LTTE kills nine sailors

Nine sailors were killed and eight injured in an LTTE claymore mine blast in Chettikulam on the Mannar-Medawachchiya road at 4.15 p.m. yesterday.

According to the Navy Media Unit, the incident occurred at the 18th mile post in Chettikulam.

The sailors were travelling in three buses from the Pandukabhaya Navy Camp at Punewa towards the Gajaba and Thamenna Navy camps in Mannar when they were ambushed.

The bus carrying 19 sailors ripped apart when the claymore mine exploded. Nine of the 19 sailors were killed and eight others were injured. Two sailors escaped unhurt.

The injured sailors were rushed to the Anuradhapura General Hospital, sources said.

This was the second attack on the Navy in a week following the attack on a Naval Dvora patrol craft in Trincomalee on Saturday where 13 sailors were killed.

Earlier, 13 sailors were killed in a claymore mine blast at Nadukkuda, Mannar on December 23. The sailors killed in the attack were returning to their homes for the Christmas holidays, Navy sources said.

With yesterday's attack, the number of Armed Forces personnel killed during the past one month has gone upto 76 despite the Ceasefire Agreement signed in 2002. Along with the deaths of Armed Forces personnel, 125 people have been killed in a wave of violence which has escalated in the latter part of last year, sources said.

Meanwhile, it was reported that two members of the Denmark Demining Movement 'Dennis' on their way to Jaffna were abducted by the LTTE on Wednesday. The two were identified as Thambiah Thomas and Nagamurthy Kandipan.

Govt condemns attack

The Government yesterday strongly condemning the LTTE attack said this was another in a series of hostile acts mounted on the Security Forces by the LTTE in the North and East over the last few weeks in blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.

A release said this attack had come at a time when President Mahinda Rajapakse was making a sincere effort to consult with political parties and the facilitator to move the peace process forward.

The Government also expressed its condolences to families of the Navy personnel killed in the attack.

SLMM questions whether there is still a Ceasefire in Sri Lanka

SLMM strongly condemns the latest attack on Sri Lanka Navy soldiers in Cheddikulam on the 12th of January. Our sympathy goes to the families that have been affected by this brutal murder.

This attack is yet another serious blow to the Ceasefire Agreement and SLMM believes that if such attacks or retaliation of such attacks continue the Ceasefire Agreement will be over. Over 100 people were killed last month half of which were civilians. Killings and serious attacks continue and the situation is getting worse. It is our assessment that if the Parties don’t react immediately they risk going back to war.

Various actors in the international community have blamed the LTTE for attacking Government troops but the LTTE has continuously denied any involvement. The LTTE claims that “the People” are behind the attacks on the military. SLMM finds this explanation unacceptable. It is safe to say that LTTE involvement cannot be ruled out and we find the LTTE’s indifference to these attacks worrying.

It is however clear that people are suffering and unfortunately there have been several reports of civilian harassment by the Security Forces in relation to increased security measures. The harassment often takes a form of harsh treatment of the Tamil population in relation to the attacks. We would like to urge the Government of Sri Lanka and the Security Forces to prevent such actions from taking place.

It is important to emphasise that the current situation also stems from the fact that alternative armed elements have been able to operate freely in the East in Government controlled areas. These forces have destabilised the ceasefire and are one of the major reasons for increased tension between the Parties. We therefore urge the Government of Sri Lanka to face up to its responsibility to disarm these other armed groups so that the rule of law can be reinstated in the affected areas.

Increasing amount of civilians is being caught in the middle leading to major disturbances in the local communities. The conflict between the two sides is hurting civilians and preventing any restoration to normalcy.

We urge both Parties to consider carefully how they can mend the situation instead of merely blaming each other and pointing fingers. The Parties need to come up with firm confidence building measures with the truthful aim of reaching a peaceful solution. Actions speak louder than words and we feel that we need to see more commitment from the two Parties if war is not to break out in Sri Lanka.

