Sri Lanka Watch, News and Discussions

[RPK]

Chennai firm hired to enhance surveillance in Sri Lanka - Chennai - City - NEWS - The Times of India

CHENNAI: The long war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) may be over and most of the outfit's leaders eliminated, but the Sri Lankan
government is apparently not willing to take any chances and has hired a Chennai-based firm to strengthen its surveillance network.

Barnas International Private Limited, which has bagged a 30 million Sri Lankan rupee contract to provide surveillance solutions in the Sri Lankan capital, will also take up similar projects in the island's northern regions that had recently been wrested from the LTTE, company sources here told The Times Of India.Under the project, the entire Sri Lankan coast will come under a specially- designed surveillance system with sophisticated thermal-imaging cameras and a software that can detect the nature of the moving object. "Thermal-imaging cameras, unlike conventional ones, are so powerful that they can pick up images from distances nearly 20 km into the sea. A specially-designed software will analyse the nature of the images and sound out an alarm in the central control centre when a boat or ship approaches the coast," Barnas vice-president Sivaji Rao, who is taking care of the Sri Lankan operations, told TOI.He said the Sri Lankan government had realised the difficulty of monitoring the entire coast manually and gone in for an unmanned surveillance system.Sivaji Rao said the Sri Lankan government was worried about the security situation and had embarked on the project of enhancing its surveillance systems on a war footing."Apart from providing coastal security, all sensitive areas will be brought under strict surveillance under the project. We are not using conventional cameras and digital video recorders here but are using highly sophisticated and specially-designed equipment and software. All the cameras involved will be internet-enabled and can be monitored by senior officials even when they are on the move through cell phones and laptops," Sivaji Rao added.The company will also be taking up similar projects in the war-ravaged northern parts. Although the control of these provinces had been wrested from the Tigers, the Sri Lankan government is not yet ready to rule out a possible comeback by the LTTE and is keen on nipping any extremist activities in the bud, the sources added.

Barnas had sent a similar proposal to the Tamil Nadu government with regard to the surveillance of its coastal areas but no decision had so far been taken, the sources said.

 

[RPK]

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Tamil Tigers seek arrest inquiry

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have called for an investigation into the overseas arrest and subsequent repatriation of their new leader.

The government announced on Friday that Selvarasa Pathmanathan had been returned from an Asian nation.

Some reports suggested he had been arrested in Thailand, but the rebels say he was abducted in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The Tigers urged the international community to ensure his safety.

"We call upon the international community to become involved in this matter in order to assure the safety and security of Mr Pathmanathan according to international standards, and to facilitate access to legal representation," their statement said.


The Tigers also demanded an inquiry into how their leader was arrested. According to them, he was seized near a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

They suspect, reports the BBC's Charles Haviland from Colombo, that this was carried out by Sri Lanka's military intelligence, supported by parts of the Malaysian establishment.

Sri Lanka's government has said only that Mr Pathmanathan was held earlier this week in Asia, returned to the country and is being interrogated.

Thai officials have denied the arrest took place on their territory. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told journalists he could neither confirm nor deny the report.

"If the government of Malaysia does not have any information on the matter, we demand an inquiry into the whole episode," the Tigers said.

'Very significant'

Mr Pathmanathan became the leader of the remnants of the Tigers after their defeat in May by Sri Lankan military forces.

He is believed to have run the group's arms procurement and smuggling networks, and was wanted by Interpol.

He is also wanted in India in connection with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a suspected Tamil female suicide bomber in 1991.

But as the new rebel leader, Mr Pathmanathan said the Tigers would try non-violent methods to achieve their goal of a separate state for the Tamil minority.

On Friday, defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Mr Pathmanathan's arrest was "very, very significant".

He said that while Mr Pathmanathan was still at large, many people thought the Tamil Tigers were still "alive and kicking".

 

[icecoolben]

The game in sri-lanka has gotten very interesting, the civil war is over, there is no need of chinese, pak weapons. But still a port remains to be built as well as promised chinese aids of 1 billion $ and also the vast chinese tourism market. India is providing for the srilankan military and also the displaced tamils. Lets see how this plays out.

 

[RPK]

Indian assistance and the attached strings
Palaly has been receiving some attention in the news recently. Last week, in a move cementing relations between two neighbouring countries, India reportedly made a payment of Rs. 117 million to the Sri Lankan Government, for runway rehabilitation at Palaly.

