"Lasantha Wickrematunge of the Sunday Leader, an independent English-language paper, explained that the Rajapaksa brothers are personally involved in intimidation attempts. He likened their involvement to a "good cop, bad cop" routine where the Defense Secretary will personally call an editor and threaten arrest or even assassination. The President will then follow up by saying not to worry; he will look into the matter." the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

A Leaked "CONFIDENTIAL" US diplomatic cable, dated May 15, 2007, recounts the details of a meeting the US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher has had with media managers in Colombo on May 10, 2007. The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database which is classified by the ambassador Robert O. Blake.

"To underline U.S. support for freedom of the press, Boucher held a press roundtable on May 10 with managing directors from ten leading independent Sinhala, Tamil and English papers in Colombo. Participants described how the government is directly and indirectly threatening journalists to prevent them from reporting on human rights abuses, abductions, paramilitary groups or other topics that do not portray the government in a good light.

Citing specific examples of intimidation by government officials as well as the Karuna faction, they described the current climate as one of fear and intimidation. Lasantha Wickrematunge of the Sunday Leader, an independent English-language paper, explained that the Rajapaksa brothers are personally involved in intimidation attempts. He likened their involvement to a "good cop, bad cop" routine where the Defense Secretary will personally call an editor and threaten arrest or even assassination. The President will then follow up by saying not to worry; he will look into the matter. Mr. Vithyatharan of Tamil paper Sudar Oli commented that the government "may be playing this game with you, but with us, they are playing with our lives" - an allusion to the government's markedly harsher attitude toward Tamil journalists." the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

Crime branch officers in India on Sunday arrested a 35-year-old Sri Lankan, who was an operative of banned outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), when he was attempting to catch a flight to Nairobi. Interestingly, the accused, an electronics engineer, initially told cops that he entered India by air, but after sustained interrogation, revealed that he took a boat from Sri Lanka and got off at the coast of Tamil Nadu. He ran out of luck as the Sri Lankan government issued an Interpol notice against him, due to which he was nabbed at Mumbai airport. The arrested person, identified as Theva Satesh Kumar, was born and brought up in Jafna in Sri Lanka, which has been an LTTE-dominated area.

Indian Minister V Narayanasamy today said that only the Congress party is "genuinely" interested in ensuring welfare of the Tamils in Sri Lanka while other political parties in Tamil Nadu were shedding "crocodile tears" on the issue. "It is indeed shocking that the political parties who have not done anything for welfare of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees staying in Tamil Nadu are feigning to be their champions and making criticisms against Congress and the party-led UPA government at the Centre on the Tamils issue," he said. Both ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and former Congress ally DMK have frequently expressed concern over attacks on fishermen from the state, allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy, besides flaying Centre for failing to put pressure on Colombo on the issue.

It is reported that BBS is planing to build a huge public opinion against the 13th Amendment. BBS did not make any official comment on their opinion on the 13th Amendment so far and is said to be making it officially at the tomorrow's media briefing. However, since the beginning, the group ironically opposed a devolution of power. BBC program coordinator Mr.Dilantha Withanage has expressed his views to the Asian Tribune web site recently by saying that the BBS is not supporting the 13th Amendment.

The US State Department says intolerance of, and discrimination against, Muslims by some Buddhists saw an increase in Sri Lanka last year. The International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 released by the US State Department on Monday, also said that last year, U.S. embassy officials conveyed U.S. government concerns about religious freedom, particularly attacks on churches, to government leaders and urged them to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators. The report which looks at religious freedom, or the lack of it in all countries for 2012, noted that in certain instances, local authorities in Si Lanka failed to respond effectively to communal attacks, including attacks on members of minority religious groups.

Voicing concern over attacks on Indian fishermen, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today asked the Centre to take urgent steps for the retrieval of Katchatheevu islet, ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, besides redrawing the International Maritime Boundary Line. The 1974 Agreement signed between India and Sri Lanka had determined Katchatheevu as a part of Sri Lanka, and it was ceded by the Indian Government unilaterally without obtaining the approval of both Houses of Parliament for a constitutional amendment, she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "The stand of the Tamil Nadu Government is that Katchatheevu has always been a part of India, geographically, culturally and historically and needs to be retrieved, keeping in view the livelihood interests and security of thousands of Indian fishermen," she said.