A Dvora Fast Attack Craft.- Internet photo 

Hit by attacks, S.Lanka's army takes no chances

Kilinochchi Sarvanandam Anandarajah (R) and his family members wait while their meal is prepared at a refugee camp run by Kilinochchi Development, Relief and Rehabilitation Organization (KDRRO), in Tamil Tiger held Kilinochchi, northern Sri Lanka, January 3, 2006. Hundreds of residents have fled the government army-held Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka into Tamil Tiger territory, rebel officials said on Tuesday, but while some refugees said they were fleeing military harassment and feared war would resume, others said they wanted to fight alongside the rebels.
Kilinochchi Sarvanandam Anandarajah (R) and his family members wait while their meal is prepared at a refugee camp run by Kilinochchi Development, Relief and Rehabilitation Organization (KDRRO), in Tamil Tiger held Kilinochchi, northern Sri Lanka, January 3, 2006. Hundreds of residents have fled the government army-held Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka into Tamil Tiger territory, rebel officials said on Tuesday, but while some refugees said they were fleeing military harassment and feared war would resume, others said they wanted to fight alongside the rebels.

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Speeding along the rough roads of the Sri Lankan army-held Jaffna peninsula, guarded by armoured vehicles front and back, convoys transporting troops near Tamil rebel-held areas take no chances.
While a 2002 ceasefire is still technically holding, a string of suspected claymore fragmentation mine attacks on patrols and convoys in December -- the deadliest month by far since the truce -- killed 39 military personnel. Most troops patrolling Jaffna say they expect war.
"Last month, it changed," said 23-year-old Private Waduge Krishan Dehevapiya, like most soldiers one of the island's Sinhalese majority.
"We are scared. But we are soldiers. We know we will have to face that kind of strategy."
Sri Lanka's Tamil minority lives mostly in the island's north and east, where the Tamil Tiger rebels have a de facto state in most areas, except the Jaffna peninsula, which they have held intermittently and now want back.
In the latest violence, a navy Israeli-built Dvora patrol boat exploded off the northeastern coast on Saturday after being rammed by what officers said was a suspected Tiger suicide boat. Only two of the 15 crew were rescued and the others are missing, presumed dead.
Violence in the Tamil-dominated north has risen sharply since a Tiger boycott of the November presidential election helped President Mahinda Rajapakse win -- seen as the candidate least likely to cut a deal with the rebels. Analysts say the boycott suggests the Tigers are tired of the peace process.
Shortly after the election, the rebels warned they would "intensify their struggle" without new concessions and now say army atrocities in Jaffna could force them into war.
They say they are not behind the attacks, but few diplomats believe them. Neither side can agree a venue for talks.
The army deny their soldiers are abusing civilians, but say the language barrier hampers communication. Tamil courses are now being run, but officers say they should have started much earlier in a two-decade old war that has killed over 64,000.
But they say their most serious worry is safeguarding their supply routes, particularly around Jaffna -- which is cut off from the rest of the island by rebel territory, leaving the military to rely on resupply by air and sea.

HAIL OF STEEL

Within the peninsula itself, the army has only two main supply routes: the road from Jaffna town to the Palaly air base and the main road that runs to the northern border of rebel territory.
"If we had enough men, we would line the entire route," one officer said. "But we do not."
Instead, patrols -- some of only a couple of soldiers, some of sixty or so men -- repeatedly comb the roads, cutting back undergrowth and rooting through piles of rubble from the previous conflict for signs of mines or potential ambushes.
Two days before Christmas, the military says the rebels attacked a navy bus near the northwestern Mannar Sea.
A claymore fragmentation mine blasted a hail of steel ball bearings into the vehicle, which was then hit with rocket propelled grenade fire. Thirteen died.
After that and similar attacks near Jaffna, buses and trucks travel in convoy, often protected by South African-made Buffel armoured personnel carriers. Soldiers stand in bus doors and out of hatches on truck cab roofs, with AK-47s at the ready.
Some soldiers strap their flak jackets to the truck cab doors, hoping to protect the driver from any claymore blast so the vehicle keeps moving until it is out of the danger area.
But while soldiers say the attacks are pressuring troops -- some of whom have spent four years in the north and east, only rotating out for training -- they expect before long to be facing a Tiger offensive aimed at taking Jaffna.
"We are ready every day," said a senior officer. "We have to be. We cannot say it will happen. It is down to politics."

