Apr 15 (AP) Police reimposed a curfew in a northeast Sri Lankan town where a man was stabbed to death in fresh unrest that has gripped the Tamil-majority north and east and left 41 people dead this week, police said. The slaying comes as separatist Tamil Tiger rebels and the government agreed to postpone the next round of peace talks in Geneva until April 24-25, more..

Apr 15 (AFP) Sri Lanka expressed "serious doubts" about whether Tamil Tiger rebels want to go ahead with talks due to be held in Swizterland that are aimed at saving a fragile ceasefire. The two days of talks were scheduled to be held in Geneva from April 24 after being postponed for five days at the rebels' request. more..

Apr 15 (AFP) A powerful bomb exploded near a military base in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least four soldiers and wounding 12, military officials said. An official said the bomb, which went off as a bus transporting troops passed by in the district of Vavuniya, may have been rigged up to a tiller parked on the road. more..

Apr 15 (Reuters) Ramini Chandralecka (C), the pregnant wife of a slain commando regiment soldier, mourns during his funeral procession in Kadwatta. More than 40 people have died over the past week in the island's minority Tamil-dominated north and east. more..

Apr 15 (Reuters) The Tamil Tigers said on Saturday they would pull out of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government in Switzerland due to a dispute over the safe-conduct transport of rebel commanders. The Tigers were concerned about Sri Lankan navy plans to monitor a boat that was to have taken rebel commanders based in the east and their Nordic escorts on Saturday to the Tigers' northern base, more..

Apr 16 (LBO) Sri Lanka hikes fuel prices by Rs.8.00 from midnight Saturday after a 10-month lag as world crude oil prices raced to US$ 70 per barrel. Petrol at the pump will cost Rs.88.00, diesel, Rs.58.00 and kerosene Rs.38.50, Ceylon Petroleum Corp. (CPC) Chairman Jaliya Medagama said. more..

Apr 16 (AT) The on-again, off-again peace talks in Geneva which were postponed from April 19-20 to April 24-25 are off again. The Tamil Tigers announced their withdrawal yesterday for the second time complaining that their commanders were at risk because of the closeness of the Sri Lankan Navy boat escorting the civilian ship carrying their commanders from the east to the Vanni. more..

Apr 16 (AT) The Tigers need another Black July; the state of Sri Lanka and the anti-Tiger Tamils do not. The Sinhala-Buddhist extremist elements would be delighted with another Black July; the absolute majority of the ordinary Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims would not. more..

Apr 16 (AT) Following the listing of the LTTE as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government on April 2006 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the office of World Tamil Movement in Montreal. Forty Police officers swooped down on April 12 in the first raid on the World Tamil Movement which was protected by the previous Liberal government. more..

Apr 16 (GN) LTTE has done it again. It was the long standing problem for the LTTE to avoid the international community and the Sri Lankan Government to have peace talks. It is a well known fact the LTTE has always failed to response positively not only to the government but also the international community as well in the past. It had promised to stop recruiting child soldiers however until now it goes ahead. more..

Apr 16 (TN) Several hundred residents of Kalmunaikudi in the east, from 6 p.m. Saturday, held a sit-in-protest in front of the stage erected close to Jumma Mosque for a meeting to be addressed by Mr.A.L.M.Athaullah, Minister and the Leader of the National Congress shouting slogans against his visit to the area. more..

Apr 16 (TN) "Sri Lanka Government should urgently take steps to ensure safety of our business in Trincomalee. Thugs target our businesses whenever there is any explosion in the bazaar, and Government troops and Police rarely take any action to contain resulting violence and looting. This has been the case from 1977. more..

Apr 16 (ISL) First Geneva was a farce; any more Genevas will be the same because the root issues are continuing to be ignored. The primary issue should be the honest intention of the parties concerned in the ethnic crisis to go for a solution. Well-meaning Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils have been yearning for this for four decades. more..

Apr 16 (ISL) News reaching from London confirms that the LTTE has started a mobile Shiva temple in Milton Keynes Berkshire. Whereabouts of the temple is not known at the time of filing this news. Milton Keynes has seen large influx of Tamils recently as a result of escalating cost of living conditions in London. more..

Apr 16 (ISL) The activists of the LTTE are working under its UK arm British Tamil Association (BTA) are on a major drive raising funds for the ‘final war’ in Sri Lanka. BTA’s fund raising activities are mainly taking place during the weekends when police departments dealing with the terrorist crime are closed. more..

Apr 16 (ISL) The LTTE's actions in Trincomalee seem to be a deliberate plan to destabilise sensitive areas of mixed ethnicity and again playing with the lives of ordinary Tamil citizens, sacrificing them as cannon fodder, to achieve the LTTE's political objectives. more..

Apr 16 (PIS) The second round of resumed peace talks between the LTTE and the government scheduled for next week in Geneva was thrown into further limbo yesterday with the Tigers saying their presence was in doubt until they are able to meet their eastern military leaders while accusing the navy of interfering in their movements. more..