It appears, however, that this project has been in the works for quite some time.

Former Secretary of Defence, Austin Fernando, reveals in his book My Belly Is White, that the runway rehabilitation was considered essential by the SLAF Commander, even during Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure.

The Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) noticed that, especially after the introduction of heavier aircraft into the Palaly airstrip, many vital aircraft components were damaged. This posed serious flight safety risks, and replacing the parts was expensive. Private operators, flying after the ceasefire agreement came into effect, reported similar problems. The SLAF Commander had asked for assistance to more or less redo the air base, according to Fernando.

Lack of funding

However, as Fernando observed, there was a severe lack of funding to get this project off the ground. The cost of this project would be around USD 5 million, hardly small change. He petitioned the Treasury, and when this failed, turned to the idea of foreign assistance.

The arrangement at the time was for a company under the Ministry of Highways to do the work, Fernando revealed. This company would be supervised jointly by the SLAF and a local consultant attached to the Road Development Authority (RDA). Quality control would be the responsibility of the Project Management Group of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The parties involved hoped to finish the entire job within 11 months. It was to be in two phases. The first phase constituted resurfacing the runway, constructing drains and replacing the airfield lighting systems. The second would be resurfacing the other taxi tracks and aprons.

It was suggested that the Indian Government finance this project as a grant to the Sri Lankan Government.

Money with conditions

However it was at this point that Captain M. Gopinath, Defence Attaché of the Indian High Commission of Colombo, approached Fernando.

It appeared that the money India was willing to provide came with certain conditions.

The first request was that any further work on the runway should first be entrusted to India before considering any other country for assistance. This was not an unreasonable requirement. In fact Fernando wrote that considering the dire need for funding, he thought the government would be happy to comply with this request.

The second was that no other country be allowed to carry out a military operation from the Palaly runway, and the third that India be allowed to use the runway upon request.

India had legitimate security concerns in mind preventing countries such as, say, Pakistan from using the runway. However, what this effectively amounted to was that no other country could use the runway without India first agreeing to it. That in turn could mean that Sri Lanka might only have India to depend on in the event of an air attack on Jaffna. It was a tug-of-war between the need for sovereignty and the need to maintain good diplomatic ties with India.

“A soft intervention by a Gulliver could be heavy for a Lilliputian!” wrote Fernando on this dilemma. It appeared that others agreed with him. After discussions Fernando was told by Former Defence Minister Tilak Marapone that the Prime Minister at that time, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had decided that if India continued to insist on these conditions, they would use Sri Lankan funds instead. Wickremesinghe thought the money came at too high a price.

Series of letters

It was a series of letters between the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J. R. Jayewardene that saved the day. A letter written by Jayewardene pledged that foreign military and intelligence personnel would not be employed in a manner prejudicial to Indo-Sri Lankan relations. It also said that no ports would be made available for military use by any other country in a manner prejudicial to Indian interests. There was hope that the Indo-Lanka treaty would be enough to satisfy the Indian Government, and Marapone intimated that Former Minister Milinda Moragoda would speak to the Indian High Commissioner to finalise the agreement.

However, before this was finalised, Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga “grabbed the Ministry of Defence on constitutional grounds,” as Fernando puts it, and he was relieved of his post.

Whether India was satisfied with the Indo-Lanka Treaty or not is unknown, though Fernando wrote that from what information he had, the arrangement followed the terms Wickremesinghe had sought.

If India did indeed agree to forward a total of USD 5 million for runway rehabilitation, it would be a huge step in improving relations between the two countries. One can only hope that this time, there were no strings attached.

 

[RPK]

AFP: SLanka to keep defence budget despite rebel defeat

COLOMBO — The Sri Lankan government plans to keep up record defence spending despite its recent victory over Tamil rebels that ended nearly four decades of fighting, a senior official said.

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said the military needed to be modernised and payments made on hardware bought on credit.

Sri Lanka raised its defence budget to a record 1.6 billion dollars in 2009, and finally crushed the Tamil Tigers separatists in May after months of intense battles.

"I don't see an immediate need to reduce the defence spending next year," Rajapakse told AFP on the sidelines of a meeting on Tuesday.

"We have cut down on our ammunition purchases. But we need to bring in new technology to upgrade our military capacity."

Sri Lanka relied heavily on mortar bombs and ammunition purchased from China and Pakistan during the ethnic conflict.

After routing the Tamil Tigers, the government scrapped a 200-million dollar ammunition order from China.