R E G I O N: US concerned over violence in Sri Lanka

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has voiced concern over a flare-up of violence in Sri Lanka, and hopes Colombo and Tamil Tiger rebels will resume talks to reinforce their fragile truce, the State Department said.
Washington plans to dispatch a senior official to the troubled tropical Indian Ocean island soon to discuss the conflict, the department said on Friday.
Rice “expressed concern over the recent upsurge in violence in northern and eastern Sri Lanka” during talks with visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, capping an official visit to Washington where he sought American help to avoid a slide back into war in the island state, said Colombo was “still willing to walk that extra mile for peace.”
“This is not because of any weakness but because we are a government committed to a negotiated settlement to this problem and we do not think that war is an option,” he told reporters.
“We want to bring international pressure on the LTTE to come and sit with us at the table to discuss the weaknesses of the cease-fire and find ways and means of strengthening it so these dastardly acts do not happen again,” Samaraweera added.
Rice and Samaraweera discussed the current status of the Sri Lankan peace process and the importance of strengthening the ceasefire, McCormack said.
“Secretary Rice reiterated the United States hope that talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on ways to strengthen the ceasefire could resume soon,” he said.
“She also lauded the Sri Lankan government for its restraint in the face of the Tamil Tigers’ provocations.”
Rice said the United States, co-chair of the Sri Lanka Donors Group along with Japan, the European Union and Norway, remained committed to working with Sri Lanka “to defeat terrorism and to promote peace.”
Washington has tagged the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.
Rice told her Sri Lankan counterpart that State Department Undersecretary Nicholas Burns ‘does intend to travel’ to Sri Lanka to discuss prospects of restoring peace.
“I think he’s (Burns) going to talk about a number of different issues: talk about facilitating the peace between the government and the LTTE, as well as other issues of regional concern,” McCormack said.
Amid the upsurge in violence, many are concerned Sri Lanka would descend again into civil war.
President Mahinda Rajapakse won November polls promising a brand new peace process that would have sidelined Norwegian peacebrokers. But he has now invited Oslo to continue its role, despite staunch opposition by his allies.
LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran had warned that unless Colombo - which has already ruled out a separate homeland for minority Tamils - gives them wide autonomy, the Tigers would ‘intensify their struggle’.
Rice praised Norway’s ‘important role’ in trying to facilitate the peace process even as Oslo struggled to bring the two parties to the table following a dispute over the venue of potential peace talks.

Happy New Year 

SKYNET WISHES - VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR  

Resolve to face all challenges with greater strength: President

THERE is no challenge that cannot be overcome by a Nation that has awakened as one and there is no challenge that cannot be defeated by a Nation that has joined ranks to achieve a single aim with total commitment, President Mahinda Rajapakse said yesterday in his address to the Nation as the country remembered the first anniversary of the biggest tragedy in its history.

"There are many challenges that we Sri Lankans as a country and a Nation have to overcome. We should resolve today to face all those challenges with greater strength," President Rajapakse added.

In his address at the State function to remember the first anniversary of the tsunami tragedy that hit the Nation on December 26, from Peraliya, Hikkaduwa where thousands of lives perished in the 'train of death,' President Rajapakse said it was on that basis he launched the Jaya Lanka programme.

Jaya Lanka programme was launched to carry forward with new and greater energy, the task of building homes and properties destroyed by Tsunami," the President added.

