The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) warned that there were plans underway by the government, to sell areas of strategic importance to national security in the North-East to “pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” groups in the Tamil diaspora for US$450 million.

The governor of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank on Wednesday rejected demands to stop foreign borrowing until after the elections, scheduled to be held on August 17.

UPFA MP and former foreign minister GL Peiris in a letter to the secretary to the ministry of finance and the governor Arjuna Mahendran called on them to "act in the best public interest and ensure that the management of public finance, the economy and external debt will not be permitted to get further deteriorated during the ensuing 6-8 weeks."

Mr Mahendran, in a letter to The Island, responded that the continuing borrowing could save the treasury money.

"The Department of External Resources has solicited proposals on direct US Dollar term loans to the Government of Sri Lanka from reputed international financial institutions. These direct loans are expected to be contracted at, as the letter states much lower rates of interest than what the Treasury could reasonably obtain through the issuance of Sri Lanka sovereign bonds and thus save the Treasury considerable sums of money,” the letter said.

The Sri Lankan navy has declared a general amnesty for deserters, a statement by the defence ministry said.

The amnesty will start today and run till the end of September this year. The Sri Lankan air force declared a general amnesty for all deserters last week.

An earlier amnesty in March saw 12,060 deserters return to the military.

Sri lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena is reported to have refused to allow his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the forthcoming general elections on an SLFP ticket, Ada Derana quotes political sources in Colombo.

Rauff Hakeem, after meeting with the UNP leader and prime m

At least six Tamil village (GS) officers in the Northern Province have been called for  rehabilitation at a military camp in Sri Lanka.

The UPFA has agreed to nominate former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the election on its ticket.

The United National Party (UNP) reiterated that it would not allow an international war crimes inquiry to investigate former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and former army chief Sarath Fonseka.

Speaking to media on Monday, Deputy Minister of Justice Sujeewa Senasinghe said the world “is aware of the fact that our leaders and the armed forces have carefully conducted this war to save the civilians”.

“We will not allow any international probe against Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka,” Minister Senasinghe said, according to the Colombo Mirror.

“We give that pledge. Nobody can play fool with us and ours is an independent democratic country. We pledge that we will not allow our leaders or the armed forces to be tried before international tribunals”.

The General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena, Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, said the new party launched by the Buddhist group would contest the general election with the main objective of representing the Sinhala community.

The World Bank has approved a US$ 165 million loan to Sri Lanka to help improve access to drinking water and sanitation.

The NGO, Together Against Genocide (TAG, formerly Tamils Against Genocide) has welcomed the prosecution of Sri Lankan Army Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake for the Mirusuvil Massacre, but has said that much more must be done to end impunity.

Rathnayake has been sentenced to death over the massacre of eight Tamil civilians, including two children, who were arrested by Sri Lankan security forces and subsequently murdered and buried in a mass grave in December 2000.

The drawn out timeline of the trials and the fact that only one out of fourteen soldiers originally implicated has been convicted reveals a failure of the Sri Lankan Judicial Authority, TAG said in a statement on Sunday. The organisation has demanded that Sri Lanka ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; allow the ICC to investigate all instances of war crimes and violations of international law; and co-operate with the UN investigation human rights violations.

TAG also urged the international community to refer the incidences to the ICC; and to urge the Sri Lankan government to promote international justice and protect witnesses to atrocities.

“The Sri Lankan judicial authorities are clearly unwilling to proceed with criminal trials against the Sri Lankan Army,” the organisation highlighted, calling for efforts to trace command responsibility to higher levels of the army.

A suspect in the murder case of TNA MP Nadarajah Raviraj was released on bail earlier today.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Nirosha Fernando granted bail to Captain Samantha Munasinghe on a cash bail of Rs25,000 and a Rs500,000 surety bail.

Mr Munasinghe earlier this month filed a fundamental rights petition, alleging illegal detention by the CID.

Mr Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo in November 2006, at a time when the capital was heavily fortified by Sri Lanka's military. The government was accused of being behind the attacks by the TNA, diaspora organisations and the UNP. The US led international criticism of the government and urged it to conduct an investigation.