Rajapakse added that nearly 30,000 government forces were killed and 10,000 disabled in the decades of fighting, with 6,000 killed in the last three months of warfare.

The Sri Lankan army intends to recruit tens of thousands of new troops to be deployed in areas previously under rebel control.

 

[mig-29]

British lawmakers urge review of Sri Lanka arms exports

Britain should review all arms export licences to Sri Lanka in the wake of the recently-ended war with Tamil Tiger rebels, lawmakers said Wednesday.Ministers should also provide full details of what British arms were used by Sri Lankan forces during the conflict, the Committees on Arms Export Controls said in its annual report. "We recommend that the government should review all existing licences to Sri Lanka," the report said.

It also called on ministers to provide "an assessment of what UK-supplied weapons, ammunition, parts and components were used by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the recent military actions against the Tamil Tigers." But the lawmakers said it was "impossible" to be sure how many such weapons had been used against civilians since hostilities flared up again in 2006.

Sri Lankan security forces ended the LTTE's bloody, four-decade struggle for an independent Tamil homeland in May, as long-time Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed. "Sri Lanka highlights the need for the UK government to monitor closely the situation in countries recently engaged in armed conflict," the committees' chairman, lawmaker Roger Berry, said.

"It must assess more carefully the risk that UK arms exports might be used by those countries in the future in a way that breaches our licensing criteria." The report also said it was "regrettable" that components supplied by Britain were "almost certainly" used by Israeli forces in the three-week Gaza war from December in which over 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died.

"The government should continue to do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen in future," the committee said. It welcomed a government review of current licenses to Israel -- which has reportedly led to the cancellation of five out of 182 of them -- and the possibility that some could be revoked.

Britain has already refused to supply replacement parts for navy gunships used in the Gaza war, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported last month. The Committees on Arms Export Controls are four parliamentary committees -- on business and enterprise, defence, foreign affairs and international development -- which work together to consider arms exports.

ASIAN DEFENCE: British lawmakers urge review of Sri Lanka arms exports

 

[RPK]

No proof of LTTE funding films - Chennai - City - NEWS - The Times of India

CHENNAI: The allegation by Sri Lankan Minister for Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, Abdul Risath Bathiyutheen, that LTTE funded
Rajnikanth's films has once again turned the deco lights on funding of films. The minister reportedly told Asian Tribune, "The money was not directly sent. Millions of US dollars were given to a London-based Tamilian. He was asked to produce Tamil films in Chennai with top stars like Rajnikanth," (in Kuselar and during the initial days of shooting of Robot, which later changed hands and was also renamed Enthiran,) he claimed and said "the aging super star received the blood money." The minister did not say how much money was paid to Rajni. But merely said he was paid "lavishly."

Viewed in the context of present LTTE head Selvarasa Pathmanathan remaining in Sri Lankan custody, the allegation gains much significance. Has Pathmanathan blurted out anything about Tamil film funding before his Sri Lankan interrogators is the doubt many have. The "London-based Tamilian" is seen as a reference to London Karunas as the producer was called, who was with Ayngaran International, but parted ways with the production company a couple of years ago. While Kuselan' was produced by K Balachander, Aswani Dutt and G P Vijayakumar in Tamil and Telugu. Robot' was bought by Sun Films after Ayngaran wanted to move out of its production. The movie was renamed as Enthiran.' Rajnikanth is currently shooting for the film.

Source of funding for movies has been a concern for police for long, primarily because much of it's black money and the sources remain opaque. But, unlike Bollywood, where the D-Company not only funds movies, but also dictates terms as to who should be the hero and heroine, which movies they should act in and at what salary they should agree for doing the shoot, in Tamil Nadu, no such underworld or terrorist link has been established so far. The slain LTTE leader V Prabhakaran, has, however, inspired vary many movie-makers and heroes in Tamil Nadu; so much so that close to a dozen Tamil movies have been made depicting his arms struggle and lethal striking capability.

A senior police official, on condition of anonymity, said, "Though we have been hearing stories of LTTE funding some organisations, individuals, film producers and directors in Tamil Nadu for long, we have not come across even a single case with corroborative evidence to prove this allegation. Also, if at all any producer has received funds from the LTTE, such funding has not led to any security risk in our state. Further, we have also not come across instances of money being routed from the film industry into terrorist network."

