There were no political issues involved in the decision to cancel flights to Sri Lanka said British Airways in a response to questions by the Sunday Leader.

The British Airways commercial manager for South Asia told the paper that the decision was based on non-profitability.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed that no one, including the Tamil diaspora, would be allowed to divide the country again when addressing the public in Sinhala last week.

"This is our country. As long as we are there [we] cannot allow it to be betrayed again, not when diaspora or even anyone else says anything," he said.

"A lot of people have criticized us for giving better roads, for giving lights/electricity, for schools functioning properly, for police functioning properly, for the beautification of Pradeshya Sabhas."

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa said he would comfortably win a third term in office speaking at a public function on Friday.

Speaking at a function in the southern town of Polgahawela, Rajapaksa added that individual candidates attempting to be a common candidate would not be able to achieve the backing of the public, reports the Sunday Leader.

Passing a resolution on Thursday, the Northern Provincial Council called on Sri Lanka's security forces leave all private lands and buildings in the Northern Province by the end of this year.

The motion was proposed by the NPC chair, of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), C. V. K. Sivagnanam, the Uthayan reported.

Female teachers in Jaffna are being forced to pay for and wear blue sarees, to represent the colours of the President's political party, during Mahinda Rajapaksa's Jaffna visit.

The teachers are having the cost deducted from their salaries, without any prior consultation.

David Cameron is working on a contract issued by pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora, said Sri Lanka's former ministry of defence spokesman on Saturday.

Photographs: Tamilnation.com

Maalathy was the first female fighter in the armed struggle against the Sri Lankan state oppression to lose her life. Malathy was killed at the age of 20, on the 10th of October 1987, during a confrontation with the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF).

The International Association of Tamil Journalists (IATAJ) is holding a conference in London, looking at the role of the media on October 11 in London.

The conference, entitled “The media in post war Sri Lanka: supporting democratisation in the era of the ‘War on Terrorism’”, aims to “to generate an exchange of ideas and insights between academics and professionals on the role of media for counteracting the delegitimisation of democratic process in post- war Sri Lanka”, a media communiqué said.

Journalists, academics and activists from around the world will participate in the conference, including award-winning journalist JS Tissanayagam, Jaffna university lecturer Guruparan Kumaravadivel, Vino Kanapathipillai, lecturer in international relations at SOAS, independent journalist Nirmanusan Balasundaram, Tamil Guardian co-editor Mario Arulthas, Dr.Ibrahim Sega Shaw, a lecturer in media, human rights and politics at Northumbria University, Prof. Rune Ottosen, professor in journalism at Oslo university, Dr Jude Lal Fernando of Trinity University, Dublin, and the head of the Centre for Policy Analysis Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu.

Hundreds of demonstrators in the North-East protested against the ongoing detention of human rights activist Balendran Jeyakumari and other political prisoners on Friday morning.


Tamil MPs, Northern Provincial Council (NPC) members and the public gathered in Vavuniya with black cloths tied around their mouths outside the district court, reports the Uthayan.


Heavy police presence was seen around the protesters as they marched in front of the Vavuniya district court.

A group of conservationists have written to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa calling on him to destroy a stockpile of seized African ivory tusks worth about $2.6 million, which he was to gift to a Buddhist temple.

The Federation of Environmental Organisations of Sri Lanka and the Clinton Global Initiative wrote to Rajapaksa, stating Sri Lanka should demonstrate its “sincere commitment” to opposing the ivory trade by destroying the stockpile of 359 Tanzanian elephant tusks.

Rajapaksa’s chief of staff had earlier written to the director general of Sri Lanka’s Customs department, saying, “I shall be thankful if you could kindly get the tusks ­released to the Presidential Secretariat as early as possible.”

Photograph Tamil Guardian

The Human Rights Committee on Wednesday concluded its review of Sri Lanka’s adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), with many key questions left unanswered by the Sri Lankan delegation.

On day two of the review, the committee questioned Sri Lanka further on its response to the list of issues raised by the experts.