Major General D. Wijesinghe (retd) and the Chief of Staff of the Army Major General S. Fonseka salute the Monument of the Fallen Heroes at the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment Regimental Centre, Ambepussa at a ceremony held a few days ago. The Chief Guest was Major General Wijesinghe.
 

Criticism strengthens me - Ranil

United National Party Presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe said he welcomes criticism since it strengthens him.

Addressing a public rally in Hanwalle, Wickremesinghe said "Although my rivals criticize me at every step, I am strengthened by it , for if they ever cease to criticize, it might weaken me."

Wickremesinghe said that the JVP has been accusing every UNP leader since the late President J R Jayewardene of dividing the country.

"When President Jayewardene introduced the Provincial Council system, as a measure to solve the ethnic problem, the JVP not only accused him of dividing the country and betraying the nation to the Indian army but also maliciously destroyed public and private properties as well as human lives."

The JVP, he said has now proved that they accept the system that they vehemently opposed, at the cost of property and life, by representing Provincial councils.

Wickremesinghe, recalled how the JVP accused President Premadasa of providing LTTE with arms and the same old accusation of dividing the country was leveled against him.

"When President Premadasa was assassinated by the LTTE these groups stooped to the level of lighting crackers and eating kiribath. During the previous election JVP leaders tried to remove the plug they claimed to have connected the UNP to the World Bank. Since they failed to reduce the cost of living, develop the economy or do anything at all, they have found out that it was not a valid slogan and people are not ready to believe them. Therefore the Somawansa, Weerawansa duo is resorting to the old accusation of dividing the country," he said.

Sri Lanka troops on alert after protester killed by army gunfire

Government soldiers were on alert in a Tamil village in northern Sri Lanka - on Saturday, a day after troops fired on villagers protesting the alleged rape of a girl by a soldier, killing one person and injuring two others, a military spokesman said.

The violence took place in Puttur East village on the Jaffna Peninsula, the traditional homeland of Sri Lanka - 's Tamil minority, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of the capital, Colombo.

``The situation is still tense but unlike yesterday there are no violent activities,'' military spokesman Brig. Nalin Witharanage said Saturday. ``There are troops on standby to move in when there is a requirement.''

Friday's protest occurred after residents accused a soldier of trying to rape a 16-year-old girl in the village.

The dead villager was identified as 20-year-old Tharmaraja Nirojan, a farmer.

Witharanage said soldiers and police were forced to open fire in self defense when suspected rebels among the protesters threw six hand grenades into their camp, of which three exploded, injuring one soldier.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels began fighting the government in 1983 to create a separate country for ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination.

About 65,000 people were killed in the conflict before a Norway-brokered truce was signed in February 2002. The uneasy truce has held even though peace talks broke down in 2003 over the rebels' demand for greater autonomy in the north and east.

The rebels have a heavy presence in Jaffna.

Scores of people have been killed in scattered outbreaks of violence since the cease-fire, with tensions escalating after a rebel leader and about 6,000 of his followers split away from the Tigers' main faction in March 2004.

The government and Tigers blame each other for the violence, with the Tigers accusing the military of aiding the breakaway rebels, a charge the government denies.

Go North EC tells EU

The Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has requested the European Union Election Observers to be detailed specially in the North-East in an effort to discourage organised election rigging, a spokesman for the Elections Commissioner's Department said.

The spokesman said the Elections Commissioner had also decided to assign Grama Niladaries in polling stations to avoid voter impersonation.

Assistant Returning Officers will also be appointed to cluster polling stations, which will be set up 500 meters inside the government controlled areas in order to enable voters residing in LTTE controlled areas to exercise the universal franchise.

Transport facilities for the voters to polling stations and back into LTTE controlled areas will be arranged by the Assistant Government Agents and Grama Niladaries.

The EU will have 22 long term observers and 44 short term observers who will monitor the election on the polling day.

Meanwhile, postal voting of the Presidential election will take place on November 7 and 8. There are 323,428 public servants eligible for postal voting plus 24,724 displaced voters.

According to the Elections Commissioner's Department, the total number of registered voters for the forthcoming Presidential elections is 13,327,160.

There will be 10,486 polling stations islandwide and 710 counting centres.