Anti SLMC protest in Ninthavur – State Media

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress has strongly condemned false reports by all state media both electronic and print. State media reported that the meeting SLMC held in support of presidential candidate Ranil Wickremasinghe in Ninthavur did not take place due to heavy opposition by the people of the area.

"It is evident that UNP presidential candidate is gaining grounds in the run-up to the presidency with the increasing support of Muslims across the island after the SLMC's announcement to support him, those who can not absorb these happenings are taking all possible measures to try and prevent Mr. Wickremasinghe's victory with our support" a party source said.

SLMC sources said that they will make an official complaint with the Commissioner of Elections with regard to misuse of the state information machinery and also will complain to the Commission against Bribery & Corruption against the misuse of state property.

"We witnessed state property been heavily used to try and thwart our rally. The operation the SLTB busses were curtailed and many other state owned vehicles and resources were used by certain people, which leads to violation of election laws and misuse of public property, therefore, we will take stern action against these" the source said.

According to SLMC sources the meeting in which the SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem and several others addressed had been a massive success and people in thousands had attended the rally that continued until 11 p.m. last night.

Jaffna Students Rise Against Assassinations

Normalcy in Jaffna Centre and its suburbs was disrupted Thursday morning after groups of grief-stricken students, teachers, university students and civilians walked out on to the streets in protest against the gruesome assassination of the Jaffna Central College Principal allegedly by the LTTE.

In it's latest attempt to eliminate rising intellectual opposition from Jaffna against LTTE activities, Jaffna Central College Principal, Rajadurai(53) was brutally gunned down Wednesday (12) afternoon at about 3.45 p.m by Tamil Tiger pistol men.

Grief stricken and furious students at Jaffna Central College boycotted school sessions in protest against LTTE's brutal slaying of their principal in broad daylight, according to sources from Jaffna.

Rajadurai was also criticized by the LTTE for his involvement with the EPDP to develop Jaffna schools. He was also known as a hardcore opponent of LTTE child recruitment in the Northern areas of Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, in a move to justify the killings, the LTTE website tamilnet claimed that he was a "strong supporter of EPDP" in its report on the slaying of the Principal.

Jaffna residents claim that the slaying of the Principal sent a shock wave through their community. They also urge the government and the international community to take strong action to prevent such killings in future. Military sources claim that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has been provided with all accounts related to the killings.

Jaffna Central College Principal shot dead by LTTE

K.S. Rajkumar reporting from Jaffna, September 12. Gunmen alleged to be from the LTTE shot and killed Mr. Rajadurai, principal of Jaffna Central College, a leading college in Jaffna. Mr. Rajathurai was shot in front of his students, when he was attending a religious function at the Weerasingham hall in Jaffna. The assassins fired several shots at Mr. Rajadurai and fled the scene. Eyewitnesses said there were at least four gunmen at the scene, but only one fired the shots.

Mr. Rajadurai had received death threats from LTTE in the past. Recently a letter was sent to him by Ellalan force the clandestine group that is well known to be a LTTE front , and was published by Nitharsanam.com, an LTTE web-site operated from Norway. In May this year, Nitharsanam.com published a warning to Mr. Rajadurai that he would be face dire consequences , without any further warnings, if he continued to ignore th edicts of the LTTE. Mr. Rajadurai's transgression is believed to have been that he allowed the broadcast of an educational radio programme from the Jaffna Central College, and LTTE was not happy about it. The particular educational programme airs on radio associated with the EPDP. Jaffna Central College also received funds from Mr. Douglas Devananda, who was a student at Jaffna Central. With the funds received from Mr. Devananda, Mr. Rajadurai built several class rooms and library facilities at the College. LTTE operatives in Jaffna had previously warned Mr. Rajadurai that no development work should be carried out at the school using funds from Mr. Devananda. However, Mr. Rajadurai, being the principal of the college, ignored those warnings and went ahead with the development of the college.

Earlier, on Tuesday night, alleged LTTE assassins also shot and killed another school principal in Kopay. Mr. Nadaraja Sivakdacham, the principal of Kopay Christian College, was shot and killed in front of his family in Kopay. It is reported that the assassins came in a motor cycle to his residence, called him by his name, before shooting him on the spot.

LTTE has intensified its assassinations recently. In the last two weeks alone, LTTE gunmen had killed at least 17 Tamils in Jaffna district alone, most of them killed in their houses or offices, in front of family members.

LMC Leader Rauff Hakeem addresses the press conference held at Hizbullah Islamic Cultural Centre at Kattankudi in the Estern Province this morning.Former Deputy Minister for Telecommunication and Media M.L.A.M Hisbullah on also addressed the press.SLMC officials and large number of supporters are present. 

Hisbullah, Harees back home

M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, former deputy Minister, Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Authority and deputy leader of National Unity Alliance has formally announced his re-joining the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress this morning at a ceremony being held at the Hisbullah Cultural Hall in Kattankudi in the presence of SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem.

Hisbullah is scheduled to address a SLMC rally in Nintavur in support of UNP presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe later today. He will have the company of another SLMC dissident, former Parliamentarian H.M.M. Harees who will re-join the SLMC during this week.

SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem who is busy campaigning in support of Ranil Wickremasinghe's bid for presidency will now have the oratory powers of the former PA strongman Hisbullah in his campaign.

Hakeem in Ampara

‘Ranil Wickremasinghe is a leader who treats Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities equally and one who does not ally with Sinhalese extremist groups' said Rauff Hakeem when he was addressing an election campaign meeting at Damana, a predominantly Sinhala village in Ampara.

SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem had commenced a series of meetings in the Sinhalese areas of the Ampara district, as part of the campaign in support of opposition leader Ranil Wickremasighe for presidency, yesterday (9/10/05).

Meetings were held at Sinhalese villages Damana, Keselwatte, Japan Malwatte, Nawagampura, Hingurana, Muwanhala and Polwatte in Ampara. The SLMC is enjoying a new waive of support among the Sinhala masses in these areas. Large crowds have attended the meetings.

He said that Ranil Wickremasinghe's priorities were to introduce a realistic action plan to brining in permanent peace, develop the rural economy and uplift the quality of life of the farmers, fishermen and the entrepreneurs, make them to give added contribution to the national economy.

