Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa alleged that Sri Lanka’s national security and economy was at risk under the new regimes governance.

A representative of the US State Department met with the chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Chairman to discuss Sri Lanka’s potential violation of its commitment to US sanctions on Iran’s crude oil.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will not be supporting the 20th Amendment, which has recently been approved by the Sri Lankan cabinet, as it will reduce the number of parliamentary seats in Jaffna from 11 to 6, said spokesperson Suresh Premachandran.

The SLFP opposition leader Nimal Siripala de Silva on Wednesday questioned Foreigm Minister Mangala Samaraweera over the meeting with the Global Tamil Forum and the TNA which occurred in London last weekend.

Mr de Silva said in a statement to parliament, GTF had been acting against the national interests of Sri Lanka, by promoting a “separatist agenda and destroying Sri Lanka’s image at international forums”.

"There were further reports that the meeting had been facilitated by some non-governmental organisations based in South Africa, several Norwegian organisations and was attended by representatives of a political party in Sri Lanka and an MP of that party [TNA MP MA Sumanthiran],” he said.

The opposition leader said the meeting was reported to have been aimed at lifting the ban on Tamil diaspora groups, including the GTF, as terrorist entities.

Sri Lanka’s currency dropped to a record low on Friday, Reuters reported.

On Thursday, the Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran said warned that the government should let market forces determine its rupee exchange rate and that trying to buck the global trend of a rising dollar is "suicidal".

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Thursday that Sri Lanka is planning to borrow $1bn, in five-year syndicated loans from international banks and it could borrow up to $2bn.

"We feel, before the LIBOR goes up, we can do certain things and get the benefits," Karunanayake told a Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) forum in Colombo.

"We find unsolicited proposals coming in from banks like BNP, Credit Suisse, and Barclays roughly at 325-375 (basis points) and we believe that we could collect about $1 billion in the next couple of days .... It would even go up to $2 billion."

Mr Karunanayake also said Sri Lanka is negotiating foreign exchange swaps with two more countries, after a swap agreement with India for $1,500mn was completed in March, with around $400mn already drawn.

A domestic mechanism to deal with issues of accountability in Sri Lanka will not be sufficient, said a US Senator in a situational update on Sri Lanka.

US Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, stressing the importance of accountability for potential war crimes on Tuesday, said,

“For years, impunity for serious crimes has been the norm in Sri Lanka.  The government is working to establish what it describes as a “domestic mechanism” to deal with accountability for human rights violations.  A purely domestic mechanism, however, is not likely to be sufficient."

Stressing the need for a credible accountability process, which includes prosecutions, he added,

It is essential that the justice process is not only about truth telling, but is a credible, independent mechanism with authority to investigate, prosecute, and appropriately punish those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, on both sides. “

Calling for internationalised accountability mechanisms that were established by consulting families of the war victims, Mr Leahy added,

The Sri Lankan military commander heading Jaffna declared that camps in the North will remain in order to maintain “national security”.

Major General Nandana Udawatte told journalists at the Palali military base in Jaffna that currently the security forces was ensuring there was no security threat in the North, in the wake of violent protests against the rape and murder of a Tamil schoolgirl last month.

However, he went on to say that “today’s security situation can change in the future so we need to keep that in mind as well”.

“The Palaly base is not just for Palali but the entire Jaffna,” continued the commander, insisting that the removal of the army bases could result in a threat to national security. The army commander also conceded that there were still 93 military camps situated in the Jaffna peninsula alone.

He went on to state the army was “a very disciplined unit” and denied all links with the drug trade in the North-East.

An official from the US State Department is set to visit Sri Lanka to study the state of the media on the island since the new government has come in to power.

Colombo Gazette reports Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Eileen O’Connor will be meeting with government officials and media persons on the island during her trip.

The International Federation of Journalists said in its latest report on press freedom that journalists in the North-East of the island continue to face threats and harassment, whilst Tamil journalists have continued to face harassment by Sri Lankan security forces.

Two former prime ministers, who both served during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency, have been appointed as senior advisers to President Maithripala Sirisena.

The Jathika Hela Urumaya, a Sinhala-nationalist party in the ruling coalition led by the UNP, said it had forced the withdrawal of a cabinet paper, which proposed the granting of government compensation to LTTE members who were injured during the armed conflict.

“Some ministers submitted a cabinet paper proposing that the injured LTTE terrorists should be compensated by the government. I strongly objected it and it had to be withdrawn,” energy minister and JHU general secretary Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

The minister also objected to the recently proposed ‘Sri Lankan diaspora festival’, to be organised by the government, and discussions held with diaspora groups, saying it would instigate “racism and terrorism”.

“There has been no discussion within the government about this. We do not think hosting such a discussion with organisations banned by the defense ministry through a gazette notification would ensure peace in the country. It is an instigation of terrorism,” Mr. Ranawaka said, referring to the recent meeting in London between Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, and representatives of the Global Tamil Forum and the TNA.

Speaking at a meeting with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s Council for Business with Britain (CBB), James Dauris, said,

Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed it met with representatives of the Global Tamil Forum and the TNA in London last weekend, Ceylon Today.