Former Sri Lankan cricketer Ramith Rambukwella arrested in corruption case
Notwithstanding the objections from India and Tamil minority parties, an "urgent bill" will be presented in Sri Lankan parliament next week aimed at diluting the provincial council powers devolved in terms of the 1987 Indo-Lanka accord.
Sri Lanka's Minister of Media and Information, Keheliya Rambukwella on Wednesday blamed the local press for blowing out of proportion the incident involving his son Ramith Rambukwella, who reportedly caused a mid-air panic in an inebriated state while on a British Airways flight.
Sri Lanka on Tuesday, claimed that charges against defeated opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka were "serious enough" to warrant his arrest, raising a question mark on his participation in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections.
Sections of top Tamil Tiger leadership on Wednesday began to surrender before rapidly advancing Sri Lankan forces, signalling an imminent collapse of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam after a two-decade long relentless battle.
"Sri Lanka has a sovereign government and all its administrative matters (of the army) are with the President and commander in chief (Mahinda Rajapaksa) and defence secretary," Defence Spokesman and senior cabinet Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told PTI.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has approved the 30-month jail term given to former army chief Sarath Fonseka by a military court on charges of corruption, top officials said on Thursday.
Dismissing as 'hilarious' the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's ceasefire offer, the Sri Lankan government termed it a ploy, saying the Tamil Tigers call for a truce whenever they are on the verge of defeat.The LTTE has written a letter to the United Nations, Britain, Japan, Norway and the United States, indicating its readiness to agree to a ceasefire with the government, but refusing to lay down arms and surrender.
In its bid to rein in the dreaded suicide squads of LTTE, the Sri Lanka government is offering $93,000 and an overseas job to the rebel suicide bombers who surrender before the authorities.Posters showing the offer were already pasted on walls around Colombo two weeks back, but confusion over it ended on Monday with the government admitting to making the offer of 10 million Sri Lankan rupees for suicide bombers giving themselves up.
The government has slammed peace broker Norway for 'misleading' the international community.
A statement issued by the presidential media division on Friday said an extremist group was behind the unrest near President Rajapaksa's residence in Mirihana.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's decision not to attend the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo was a loss for Sri Lanka as his absence reflected a breakdown of ties between the two countries, the main opposition said on Monday.
Human rights abuses allegedly perpetrated in the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam haunted Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the sidelines of the CHOGM summit with UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday giving the island country an ultimatum to conduct a credible probe into the war crimes by March, failing which he would seek an international investigation.
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