"Muslims of the coastal areas in the east are frustrated with the UPFA government, it is the same situation with the Sinhalese people here' he said.

Hakeem also said that "this is not a battle between Ranil and Mahinda, but we see this election as a test of strength between the JVP and the SLMC".

People carry the dead body of a quake victim in Balakot, 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005. The death toll from Saturday's earthquake that struck Pakistan, India and Afghanistan rose above 18,000 on Sunday, the Pakistani army spokesman said, as rescuers struggled to dig victims from destroyed apartment buildings, schools and mud-brick homes 

An injured Kashmiri girl is carried as she arrives at a military base after she was transferred from an earthquake-affected area of Pakistan, in Rawalpindi October 12, 2005. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed 

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse acknowledges greetings of the crowd at a Presidential Election rally in Anuradhapura on Sunday 

Sri Lanka to donate US$ 100,000 to earthquake victims

The Government of Sri Lanka has pledged a sum of US$ 100,000 in assistance for the earthquake victims of Pakistan. The donation would assist the ongoing relief effort in the aftermath of the October 8th earthquake.President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike in messages of condolence to their counterparts in Pakistan and India have expressed their shock and deep distress at the unprecedented loss of life and destruction, states a Foreign Ministry press release. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, expressing her condolence to General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, stated that the people and the Government of Sri Lanka express their solidarity with Pakistan at this moment of national anguish.

While extending her heartfelt sympathies to the President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the President in her message of condolence said that Sri Lanka remembers with deep gratitude the immediate and overwhelmingly abundant assistance rendered by India to Sri Lanka during the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. In his message of condolence to the Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse stated that Sri Lanka stands in solidarity with the Government and people of Pakistan during this national tragedy. He expressed his condolences to the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh and expressed his sincere wishes that the efforts of the Government of India to bring relief and solace to those affected by this tragedy would meet with all success. Minister of Foreign Affairs Anura Bandaranaike telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid M. Kasuri and expressed his sympathies to the Government and the people of Pakistan. "I was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of lives and property caused by the earthquake in the Northern parts of India," stated the Minister in his message of condolence to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India, K. Natwar Singh.

Kumari Cooray suicide : Police probe security lapse

The Colombo Crime Division (CCD) and the Kollupitiya Police investigating the suicide of Kumari Cooray who set herself ablaze on Thursday morning is probing, why the three Ministerial Security Division (MSD) officers on duty failed to prevent the woman from entering the premises where SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem was residing and then allowing her to commit suicide. According to Colombo Crime Division's Director SSP Sarath Lugoda, the deceased Kumari Cooray first attempted to enter the house of SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem on Thursday around 12.00 midnight but was prevented by the MSD Security officers. However she returned there again in a three wheeler taxi around 1.30 a.m and managed to enter the premises by scaling over the wall. Thereafter she requested the three wheel driver to hand over her bag which he did. When she confronted the three MSD officers inside the premises she had told them that she wished to meet Hakeem. While the security officers had just looked on she poured petrol on her body and set herself ablaze. She had run for about 50 meters and had fallen down when the security officers were able to put out the fire. According OIC Kollupitiya Chief Inspector Palitha Siriwardena, the deceased Kumari Cooray had lodged a complaint at the Kollupitiya Police station last August against Hakeem.However the three wheeler taxi driver was not arrested as he was not involved in any way. Meanwhile the city Coroner who held the inquest had returned a verdict of suicide.

Huge quake kills thousands in Kashmir

A powerful earthquake measuring at least 7.6 on the Richter scale killed over 1000 people across India's Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan on Saturday, the state's top civil servant told AFP. "The devastating earthquake has left 157 people (civilians) dead all across Jammu and Kashmir," State Government Chief Secretary Vijay Bakya told AFP, adding that 18 soldiers had also perished. Police and army officials reported at least 300 people wounded in the quake, which had its epicentre across the de facto border in Pakistan where more than 1,000 were feared dead.

"Fifteen of the soldiers died along the Line of Control (LoC)," army spokesman P. Sehgal told AFP, referring to the dividing line Kashmir between India and Pakistan. He said some of the army's forward posts caved in, while others were hit by falling trees and landslides. "There can be more casualties," he added. Doctors at Srinagar's main hospital said more than 200 people were admitted with injuries and shock after the quake.

The army spokesman said more than 100 people were being treated at an army hospital in northern Uri town alone. Police reported more than 100 houses and buildings were damaged in the initial jolt, and roads to northern border areas were blocked by landslides triggered by the tremors. People in multi-storey buildings were evacuated as a series of aftershocks hit the capital city and other parts of the state.

A policeman carries a gas stove from a police station that was damaged in an earthquake in Uri, about 100 kilometers (63 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2005. The powerful earthquake jolted South Asia on Saturday killing at least 220 people in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, a senior official said. 

Kumari: Verdict of suicide

COLOMBO City Coroner Edward Ahangama, who held the post mortem into Thursday's death of Kumari Cooray, daughter of former MP Mervyn J. Cooray, returned a verdict of suicide due to burn injuries sustained as a result of setting herself on fire. The City Coroner based his conclusion on the Medical Report filed by Dr. Handun P. Wijewardena, AJMO, Colombo, who conducted the post mortem examination and on the evidence of other witnesses who belonged to SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem's security staff.

The body was identified by M. M. Vijith Kumar Dayapriya Cooray, 30, as that of his sister Manamarakkarage Marian Lanka Kumari Cooray of Royal Cottage, Pediris Place, Slave Island. She was 40 years and a mother of two. She was a divorcee, he said.

Pattani Mahendran ,50, a security guard at Carnival Ice Cream, Kollupitiya in evidence said Cooray came to the gate around 1.35 a.m. on October 6 and wanted him to open the gate for her to meet Hakeem but he refused to accede to her request.

"Thereafter she left and came back around 2.40 a.m. in a three wheeler and demanded that the gate be opened. When he refused she went back to the three wheeler and having collected a cellular phone and a white handbag came back and scaled the parapet wall and got on to the roof of the building.

"Then she poured petrol on herself from a bottle and lit a match and threatened to set herself ablaze if he was not called in. She then did so. We rushed down to fetch water. She fell near the lavatory as she ran with flames all over her.

Sergeant Upali poured water on her and doused the flames. With the assistance of police, we despatched her to hospital in an Ambulance," Mahendran said.

