The leader of the Tamil National Alliance, R. Sampanthan, has called for a removal of military camps in the Northeast of the island.

Speaking to Tamil media, Sampanthan said his party would continue to campaign for a reduction in military presence.

"The current ratio of security personnel in the north of the country is one soldier to every eight civilians. This is too much and we have highlighted the need to reduce the military presence to restore normalcy to this region," he said.

Speaking to Charles Haviland of the BBC, General Sarath Fonseka, asserted that he was in charge of the military in 2009, and not the political leadership.

See BBC report here.

Criticising "some people", for "trying to hide their face when it comes to war crimes and other issues", as "it give the impression to the rest of the world, that these people are guilty of something,"  General Fonseka said that he would "not be scared".

The Sri Lankan government has declared that the assets of those linked to “terrorist” activity will be frozen and seized, both inside and outside of the country, as part of new regulations put in place by the External Affairs Ministry.

A “Competent Authority” will be created to oversee the seizures, appointed by the Foreign Minister G L Peiris and Defence Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The body, once commissioned, will have the authority to freeze and seize all funds, assets and resources of any group deemed to be linked to “terrorists”.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to Sri Lanka’s GL Peiris on issues of accountability, free media, human rights and demilitarising the North, according the spokesperson Victoria Nuland, a move that was rejected just hours later by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Asked if prosecuting war crimes and responsibility for the estimated 40,000 civilian deaths in the final phase of the armed conflict was discussed, Ms. Nuland replied,

Sri Lanka has announced that a new subsidy for fertilisers would be granted to farmers with supplementary crop cultivations, expanding a scheme currently only available for paddy farmers.

Minister S.M. Chandrasena stated that the new subsidy was decided by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapksa, after discussions with farmers. He announced that the new subsidy was a means of tackling a surplus of paddy cultivation.

A total of 234 Tamil detainees are now on hunger strike at prisons across the country, which has stretched into its fifth day, with more detainees joining the protest.

The detainees, some who have been held without charge for several years, have asked to be either charged or released.

India’s plans to lend ancient fragments of the Buddha’s bones to Sri Lanka have been slammed by Tamil Nadu activists.

Sri Lanka signed an agreement with India on Friday, permitting the transfer of the relics for the celebrations marking the 2,600th anniversary of Buddha’s enlightenment.

The request was made by President Rajapakse to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a visit last year.

Tamil Nadu politician Vaiko criticised India’s decision in a letter to the Prime Minister.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has slammed the Sri Lankan Supreme Court’s decision to rejection a petition on the government’s website censorship earlier this week, filed by members of the Free Media Movement.

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program stated,