Apr 16 (PIS) The government expects the EU to ban the LTTE if it does not cease attacks on the security forces immediately. A senior government official expressed the belief that the 25-nation EU, a co-chair to the Tokyo Donor Conference alongside facilitator Norway, the US and Japan, should outlaw the group that has been banned by India, UK, US and recently Canada. more..

Apr 16 (ANN) The long holiday has come and gone and, as is customary, Sri Lanka will take time it can ill afford to shake off the lethargy. The past few days gave the country little reason to celebrate with the LTTE continuing to mount its claymore mine attacks on the security forces for reasons that are still not altogether clear. more..

Apr 16 (SLBC) The Labour and Foreign Employment Development Ministry will commence new programmes of the Sri Lankans who are working abroad. It will gather the opinion and suggestions of the diplomats, labour officers and the head of institutions where Sri Lankans are working. more..

Apr 16 (SLBC) All the UPFA heads of the local government institutions who have been elected recently will take their oaths today in the presence of President Mahinda Rajapakse. The ceremony will be held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall with the participation of Ministers, governors, and the Chief Ministers of the provinces. more..

Apr 16 (LNP) Sri Lanka government is considering a referendum to get a mandate to proceed with the peace process. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will take a decision soon on this proposal which has been put forward by the President`s advisers. The advisers have pointed out to the President that the best way to get rid of the stagnation of the peace process is to hold a referendum. more..

Apr 16 (LNP) The government is seeking to enhance air surveillance capacity amidst increased efforts made by the LTTE to smuggle in new stocks of arms, ammunition and equipment. However, there seems to be a simmering dispute over the move that got underway recently with the government calling for tenders for the acquisition of two radars and two day and night TV cameras to upgrade the Beech craft now in service with the SLAF. more..

Apr 16 (LNP) Civil rights activists and legal experts have pointed out that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has apparently committed a serious constitutional faux pas by exceeding the constitutional limit of the seven-member National Police Commission (NPC) as a result of the appointment of seven new members to the NPC this week. more..

Apr 16 (LNP) Tax fraud at the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) running into billions of rupees; Tourist Board chairman being probed for alleged wrongdoing; Sports Minister under scrutiny over a visa scam; top director at a hospital accused of insider trading, and so on. more..

Apr 16 (SAMN) The first Delegates’ Conference of the Socialist Alliance of Sri Lanka will be held at the public library on April 20 at 4 p.m., said senior Communist Party activist, Communist Party activist, Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Minister Dew Gunasekera Saturday. more..

Apr 16 (SAMN) Three American Senators made a brief visit to Sri Lanka on April 14, 2006. Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Senator Lamar ALexander of Tennessee and Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia paid a call on the President and Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapakse at their ancestral family home in Weeraketiya. more..

Apr 16 (SAMN) An economist at a top donor agency warned that Sri Lanka should watch the world oil prices carefully without resorting to the quick-fix, 'Panadol treatment', which will result in the economy further weakening. Johanna Boestel, the ADB economist based in Colombo, said the CEB alone has accumulated more than Rs.50 billion in payment arrears more..

Apr 16 (SAMN) The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) kicked off a unique multi-ethnic musical and artistic road show Saturday set to link up with similar celebrations and other activities in six cities, building on the communal goodwill of the Sinhala-Tamil New Year and Christian and Muslim holidays to highlight sentiments of peaceful coexistence in the new year. more..

Apr 16 (SO) The LTTE yesterday pulled out from a scheduled sea transport for its cadres, after Scandinavian truce monitors ruled against a LTTE demand for an escort of armed sea Tiger vessels. Hours after it pulled out from the sea movement, LTTE cadres blew up an army convoy and an Air Force jeep in two separate incidents killing eight security forces personnel and injuring nine. more..

Apr 16 (Reuters) With Sri Lanka's rebels pulling out of talks with the government, the peace process may falter, leading to more violence and a danger the island could revert to a ruinous two-decade civil war, analysts and diplomats said. The Tigers said on Saturday they would not go to talks -- postponed once already -- more..

Apr 16 (AP) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated mines near two military vehicles in northeastern Sri Lanka, killing eight people in separate attacks, officials said Sunday. Late Saturday, suspected rebels detonated a mine near a jeep carrying air force personnel as it returning to its camp, said Capt. Ajantha Perera, an air force spokesman. more..

Apr 16 (AFP) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels wounded two soldiers with a landmine attack in Jaffna peninsula, the defence ministry said, the latest in a series of blasts which have killed 55 people in the past week. The government's top peace negotiator said the LTTE have stepped up their attacks because they are not serious about attending planned talks in Switzerland on saving a shaky ceasefire. more..

Apr 16 (TW) The pairings or the quotients in the title are meant to indicate that one (i.e. ETA, Hamas and the LTTE) cannot be understood or change without the other (i.e. Spain, Israel and Sri Lanka). In Spain, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom) the nearly fifty year old Basque separatist movement, has declared a permanent ceasefire. more..