Three wheeler driver H.K. Sarath Siri Kumara , 50, and the MP's Security Guard Nihal Samaraweera - 33, also gave evidence.

Nalinda Indratissa, Attorney-at-Law, looked after Cooray's interests.

Cooray created a sensation nearly 18 months ago when she became the focus of drama bordering on political intrigue involving several key players chief of them Hakeem.

UPFA candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and UNP candidate Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe greet each other after handing over nominations. 

Suicide drama in Hakeem’s compound

Doctors were yesterday battling to save the life of Kumari Cooray, who attempted to self-immolate herself in the compound of SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem's private residence at Kollupitiya junction around 3 a.m., hospital sources said.

A spokesman for the SLMC leader said that Hakeem had been shocked and saddened by the whole incident.

Colombo National Hospital's Accident Service Director Dr. Anil Jasinghe told The Island that Ms. Cooray had been brought to hospital with severe burns and doctors were doing all they could as she was in a critical condition.

Chief Inspector Palitha Siriwardene, OIC of the Kollupitiya police said police were in the process of questioning several persons in this connection.

Ms. Cooray (40), a mother of two, had earlier caused a stir and much intrigue in political circles, at the time of the 2001 parliamentary elections, by linking herself with SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem and later denying the whole affair claiming that it had been instigated by those politically opposed to SLMC leader Hakeem.

She had gone to Hakeem's Kollupitiya residence at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday. But, the security guards and three Ministerial Security Division (MSD) personnel, on official duty, had prevented Ms. Cooray from entering the residence, police said adding that she had then shouted out that she would teach the inmates and the SLMC leader a good lesson and left to return later.

At around 3 a.m. Ms. Cooray had returned in a three wheeler to tussle with the security personnel before jumping over the parapet wall and asking the three wheel driver to hand over a can of petrol. She had then set herself ablaze.

Kollupitiya police on receiving information from the residence of the SLMC leader had rushed to the scene and doused the fire before removing the critically burnt Mrs. Cooray to the Colombo National Hospital.

CI Palitha Siriwardena, OIC of Collpetty police, said they were on the look out for the three wheel driver and had recorded the statements of three MSD and security personnel in this connection.

He added that initial investigations had revealed that Mrs. Kumari Cooray had lived at the ‘Royal Court' apartments down Pedris Road , Kollupitiya and had a teenage son and daughter of around 16 years of age.

Sri Lankan cease-fire monitors demand rebels release policemen

European cease-fire monitors on Friday demanded that Tamil Tiger rebels release three Sri Lankan policemen who entered the insurgents' territory while pursuing a suspected British pedophile nearly a month ago. ``They should be released immediately,'' said Helen Olafsdottir, a spokeswoman for the team monitoring the three-year cease-fire agreement between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. ``The LTTE insists on putting the case through their own court but we have been quite clear on this issue from the start, they should have never been apprehended,'' she said. The Sri Lankan government has also lodged a protest over the detention of the policemen, who were seized Sept. 9.

The government asked Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar to raise the issue at a meeting with the rebels on Thursday, but the guerrillas remained intransigent, a government official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly. Brattskar informed the government on Friday about the rebels' position during talks with Jayantha Dhanapala, the top official handling the peace process. Colombo has accused the rebels of blocking the government's efforts to protect children. Two female and three male police officers, two Catholic priests and a child-rights investigator were detained by the rebels when they entered an area near Mannar, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of Colombo in pursuit of a suspected British pedophile. All except for the three male police officers were released. Although the government controls Mannar, the rebels control nearby areas, where they run their own administration, including a justice system. The policemen's case is scheduled to be taken up in a Tiger court on Oct. 11. The 51-year-old suspected pedophile later surrendered to police in the capital, Colombo. ``Criminals cannot be allowed to slip out of areas and get away from law and order so it calls inevitably for cooperation between the parties on criminal issues,'' Olafsdottir said, ``Both sides have to be practical regarding such issues.'' The monitors have accused the rebels of violating an already fragile truce by detaining the policemen.

13 candidates file papers to run for Sri Lanka presidency

Thirteen candidates, all representing officially recognized political parties, handed in nomination papers Friday to run at Sri Lanka's Nov. 17 presidential election, Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said Friday.

''All nomination papers received today are in order,'' Dissanayake said. ''I appeal to everybody to conduct the election peacefully.''

Diplomats and analysts view only two of the candidates as serious contenders -- Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, running under the ticket of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the candidate of the rightwing United National Party.

Outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga, leader of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party, which dominates the UPFA coalition that defeated Wickremesinghe's UNP at last year's parliamentary elections, will not be able to stand again as the Constitution only allows two terms in office.

There were no Tamil or Muslim candidates representing the country's main ethnic and religious minorities. All runners are from the majority Sinhalese community.

But Wickremesinghe has sewn up support from Tamil and Muslim political parties who believe he would be better able than his rival to advance the ongoing peace process aimed at ending three decades of war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Rajapakse banks on agreements he has signed with the Marxist People's Liberation Front, or JVP, and a Buddhist monk's party, the JHU, to power him to victory.

But these arrangements with groups regarded as extremist Sinhalese will cost him minority votes, analysts say. They were made in the teeth of opposition by Kumaratunga after she endorsed him as the SLFP's presidential candidate.

''As of now, it looks close,'' an Asian diplomat said on condition of anonymity. ''But things can change in the course of the campaign.''

Rajapakse has good relations with the JVP, which earlier this year withdrew from the UPFA government in opposition to Kumaratunga's tsunami aid sharing deal, which it said legitimized the ''terrorist LTTE'' and gave it control of rehabilitation work in rebel-held areas in the country's north and northeast. ''Their problems were with President Chandrika Kumaratunga and not Rajapakse,'' the diplomat said. ''Obviously, the president is very unhappy with the deals he has made with groups regarded as extremist and whether she will wholeheartedly support her prime minister's election campaign remains to be seen.''

Kumaratunga has been publicly critical of Rajapakse's electoral arrangements and continues to rap the JVP in speeches. Newspapers regularly publish stories of differences between the president and prime minister.

Another contingent of 102 Army, 50 Navy and 48 Air Force personnel left to Haiti as part of the UN peace keeping force. This departing scene was captured at Bandaranaike International Airport, a short while before take off on Friday. 

