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.

News Today

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.