Press Institute Auditorium in Colombo on Tuesday.