He said the Jaya Lanka programme will be carried out under his personal direction and supervision.

"I address you today standing on part of the ground that underwent great tragedy in a devastation caused by nature. I believe that the voices of those friends and relations snatched away from us will continue to linger in the wind that blows towards us from the sea.

I believe there is a question, which I should ask myself and you from yourselves. It is the question whether as a Nation we have been able to do maximum justice by those who sacrificed their lives as victims of that terrible tragedy?

Have we been able to take forward this effort unbroken towards the progress of this country, the immense strength of our people that was manifest together with that great tragedy?", the President asked.

"It is my belief that both you and I are unable to answer these questions to our entire satisfaction," the President added.

President Rajapakse said in the same manner that the country accepted the challenge directed at us by the sea that surrounds the country one year ago, it is necessary that country is ready and prepared to face any challenge, in an even stronger manner and successfully overcome them.

"There is little that can be done by those who continue to only weep in their sorrow or hide through cowardice. Those who face any challenge with self-confidence and preparedness can always be the victors. This is my firm resolve and call upon all of you to make this your own resolve too," President Rajapakse said.

New Violence in Sri Lanka Kills 4

26 December 2005

Sri Lankan officials say at least four people have been killed in clashes since unidentified gunmen killed a Tamil legislator Sunday. Officials say soldiers shot and killed two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels during a search operation in the city of Batticaloa early Monday. And two civilians were killed overnight in the neighboring Trincomalee district.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the funeral of Tamil legislator Joseph Pararajasingham, a key figure in the Tamil National Alliance party. He was shot dead while attending Christmas Mass in Batticaloa.

The violence is the latest in a series of deadly attacks since rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran threatened to resume his struggle for an independent Tamil homeland if the government fails to reach a peace settlement within the next year.

Mine hits truck carrying Sri Lankan soldiers, 10 dead, four wounded in Jaffna Peninsula

A mine blast killed 10 Sri Lankan soldiers and wounded four others in the island's northern Jaffna Peninsula Tuesday, in escalating violence that the Defense Ministry blames on separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

``We now have confirmation that 10 have died and four are wounded,'' military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. The soldiers were traveling in a military truck when the Claymore anti-personnel mine was triggered.

Initial report said that there were 15 people on the truck, but Samarasinghe said ``all 14'' had been accounted for.

He blamed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the attack.

``Who else can do that?'' he said of the rebels, who want to set up a separate homeland for the country's 3.2 million ethnic Tamils in the northeast.

The soldiers were on leave and en route to the airport when the mine exploded.

Violence has escalated in Sri Lanka's north and east since rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran threatened to resume his struggle for an independent homeland for the region's majority Tamils. Harry Goonetilleke, a retired air marshall and top defense analyst, said the recent string of attacks blamed on the rebels could lead the country back into civil war.

``They are trying to provoke the military and draw them into open hostility,'' said Goonetilleke, who is also former head of the Sri Lanka air force.

The Norwegian-backed peace talks that started after the 2002 cease-fire were halted in 2004 after the rebels demands for wide-ranging autonomy. Efforts to resume the talks have failed to bring about a resolution, with the two sides unable to agree even on a venue.

Sri Lankan shares plunged a provisional 7.5 percent Tuesday after the attack, in one of the biggest drops this year. The benchmark All Share Index fell 153.16 points to close at 1880.15 points, Dow Jones Newswire said.

The attack follows Monday's killing by Sri Lankan soldiers of two suspected rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, where a pro-rebel parliamentarian was assassinated on Sunday.

