The former Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa is to form a new party, breaking away from the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP). 

The new party will hold consultations with other political parties in view of forming a 'Common Front', the Sunday Times reported. 

The split in the SLFP follows increasing animosity between members loyal to Mr Rajapaksa and those loyal to the current president, Maithripala Sirisena. 

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, who is due to visit Sri Lanka on August 31, said he hoped Sri Lanka "fully implements the resolution" passed by the UN Human Rights Council, reiterating the reasons why resolution called for international participation in any accountability mechanism. 

Muslims protested on Saturday demanding resettlement into Jaffna. 

Holding signs the protesters urged the Northern Provincial Council chief minister, C V Wigneswaran to take action. 

The bodies of five men who died at sea at Camber Sands last week were formerly identified by the police yesterday as that of a group of five British Tamil men who had been childhood friends. 

Tamil IDPs from Vali North this week accused the Sri Lankan government of seeking to portraying a false image of resettlement to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon during his visit next week by rehousing them in different land instead of allowing them to return to their own homes. 

"As the visit of UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon to Jaffna is scheduled this month end, the Sri Lankan government is speeding up its conspiracy to show as if the resettlement issue is settled," the president of the Vali North group for resettlement and rehabilitation, A Gunabalasingam said. 

Three Tamil students involved in clashes at the University of Jaffna last month were granted bail on Thursday worth Rs 60,000 each. 

The Northern Provincial Council member K Jayanthan appeared as the students' lawyer. 

The trial will begin on September 22. 
 

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party demanded the government launch an inquiry into alleged “racist and separatist elements of the” Tamil National Alliance who have been protesting against the building of Buddha statues in the Tamil North-East.

JHU National Organiser and Media Spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe told reporters in Colombo that protests against the building of Buddhist places of worship “should be inquired into”. “A large number of Kovils and Cristian churches are also being built in the North and East.,” he said. “We must ensure rights of the Sinhalese in the North and East.”

The Sri Lankan military announced the opening of a newly constructed building at its Eastern Province headquarters last week, as it continued to expand its presence in the region.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is to visit Jaffna next week, as part of a visit to Sri Lanka. 

The 3 day visit will include discussions with the Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe on August 31. 

"While in Sri Lanka, the Secretary General will also visit a resettlement site in Jaffna in north of the country and participate in an event on the role of youth in reconciliation and coexistence in Galle, in the south of the island," his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.