A group of Govt MPs have informed Minister Basil Rajapaksa that they are not going to support the 19th Constitutional amendment bill if it attempts to hinder the Provincial council powers or make any suggestions regarding the Executive Presidency. Govt sources say that under these circumstances the Govt has faced a problem of rallying a 2/3 majority in the Parliament as this has caused a 8 MP shortage. Lanka News web site reports that although the Govt had previously planned to call upon a Presidential election on March next year after bringing in the 19th Constitutional amendment, changing the Presidential election time period from 4 years to 3 years and changing its period of office from 6 years to 5 years, due to the lack of majority, it has faced trouble.

The eldest daughter of the former JVP leader, Rohana Wijeweera was arrested by the police after a complaint was filed against her by her mother, Police Spokesman SP Buddhika Siriwardena stated. Rohana Wijeweera has four daughters and a son while the arrested daughter was the eldest. She is due to be presented to courts for allegedly assaulting her mother, police further stated.

Articulating right demands and slogans in Genocide Remembrance events is crucial at a time when the Eezham Tamils in their homeland are barred from even silently mourning their heroes and civilians who sacrificed their lives in the culmination of the genocidal war at Mu"l"li-vaaykkaal, said a Tamil political activist from Jaffna commenting on the slogans used by protestors at the May 19 event at Marina beach in Chennai. Civil society activists, artists, political leaders and ordinary people had participated a mass gathering near the Kannagi statue in the honour of those Eezham Tamils who perished in Sri Lanka"s genocidal war despite dissuasion by the police. Speaking to TamilNet from the gathering, Umar, an activist from the May 17 criticized the failure of UN in preventing the genocide, stating that Sri Lanka must be hauled in the UNSC.

Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) leader Minister Douglas Devananda, an advocate of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, yesterday said the delegation of land and police powers to the provincial councils should be held back for the time being when constituting to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC). In an interview with Daily Mirror, Minister Devananda said there appeared to be dissension in the south over the delegation of such powers to the Provincial Council (PC) and therefore, it should be held back till an understanding between the two major communities - Sinhalese and Tamils - was built up. "If there is no delegation of such powers when forming the Northern Provincial Council, the Tamil people will be concerned. Likewise, Sinhala people will be concerned if these powers are delegated. Therefore, it is advisable to hold it back for the moment until there is understanding," he said.

Respect for basic rights and liberties has declined in Sri Lanka in the four years since the government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This week marks the fourth anniversary of the brutal civil war's end. Since the end of the 26-year-long civil war, the Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has resisted taking meaningful steps to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes by government forces and the LTTE, end the crackdown against the independent media and human rights activists, and stop ongoing abuses against suspected LTTE supporters. Government pledges to address the concerns of the ethnic Tamil population have gone unfulfilled. "Four years after Sri Lanka's horrific civil war ended, many Sri Lankans await justice for the victims of abuses, news of the 'disappeared,' and respect for their basic rights," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, the Rajapaksa government has rejected investigations, clamped down harder on the media, and persisted in wartime abuses such as torture."

Protests by the fishermen community and political parties have yielded result with the Sri Lankan government ordering the release of the 26 Karaikal fishermen on Monday. The fishermen who are in the custody of the Sri Lankan government will be released after being produced before the Lankan court, said Union Minister of State V Narayanasamy. "Orders for the release have been issued after the intervention of Union Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid, Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Ministers of Tamil origin," Narayanasamy said. As the relations between India and Sri Lanka were not good due to agitations against Sri Lanka in Tamil Nadu, securing their release took lot of time,he added.

Former Colombo Deputy Mayor Azath Salley who shot to fame as a result of his arrest, today said President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the ideal person to bring about proper peace and reconciliation. Mr. Salley told a news conference that President Rajapaksa's own family comprised members of different religions and ethnic groups who lived peacefully. Therefore he said it would be easy for the President to establish peace in the country in the same way he had maintained peace among his own family members. The Former Deputy Mayor thanked the Ministers in the government, several countries and opposition politicians who played a role in securing his release from prison. He recalled that many had worked towards his release, although he was not even a member of a local authority.

Vanni district parliamentarian Sivasakthi Anandan has received a written order to report to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) regarding a function held at the Vavuniya Town Council Hall on May 18th to commemorate the war victims. Mano Ganeshan, the leader of People's Democratic Front has stated that by ordering Sivasakthi Anandan to report to CID the government has violate the public right to commemorate dead which is recommended in a report in the Presidential Commission. Speaking to 'BBC Sandeshaya' he has stated "the provisions in Learned Lessons and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) report clearly indicates that the public must be provided with an opportunity to commemorate dead. However the government has not allowed it. The MP who was involved in the commemoration has been ordered to report to CID".