However, the LTTE, through its frontal organizations, has made huge inroads in controlling distribution of many Tamil films and their DVD rights in some overseas markets. "The overseas Tamil diaspora is a too huge a market for any film producer to ignore. As per our information, the frontal organisations of the LTTE have also been actively involved during the shooting of several movies abroad," said the official.

The only clue common man has about the financing channels in the film industry is from the reel life. Kamal Haasan's Mahanadhi,' released in 1994, was about a rich villager who got duped by unscrupulous elements in the fringes of Kollywood. In real life, actor Ajith was reportedly held captive by a Madurai-based financier, and although his office confirmed that there were some issues that needed sorting out, Ajith himself never came on record about the issue; nor did he seek police mediation and that was over two years ago.

At that time, film historian Film News' Anandhan had said that during earlier days, producers were traditionally rich farmers and merchants who pumped all their earnings into film industry. "People like me came into the industry pledging all the family wealth," said K R G, president, South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC). "It may be opaque, but it is all above board if one looks at the accounts. Non-traditional funding is hardly 2 % in the industry," he added.

However, given the fact that films did not enjoy industry' status till recently, the image of a corporate entity is a new role Kollywood is yet to adapt to. Producers avail of non-traditional finances, since bank loans are not accessible for all. In the early nineties, GV Films was one of the few corporate entities, and although many others, such as Adlabs forayed into film making, their presence is minimal in Tamil films. Kollywood averages 110 films a year, and a major chunk is produced not by corporate entities, but by individual producers.

"Despite the challenges, the industry flourished in the past because actors such as Jai Shankar, Muthuraman and Sivaji' Ganesan bailed out producers (in case of flops) by giving their dates and even money for shooting one more film with the same producer," said K R G. Kollywood runs, much on goodwill.

 

[RPK]

BBC NEWS | South Asia | US warns of Sri Lankan violence

A senior US diplomat has warned that the Sri Lankan government's failure to share power with the minority Tamils could lead to renewed violence.

Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake told the BBC a delay in devolving powers might create new opportunities for the rebel Tamil Tigers to regroup.

Sri Lanka's government declared victory over the Tamil Tigers three months ago.

Mr Blake also urged Colombo to resettle swiftly the hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by the war.

This would have a bearing on US aid for reconstruction and resettlement, he said.

Dialogue

The warning by the US assistant secretary of state is a clear sign that Western nations are getting increasingly frustrated with the delay in the political reconciliation process in Sri Lanka.


It is very, very important for Sri Lanka to engage in their own dialogue with the Tamils not only inside Sri Lanka but also outside Sri Lanka

Robert Blake
US Assistant Secretary of State
There was optimism that the end of the conflict between the majority Sinhalese-led government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would pave the way for a power sharing agreement with the minority Tamils.

But the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, recently said any political solution could come only after his re-election, which may happen next year.


FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE


More from BBC World Service
The delay has not impressed many in the West, including Mr Blake.

"There is a possibility that they will alienate the Tamil community further, and again exacerbate the divisions and perhaps even give new opportunities for the LTTE to organise," he told the BBC.

"So, it is very, very important for Sri Lanka to engage in their own dialogue with the Tamils not only inside Sri Lanka but also outside Sri Lanka, and again to hasten the process of reconciliation," he added.

The senior US official also appealed for the rapid resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by the war and now confined to government-run camps in the north.



The Sri Lankan authorities say they do plan to let civilians return home
Mr Blake said the condition of these internally displaced people (IDPs) was linked with Washington's financial aid to Sri Lanka.

"Our ability to provide money for reconstruction and for resettlement and livelihood and other activities will depend a lot on the progress that Sri Lanka makes in terms of abiding by its commitment to resettle the IDPs as quickly as possible," he said.

"Secondly, on the progress it makes towards political reconciliation and devolution of power."

The Sri Lankan authorities say they do plan to let civilians return home, but must screen them first to identify rebel fighters.

Any reconciliation process, they say, should be approved by the majority and reaching a consensus on this issue takes time.

 

[RPK]

Now, a film on Prabhakaran- Hindustan Times

Kannada director A.M.R. Ramesh, who has already directed an award-winning movie about LTTE suicide bombers, plans to direct a bilingual film on former Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran who was killed by the Sri Lankan army this May.

The script is ready, but Ramesh hasn't finalised any actor to play Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in the yet-to-be-titled movie that will be made in English and Tamil. "I want to cast a very talented actor to do the role... but I don't want to select any actor with a particular image tag," Ramesh told IANS in an interview.

