Apr 19 (TN) The medical facilities available in Kilinochchi during the current period of peace is worse than what was available during the war, medical officials in Kilinochchi said, quoting statistics from government officials that show that seven women died during their maternity care at hospitals in Kilinochchi in the last year. more..

Apr 19 (DN) The success achieved during the first few months of the Sri Lankan peace process provides ample opportunity for the largest companies in South Africa to make substantial investments in the country, and the South African government will give leadership and direction in this regard, more..

Apr 19 (DJ) The International Monetary Fund agreed Friday to provide Sri Lanka with its largest-ever loan package - a set of loans worth $567 million that it said will help the country rebuild its war-torn economy and fight poverty. more..

Apr 19 (TN) Two years since she was brutally raped and tortured in custody, Ms. Sivamani Weerakoon, lives in abject poverty and uncertainty. The mother of three said that she was never offered counselling to help her cope with the trauma of her ordeal. more..

Apr 19 (SLA) A woman has made a complaint at MUTTUR Police Station on 17 April 2003 stating that her husband had gone missing from the general area of MUTTUR about 13 km south of TRINCOMALEE town since 14 April 2003 around 5.30 p.m. more..

Apr 19 (SLA) A bowser carrying milk has been detained by the LTTE in the general area of KARADIYANARU about 23 km west of BATTICALOA on 16 April 2003 around 5.30 p.m. According to the driver the bowser has been detained for its involvement in a previous motor accident. more..

Apr 19 (SLA) Six hundred and five lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 11 April 2003 – 17 April 2003. more..

Apr 19 (IE) The Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU) has set up a collaborative course in business management and public administrative services, with the open universities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, for better academic interaction between the countries. more..

Apr 19 (Gulf) President Chandrika Kumaratunga arrives here today on a two-day goodwill visit which is being seen as significant in the Dhaka-Colombo relationship. President Iajuddin Ahmed will receive his Lankan counterpart when she arrives at the Zia International Airport in Dhaka at 11.00am. more..

Apr 19 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's volatile east coast was calmer on Saturday as the government poured troops into the area after communal clashes threatened the island's peace process ahead of a huge donors' meeting set for Tokyo. more..

Apr 19 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga wishes all Christian brothers and sisters a happy Easter. Full text of the message: Message for Easter Sunday - 2003. I am pleased today to wish all our Christian brothers and sisters a happy Easter. more..

Apr 19 (DM) Tension continued in the Muttur area yesterday as troops fired in the air to separate Muslim and Tamil groups following clashes overnight that killed three people and injured six. more..

Apr 19 (HT) A leading pro-LTTE Sri Lankan Tamil political commentator has warned the Tamils of the island that India may be planning to intervene in the Sri Lankan peace process to weaken the LTTE in the short run, and to establish its hegemony over the entire country in the long run. more..

Apr 19 (AFP) Curfews were extended at a Muslim-dominated town in northeastern Sri Lanka as inter-communal clashes there threatened the island's Norwegian-backed peace bid, police said. more..

Apr 19 (Rediff) India moved into the final of the Navision fifth SAARC golf championship with consummate ease and will meet Sri Lanka in the decider matchplay rounds on Sunday. At the par-72 Delhi Golf Club, India finished on top of the five-team table with a two-day aggregate of 286 after 36 holes of strokeplay. more..

Apr 19 (CI) Mahela Jayawardene sprang back into form with a brilliant hundred in a two-day warm-up match against New Zealand on Saturday, guaranteeing himself selection for the first test starting on April 25. more..

Apr 19 (AFP) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga began a two-day official visit to Bangladesh Saturday to discuss South Asian issues, in the first such trip here by a leader of the island nation in eight years. more..

Apr 20 (TN) The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Saturday imposed restriction on transporting palmyra logs to Jaffna town from Karainagar. The SLN authorities camped at Karainagar naval base told the public that they should obtain pass from the local SLN unit to remove palmyra logs to Jaffna town, sources said. more..

Apr 20 (TOO) President Chandrika Kumaratunga began a two-day official visit to Bangladesh yesterday, saying she was committed to the success of the ongoing peace process with the Tamil Tigers rebels. more..

Apr 20 (SL) The government launched a two pronged offensive last week moving swiftly on the economic as well as the political fronts. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe dispatched Minister Milinda Moragoda together with a high powered delegation to the US more..

Apr 20 (SL) The LTTE swallowed a bitter pill last week when debarred from attending the US sponsored seminar at the Loy Auditorium in Washington. The Tigers who went into a huff over the flagrant rebuff by the US have now turned their guns on Colombo and to a lesser extent Oslo. more..

Apr 20 (Island) Ports Development, Shipping and Muslim Affairs Minister Rauff Hakeem Friday told journalists in Muttur that he did not intend leaving the government now but was keen on working with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to defuse tension in the area. more..

Apr 20 (SO) As the situation in Muttur was brought under control, the SLMM summoned the LTTE for a meeting with local community leaders to settle the problem and is also arranging a larger meeting of the LTTE hierarchy and government security officials to iron out North - East security issues. more..

Apr 20 (Hindu) President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, who arrived here today, is scheduled to hold talks with the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, tomorrow during which the entire gamut of bilateral relations between the two countries is likely to be discussed. more..

Apr 20 (ST) The Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), retired Norwegian Major General Tryggve Teleffsen, has proposed that the Government "recognise the LTTE Sea Tigers as a de facto naval unit" and demarcate areas at sea for "live firing exercises" by them. more..