News Headline

Postal workers back

Postal workers yesterday morning called off the five-day old 'work to rule' campaign after 10 hours of lengthy discussions with authorities winning 19 demands.
They were on 'work to rule' since September 26 and started negotiations with the authorities at 6.00 pm on Friday and concluded discussions on a satisfactory note at 4.30 pm yesterday morning. About a million letters including presidential election related letters were in postal bags unsorted and left idling in post offices, mail exchanges and central mail exchanges.
However, union members agreed to clear all the delayed mail in two days. Authorities agreed to grant a special overtime payment for them to clear the backlog.
Nine unions took to the 'work to rule' campaign refusing to work overtime which resulted in the collection of loads of postal sacks in mail exchanges and post offices islandwide.
Postal workers were pushed to work to rule as a result of the Postal Department and the Ministry failing to attend to their routine administrative work.
Post and Telecommunication Ministry Secretary Piyatissa Ranasinghe agreed to heed to the 19 demands before mid October, Union of Post and Telecommunication Officers' General Secretary K. S. Weerasekara told the Sunday Observer.
Accordingly, the Ministry will fill 49 vacant Chief Postmaster posts, 333 Grade 1 Postmaster posts, 7 Deputy Postmaster General Posts, 28 Divisional Superintendent posts, 28 Regional Administrative Officers posts, gazette competitive exams for internal promotions, grant salary anomalies for class I and II postmasters, minor staff salary increments, reinstate interdicted officers, etc.
Authorities also agreed to provide 10,000 bicycles for postmen without deducting the cost from their salaries. After five years, postmen will own these bicycles, Weerasekara said.
In addition, the authorities also agreed to fill about 5,000 vacancies in the department with Graduate trainees.

EU ban : No impact on peace facilitation
The European Union travel ban on the LTTE will not impact on the role of the Norwegian peace facilitators, a Norwegian Embassy spokeswoman said.
"We are not party to the declaration...The ban will not have any impact on us," Norwegian Embassy spokeswoman Kjersti Tromsdal told the Sunday Observer.
Norway is not a member state of the European Union.
"Our role remains unchanged," she said adding Norwegians would resume peace diplomacy once Oslo finalises its coalition government.
Former Head of the Mission of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Trond Furuhovde will visit the island, as scheduled, in the middle of this month to consult the government and the LTTE on reviewing the Ceasefire Agreement. The 25 nation European Union last Tuesday announced a travel ban on the LTTE delegations visiting the member states, while threatening a complete ban on the Tigers.
"The EU is actually considering the formal listing of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. In the meantime, the EU has agreed that with immediate effect, the delegations from the LTTE will no longer be received in any EU member states until further notice".
The EU declaration further stated that the member states would take national measures to curb illegal activities, including fund-raising and propaganda by LTTE front organisations and individual supporters.
Meanwhile, thousands of people thronged into Jaffna University grounds on Friday, in an LTTE organised Pongu Tamil (Tamil Resurgence) festival, declaring the right to self-determination as non-negotiable and denouncing the EU ban as one sided punitive action.

The government on Friday said the EU ban would help break the deadlock in the negotiations and would facilitate and not complicate the peace process
"We do not think the EU ban will in anyway be a hindrance to the peace process, Cabinet Spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva told the weekly Cabinet briefing.

7 Muslims detained by the LTTE in Batticaloa

LTTE captured seven Muslims persons who had gone to Akkurana forest in the LTTE control area to cut tree. They are still detained by the LTTE. They are as follows-

1. Pakiri Muthu Basheer

2. Ali Ismail

3. Adhambava Vellaithamby

4. Asanar Muhamadu Nasar

5. Muhamadu Ismail Eliyas

6. Scapillai Ismail

7. Rasoor Maharoop

Their 7 carts and 14 bulls have also been detained at Illupaiyadichenai by the LTTE. The picture of these bullock carts has been published in LTTE Newspaper "Eelanatham" from Batticaloa.

Issue Stamp in memory of late Naleem Hajiar – IA-YMMA

At a special committee meeting chaired by Al-Haj M. Ashroff Hussein, National President of the International Assembly of YMMA (Sri Lanka) yesterday, the committee unanimously adopted a proposal by its Governor Hassan Al Fassi Sheriff, seconded by the Kandy District Governor M.S.M. Fouzer to request the Minister of Post and Telecommunication to issue a stamp in memory of the late Business/ Gem Tycoon, Social and Religious worker Al-Haj M.I.M Naleem.

The late Naleem Hajiar has rendered a yeoman service to the Muslim community of Sri Lanka. Jameeyah Naleemiya the citadel of Sri Lanka Muslim Renaissance in the field of Islamic education and Iqra which was producing competent people of technical field were some of his remarkable ventures, to help the needy. The presence of these ventures will ensure that this great Muslim entrepreneur lives in the hearts of the people forever.

The IA-YMMA is also to call upon the local government authority in Beruwela to name the road that leads to the Jameeyah Naleemiya Islamic Academy to be named after this great philanthropist and the patriotic Sri Lankan citizen.

child 

Today, the world celebrates the International Children�s and Elders� Days. The happy juxtaposition of the two days is indicative of the circle of life that begins with childhood and ends in the twilight years. Even as the child pictured here contemplates life in an even more competitive future, this elderly couple amble along at their own pace helped by another elderly person.  

Headline News

At least three killed in Sri Lanka's volatile east ahead of prime minister's visit

Gunmen fatally shot two ethnic Tamils and a Sinhalese man in separate attacks in Sri Lanka's volatile east, hours before a planned visit Saturday by presidential candidate and current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, police said.

The Tamil men, both aged 23, were shot dead by unidentified gunmen just before midnight in Valaichchenai village, 220 kilometers (135 miles) east of the capital, Colombo, said Rohan Abeywardene, the region's top police chief.

Around six hours later, an ice-cream seller, belonging to the Sinhalese majority was shot dead in the neighboring eastern district of Ampara - parts of which are under Tamil Tiger rebel control.

The fresh outbreak of violence came as Rajapakse traveled to the coastal village of Oluvil, in Ampara, to address an election rally.

Security has been bolstered by special anti-terrorist commandos and the police ahead of his visit, Abeywardene said.