But the director says that he will start shooting the film after November 27.

"November 27 is Martyrs Day for the Tamil Tigers and Prabhakaran has been addressing his cadres on that day for the past two decades. LTTE sympathisers all around the world feel that if Prabhakaran doesn't make an appearance at Martyrs Day celebrations, then it will add a lot of credibility to the Sri Lankan Army's claims," said Ramesh.

"If Prabhakaran does not make an appearance on November 27 this year, then I will change the script and alter the climax sequence," said Ramesh who will be the executive producer of the film.

He says two Malaysia-based Tamilians will finance the movie but refused to reveal their names.

Asked why he has doubts about Prabhakaran's death, Ramesh said: "The fact that Prabhakaran had not tied a cyanide capsule around his neck and had even carried his identity card triggers some speculation among people who are aware of the psychology of LTTE members."

Cyanide, Ramesh's earlier film on the LTTE, dealt with incidents that led to the capture in Bangalore of the LTTE members involved in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The film won not only critical appreciation but also the Karnataka government's best film award. It was later remade in Tamil as Kuppi.

The director has just wrapped up his Kannada film Police Quarters that has new faces. He is also making the film in Tamil.

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

India helped fight LTTE, book reveals​

In the eelam War IV in Sri Lanka that ended with the death of LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran on May 19, India had outwardly adopted a hand off policy in the Sri Lanka conflict because of domestic political compulsions in Tamil Nadu. New Delhi had maintained that it will not give any offensive weapons to Sri Lanka. But a new book, written by NDTV's defence editor Nitin Gokhale, who had extensively reported the war for the channel, reveals that India had actively if covertly helped the Sri Lankan military to scour out and destroy the LTTE.

For instance:

•India quietly transeferred five Mi-17 helicopters to Sri Lanka which were used in operations against the LTTE
•Indian Navy's Dornier aircraft fitted with powerful radars actively flew reconnaissance missions over the high seas to locate LTTE's "floating Warehouses," that carried large quantities of arms and ammunition
•Active collaboration between Sri Lankan and Indian Navy helped destroy 11 such LTTE ships and severely depleted LTTE's arms supply
•Colombo kept New Delhi informed every step Three top Sri Lankan officials were in constant touch with India's National Security Adviser, the foreign secretary and the Defence Secretary

Link

 

[I-G]

Suicide bomb kits found near Sri Lanka IDP town
2009-08-23 04:51:28 GMT2009-08-23 12:51:28 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet

COLOMBO, Aug 23 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan police have found some 4 suicide bomb kits used by the Tamil Tiger rebels, police said on Sunday.

Senior deputy inspector general Nimal Mediwaka, the police spokesman told reporters here that they were found Saturday evening at Nelukkulam in the northern Vavuniya district.

Vavuniya is the home for nearly 300,000 civilians displaced by the last stages of conflict between the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE) rebels and the military.

The LTTE's deadly suicide bomb carriers known as the 'Black Tigers' caused extensive damage to life and property during their over 3 decade old fight to set up a separate Tamil homeland.

The former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa were among the black Tiger victims.

Police said that the troops are in the process of digging out large quantities of arms believed to have hidden by the rebels in the north and east regions before they were defeated by the military last May.

Suicide bomb kits found near Sri Lanka IDP town - World News - SINA English

 

[Daredevil]

India behind Lanka's victory over LTTE: Book

India behind Lanka's victory over LTTE: Book

PTI 23 August 2009, 12:11pm IST
NEW DELHI: Even as it publicly refused to give Sri Lanka any offensive weapons for the war against LTTE, India had a "hidden hand" in the success of the island nation's campaign over the terrorist outfit, says a new book.

Although in the initial days he was advised to seek a negotiated settlement with the Tamil Tigers, New Delhi saw merit in Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's argument that the LTTE was only biding its time to regroup and rearm itself and that war was inevitable sooner than later, says 'Sri Lanka, From War to Peace', by journalist Nitin Gokhale.

Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor with NDTV, Gokhale covered the 33-month Eelam War in Sri Lanka.

The Mi-17s that India 'quietly gifted' to Lanka were in addition to a Sukanya class offshore patrol vessel also gifted by the Indian Coast Guard to the Sri Lankan Navy in 2002. The choppers played a major role in several daring missions launched by the Sri Lankan Air Force to rescue the army's deep penetration units and injured soldiers from deep inside LTTE-held territory, the book says.

