“When the British came to Ceylon in 1796 there were three distinct kingdoms. The British made it one country for purposes of administrative convenience.”

“If they can’t guarantee their safety, it means they cannot accept us, and then it’s not only the safety it is also the working conditions for the Swedish, Finnish and Danish members.”

UNP meets with India's Premier, National Security advisor and Foreign Secretary.

“Yet if this is the argument, then every civilian who has not been resettled would add to the CFA violations by the government and the numbers would far exceed those of the LTTE.”

‘Yes, I would like to meet (Mr.) Pirapaharan,’ Akashi said in a 90-minute interview to IANS at his office in the heart of Tokyo. Describing the Tamil leader as a ‘man of conviction’ Akashi said: “Only he (Pirapaharan) can take the most difficult decisions.''

The JVP has put two conditions for joining : first, annul the 1988 merger of the Northern and Eastern province; second, disarm the LTTE before re-commencing talks with it.

In front of the assembled diplomatic corps in Colombo, President Rajapakse launched the ‘All Party Representative Committee on Constitutional Reforms’ and a panel of constitutional experts on Tuesday.

The Sri Lankan government has decided to allow India and China to explore for oil along its coast, news reports said Saturday.

India and China will be allowed to explore two of the six blocks identified for oil exploration off the island nation’s northwest coast, the state-run Daily News quoted Petroleum Resources Development Minister AHM Fowzie as saying.

Outgoing US Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead last week urged the Sri Lankan government to address legitimate Tamil grievances and ensure its armed forces conduct themselves better, even if provoked.

In his address to commemorate the 230th anniversary of United States’ Declaration of Independence from England, Lunstead emphasized on June 4 that there was no military solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem.

Several international media watchdogs warned last week that free expression conditions in Sri Lanka appear to be deteriorating amidst escalating violence in the country, which claimed the life of another journalist on 2 July 2006.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead freelance journalist Sampath Lakmal de Silva after abducting him from his parents’ home in Borallasgamuwa.

The Sri Lankan Government has announced that Tamils living in Colombo city and suburbs, and in the hill country are required to register with the Police station nearest to their residences.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Pujitha Jeyasundera, detailed the procedures to be followed by Tamil residents in fulfilling this new requirement at a press conference held on June 30 in Colombo district Administrative Secretariat.

The ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna last week indicated its willingness to join the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s minority government once he ‘proves himself’ by taking action to militarily defeat the Tamil Tigers.

“The opposition leader did not know that even as they met, the government had secured the defection of one of his MPs.”

'We know the complexity of the political problems any party would normally come across during a period of transition or a change from one party to another''.