Sri Lanka Timeline - Year 2009: June to Dec

Sri Lanka Timeline - Year 2009

June 1	The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his concern over the "unacceptably high" civilian casualties in the conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, while rejecting in the strongest terms any figure attributed to the UN. Briefing the General Assembly on his recent visit to Sri Lanka and other travels, Ban Ki-moon said media reports alleging that some 20,000 civilians may have been killed during the last phase of the conflict "do not emanate from the UN and most are not consistent with the information at our disposal." "I categorically reject - repeat, categorically - any suggestion that the United Nations has deliberately under-estimated any figures," the Secretary-General underscored. The Sri Lankan Government is to establish a fifth relief village for the people displaced in the north due to the conflict at Manik Farm camp in Vavuniya District. The PLOTE, a minority Tamil party engaged in political activities in Northern Province, urged the Government to unarm all the parties except Security Forces before the upcoming elections in the North. The TNA, the pro- LTTE party, said the surrendered LTTE militants should be granted amnesty. TNA leader R. Sampanthan said during a visit to India that the militants should be provided with opportunities "so that they can lead normal life in the mainstream of society." The CPA, an independent Colombo-based think-tank critical of the Government on Eelam War IV, said it had received an anonymous letter threatening the worst if the organisation did not mend its ways. The CPA posted a copy of the letter, written in Sinhala, online. The Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association secretary, Poddala Jayantha, has been hospitalised with leg injuries after being abducted, assaulted and dumped on a road in Colombo.
June 2	The Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, said that the Government is keeping a close eye for signs of separatism among the hundreds of thousands of people rendered homeless by the civil war. "The Government of Sri Lanka will continue with its efforts to weed out terrorists who have infiltrated the ranks of IDPs (internally displaced persons) and the civilian population," Samarasinghe told the UN Human Rights Council. The Government plans to implement the 13th Amendment to Constitution speedily in the North after the Local Council elections in Jaffna and Vavuniya, the Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana said. "We took this decision at a correct time and it was not taken in a hurry as the JVP said. This is mainly due to protecting the democratic rights of the people in the North enabling them to elect their representatives to the local bodies according to their wishes," he said. The Minister also said there are no Internally Displaced People in Jaffna and Vavuniya now. He also said the resettlement process has already begun in Silavathura in the North. ddressing the 11th Regular Session of the United Nation Human Rights Council in Geneva the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said that Sri Lanka is committed to find a home-grown solution through the political process for the ethnic issue and is already in the process while addressing more immediate problems at hand.
June 3	The military has found SLR 13 million in the possession of the manager of ‘Eelam Bank’ run by the LTTE in Kilinochchi  and is now looking for the depositors to hand over these monies to them. The Colombo Additional Magistrate, G. Punarsha S. Ranasinghe, detained a LTTE intelligence unit head, Gunasundaram Jayasundaram, till June 9 in the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) for allegedly supplying firearms and ammunition on a large scale to the LTTE. President Mahinda Rajapakse declared that now was the time to "win over the hearts of the Tamil people. At a ceremony at Galle Face Green to mark the end of Eelam War IV, Rajapakse said, "The Tamil speaking people should be protected.
June 4	The SLN seized a LTTE cargo vessel, "Captain Ali", 160 nautical miles off the Colombo seas. According to the SLN, the Syrian vessel had set sail from the United Kingdom on April 20 as a "mercy mission" towards Puttumatalan to provide logistic supplies. The Navy said the crew of "Captain Ali" had not obtained permission to enter Sri Lankan territorial waters. The vessel is now being towed to Colombo harbour with a crew of 15 — including its captain Christia Goomesta, an Icelander and a former Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission member. The vessel is carrying 884 tonnes of cargo which is yet to be cleared.  Inspector General of Police Jayantha Wickramaratne has claimed that several journalists, mostly Sinhalese, were on the payroll of the LTTE and were fully involved in the insurgency. In an interview with the State owned, he said, "Although the Police know more details of this treason I do not like to reveal all of them since it might obstruct further investigations. A senior Sri Lankan official estimated the civilian death toll in the last stages of the war with the LTTE as 3,000 to 5,000 and defended the use of mortars in a Government-designated NFZ. Rajiva Wijesinha, permanent secretary in the ministry of disaster management and human rights, rejected reports that 20,000 civilians were killed in the final phase. He also rejected an unpublished UN report that 7,000 people had been killed by the end of April 2009. The Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said a group of medical doctors are being detained at the Criminal Investigation Department on ‘reasonable suspicion of collaboration with the LTTE’. "I don't know what the investigations would reveal but maybe they were even part of that whole conspiracy to put forward this notion that Government forces were shelling and targeting hospitals and indiscriminately targeting civilians as a result of the shelling," he said. The Japanese Government signed two grant contracts totaling US$ 1.4 million for humanitarian de-mining activities in the North. Japan has contributed a total of US$ 2.1 million in 2009, including an earlier grant to the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action for de-mining in Mannar.
