Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse has awarded hundreds of military personnel who took part in the last phase of the armed conflict with medals for gallantry.

Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN and war crimes accused Major General Shavendra Silva was amongst the recipients of the highest honour, the Weera Wickrama Vibhushana medal.

The Director of the Media Centre for National Security in Sri Lanka, Lakshman Hulugalla described a film that recently halted a French festival in Sri Lanka as insulting to the government and its Security forces.

The Hindustan Times has reported that Sri Lanka is moving towards a nuclear agreement with Pakistan.

The paper reports that although India has proposed a similar pact, Sri Lanka was “dragging its feet” by not scheduling talks, after initial discussions last October, subsequent to which Delhi sent Colombo a draft pact.

"It was unanimously resolved that the candidate for the position of Chief Minister at the forthcoming Provincial Council elections for the Northern Province would be Mr. C V Wigneswaran, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka,"

The Commonwealth Lawyers Association, whilst calling for a venue change, questioned the validity of holding the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka, in an interview today.

Senior government officials have told The Sunday Island that international media, including Channel 4, would not be barred from attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November.