"Hampered by domestic compulsion, New Delhi could not go beyond such meagre and clandestine transfer of military hardware. Publicly all India was willing to acknowledge was the supply of low-flying detection "Indra" radars to the Sri Lankan Air Force since this equipment was considered a defensive apparatus," the author says.

Gokhale quotes senior Sri Lankan army officers saying that thanks to the Mi-17s, the soldiers operating behind enemy lines functioned with a greater degree of confidence since they knew these choppers were always at hand to come to their rescue whenever necessary. This surely was the key factor in our Special Forces delivering spectacular results.

Not wanting to annoy its Tamil Nadu allies like the DMK unnecessarily, New Delhi had a 'politically most important message' conveyed to Colombo to try and conclude the war against the LTTE (called Eelam War IV) before the summer of 2009 when India was expected to hold the general elections, Gokhale says.

"The Rajapakse regime was nothing if not shrewd". Aware of dynamics that determined India's Lankan policies, it was also conscious of India's anxiety in losing strategic space in Sri Lanka. The Rajapakse brothers were pragmatic enough to realize that Lanka needed India's support in war against the LTTE, total support from China and Pakistan notwithstanding".

Colombo could ignore India but only upto a point, the author says.

So Mahinda Rajapakse hit upon an idea of an informal exchange mechanism between New Delhi and Colombo. He nominated both his brothers - Basil (MP and Presidential advisor) and Gotabaya, the Defence Secretary along with his own secretary Lalith Weeratunga.

India too reciprocated immediately. The Indian team comprised National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh.

Colombo may have been ambivalent about meeting Indian requests to end the operations before the general elections but the Sri Lankan leadership once again gratefully acknowledged the Indian Navy's contribution in locating and destroying at least 10 'floating warehouses' owned by the LTTE that were used by the Tigers to store arms, ammunition and even armoured personnel carriers.

Well-coordinated operations by the two navies between 2006 and 2009 actually broke the backbone of the Sea Tigers, Gokhale says.

Also, under an agreement between the two countries, the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard frequently sent out ships to patrol the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar. Presence of warships and Indian patrol vessels acted as firm deterrence against the Sea Tigers, the book says.

The book also notes the transformation of the Sri Lankan Air Force and Navy into lethal forces that played vital roles in victory over the LTTE. "The Sri Lankan Air Force had indeed come a long way from its inglorious days in the 1990s when it lost three aircraft to the LTTE's ground fire in the assault on Jaffna".

"What is not so well known is that the Sri Lankan Air Force jets almost killed Prabhakaran in one of the air raids on his hideout in Puththukudirippu. But as luck would have it, Prabhakaran had left the base minutes before the bombs rained on the target," the book says.

Gokhale also says that if the Indians quietly helped the Sri Lankan Navy transform itself, the Lankan Air Force got a big boost from the Chinese and the Pakistanis. Pakistani personnel helped the Lankans in training and maintenance while the Chinese supplied them with vital equipment at a critical time. The Chinese gifted four F7 GS fighter planes which are the most sophisticated jets in Sri Lanka's arsenal today with in-built air interception radar and carry four heat seeking missiles, he says.

After a successful campaign against the LTTE, President Rajapakse's biggest challenge would be to win the peace by sparking reconciliation between its majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil ethnic populations, healing a rift that looks unbridgeable, Gokhale says. Rajapakse will have to restore to their homes and livelihoods some 300,000 Tamils in the North who fled the fighting only to be housed in camps.

"President Rajapakse and his team must avoid triumphalism to spoil the enormous goodwill that they have earned by winning the war. They must ensure that the death of one Prabhakaran does not lead to birth of another. Therein lies Mahinda Rajapakse's test," the book says.

 

[RPK]

Sri Lanka to train Pak army, offers same to India

London: After its success in defeating the Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan army has agreed to train Pakistani military in tackling insurgency and offered the same to India.


The Sri Lankan army's new commander, Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya told the BBC that Pakistan had already asked if it could send its military cadets to train in counter-insurgency operations.


"We'll give a favourable response," Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya said of the request.


He said "Sri Lanka has offered similar training, through diplomatic channels, to other countries including India, the United States, Bangladesh and the Philippines."


The Sri Lankan military envisaged specialist courses lasting up to six weeks, directed towards small groups from interested armies, he added. Lt Gen Jayasuriya said there was external interest in how the military had defeated the rebel group in practical terms. The army now wished to construct a written military doctrine in English.