June 5	Unidentified gunmen shot dead a senior member of the TMVP party at Ariyampathy in Batticaloa District. The gunmen shot him at his residence at Pudur. Police confirmed that the victim, identified as Ramalingam Jeayakumar, is a leader of TMVP in the Ariyampathy area.
June 6	SFs arrested six foreigners, who reportedly supported the LTTE, at several welfare centres in Vavuniya, military sources said. Out of the six, three are Australians and other three are from Norway, Great Britain and Netherlands, the Ministry added. Nearly 176,000 APMs buried by the LTTE had so far been detected and removed between 2002 and March 31, 2009, Senior Advisor to the Nation Building Ministry, M. S. Jayasinghe, said. In the Eastern Province about 98 per cent of mines have been removed and de-mining groups are now concentrating on the Thoppigala area. Between 2002 and 2009, 455 civilians were either seriously injured or killed due to these APMs, statistics revealed. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said the Government would release the detained MV Captain Ali, which entered Sri Lankan territorial waters with a shipment of humanitarian aid meant for the displaced people in the north. In an interview with a local newspaper, Rajapakse said that "the ship and its crew would most likely be asked to leave once investigators were convinced that the shipment did not include any subversive material but had only humanitarian items."    The Government is reportedly "100 per cent" sure that its forces killed the LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman during the last phase of the army offensive against the outfit, but admitted that his body could not be identified as the troops were busy with search and destroy operations. "We found the body of LTTE sea tiger chief Soosai. We have identified the bodies of all the leaders except Pottu Amman. The Sri Lankan Government is beginning the third step of its resettlement process in Mannar next week. The Ministry of Disaster Relief Services and Resettlement says they have scheduled the third step of the resettlement process to begin on June 9 at Silawathura area in Mannar District, where they hope to resettle 2120 displaced persons from 591 families. The Government is to rehabilitate another batch of Liberation LTTE child soldiers who lived at several welfare centres in Vavuniya. The chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), Jagath Wellawaththa said that they have found nearly 400 child soldiers from those welfare centres in Vavuniya. The Government is planning to create foreign employment opportunities for the IDPs living in welfare centres in the North. Kingsley Ranawaka, chairman of the Foreign Employment Bureau, said they will launch a special programme for this in the near future.
June 9	Six LTTE cadres, hailing from Kilinochchi and Jaffna, surrendered to the STF Police post at Varikuttur in Vavuniya west. Two new Security Forces Headquarters in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi, established by Sri Lanka Army on the instructions of Commander of the Army General Sarath Fonseka, came into operation with effect from June 5, 2009, the Army Headquarters declared. Four persons pleaded guilty in the federal court at Brooklyn in US for conspiring to provide support to the LTTE outfit. The United States Attorney in Brooklyn, Benton J. Campbell, said the four defendants had raised millions of dollars and obtained weapons and technology for the LTTE. The Canadian Member of Parliament, Bob Ray, who supported LTTE and their supporters in Canada, was deported shortly after he was not allowed into Sri Lanka across the Colombo International Airport. He was reportedly held by the Immigration and Emigration authorities at the airport on charges of aiding and abetting terrorism while working against the interests of Sri Lanka.     The resettlement of over 2120 people belonging to 551 families in their original homes will begin in the Musali division in Mannar under the resettlement of IDPs Phase II in the Northern Province.  According to the Resettlement and Relief Services Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, these families from seven Grama Niladhari Divisions in the Musali DS division will be provided dry rations and kitchen utensils by the Government. The Police Department would set up 21 Police Stations in the North and a Tamil language training centre for Police personnel in Kilinochchi. A Tamil Language Training Centre (TLTC) will be established in Kilinochchi District in addition to the existing one in Kalladi. IGP Jayantha Wickramaratne said that around 2995 Police and STF personnel were killed and 3571 injured by the LTTE attacks since 1974. Around 500 Police and STF personnel were killed and 485 injured in LTTE attacks after the Mavilaru operation to the last leg of humanitarian operation.
