Sri Lanka set to release jailed ex-army chief

By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal | Reuters

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Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the early release from jail of his highest-profile political rival Sarath Fonseka, the president's spokesman said on Sunday, in an apparent bid to quell international criticism of the government's human rights record.

The authorisation for Fonseka's release will be sent to the justice ministry on Monday, spokesman Bandula Jayasekara said. The former general is expected to be free soon afterwards, but will not be able to leave the country.

Duplicity of international community helps Colombo to evade war crime probe

By Ramanan V.

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Three painful years have passed since the end of the bloody ethnic war. While the hawkish government of Sri Lanka is busy celebrating its military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), hundreds of thousands of Tamil people who have lost their loved once to the bloody war are forced to mourn silently. Mourning publicly is considered a traitorous act and a threat to the national security.

As usual, military parade in the Galle Face Green in the heart of the capital city is the highlight of the day’s events this year too. Foreign dignitaries and Colombo-based diplomatic heads of missions were seen shamelessly occupying the front seats of the celebrations, witnessing the military might of Sri Lanka.

US praises Sri Lanka reconciliation plan

AFP | Khaleej Times

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The United States said Sri Lanka had on Friday put forward “a very serious” reconciliation plan for the island nation following a 27-year civil war.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris held 45-minute talks here with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who kept up pressure on Colombo to probe alleged war crimes, the State Department said.

Sri Lanka President rejects calls to demilitarize former war zone

By Associated Press | The Washington Post

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Sri Lanka’s president rejected international calls to remove military camps in the former northern war zone, as the island nation marked the third anniversary of the end of its civil war.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said his government was not prepared to undermine national security by removing camps in the north because remnants of the separatist Tamil Tigers remain active.