With Tuesday's fatalities, a total of 43 Sri Lankan security forces personnel have died this month in violence blamed on the rebels.

gunmen shot and killed Tamil legislator Joseph Pararajasingham during midnight Christmas mass at a church, the Defense Ministry said Sunday (Picture Joseph with his wife) 

Merry Christmas - Skynet BIT 

Co-Chairs’ Envoys meets Thamilchelvan; LTTE firm on venue for talks

Co-Chairs statement on Monday urging government and the LTTE to start talks on Ceasefire Agreement's Implementation immediately, the Co-Chairs are committed and impartial in their effort to end violence and finding a lasting solution to the ethnic crisis, said Head of the EU Delegation in Sri Lanka, Ambassador Julian Wilson, speaking to the media in Kilinochchi.

The envoys of the Co-chairs engaged in the peace process between the LTTE and government met the rebel leaders in Kilinochchi today. The envoys decided meet the LTTE political leadership after 13 sailors were killed yesterday in Mannar by suspected LTTE cadres, endangering the already stalled peace process and the CFA.

Speaking to media after a two hour-long meeting with the delegation the LTTE's political wing leader Thamilchelvan said "The Tamil leadership is firm and will oppose Colombo's effort on imposing geographical limitations and preconditions on the venue of talks on the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement and thereby alienating the Liberation Tigers from European countries".

Thamilchelvan also charged that rape by the Navy personnel in Punguduthivu and the attempted cover up of the incident by dumping her body in an abandoned well have raised the specter similar crimes against women in the past, including Sarathambal, Krishanthi and many more young Tamil women who were raped and murdered, and the Chemmani graves where many mass graves of disappeared Tamil youths were found.

President shuns Solheim again

President Mahinda Rajapakse has turned down a request by Norway's Special Envoy and Minister for International Development, Erik Solheim, for a meeting during his three-day visit to New Delhi beginning Tuesday.

The purpose was to discuss matters relating to the resumption of the peace talks and discussions with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the working of the Ceasefire Agreement.

The move stems from Government's keenness to have Norway play the role of peace facilitator under a set of new guidelines. In terms of this, President Rajapakse's Government wants a greater interaction between the foreign ministries of Colombo and Oslo.

Matters relating to this had been explained to Norway's new Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store during talks Mr. Samaraweera held on the sidelines of the WTO meeting in Hong Kong last week. Though Mr. Gahr declared Norway's plans to name another Special Envoy and a team of facilitators, he had made clear Mr. Solheim would continue to play a pivotal role in the peace process. In fact, Mr. Solheim had arrived in Hong Kong to be on hand during talks between Ministers Samaraweera and Gahr.

President Rajapakse's decision not to meet up with Mr. Solheim during his three-day visit will mean there will be a delay in the latter's visit to Colombo. Consequently, the resumption of any Norwegian peace initiatives will also be delayed. Against this backdrop, despite inviting the Government of Norway to resume the role of peace facilitator, the Government on Friday used for the first time the good offices of the Donor Co-Chairs including Norway to communicate with the LTTE. This is the first time such a step has been taken during the near-four-year ceasefire. The Co-Chair envoys met LTTE Political Wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan.

An official Government statement on Friday accused the LTTE of showing scant regard for the provisions of the Ceasefire Agreement. Their continued attacks, the statement added, raises serious doubts about the LTTE's commitment to a political solution.

The envoys flew by a Sri Lanka Air Force aircraft to Vavuniya. They crossed the Omanthai checkpoint in vehicles provided by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and travelled along the A-9 highway to Kilinochchi.

It came after Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera held a meeting with envoys of the Donor Co-chairs at Temple Trees on Friday. Present at the meeting were envoys from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan and Norway. The United States is also a Co-Chair but the embassy did not send a representative with this delegation.

Mr. Wickremanayake appealed to them to ascertain from the LTTE whether it was still committed to the Ceasefire Agreement of February 2002. If they were in fact bound by it, Mr. Wickremanayake said the Government of Sri Lanka wished to have from the LTTE a date for the resumption of the peace talks.