June 10	More than 12 youngsters who were subjected to the LTTE extortion and death threats in Norway were to seek an urgent meeting with Norway’s Director of Police, since the Norwegian Police have so far failed to take the LTTE threats with deserving seriousness. The disclosure on Norwegian National Television (NRK) came in the wake of an interview given by the Oslo-based Tamil journalist, Nadaraja Sethurupan, who had been assaulted and threatened with death by Norway-Oslo based LTTE cadres more than ten times in the past two years.
June 12	Troops shot dead a LTTE infiltrator when he was moving in the general area of Vannivillu. One T-56 weapon and four hand grenades were recovered from the possession of the slain terrorist. A leading British Tamil leader, identified as Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar (52) of the British Tamil Association, was imprisoned for two years for helping the LTTE. He was earlier convicted of illegally procuring equipment for the LTTE.
June 13	Sri Lankan Police arrested five doctors who worked at the LTTE medical department. The Terrorist Investigations Department arrested the suspected doctors who were hiding among the IDPs in Vavuniya Welfare camps. The arrest was made following information given by civilians at the IDP centre. Action has reportedly been taken to detain these persons under the Emergency Act for further investigations.
June 15	The Election Secretariat of Sri Lanka has decided to establish several polling stations for the IDPs in the upcoming elections for the Jaffna and Vavuniya Municipal Councils. The Terrorist Investigation Division arrested a director of a leading pharmaceutical company at Wellawatte near capital Colombo for having links with the LTTE, and recovered a stock of medical items valued at around SNR 2.5 million which were prepared to be sent to the LTTE. The suspect had maintained close links with the LTTE including the outfit’s medical wing chief Selvanayagam Kugarajan alias Manoj.
June 16	Army troops manning the Hatmuna roadblock in Polonnaruwa District arrested a youth carrying two detonators with him. The Government released a complete report on the IDPs, including the total number of the displaced who are living in welfare canters. According to the report, the total number of IDPs is 262632, including 134464 women. The most number of displaced persons are reported from Mullaitivu District with 235386 IDPs. Another 21079 from Kilinochchi, 2778 from Jaffna, 1864 from Vavuniya, 1054 from Trincomalee and 471 from Mannar Districts have been displaced due to the conflict. The report adds that there are 350 children of less than 10 years old who lost their parents due to the war. The total number of students living in those welfare canters are 58000 and out of them 250 are undergraduates. The Government commenced a special educational programme for 700 displaced students in the welfare camps in Vavuniya who are sitting for the advanced level examination for the General Certificate of Education in 2009 and distributed reading material, uniforms and stationery. The Government said that they have already completed demining activities in 90 percent of the liberated areas in the North. The Minister of Nation Building, S. M. Chandrasena, told that the Government expects to complete the resettlement programme in the North by 2010. The Government has already commenced its resettlement process at recently demined areas in Mannar District.
June 17	The head of ‘international secretariat of the intelligence wing’ of the LTTE, Kathirkamathamby Arivazhakan, who had earlier disputed claims that the outfit’s chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was dead, has now confirmed before the media that he was killed. Arivazhakan had in May 2009 dismissed the report of Prabakaran's death as "engineered rumours spread by the Government of Sri Lanka and its military establishment" and had asked the global Tamil community not to trust the report. His e-mail, however, does not provide any details on the date and time of Prabhakaran’s death. It said the "leader’s martyrdom" had been confirmed through sources including intelligence cadres in the know on the final incidents "concerning attempts to move the National Leader to a safer location who have now reached safety, fighters of other departments and our informants with links to the High Command of the Sri Lankan armed forces". "We confirm emphatically that the National Leader did not surrender and was not arrested but fought attaining Martyrdom. At this critical juncture we have to carry forward our liberation struggle with the same steadfastness, discipline and coordination as done by our Great Leader. The task before is to get together for the ‘Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam’ that is to be formed as the next phase of our struggle," it said.