The Russian Federation has requested Sri Lanka's support to win the bid for hosting EXPO 2020, the Government Information Department reported. The Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independence States-Russia, Konstantin Kosachev when he met Sri Lanka's Prime Minister D.M.Jayarathna has emphasised how important the vote of Sri Lanka is for Russia to host EXPO 2020. Russia is competing for the votes of 162 countries along with Thailand, Turkey, Brazil and UAE. Kosachev has briefed the Sri Lankan PM that Russia expects to conduct this exhibition in Yekatennburg which links Asian and European countries and around twenty million people from foreign countries are expected to attend this exhibition. Kosachev has reiterated that it would help Sri Lanka to meet its goal of attracting 2.5 million tourists.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka has commenced recording statements from the family members of people disappeared in the Matale area during the 1988-1989 insurrection of the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). The CID has so far recorded the statements from the families of 13 persons who had claimed that their loved ones were among those killed and buried in the Matale mass grave. The mass grave in Matale was unearthed at the Matale Hospital premises last November and 154 skeletal remains were exhumed from the grave. It is believed that the skeletal remains unearthed from the Matale mass grave were of insurgents from the JVP killed during the 1988-89 violence. Matale magistrate and additional district judge Chaturika de Silva earlier this month ordered the CID to record statements from the relatives of the missing persons.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is now being drafted by the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), is expected to be released to the four Tamil National Alliance (TNA) political partners to resolve the longstanding stalemate in registering the TNA as a political party before the announcement of polls to the Northern PC , political sources said yesterday. The Bishop of Mannar, Dr Rayappu Joseph also earlier intervened to invite the leaders of the Tamil political parties - TULF, TELO, PLOTE, EPRLF and the ITAK - to bring about a settlement to this longstanding problem of registering the TNA, but gave up after deliberating at length after TULF leader V. Ananda Sangari stormed out of the meeting, the sources said. TNA parliamentarian, M. A. Sumanthiran told The Sunday Island that the Elections Act stipulated that any application for registering a party should be forwarded during the month of January each year and it could not be done if there was a pending election.

Thousands of people came together to take part in a rally through London, in remembrance of the hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians who were killed, maimed and displaced by Sri Lankan forces in Mullivaikkal in May 2009. Leaving Marble Arch at 1pm, the crowd - from toddlers to octogenarians - braved the unseasonably cool May weather to walk to Waterloo Place, near Piccadilly Circus. With the generous co-operation of the Metropolitan Police, busy London thoroughfares such as Park Lane and Piccadilly were closed on a busy shopping day in order to let the procession pass.

The differences of opinion over the 13th Amendment to the Constitution among the constituent parties of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) have come to the surface with Parliamentary Group Leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) threatening to take to the streets, if the government goes ahead with the Northern Provincial Council elections scheduled for September this year. Speaking to a packed audience at the Public Library Auditorium yesterday, Parliamentarian Rathana Thera said his party would present a private member motion to abolish the 13th Amendment and the Provincial Council system. "If the government does not listen to us, and proceeds to conduct the election, we will be on the streets," he warned to an appreciative audience.

Norway has asked Sri Lanka to comply with "well established international rules on diplomatic immunity" after a Colombo Court ruled that the former Norwegian Ambassador and three officials did not have immunity in a huge transaction involving an NGO. Norway's Ambassador Grete Lochen said yesterday that her government had held the position that the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations should be respected since Sri Lanka was a party to this convention. "Diplomats and state officials from Sri Lanka are enjoying the same privileges when serving their government," she said in an email interview. The ambassador said the Norwegian embassy was carefully studying the translation of the Colombo District Court order in which four Norwegian nationals including the country's former Ambassador Hilde Haraldstad were being held accountable for the non-fulfillment of a financial transaction with a local NGO.

Sri Lanka's Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya criticized the foreign representatives expressing different opinions about maintaining army camps in the North. Participating in a radio program on the state-run SLBC, the Army Commander noted that there are only three Army camps in the Jaffna peninsula at present, although there were sixteen army camps at the end of the war in May 2009. He told the state run radio that, as the Army Commander he is well aware of what has to be done to safeguard the independence gained by defeating the terrorism. "Foreigners have no right to decide where the army camps of this country should be maintained," he said during the program.