He said while the violence is unlikely to have an impact on the premier's visit, ``we are not taking any chances.''

The premier's special security team also combed the area ahead of Rajapakse's arrival by helicopter.

Rajapakse will contest presidential elections expected on Nov. 17.

Oluvil is a Muslim-dominated village. Rajapakse also visited another Muslim village in Ampara on Friday. The Muslim vote will be crucial at the poll for Sri Lanka's new president, and could determine whether Rajapakse or his main opponent, Ranil Wickremesinghe, wins.

``I will make sure there will be an honorable peace where Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims can all live without fear,'' Rajapakse told the crowd.

Muslims generally do not trust the Tamil rebels, who are mostly Hindus. Muslims claim their 1.3 million minority have been discriminated against since an earlier Sri Lankan government signed a cease-fire agreement with the rebels.

Authorities suspect the latest violence was linked to feuding between militant groups.

The split in the Tamil Tiger rebels in March 2004, sparked internecine clashes that have killed scores, mainly in Sri Lanka's east. In recent months, the fighting has spilled over into the capital.

Sri Lankan President leaves on foreign visit amid party dispute

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga who is nearing the end of her official term in December has undertaken a visit to Paris amidst a serious policy dispute with her presidential candidate and the incumbent prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse.

The ruling party officials said Saturday the President had lefthere early Saturday morning to attend sessions of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

The ruling party, Sri lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), said Friday that Kumaratunga had agreed to address Rajapakse's election rallies despite her earlier call on him to explain his electoral pacts with extremist political parties aimed at winning the Nov. 17 poll.

Kumaratunga who cannot contest a third time for President choseRajapakse as the party's nominee.

But she is unhappy with Rajapakse's pacts with the two hardlineparties who are opposed to a federal solution being looked at as an ultimate settlement to the separatist armed conflict.

The SLFP sources said that Kumaratunga appointed a nine-member committee comprising senior ministers and provincial governors. The committee has been mandated to formulate the policy document for Rajapakse while preserving the SLFP's own policies whilst recognizing the policies of parties who had entered deals with theparty's presidential candidate

EU ban on Tamil Tigers may make them rethink strategy of violence, analysts say

The EU's ban on Tamil Tigers - and its veiled threat to brand the group ``terrorists'' - may force the rebels to re-think their violent tactics as they claim to support peace talks to end Sri Lanka's civil war, analysts said.

``I think LTTE's options are limited,'' said Jehan Perera, a top analyst of National Peace Council, a Colombo-based independent think tank. He was referring to the rebels' official name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. ``The LTTE is desperately looking for international recognition, and any more acts of violence will jeopardize that dream,'' Perera said on Thursday. The rebels have their own de facto government in much of Sri Lanka's north and east, as well as their own military, judicial system and even traffic police.

But they lack international recognition. On Monday, the European Union issued a statement saying Tamil Tiger representatives will be refused entry to EU member states until further notice, while the bloc decides whether to add the group to its list of terrorist organizations.

The EU said the Tigers' ``continuing use of violence and terrorism'' threatened Sri Lanka's fragile peace process. But since the truce was signed, the rebels have been blamed for 409 killings - including those of 61 Sri Lankan security forces and 34 civilian informers, according to the Media Unit of the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry.

Also among those killed were 54 members of Tamil political parties opposed to the Tigers.

The Aug. 12 slaying of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, blamed on the rebels, triggered international indignation. The Tigers deny involvement in Kadirgamar's killing, and have generally declined comment on the other deaths. The EU ban is seen as a severe blow to the rebels, who have scrambled to improve their international image by traveling to European capitals to try building support among governments and the 800,000 Tamils who fled Sri Lanka after the 1983 anti-Tamil riots that started the war.

``I don't know how deep the rethinking will be in the LTTE, but I imagine there will be reassessment and review of their current policies,'' said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, another top political analyst of the Colombo-based Center for Policy Alternatives, an independent research institute.

Europe thinks the LTTE has gone too far

M.R. Narayan Swamy, newkerala.com, Thu 29th Sep 09:35GMT. After hosting Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas for over two decades, Europe has finally decided to show its displeasure with the world's most lethal insurgent group over its adamant refusal to give up violence. But Norway will not join the European Union (EU) decision not to receive any more LTTE delegation, but only because it is the mediator in Sri Lanka's peace process. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is predictably angry over the EU move, which came barely a week after the co-chairs to the Sri Lanka peace process (Japan, Norway, EU and the US) called on the Tigers to take "immediate steps" to end political assassinations and recruitment of child soldiers. The EU statement has gone much further. It condemned the LTTE for using "violence and terrorism" and said "that with immediate effect, delegations from the LTTE will no longer be received in any of the EU members states until further notice". It added that EU was "actively considering the formal listing of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation". It also warned that each member state "will, where necessary, take additional national measures to check and curb illegal or undesirable activities (including issues of funding and propaganda) of the LTTE, its related organisations and known individual supporters". The EU decision is the first-ever collective crackdown on and the most serious action against the LTTE, which has skillfully used Europe for well over 20 years to both generate money and fulminate against the Sri Lankan state.

``If the LTTE had thought that, irrespective of their behavior, they expect to be treated as an equal partner at peace talks or other forums, this ban by the EU certainly indicates otherwise,'' Saravanamuttu said.

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Top Norwegian envoy to visit Sri Lanka in October

Associated Press, Mon September 26, 2005 02:42 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ A retired Norwegian military general will likely visit Sri Lanka next month to review an Oslo-brokered cease-fire between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, an embassy spokeswoman said Monday.

Trond Furuhovde's tentative arrival date is Oct. 10, Norwegian Embassy spokeswoman Kjersti Tromsdal said, but the date must still be confirmed. Furuhovde is the former head of a team of observers monitoring Sri Lanka's cease-fire agreement reached in 2002.

The Sri Lankan government and the rebels have agreed to resume direct talks, suspended since 2003, to save the cease-fire, which has been severely tested by a spate of killings that included the Aug. 12 assassination of Sri Lanka's foreign minister by suspected Tigers. The Tigers deny involvement.

The government has insisted that any talks with the guerrillas must be held in Sri Lanka, and has rejected a Tiger proposal to meet in rebel-stronghold Kilinochchi. The rebels, citing security reasons, also suggested Oslo as a venue, but the government said the Tamil Tigers would use any foreign venue to further their separatist campaign.