June 18	Three suspected LTTE militants were shot dead by the Police in a clearing operation in the former LTTE-hideout in northern areas of Vavuniya District. According to Police, suspected LTTE cadres attacked the Vavuniya special Police unit when they attempted to search a vehicle during combing operations at Nelukulam. Three militants were killed in the encounter that ensued after Police opened fire in retaliation to the militants’ firing.
June 19	Police arrested three suspected LTTE militants who had allegedly plotted to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapakse. According to Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara, two suspects were arrested near the Ayurveda Hospital in Rajagiriya area and on information provided by them the third suspect was arrested at Valachchenai area in the Eastern Province. The three suspected LTTE cadres are aged between 15-16 years, the Police said. The completion of the de-mining process and the strengthening of the Army to hold the entire North and East to avoid any type of terror raising its head are pre-requisites for the resettlement of displaced civilians in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts, said Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka. The Commander said the strength of the Army has to be increased to hold the entire area captured by the Army during the past three years. A person identified as Arunachal Chrishanthakumar aka A.C. Shanthan, who bought electronic and computer equipment for the banned LTTE that could have been used to make a bomb, was jailed for two years. The 52-year-old from Norbury was found guilty of charges relating to conspiracy to receive and receiving property that could be used for terrorism at Kingston Crown Court on April 17.  A judge at the Old Bailey jailed him for two years for the conspiracy count and one year for receiving property; the sentences will run concurrently. Deputy Assistant Commissioner John McDowall, head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter terrorism command and senior national co-ordinator counter terrorism, said: "Shanthan bought component parts which have been used in the past by the LTTE to make improvised explosive devices. He purchased electrical equipment including circuit boards, GPS and antenna equipment and sent it to Sri Lanka for terrorists to use.  He spent more than £13,000 in just 14 months on military publications, manuals and guides to be used as reference for military attack planning, yet denied he was involved in any terrorist activity".
June 26	The National Integration Minister, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, is reported to have said that efforts by the remaining LTTE leaders overseas to create a provisional transnational Government would not succeed. "What Kumaran Pathmanadan and the other leaders are trying to do will only be a dream. We will not allow them to do so and neither will the international community," he added.
June 28	The parents of the late LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, who were taken into custody from an IDP camp in Vavuniya a few weeks ago, were transferred to capital Colombo for further investigation. "The two of them were being detained at a safer location and will be taken for legal action accordingly," an unnamed Police official said. Colombo Page quoting Sri Lankan Sunday weekly reports that two foreign nationals along with three drivers attached to international aid agencies along with two Sri Lankan politicians have reportedly been involved in a suicide plot to assassinate the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. According to Nation, Police have commenced investigations to arrest the two politicians. The weekly said that investigations have uncovered plans for a suicide bomber to explode himself with the help of the politicians while the three drivers attached to the UNOPS, UNHCR and ‘Save the Children’ offices in Vavuniya have transported the explosives to be used for the attack. Investigations have revealed that 40 kilograms of C4 explosives have been brought to Colombo from Kilinochchi in petrol tanks of the vehicles of aid agencies. The United Nations said on June 20 that two of its local staff members, one from UNHCR and one from UNOPS, have been arrested but they were not aware of any charges or details of any accusations.
June 29	A LTTTE leader, Keenan, and his deputy, Kannawan, were arrested by the Anti-Terrorist Unit of the Vavuniya Police at Pesalai in Mannar District. Two claymore mines, two T-56 weapons, five magazines and 142 rounds of ammunition were recovered from their possession. According to Police, there were two girls along with the militants. In their statement to Police, both girls said they were abducted and forcibly kept by the two LTTE cadres.
July 1	Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry extended the deadline given to Muslim militant outfits in the East to surrender their weapons to the SFs, by two more days on July 4. The deadline issued earlier was to expire on July 2. The deadline has been extended following requests made by the concerned parties, Police sources said. Police said a special committee has been formed to accept firearms and other weapons from these Muslim armed groups within the stipulated period. These groups could surrender their weapons to this committee through Mosque Federations in the area before 3 p.m. (SST) on July 4, the Eastern Regional Deputy Inspector General of Police, Edison Gunatilake, said in Batticaloa. According to a Police report, there are 18 Muslim militant outfits in Kaaththankudi area alone, in Batticaloa District.