Apr 17 (TN) LTTE Political Head S.P.Thamilchelvan on Sunday, in a letter to the Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar, informed that LTTE will not attend the Geneva Talks until the hurdles in front of the the LTTE to attend Geneva talks were removed and a more conducive enviornment created. more..

Apr 17 (FE) Industry has urged the government to impose tariff rate quota (TRQ) on imports of vanaspati (hydrogenated vegetable oils) from Sri Lanka under the free trade agreement (FTA). The industry also demanded that vanaspati should be kept in the negative list in any bilateral or regional trade arrangements. more..

Apr 17 (FE) Favourite Tajikistan emerged unbeaten champions in the first-ever AFC Challenge Cup when they outplayed Sri Lanka by 4-0 in final at Bangabandhu National Stadium Sunday, reports BDNEWS. Dzhomikhon Muhidinov struck twice while Khurshed Makhmudov and Numondzhon Hakimov netted one each for the Central Asian country Tajikistan, who led a comfortable 2-0 in the first half. more..

Apr 17 (LeN) The LTTE which earlier agreed to transport its Eastern leaders to the North in a vessel provided by the government, today refused to embark on the journey after all arrangements were finalized. The vessel was to travel under the supervision of the SLMM and its head Ulf Henricceson too were to join the journey. more..

Apr 17 (AT) Some groups of Buddhist Monks specially in the South have apparently been promoting warmongering while rejecting a political solution, advocate war to solve the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka. These groups have been protesting the presence of international peace keepers. more..

Apr 17 (BBC) While the Tamil Tigers have informed the Norwegian facilitators that their team is unable to attend the second round of Geneva talks the Sri Lankan government has already sent a team to Geneva. In a letter to the Norwegian Ambassador in Colombo on Sunday, the LTTE political chief S P Tamilselvan has said, "until the hurdles in front of us more..

Apr 17 (Gulf) Amid increasing violence by Tamil rebels against the security forces in the north and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, a breakaway group of the rebels has entered the political stage by opening its first office in a government controlled area in the east. more..

Apr 17 (SLA) TAMIL TIGERS (LTTE) WITHIN A SPAN OF FOUR HOURS after their claymore attack at VEPPANKULAM this morning, struck once again near KIRAN in BATTICALOA Monday (17) around 12.30 p.m. after detonating another claymore mine, aimed at a passing Sri Lanka Air Force bus carrying Airmen for duty. more..

Apr 17 (SLA) NAVAL TROOPS ON DUTY AT NARAKKALI area in KALPITIYA have arrested two men on suspicion Sunday (16) afternoon. During preliminary investigations, troops have found 550 grams of gelignite, a sword, a binocular, some documents that can be used in un-cleared areas and a few other items from their possession. more..

Apr 17 (SLA) THE APPARENT ACCIDENTAL EXPLOSION of a powerful LTTE (Tamil Tigers) claymore mine, brought to CHAVAKACHCHERI area, targeting troops, claimed the life of a Tamil Tiger (LTTE) terrorist at about 8.40 a.m. Monday (17) morning while three LTTE men were tampering with the claymore mine. more..

Apr 17 (ISL) Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation the humanitarian work arm of the LTTE was officially operating in the United Kingdom as a charitable organisation. The Charity Commission undertook a major investigation following complaints in September 2000 that ‘the Charity was providing financial support to the LTTE.’ more..

Apr 17 (GN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday called for a honest and efficient local Government system sans corruption and nepotism. "We shall have local bodies free of fraud, waste and corruption that will fulfil the aspirations of the people as envisaged by Mahinda Chintana," President Rajapaksa told a gathering of newly elected UPFA Mayors, more..

Apr 17 (GN) The Government had displayed extreme flexibility to facilitate the sea movement of 32 LTTE leaders in the face of provocations by the LTTE, in order to encourage the LTTE to attend the peace talks in Geneva, the Government Peace Secretariat (SCOPP) stated yesterday. more..

Apr 17 (SN) The Trincomalee incidents on April 12 saw the pro-LTTE peace brigade and the Tiger media back in their old game of lies and distortions after the Tiger conspiracy to destabilize the multi-ethnic district by setting off a bomb that killed one government soldier and seriously injured many civilians at the Trinco public market - sparking off communal violence. more..

Apr 17 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s state oil giant Ceypetco, hopes to increase liquid gas production and process more high value fuels, when they secure funds to expands their oil refinery. Ceylon Petroleum Corp (CPC) is seeking a US$500 million loan from the Saudi Development Fund to double capacity in the island’s sole oil refinery to 100,000 barrels per day. more..

Apr 17 (LBO) Colombo shares fell 3 percent in the first hour of trading after it re-opened following bloody holiday weekend, that has derailed peace talks scheduled for later this month. The liquid Milanka index fell 90 points of 3 percent, while the Colombo All share Index fell 2.89 percent (68 points). more..