An earlier statement from the Norwegian foreign ministry said that Furuhovde will ``consult with both parties on the security situation and the implementation of the cease-fire agreement.''

The guerrillas began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils in the country's north and east, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

The conflict killed nearly 65,000 people before a cease-fire was signed. Subsequent peace talks have been stalled since 2003 over rebel demands for wider autonomy.

Tamil businessmen laud Mahinda's vision for Lanka

THE Tamil business community last Friday pledged their fullest support to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, to elect him as the next President, on the basis of being the only leader who has a pragmatic approach to solve the country's burning issues.

The Tamil business community consisting of over 1,000 businessmen, were of the firm view that all patriots should rally round Rajapakse and extend their fullest support to make him the next President because he was a leader who was not confined only to rhetoric but had a practical and systematic approach for solving the problems facing the country.

They pointed out that in the past, the rulers discussed the 'cost of living' only with the hierarchy of multi-national and mega-level companies.

However, Rajapakse discussed matters at grassroots level with the Pettah Wholesalers and small-scale businessmen.

Addressing Tamil businessmen, the Premier asserted that on being elected President, he will resume peace talks with the LTTE and bring permanent and sustainable peace and steer the country to prosperity within an environment where all communities abide by the law and live in harmony with one another.

Stressing that all children should have equal access to education, he said he would formulate plans to provide two popular, Tamil-stream schools in Colombo and Kandy, to enable Tamil children to receive their education in their language.

Ministers Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Dilan Perera, Rohitha Bogollagama and Tamil Businessmen's Forum President S. Manikkam also participated.

Barges are piled up against a railroad bridge in Lake Charles after Hurricane Rita pushed ashore Saturday. 

Barges are piled up against a railroad bridge in Lake Charles after Hurricane Rita pushed ashore Saturday. 

BEAUMONT, Texas - Gov. Rick Perry flew Sunday over the Texas cities slammed by Hurricane Rita while rescuers in southern Louisiana searched for perhaps hundreds of people still trapped by floodwaters. 

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Former United States President Bill Clinton 

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Tsunami aid in wrong hands in Sri Lanka: Auditor General

Wide spread corruption has been detected in the distribution of foreign and local tsunami aid in Sri Lanka, the country's chief auditor said today.

Large scale misappropriation was found in the north-western, southern and eastern regions, Auditor General Sarath Mayadunne said commenting on a report in Sunday Island daily which said that he had blown the whistle on corruption.

"Yes, the figures mentioned in the newspaper report are correct," Mayadunne said adding that he will publish his Interim Tsunami Aid Audit Report this week after having presented it to members of parliament last week.

He said he could not say what percentage of the aid money had been siphoned off, but believed the numbers were large.

Inefficiencies had also slowed the flow of aid, he said noting that only 13.5 per cent of foreign aid had been utilised by the Sri Lankan authorities.

"There has been wide spread misappropriation of funds. Initially, it was understandable because proper system and controls were not in place, but even after the emergency phase was over, the irregularities continued," Mayadunne said. PTI

Facilitator role: Norway no change

The government has written to the Norwegian Labour Party Leader Jens Stoltenberg whose Center-Left bloc emerged winners at the Norwegian Parliamentary Elections, requesting the continuance of the role of his government in the peace process.

Stoltenberg who would replace the out-going Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, has responded that the Norwegian engagement in the peace process would remain unchanged.

An economist, Stoltenberg's Centre-Left bloc won 88 seats against 81 seats of Bondevik's Conservative coalition.

Earlier, Erik Solheim, the peace envoy, who is also a member of the winning coalition told the press that Norwegians would continue to facilitate the peace process.

Norwegian Embassy spokeswoman Kjersti Tromsdal echoed the same remarks when asked whether there would be any changes of the Norwegian's role in the peace process.

"No changes on our part, role will be the same," she said.

Diplomatic sources, however said it would take time till mid-October for the Norwegians to finalise a government, which is expected to be a three party coalition of the Labour Party, Socialist Left and Centrist Party.

Till then Sri Lanka has to wait for the announcement of any reshuffle of the Norwegian peace delegation.

"The last message we got from the Norwegians is that they would announce their peace team in mid-October, once their Cabinet is named," a senior peace secretariat official told the Sunday Observer.

Meanwhile, former Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Chief, Gen. Trond Furuhovde will arrive in the island in the second week of next month to consult the Government and the LTTE on the ceasefire review.

"He will consult the Government and the LTTE separately about the proper implementation of the ceasefire agreement," Tromsdal said.

Gen. Furuhovde's visit comes in the wake of the failure of the Government and the LTTE to agree on a venue for ceasefire talks.

The peace secretariat official said that the Government has identified pluses and minuses of the ceasefire agreement and would give its input for the consideration of Gen. Furuhovde.

Earlier, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission chief Hagrup Haukland told the Sunday Observer that the SLMM would also forward its recommendations on the review of the ceasefire agreement to the Government and the LTTE.

Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake at yesterday�s press conference. 

Somawansa's insult to the Army, Prime Minister should make a public apology

(courtesy Asian Tribune) The statement JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe has made in front of Mahinda Rajapakse, Presidential candidate that the Army should be sent home amounts to an insult to the Sri Lanka Army and therefore the Prime Minister should make a public apology to the nation, Tissa Attanayake, Deputy General Secretary, UNP said on Thursday.

The Army has meticulously worked to establish national security, but the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna who perpetrated the jungle law in this country has demeaned the Sri Lanka Army, Attanayake said at a press conference held at the Colombo of Office of the Leader of the Opposition.

Mr Mahinda Rajapakse is contesting with the hope of becoming the President and if Mr Rajapakse dissociate with the statement of Mr Amarasinghe which was an order, the Prime Minister should make a public apology, Mr Attanayake said.

He said that the UNP thoroughly deplores the said statement and that it was a huge insult to the Army that worked relentlessly to ensure the national security, sovereignty and integrity of the country.

UNP spokesman, Prof G L Peiris, who also joined the press briefing said that the UNP has positively responded to the advice (Anusasanawa) made by the Viharadhipathy Nayake Thero of the Bellanwila Rajamaha Viharaya that to find solutions for all the problems of the country the two main political parties should join hands to come to consensus.