The clarification on the CFA and a date to resume peace talks if they are committed had been sought in the wake of rising violence for which the Government has categorically accused the LTTE. The immediate cause for the meeting of envoys of Donor Co-chairs was Friday's incident in Mannar where 13 soldiers were killed in a claymore mine and Rocket Propelled Grenade attack.

Besides Premier Wickremanayake meeting the envoys of the Donor Co-chairs, President Mahinda Rajapakse also chaired a meeting of the National Security Council on Frdiay where several important decisions were made. Special envoy for peace process. President Mahinda Rajapakse is to appoint a special envoy for the peace process.

A Presidential source told The Sunday Times yesterday that such a special envoy would spearhead the peace process and remain a main link between the President and others on the Government side. A suitable candidate will be appointed shortly, the source said.

Pro-Tamil Tiger rebel Parliament member fatally shot in eastern Sri Lanka amid escalating violence

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Tamil legislator Joseph Pararajasingham during midnight Christmas mass at a church, the Defense Ministry said Sunday - as escalating violence threatened to shatter the country's cease-fire.

The attackers fired at Pararajasingham, 71, while he was at the St. Michael's church after midnight in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka's main town, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said.

His wife, Sugunam Pararajasingha , and eight others with him, escaped with injuries. Pararajasingham's bodyguards had opened fire, but it was not known if any of the assailants were wounded.

Pararajasingham represented the Tamil National Alliance, a proxy party of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which wants to create a Tamil homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million ethnic Tamil minority. A breakaway faction of the rebels is opposed to the alliance.

On Saturday, envoys from Asia and Europe met with the Tamil Tiger rebels' top political leader, expressing concern that growing violence was threatening to shatter the country's cease-fire, officials and the rebels said.

But violence continued, with one soldier and five rebels dead in a battle in the rebel's heartland, the Jaffna Peninsula on Saturday, the military said.

``The terrorists attacked our troops and we had to open fire in self defense,'' said Defense Ministry spokesman Samarasinghe.

``We have found weapons and evidence that the deceased were terrorists,'' he said.

The day before on Friday, 13 members of Sri Lanka's navy traveling in a bus were killed in an ambush.

In response to the violence, envoys from Japan, Britain, Norway and European Union, representing key backers of Sri Lanka's peace process, met with S. P. Thamilselvan Saturday in the northern guerrilla stronghold of Kilinochchi.

``The delegation briefed Mr. Thamilselvan on the ... concern over the escalating violence and the necessity to start talks on effective implementation of the cease-fire agreement since it is felt that the (truce) is running into grave risk,'' the rebels said on their Web site.

Thamilselvan assured the envoys of the rebels' ``commitment to the peace process and the cease-fire,'' said the statement.

Violence has escalated in Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil-majority northeast since rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran threatened to resume his struggle for an independent Tamil homeland if the government fails to address Tamils' grievances.

This month alone, at least 34 government security personnel were killed and many more injured in attacks blamed on the rebels.

Dr. Ilias from Greece treating a Tsunami affected people 

Another Army soldier killed in an ambush

An Army soldier was killed and six others including two officers were injured when unknown gunmen ambushed an Army vehicle along Kachchai-Kilali road in Thenmaradchy late afternoon, today. Military spokesman Brig. Nalin Witharanage said the soldiers were on patrol in the northern town of Jaffna late afternoon today when they were ambushed from inside a Hindu temple.One soldier who was wounded in the attack died while been taken to a hospital, he added. The injured were immediately taken to the nearby Thambuthottam Army camp and airlifted by SLAF helicopter to the Palaly military hospital, sources said.

Since Dec. 4, a total of 19 soldiers have died in attacks by suspected rebels, putting the 2002 Norway-brokered cease-fire agreement between the government and the rebels under heavy strain.

Solheim calls for urgent talks

With the international community's rising concern over the escalation of violence in the Jaffna peninsula Norwegian special envoy Erick Solheim urged the Government and the LTTE to urgently commence talks to de-escalate the present hostile situation. Solheim said this when he met the LTTE's Chief Negotiator and theoretician, Anton Balasingham at his London residence on Tuesday.