Apr 20 (Hindu) The number of Indian tourists visiting Sri Lanka is on the rise in the last few months, thanks to the ongoing peace process. Responding to the boom in the tourist traffic from India, the Sri Lankan Airlines would be launching new services linking Kochi to Colombo from April 22, more..

Apr 20 (Deepika) Sri Lankan authorities have denied its security forces were targeting LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran for an assassination despite the ongoing peace efforts. more..

Apr 20 (PTI) More than 35,000 people have been made homeless in a town in north-eastern Sri Lanka following clashes between Muslims and Tamils, officials said today. more..

Apr 20 (Gulf) Tamil guerrilla representatives will meet with Muslim religious leaders in north eastern Sri Lanka today at a meeting arranged by Scandinavian monitors to defuse the escalating tension in the area as the government continued an indefinite curfew to prevent further clashes. more..

Apr 20 (AFP) Relief workers were battling to feed some 35,000 people left homeless in a Muslim-dominated town where inter-communal clashes threatened to scuttle Sri Lanka's fragile peace bid, officials said. more..

Apr 20 (KT) VERY once in a while Sri Lanka's current peace process, now in its 16th month, runs into turbulent waters. Yet - unlike in the past - saner counsel has prevailed and disputes sorted out amicably. more..

Apr 20 (KT) Rob Subbiani claimed a hat-trick of tries as the Arabian Gulf rugby team stormed to a convincing 48-25 win over Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday. The Bahrain winger crossed twice in the first half and completed his treble after the break for the visitors more..

Apr 20 (AP) The seventh round of peace talks between the the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels will be held as scheduled in Thailand despite fears about severe acute respiratory syndrome, a top newspaper said on Sunday. more..

Apr 20 (HT) Proposals made by the aSLMM for preventing clashes in the sea between the Sri Lankan Navy and the naval arm of the LTTE, called "Sea Tigers", seem to be based almost entirely on the partisan proposals made earlier by the Sea Tigers' chief, Col Soosai. more..

Apr 20 (PTI) After guiding Sri Lanka to unprecedented heights, Australian Dav Whatmore, who has been appointed as the new Bangladesh team coach, will try his hands at resurrecting the sagging fortunes of the country. more..

Apr 20 (AFP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga was due to go into talks with Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on wide-ranging matters here Sunday, the second day of her visit to Bangladesh, officials said. more..

Apr 20 (TN) Mosque trustee board officials Sunday foiled attempts to spread unrest in several Muslim towns in the Batticaloa and Amparai districts. Anonymous Islamic groups issued inflammatory leaflets Saturday in the two districts urging Muslims to protest against recent incidents in Mutur. more..

Apr 21 (JT) Japan plans to play a leading role in rebuilding strife-torn Sri Lanka. Peace talks are under way to end more than 20 years of ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese (Buddhist) majority and the Tamil (Hindu) minority. An international conference on Sri Lankan reconstruction and development is scheduled for June in Tokyo. more..

Apr 21 (Hindu) The President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is on a two-day visit here, on Saturday condemned the violent event in the "international arena" — an apparent reference to the Iraq war — and said it put to question the international systems' ability to maintain order in the world. more..

Apr 21 (Hindu) An "internal issue" of the LTTE took a communal turn, resulting in the recent violence in an eastern Sri Lankan village, a Tamil political party opposed to the Tigers said today. The party urged Muslims to desist from creating ethnic discord. more..

Apr 21 (TN) Two Sinhalese youths alleged to have been abducted by some unidentified persons few weeks ago have returned home, according to police sources. Sinhalese activists had accused LTTE for the disappearance of these youths. more..

Apr 21 (TN) The entire Trincomalee district has been brought under twelve-hour police curfew with effect from Sunday at 7 p.m. The curfew will be lifted Monday at 7 a.m. police announced through public address system in the Trincomalee town, sources in Trincomalee said. more..

Apr 21 (Island) LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham told a rally in Geneva recently that the LTTE has a de-facto administration in the areas controlled by them and his organisation is in control of 3/4th of their homeland and have their own judiciary, police, administration and law enforcement mechanisms. more..

Apr 21 (PTI) India reasserted their supremacy as the golfing superpower of the region, drubbing Sri Lanka 3-0 to clinch the fifth SAARC Golf Championship trophy at the par-72 Delhi Golf Club on Sunday. more..

Apr 21 (PTI) Expecting a surge in tourist traffic from the Indian expatriate community in the Gulf, the Sri Lankan Airlines is starting Dubai-Colombo-Kochi flights from tomorrow, with the promise of "competitive air fares". more..

Apr 21 (SLA) A soldier attached to the Army camp KOKKUTHUDUWAI, about 17 km. northwest of PULMODDAI had gone missing since 11 a.m. on 19 April 2003. Preliminary investigation had revealed that he had move out of the sentry point at the Forward Defence Line (FDL) without permission. more..

Apr 21 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's state oil refinery Ceylon Petroleum Co (Ceypetco) has issued an import tender for 40,000 tonnes of 0.5 per cent sulphur gas oil for May delivery, a company official said. more..

Apr 21 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Friday instructed the three Service Commanders and the Police Chief to initiate immediate action to control the security situation in the Muttur area. The President directed that the military and police presence be increased in this Eastern town to restore law and order there. more..

Apr 21 (PSL) “There have been some positive developments in the ongoing peace process such as the LTTE staying at the table for the longest time ever…” President Chandrika Kumaratunga told media men, when asked about the Sri Lankan peace process. more..

Apr 21 (CI) Australian Steve Rixon is set to become the latest shortlisted candidate to turn down the chance of coaching Sri Lanka, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). more..