As Sri Lankan troops advance towards the last Tiger bastion of Mullaittivu, Army Chief Sarath Fonseka has said he was not sure whether Velupillai Prabhakaran was on the island nation but felt that it was not possible for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo to find a shelter in India. The Lankan Air Force had destroyed a vessel carrying arms and ammunitions for the LTTE just when it was being offloaded in the rebel coastal area, Fonseka added.
After being put into bat, Sri Lanka started brightly as the openers put up a 51-run stand before Pathum Nissanka was run out attempting a risky third run.
Army tanks and infantry moved deep into the sea Tiger base in Chalai region in Northern Mullaittivu after killing four top LTTE leaders, including Vinayagam, number three in the hierarchy list of sea tigers.
Wickremesinghe will resign after an all-party government is established and the majority is secured in Parliament.
Fresh from their success in capturing the entire North-western coast, the Sri Lankan Air Force fighter jets on Sunday pounded bunkers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and seized hundreds of arms and ammunitions while recovering the bodies of two militants, officials said.
Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka's resignation has been accepted by the president with immediate effect, rejecting his request to serve for two more weeks, officials said on Friday.
A Sri Lankan parliamentarian of the ruling party of the Rajapaksas and his personal security officer were killed on Monday in clashes between anti- and pro-government protesters in the country.
The army captured the Viyattankulam area in Mannar after killing 22 rebels and destroying 16 bunkers
Continuing the momentum of its offensive, Sri Lankan troops on Friday captured another 4 km stretch and closed on to the Tamil Tigers stronghold of Kilinochchi as it also beat back a group of insurgents who tried to infiltrate one of its defence lines
A behind-the-scenes account of how the three-decade old conflict came to an end in the island nation.
The Sri Lankan Army, accused of human rights violations will produce a video film covering the last phase of the battle with the LTTE to counter 'false propaganda' against it by a British media outlet, Army chief Jagath Jayasuriya said on Monday.
There have been reports that the Rajapaksa brothers, which dominates the current Sri Lankan government, are not on the same page. Gota, it is said, is not on the same wave length as his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the former president, or Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is seen to be the family's strategist.
The Sri Lankan forces fast closing in on LTTE last bastion in island nation's north have captured one of the command bunkers used by elusive Tamil Tiger supreme Velupillai Prabhakaran in thick forests of Dharmapuram town in Mullaittivu.
On the hunt for the elusive Tiger supremo Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan security forces have stumbled upon a damaged bullet-proof car that could have been used by either Lankan Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief or other senior leaders. The rugged-looking covered pick up wagon, fitted with double steel sheets to escape bullet hits, was found in the thick jungles near Mullaittivu, as Lankan forces scour the area for the LTTE topmen, a senior defence official told PTI.
'This was a decision taken and executed by Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman. Both were convinced that the assassination would not be linked to them.'
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has been invited by Sri Lankan Army to deliver a lecture on the peace process in the country.
The Sri Lanka deputy high commissioner's office in Chennai is coordinating the efforts, it added.
Cyclone Ditwah exits Sri Lanka after causing widespread destruction and over 120 deaths, heading towards the Indian coast. Heavy rains and high winds are expected to continue.
Already stripped off his military rank and medals, former Sri Lankan Army chief Sarath Fonseka, was held guilty of corruption charges by a second court martial, sentenced to a prison term of three years. Fonseka had been charged with favouring an arms firm headed by his son-in-law in defence deals during his time as army chief.
At least 24 people were arrested by the security forces for defying the ban on celebrations, officials said.
Jailed former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka was on Friday granted bail by the high court in Colombo in a case for harbouring military deserters, ahead of an imminent presidential pardon for him.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The PCB said the two boards will work together to finalise new dates to complete the series.
Jailed former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka, who led the successful battle against the Tamil Tigers, might be released within the next few days, presidential sources in Colombo said.
Former Sri Lankan army chief and presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka was on Friday convicted and sent to three year imprisonment after the high court found him guilty in the 'white flag' case.
Silva's name was mentioned in the resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2013, alleging rights abuses by the Sri Lankan Army.
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Trudeau's statements, asserting that they contained outrageous claims of genocide relating to past conflicts in the country.
Sensing an imminent collapse of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sri Lankan forces on Thursday encircled the last 8 sq km patch of area in the northern war zone, where they suspect Tiger supremo V Prabhakaran and his top aides are holed up. A naval blockade was put around northern Mullaittivu close to the areas where LTTE cadres still had access to the sea.
Sri Lanka's new government on Sunday said it will probe whether longtime president Mahinda Rajapaksa sought military help to cling to power after he realised that he had lost the closely contested election.
'Clearly, Washington has all but given up hope following US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells's stormy visit to Colombo last month where she read the riot act to Sri Lankan leaders to sign the pending status of forces agreement allowing American troops to use Sri Lanka as a hub for operations in the Indian Ocean,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sri Lankan Army General Sarath Fonseka, who presided over the military offensive on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has been asked by the United States authorities to testify before them against Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse over allegations of widespread human rights abuse during the war.
The Sri Lankan President appreciated India's gesture and thanked it for the support and solidarity shown, the statement said.
SL executed their plans well against the Indian batters, who are not the cleverest performers on rank turners, while not many are though.
Pakistan has banned Indian-flagged ships from entering its ports with immediate effect after India imposed fresh punitive measures, including a ban on the import of goods and entry of Pakistani vessels into its ports, against Islamabad amid heightened tensions following the Pahalgam terror attack. The move comes after India announced a raft of punitive measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, shutting down of the only operational land border crossing at Attari, and downgrading of diplomatic ties following the terror attack. The Pakistan Army has also conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali Weapon System, a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 km, saying it was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters. India considers the test launch of the ballistic missile a "blatant" act of "provocation."
'There is nothing necessarily fatal if a soldier develops a passion for politics. An Indian commentator pointed out that, after all, there is the precedent of Dwight Eisenhower. But then, the nagging worry remains whether in the South Asian clime, like the sapling brought in from distant China, Fonseka, a US Green Card holder, may blossom and outgrow the botanical garden that Sri Lankan democracy used to be.'
The announcement of the death of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader V Prabhakaran by the Sri Lankan army has not created any flutter in the Lankan refugee camps in Rameswaram and Madurai, but most inmates dismissed the reports as false. "Prabhakaran is not dead. He will emerge stronger... nobody can touch even his shadow," Andrews, a refugee at Mandapam camp, said. "Prabhakaran has been fighting for us for more than 30 years, we know his strength," said another refugee.
India on Thursday abstained on a draft resolution in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka which was adopted.
The southern deep-sea port of Hambantota is considered strategically important for its location.
Col Hariharan joins readers on Rediff Chat on February 5, 2009 to answer their queries on the crisis in Sri Lanka and about India's role in the conflict, if any.
Over 26 Tamil Tiger rebels and one soldier were killed in fresh clashes between government troops and the guerrillas in the restive northern Sri Lanka, the military said on Monday.
