Jun 30 (TN) The Presidential Secretariat Monday directed the closure of the Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) at the end of July. “We have not been told any specific reason for the decision. However we have been discussing such a scenario since last week,” SCOPP Director General, Professor Rajiva Wijesinghe, told media persons. He declined to comment on the government’s decision to close down the SCOPP. more..

Jun 30 (Time) Sri Lanka's 26 years of civil war effectively ended on May 19 with a single image. Televisions across the globe broadcast a government-issue photo of slain Tamil Tiger head, Velupillai Prabhakaran, lying on a muddy patch of ground with wide eyes and a fractured skull. His life's end terminated the LTTE's decades-long fight for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority - about ten percent of the population more..

Jun 30 (PTI) Opposition AIADMK members were on Tuesday evicted en masse from the Tamil Nadu Assembly as they disrupted the proceedings by raising slogans to demand passage of a resolution on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Speaker R. Avudaiyappan ordered the eviction following a request from Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi who said raising slogans inside the House was "uncultured". more..

Jun 30 (TS) The Tamil Canadian Conference, human rights and labour groups say they have joined forces to pressure Ottawa to try to expedite aid for refugees in Sri Lanka. The new coalition, calling itself Canadians Concerned about Sri Lanka, will hold a news conference today urging the federal government to step up its advocacy and aid on behalf of about 300,000 displaced people occupying about 20 refugee camps in Sri Lanka. more..

Jun 30 (TS) It won the war, but has Sri Lanka lost its mind? After declaring total victory over the Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka remains as combative as ever. Weeks later, it still sees enemies everywhere – and silences them. The government is overcome by post-traumatic triumphalism syndrome: Its president behaves like a Buddha, gliding across the land of Lanka erecting stupas (shrines) commemorating his victory. Music videos sing the praises of Mahindra Rajapaksa. more..

Jun 30 (LNP) All members of the security forces, past and present, and all citizens of this country no doubt are happy and celebrating the defeat of the LTTE, the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world, that had been a scourge not only to our country but the world for the past three decades. Some Western nations must be unhappy that the lever they utilized to destabilize our nation is no more available for them. more..

Jun 30 (LBO) Sri Lanka's economic recovery will be driven largely by domestic reconstruction flowing from an end of a three decade long war with some support from an external pick up, a regional economist said. "A lot of domestic factors, the end of war, rehabilitation, re-construction and improvement from agriculture will drive growth," HSBC Singapore economist Prakriti Sofat said at a business forum in Colombo Tuesday. more..

Jun 30 (DM) The JHU which is an ally of the ruling UPFA yesterday threatened to pull out of the government if it went ahead with the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and devolved police powers to the provincial councils. Environment Minister and JHU front-liner Champika Ranawaka said the party was in no way prepared to accept the 13th Amendment as it had no legitimacy. more..

Jun 30 (AP) Sri Lanka plans to take legal action against a small group of hardcore rebel fighters, and rehabilitate the majority of former Tamil Tiger insurgents, a government minister said on Tuesday. The government is currently holding about 10,000 former rebel fighters, after declaring victory in the nation's quarter century civil war in May. more..