Dismissing reports that the Pakistanis might receive military training in newly recaptured parts of northern Sri Lanka, he said it would be more likely in the south-east.


Lt Gen Jayasuriya also said that new permanent military bases would be set up in those northern areas including the rebels' former headquarters, Kilinochchi.


Sri Lanka and Pakistan have long enjoyed warm relations.


In Late May, Pakistan - like India, China and Russia - helped Colombo defeat a motion at the UN which would have criticised both the government and the rebels for allegedly violating humanitarian law during the war.


The BBC report said India might be uncomfortable at this news of the Pakistanis' interest in being trained.

 

[I-G]

LTTE tried to buy nuclear weapons: Report

LTTE tried to buy nuclear weapons: Report
PTI 23 August 2009, 07:11pm IST


COLOMBO: In a startling disclosure, the detained LTTE chief Kumaran Pathmanathan has told investigators that the rebels had tried to acquire nuclear weapons and know-how to be used against the Sri Lankan army.

A media report has said that Pathmanathan who was recently arrested in South East Asian country has told interrogators that his organisation had tried to acquire nuclear weapons and technology from western countries.

"LTTE had been the first terrorist outfit that had tried to obtain nuclear power. Had they been successful in obtaining nuclear power, it would have flowed into the hands of other terror organisations too", the Nation newspaper said quoting military analysts.

"KP has revealed that the arms purchased with the money collected were shipped to the LTTE. How he purchased anti-aircraft missiles from arms dealers in the USA has been disclosed", the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, the former commander of LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and cabinet minister in the Sri Lankan government, Karuna Amman say it may be difficult to find a successor to KP.

"They (LTTE) can't do anything because all international networks were controlled by KP himself", Amman said.

LTTE tried to buy nuclear weapons: Report - South Asia - World - NEWS - The Times of India

 

[RPK]

LTTE tried to buy nuclear weapons: Report
PTI 23 August 2009, 07:11pm IST


[/url]

Conspiracy theory not at all possible.

 

[natarajan]

even nations cant get nuclear capability then how can a terrorist use nuclear bombs etc this are all lankan conspiracy to hide humanitarian crisis and thousands of young men and girls(reason known to all) are disappearing,just to hide genocide by srilanka.People raised voice for gaza but close their eyes in lanka issue as both are almost same as gaza(defacto state) controlled by hamas(terrorist outfit) and eelam (defacto state) controlled by LTTE but everyone raises voice if hamas was attacked but keeps dumb when a huge genocide happens in the name of war on LTTE

 

[I-G]

even nations cant get nuclear capability then how can a terrorist use nuclear bombs etc this are all lankan conspiracy to hide humanitarian crisis and thousands of young men and girls(reason known to all) are disappearing,just to hide genocide by srilanka

Good points .

People raised voice for gaza but close their eyes in lanka issue as both are almost same as gaza(defacto state) controlled by hamas(terrorist outfit) and eelam (defacto state) controlled by LTTE

I dont think that anyone closed eyes on Tamilian issues , both LTTE and Hamas born because of injustices done to thier people and in short they both are people's outfits . Hamas was elected by the people and LTTE was established by the people .

but everyone raises voice if hamas was attacked but keeps dumb when a huge genocide happens in the name of war on LTTE

There is huge difference in both cases , In case of Gaza , people were having no place to run the fighting as all exits were closed , but in Tamilian case , Sri Lankan army was transferring them to safe zones .

 

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Lanka unearths plot to kill Defence Secy; one held

Updated on Monday, August 24, 2009, 22:50 IST Tags:Lanka, plot to kill Defence Secy, one arrested

Colombo: A plot to assassinate powerful Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who had played a major role in the defeat of the LTTE, was unearthed today with the arrest of one person and seizure of a suicide jacket and arms from him, police said.


"We have arrested one person and found a five-kg suicide jacket kit, cynide capsules and an automatic gun," police spokesman Nimal Mediwake said.

He said it was a plan to assassinate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the brother of President Mahinda Rajapksa and a key architect of the anti-LTTE military offensive in May that led to the virtual annihilation of the rebel outfit.

Gotabhaya had survived an assassination attempt by an LTTE suicide bomber in December 2006.

"The arrest was made from a house in Mutwal in Colombo," Mediwake said.

The police also recovered ammunition, magazines and a grenade, besides 13 cyanide capsules.