Prof Peiris said that Mr Ranil Wickramasinghe is prepared to accept each word of this Anussanawa and said that they would work out a plan to implement them. Mr Vajira Abeywardene MP was also present at the Press briefing.

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Re-poll in all violence marred centres

ELECTIONS Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake yesterday warned that he will not hesitate to go for a re-poll in polling stations marred by violence, stressing that this will delay the overall result and the appointment of the new Executive President.

"I request all party leaders, their members and supporters to act with restraint to ensure a smooth election," Commissioner Dissanayake requested adding that he has already fixed November 19 as the date for a possible re-poll.

"The reign of the current President expires on November 21. We have to release the election results before that," Dissanayake said explaining the reason for fixing the date for a re-poll well ahead.

He was briefing the press at the Elections Secretariat in Rajagiriya.

According to the 2004 electoral list some 13.3 million are eligible to vote at the forthcoming Presidential Election on November 17, 428,128 more than the number of voters at the 2004 general election.

Explaining the Supreme Court ruling on the JHU petition over the announcement of the Presidential polls date, the Commissioner said he was of the view that he had not breached the fundamental rights of any party.

"Despite allegations and rumours I had a clear idea of the election date and it was to be duly announced. It was inappropriate for me as an independent official to give into pressures," the Commissioner commented adding that he has petitioned the court on this ruling and was awaiting a response.

He said the Secretariat will make arrangements to set up cluster stations in villages bordering North-East so that people in the uncleared areas are ensured their right of franchise.

"Under the Ceasefire Agreement between the Government and the LTTE the police cannot enter uncleared areas in uniform, carrying arms to provide protection to polling stations," Dissanayake explained.

He said this has hindered setting up polling centres in convenient locations within the uncleared areas.

The locations of the cluster polling stations is to be determined by the military giving thought to safety and convenience. The voters there will also be given transport facilities to and from the polling centres.

The Polls Chief said the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East will be given the choice of location to cast their vote at a site closest to their current residence and they are required to apply for this before September 26.

The deadline for postal balloting which will be for those in the police service, military, prisons Department and the CTB, will be September 28.

The Commissioner said considering the few applications received so far they plan to extend the deadline for IDPs for postal votes just once. "We can do it only once this time as we are pressed for time."

The election will be held in over 10,486 polling stations islandwide and over 100,000 staff will be deployed for election duty. In certain polling stations excluding the North and East special facilities will be made available for female voters.

The election will be held from 7.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and the counting of ballots will start from 8.00p.m.

Hartal in Trinco again

The life in Trincomalee was severely disrupted yesterday due to a hartal backed by pro-LTTE groups demanding the removal of the Buddha Statue, the state of emergency and the withdrawal of army posts.

Government offices, shops, schools, banks and private institutions were seen closed, with public transport services coming to a halt after few hours of operation.

Shops belonging to the Sinhalese community which were kept open for a limited time also put their shutters up after few hours, as the entire town was deserted and no customers coming make their usual purchases.

The North East Industrial Exhibition -- "Nava Yuga Dekma" which was declared open on Tuesday by Governor Tyronne Fernando had to be suspended due to the hartal.

The police assisted by the three security services were mobilised across the town to tighten security. According to police sources the hartal was fairly peaceful and no were incidents reported.

Olympic bronze medalist and Sri Lankan star sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe carries the 2006 Commonwealth Games baton in Colombo, 21 September 2005. The baton will Olympic bronze medallist and star sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe carries the 2006 Commonwealth Games baton in Colombo yesterday. The baton will leave Sri Lanka and be taken to the Maldives on its journey to Melbourne in Australia for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.  

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UK calls for EU ban on LTTE - High Commission Spokesman

The United Kingdom is calling on the European Union (EU) to list the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist entity. A spokesman for the British High Commission in Colombo said that the UK is committed to combating terrorism in all its forms.

Responding to a question by 'The Island', The High Commission Spokesman said "We proscribed the LTTE in 2001. This has impacted on LTTE activities and fundraising in the UK. This proscription remains in place. The UK's national position is also clear that we support listing of the LTTE by the European Union as a terrorist entity." UK is the current President of the European Union.

Earlier reports said EU member states had put off a decision on Sri Lanka's call for sanctions against the LTTE following the assassination of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar since a member of the European Union and Sri Lanka's peace facilitator Norway with the support of other Nordic countries had opposed any sanctions against the LTTE through the European Union.

Sri Lankan diplomats say the UK had been well briefed with adequate information on the latest activities of the LTTE. The diplomats expressed hope that the firm position taken by Britain as the President of the EU would expedite EU's decision to bring sanctions against the LTTE

The British High Commission spokesman in Colombo , also pointed out that UK as a member of the European Union , which is one of the Co-Chairs also had made clear their strong condemnation of the killing of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was allegedly assassinated by the LTTE at his residence on 12 August.

Emergency will not hinder poll

The Government yesterday assured that the Emergency Regulations now in force would not cause any disturbance to the Presidential Election.

"The Emergency Regulations will be implemented without causing any hindrance to the November 17 Presidential Election and the electioneering process," Public Security, Law and Order Minister and Deputy Defence Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told Parliament last evening.

He pledged to exercise the Emergency Regulations in a manner that will cause no harm to the public.

"We will make efforts to exercise these laws without any inconvenience to the public. If there is even any minor inconvenience, I request the public to bear with them."

Minister Wickremanayake explained that the regulations were necessary to effectively carry out security measures and operations.

He also stressed that the regulations are not against any community or persons. "This is not done with acrimony or rancour. These are not against the Tamil people. As a responsible Government, we have a responsibility to ensure protection for all the communities in this country."

The Minister said the Government would make all efforts to relax most regulations and also use minimum regulations under the Emergency. "We are trying our best to remove many regulations and exercise only the essential ones."

Minister Wickremanayake presented to the House an order issued by the President removing certain regulations and said it would be included in the Gazette notification. The Minister said they were doing it with a clear and good intention. "We cannot give an assurance that we would lift it before the election. Earlier, we have given such pledges and fulfilled them."

