Human rights expert Yasmin Sooka has criticised the decision to go ahead with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka.

Sooka, who was on the Panel of Experts, appointed by Ban Ki-moon to investigate human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, said it must not be rewarded by hosting the event, as it was still perpetrating abuses against civilians.

Hundreds of Tamil protesters were met with riot police and Sri Lankan security forces, at today's demonstration in Tellipalai against the Sri Lankan Army's seizing of private land in Valikaamam North in Jaffna. (See here for report in Tamil by Uthayan).

After staging a sit down protest in front of Tellipalai Divisional Secretariat, tensions rose as protesters breached police barricades and began to march towards the entrance of the High Security Zone, and attempted to enter the Divisional Secretariat building in order to make their pleas for the military to leave their land.

Dozens of riot police and security forces immediately stepped in to kettle back the protesters within the barricades.

Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister, GL Peiris, slammed any notion of foreign intervention in Sri Lanka, whilst speaking at an event to mark the start of Sri Lanka's 'National Policy on Social Integration'.

Dismissing foreign intervention in what he described as Sri Lanka's 'internal affairs', Peiris said:

The United States Embassy in Colombo has announced that the country has been providing training to Sri Lanka’s Navy and Coast Guard as part of improving the island’s “border security”.

20 Sri Lankan Coast Guard Officers and 4 Sri Lankan Navy Officers had graduated as Coast Guard instructors who could go on to train other members, after training funded by the US Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program.

The Sri Lankan Air Force has opened a new office of its commercial wing in Jaffna.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has rejected demands that Australia should boycott the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka.

The Foreign Minister claims he has not seen any evidence that the Sri Lankan government deliberately killed Tamil civilians.

"Any suggestion of a boycott would be counter-productive. It would simply isolate the country and render it defiant of international opinion," he told ABC.

Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa had a special service for him at Temple Trees on the Buddhist festival of Bak Poya Day on Friday.