Articles from the author

PA set to confront Ranil government

Ranil, Kadirgamar talk on impasse

An exchange of prisoners between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil guerrillas is due to take place ahead of the proposed peace talks as a further confidence-building measure between the two sides, a local news newspaper said yesterday.

The ruling United National Front (UNF) government has set a deadline for President Chandrika Kumaratunga to give her consent for proposed constitutional amendments further deepening the crisis between the two sides.

Unidentified gangs carried out a string of attacks on the offices of a Marxist party in Sri Lanka as they marked the 13th death anniversary of their late leader Rohana Wijeweera who was killed during a government crackdown on an uprising by the group.

Two key Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders involved in peace talks with the Sri Lankan government yesterday returned to the areas dominated by them in the northern part of the country determined to get their members to fulfill the commitments made at the negotiating table.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga has welcomed the outcome of the donor conference in Oslo, Norway, while calling on Tamil Tiger rebels to renounce violence and lay down arms, echoing a U.S. appeal which the guerrillas have rejected.

Life in the eastern Ampara district came to a standstill yesterday after protestors backed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organised a strike against an overnight shooting incident by the police which has so far claimed the lives of eight people and left 13 injured, marking the worst incident during the nine-month-old shaky ceasefire.

Already in crisis over its inability to strip President Chandrika Kumaratunga of her powers, the United National Front government is now facing a threat to its majority in Parliament.

The families of six soldiers detained by Tamil guerrillas yesterday began a sit-in in the north-eastern port city of Trincomalee, disrupting normal life in the city and raising tension in the area.

The Sri Lankan government and President Chandrika Kumara-tunga have decided to appoint a joint committee to review the peace process, showing signs that the two sides were willing to work together to push forward the Norwegian backed peace process.

Thirteen men detained as suspected Tamil rebels protested on a prison rooftop yesterday demanding speedy hearing of their cases or immediate release, police said as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) filed a bail application in a Sri Lankan court to secure the release of two of their cadres.