Emergency extended
The extension of the Emergency for a further one month was passed in Parliament yesterday by a majority of 94 votes. One hundred and eighteen Members from the Government, JVP, UNP, JHU and the CWC voted for the Emergency and 24 voted against. They comprised the TNA, UPF and UNP MPs Mano Ganeshan and T. Maheswaran. The SLMC (Hakeem Group) abstained from voting.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse waves to the crowd at the inaugural Dinawamu Sri Lanka Presidential Election campaign rally at Town Hall grounds, Colombo yesterday. 

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Threat to Mahinda's chances comes from Chandrika not Ranil

Hindustan Times, September 21. By sewing up alliances with extremist Sinhala nationalist parties like the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Sri Lankan Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa has shown that he knows his political arithmetic.

But his calculation may go awfully wrong if the angry President of his party, and the President of his country, Chandrika Kumaratunga, carries out her threat to change the party's candidate, or dissolve parliament. In both cases, Rajapaksa's election machine will be a wreck.

Kumaratunga is very angry that Rajapaksa should strikes deals with the JVP and JHU without consulting her or the authorized decision making bodies of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The deals, she told Rajapaksa from her camp in New York, had compromised the basic principles of the SLFP on the ethnic issue.

While the SLFP favoured federalism, Rajapaksa had gone and committed himself to the continuance of the unitary system and a hard line approach to the ethnic conflict. The alliances have seriously jeopardized the prospects of peace, national reconciliation and economic development, according to her loyalists.

Sri Lanka peace process faces 'most serious challenge' ever

The main international players supporting Sri Lanka's peace process have warned that it faces ''its most serious challenge'' since a 2002 cease-fire brought a halt to fighting between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.

The warning was issued in a joint statement from the European Union, Japan, the United States, Britain and Norway released Tuesday by the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo.

The statement, following a meeting in New York of the co-chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference of June 2003 that financially underwrote the peace process, rapped both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lanka government by implication for the current situation.

While it stopped short of directly accusing the Tigers of killing of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar last month, it strongly hinted that the LTTE was responsible in the view of the co-chairs.

The assassination was branded an ''unconscionable act of terrorism'' that casts ''profound doubts on the commitment of those responsible to a peaceful and political resolution of the conflict.''

Immediately following this, the co-chairs demanded that the LTTE take ''immediate public steps to demonstrate their commitment to the peace process and their willingness to change.'' They also called for ''an immediate end to political assassinations by the LTTE and an end to LTTE recruitment of child soldiers'' as ''two such steps.''

The Sri Lanka government has also not come unscathed, with the co-chairs underscoring Colombo's responsibility under the cease-fire agreement to disarm and relocate paramilitary groups active in the north and east of the country.

The reference is to a breakaway faction of the LTTE led by the Tiger's former eastern commander best known by his nom-de-guerre, Colonel Karuna.

The Karuna group has been harassing the LTTE particularly in the east and the Tigers accuse the Sri Lanka military of facilitating their activity, a charge that Colombo vehemently denies.

The statement, one of the most comprehensive issued in recent times, said that the forthcoming presidential election would naturally promote vigorous debate on the best way to advance the peace process and in this context called on all parties to refrain from violence and from making statements that could undermine the peace process.

The co-chairs strongly advocated a solution based on a ''federal model within a united Sri Lanka'' ensuring democracy, human rights and the legitimate rights of all ethnic groups.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, in agreements he has entered with the Marxist People's Liberation Front and the National Heritage Party of Buddhist monks, is committed to a ''unitary state'' as opposed to a federal state.

Babys today 

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga greeted by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan during the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday at the UN Headquarters in New York. AFP 

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Sri Lanka presidential elections to be held Nov. 17

Sri Lanka's presidential election will be held Nov. 17, election officials said Monday.

Nominations will be accepted on Oct. 7, said Rasika Peiris, assistant election commissioner. Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the presidential election must be held this year - ending months of controversy over when President Chandrika Kumaratunga's second term ends. She is limited by the constitution to two terms, and had argued that she should be able to serve until next year because the previous elections were called early. Ruling party candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe are locked in a tightly contested race for the presidency.

The election is largely seen as a referendum on how to handle a fragile peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels, who have demanded greater autonomy in their northeastern stronghold as a condition for resuming talks on ending the island's two-decade civil war. Rajapakse has already secured support from a hardline Marxist party and another led by Sri Lanka's influential Buddhist monks after he pledged not to share power with the guerrillas and to review the Norwegian-brokered peace process. The move has angered Kumaratunga, who has long pushed for a power-sharing deal and agreed to the Tigers' demand for joint distribution of aid for victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami, hoping to achieve peace with the rebels. Wickremesinghe, who signed a cease-fire with the rebels in February 2002 when he was prime minister, has promised to resume the peace talks and create a federal system of government that would give the separatists more autonomy.

Stop propaganda and prove your commitment for Muslims- Hakeem

SLMC Rauff Hakeem told media in Kandy yesterday, just after the conclusion of the Workshop for party seniors out side North and East "although we are in a position to announce our decision prior to nominations are closed, the discussions with candidates might delay the announcement. We need to discuss and enter into a written agreement with a candidate before we could announce our final decision". "The candidate who will be supported by the SLMC will win, it is our crucial decision that will decide who is the next president. The candidate who will agree to our key demands that would be put forward by us in the better interest of the community will get our support" he noted. "It is disheartening to see the two major contenders for the presidency are continuously stating that the Muslim community is not united and that prevents them doing any betterment to the community, by keeping all sections satisfied. I urge both of them to stop this injurious propaganda immediately and prove their commitment and concern for the Muslim community" Hakeem added. "Today, lot of dissidents who are prominent politicians, negotiating to re-join the SLMC, they are not waiting to see which candidate the party is going to support, but because they are aware that the majority of the community will adhere to the party's decision, they seek to join prior to our decision is announced, this shows the SLMC's credibility. Divisions and splits are everywhere today; there isn't a single community or party without these. Singling out the Muslim community is very injurious to them. I urge both of them to speak of what they could do this community instead, if they were to seek the support of Muslims during the polls" Hakeem added.

The last of a series of workshops by SLMC to obtain the views of the party's district, village level organisers and people's representatives out side North East, on the presidential election was held at the Digana Village resort in Kandy. The party men unanimously adopted a resolution and empowered Hakeem to make the final decision on the forth coming presidential election.