Explaining in detail about the deliberations of the crucial meeting of Co-Chairs of the donor community (US, EU, Japan and Norway) in Brussels Monday, Solheim said the international community favoured immediate talks between the parties in conflict in the implementation of the truce, without prolonging dispute over the venue.

Mr. Solheim denounced claims in the local media that Norway had insisted Oslo as the venue for peace talks. He added that as facilitators Norway is ready to accept any venue collectively agreed upon by the government and the LTTE and reiterated that the venue was not an issue for his government.
The world community, Mr. Solheim pointed out, is alarmed at the sudden escalation in violence in Jaffna, which has the potential to break into a conflict if it is not arrested in time.

20,000 houses for tsunami homeless

Caritas Sri Lanka-SEDEC will complete the construction of 20,000 new houses to be given to those who lost their houses a year ago due to tsunami.

Executive Director Caritas Sri Lanka-SEDEC, Rev. Fr. Damian Fernando told a media conference at the BMICH that SEDEC the Social Arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka has undertaken the responsibility of building 20,000 new houses in the country to be given to those who lost their houses, but could complete only 700 houses so far due to reasons beyond their control.

The media conference was held to announce the program organised by the Caritas Sri Lanka-SEDEC to mark the First Year of Tsunami Disaster of December 26, 2004. He told the media that Sri Lanka has received Rs.16 billion to provide shelter, to look after the health and supply food for the needy. These monies come from the Caritas Internationalis,COR UNUM and other Church based charity organisations and other international agencies.

According to statistics available over 90,000 families have been directly affected by the disaster and around 79,000 houses either destroyed completely or partly damaged.

Fr. Damian said the delay in completion of the building of houses was mainly due to the unavailability of suitable land to construct houses in the respective districts and said that issue had now been resolved with the government providing land necessary.

The SEDEC Director said that they were honoured and awarded by the former President for building 6,530 transitionary houses for the tsunami affected families on record time as an immediate measure and they have provided assistance to 17,000 school children in the disaster-hit areas to continue with their schooling.

His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Kingsly Swamipillai, the Bishop of Batticoloa-Trincomalee said that his people were living disaster-prone areas close to the sea and pointed out the need to construct houses that could withstand any disaster. He commended the decision of the government to relax the 200 meter buffer zone which was partly responsible in delaying the construction of houses. "The fishermen wish to live close to the seas and that is a justifiable demand as they are fishermen and they cannot go away from the sea despite danger to their lives", the Bishop said.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Harold Antony Perera, the Bishop of Galle said the tsunami was a disaster the country experienced, it was an occasion for all to come together to help those who were affected by the calamity. "It was a moment of truth. It was an occasion we shared our common brotherhood putting aside all man made differences. We are accused of trying to convert by helping those affected.

Despite this unfounded allegation levelled against the Catholics of this country, we helped the Buddhists, they were the majority affected by the disaster as we share the common brotherhood san all ethnic or religious differences. What we do is show our love, charity and affection to all affected ".

Nation to observe two minutes silence at 9.30 am on Dec.26

A special commemorative programme in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the tsunami catastrophe will be held in Peraliya on the 26th of December attended by President Mahinda Rajapakse which will also coincide with the launch of the "Jayalanka" programme to accelerate the rehabilitation of the displaced victims.

This day will also be marked by religious observances islandwide conducted by Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Islamic faiths.

The Ministry of Public Adminstration has already issued circulars to all State Departments with regard to the programme,a Government Media release stated. A special feature on this day will be a two minute silence to be observed islandwide at 9.30 a.m.

During this period all citizens are requested to stop whatever activity they are engaged in and remember those who lost their lives in the catastrophe and commit their dedication towards rebuilding the nation. The Government requests all citizens to join hands for this national duty.