Meanwhile, the Vavuniya police conducted a search operation on a tip-off and recovered four LTTE suicide kits weighing about 2-4 kg each on Saturday, the government's Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

The kits were concealed under a concrete cover in a cemetery in Nelunkulam area of Vavuniya, it said.

Bureau Report

Lanka unearths plot to kill Defence Secy; one held

 

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U.S. court rejects plea to delist LTTE

The Federal Appeals Court in San Francisco has ruled against an appeal to de-list the LTTE by the Humanitarian Law Project, which had challenged an executive order issued by President George W. Bush in 2001, Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat website reported on Tuesday.

Under the order, the LTTE remains listed as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. “The International Emergency Economic Powers Act was enacted by Congress in 1977 and was originally used by Presidents to impose economic sanctions on foreign nations considered a threat to national security.

“But in 2001, President George W. Bush issued executive orders under the law that enabled him, through the Treasury Department, to designate groups as terrorist organizations, freeze their assets and prohibit any aid or services to the groups,” said the website.

The procedure was challenged in the court on the grounds that the law was unconstitutionally vague and that it violated the First Amendment right of free speech.A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled by a 2-1 vote that the law regulates conduct, not speech, and does not violate the Constitution. “There is no right to provide resources with which terrorists can buy weapons and explosives.”

Bid on life

Separately, the Sri Lankan police said the national intelligence service uncovered a plot to assassinate Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.Police spokesman Nimal Lewke said the plot was bared with the recovery of a large haul of explosives and weapons hidden in a house at Mattakkuliya in Modara, on the outskirts of Colombo.

A suicide kit weighing over 5 kg, a most modern machinegun and two remote controls were among the items recovered.

As per the police spokesperson, the attack was planned to carry out using a motor bike with explosives and was planned in two ways to ensure success.Meanwhile, in two cases, Colombo Chief Magistrate Nishantha Hapuarachchi granted rupees one million in personal bail with two sureties each to the four doctors who were alleged to have provided false information — under LTTE duress — to the international community pertaining to civilian deaths from areas under the control of the LTTE before May 19.

The CID submitted to the court that Vivekanantha Pillai Shanmugaraja, Kadiravel Ilangovalan Wallavan, Krishnaraja Varadharaja and Thangavelu Sathyamoorthi had manipulated the figures under LTTE duress.The Magistrate ordered them to appear before the Vavuniya Branch of the CID on the last Sunday of every month. Further inquiry was fixed for November 9.

U.S. court rejects plea to delist LTTE @ The Hindu

 

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Sri Lankan army calls execution video a fabrication - South Asia - World - NEWS - The Times of India

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's military rejected on Wednesday a video clip broadcast in Britain allegedly showing its troops executing prisoners during the
final stages of its battle against Tamil Tiger rebels.

Sri Lankan army spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the footage aired by Channel 4 in Britain was a fabrication to discredit security forces who defeated Tamil separatists in mid-May.

"This video has been made to discredit the armed forces," Nanayakkara said. "This was said to have been filmed at a time when the Tigers too were operating dressed in (Sri Lankan) military uniforms."

The disturbing footage shows a man dressed in army uniform shooting a naked, bound and blindfolded man in the back of the head, while the bodies of eight others can be seen nearby in a muddy field.

A 10th man was also shot in the same way towards the end of the video with men in the background gloating over the killings.

In its report, Channel 4 stressed it could not verify the authenticity of the video which it received from a group called Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka.

The group claims the video footage was taken in January by a soldier using a mobile phone.

The Sri Lankan High Commission (embassy) in London said in a statement to Channel 4 that soldiers were only involved in fighting against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and denied "that the Sri Lankan armed forces engaged in atrocities against the Sri Lankan Tamil community".

"The High Commission has noted that in many instances in the past, various media institutions used doctored videos, photographs and documents to defame the Sri Lankan government and armed forces," it added.

Sri Lanka won support from Russia and China at the UN Human Rights Council to stave off calls for war crimes investigations.

The United Nations has said that up to 7,000 civilians may have died in the final stages of fighting in the first five months of this year.

The United States and rights groups have been pressing for investigations into crimes against humanity.

Journalists were barred from the conflict zone in the country's northeast where rights groups said a "humanitarian crisis" unfolded without a media presence.

Some 300,000 civilians who escaped the fighting are now living in squalid conditions in state-run camps, according to rights groups.