July 2	Another large stock of jewellery deposited by civilians at the LTTE’s "Eelam Bank" was recovered by troops in the Puthukudirippu area of Mullaitivu District, the military said.
July 4	One soldier was killed when he attempted to arrest a former LTTE leader for Batticaloa District, identified as Nallarathnam Mohan, overboard a boat in the Kirankulam seas. The death of the soldier is the first military loss of life since troops on May 19 announced the killing of the top leadership of the LTTE, including its chief Velupillai Prabhakaran. In response to the Government’s appeal, Islamic militants surrendered their weapons to the Police in the evening of July 4 at a ceremony held at Meera Jumma Mosque in the Kattankudi area of Batticaloa District. The former militants surrendered their weapons through the Association of Muslim Mosques. The period granted for armed groups in the Eastern Province to hand over their weapons ended at 3:00pm on July 4. Receiving the weapons, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Eastern Province) Edison Gunatilake described the event as "historic" and called for the surrender of all such weapons. Quoting Gunathilake, the English weekly Lakbima said a joint military operation would be launched to track down arms and ammunition in the hands of the "jihadist groups in the East, after the extended deadline given for the hand over of the weapons lapsed". It quoted Gunathilake as saying the response from the Muslim armed groups to the Government’s call to hand over weapons was poor. The weekly further quoted him as saying that intelligence reports reveal Islamist militants possess 250 T-56 assault rifles, a fraction of which had been handed over on July 4. 18 armed groups have been identified in the Eastern Province and these groups are reported to be holding more than 400 firearms.
July 5	As a measure to return normalcy to the war-affected North, Sri Lanka Government has eased several security restrictions in the Vavuniya city limits. As a first step in this process, the Security Forces have allowed parking of vehicles in the city and reopened all the sub-roads that had been closed for several years. The Government recently also lifted all restrictions on fishing in the country. With the lifting of fishing restrictions and opening of Kandy-Jaffna (A-9) highway for commercial traffic, the Government expects to stimulate the economy in the North and considerably reduce prices of fish and other seafood in the South.
July 6	New Indian Express reported on July 6 that only a few of the armed Muslim groups in Eastern Sri Lanka are jihadis. Most of the armed Muslim men are reportedly political henchmen or persons enjoying the protection of mainstream Muslim political leaders, informed sources in the Eastern town of Batticaloa told the newspaper. "The jihadis among the Muslim armed men may be just about 30 or so," one source said. President Mahinda Rajapakse has said that a political solution to the ethnic conflict will come after the presidential elections. Asked about the political solution - the "13th Amendment Plus" - he had in mind, President Rajapakse in an interview with The Hindu said "even tomorrow I can give that - but I want to get that from the people." "I am waiting but it will be after my [re] election [as President]," he said. He insisted that all parties and especially the Tamil National Alliance representatives should participate in the discussions on the political solution.
July 7	Security has been intensified in the Moneragala District to arrest two hardcore LTTE militants, Ram and Nagulan, along with several other cadres who are believed to be roaming in Moneragala. The Moneragala Division Senior Superintended of Police, Amarasiri Senaratne, said intelligence reports have revealed that Ram and his team have gone to the East. Security sources said Ram led the LTTE unit in the Eastern Part a few years ago and is believed that he and his deputy Nagulan are roaming in the area without surrendering to Security Forces.
July 8	Five doctors who were serving in the NFZ during the last few days of the final battle in Mullaivaikkal admitted that the figures they were dispatching to certain media groups about civilian casualties were false and exaggerated, due to pressure exerted by the LTTE and regretted their errors. The doctors revealed that the number of civilians deaths were between 300-350 from January to May 2009 and the estimated civilian casualties may be around 600 to 650. The Sri Lanka Parliament extended the State of Emergency for another month. The Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians voted against it while the main opposition United National Party abstained.
July 9	The ICRC in Sri Lanka decided to scale down its operations in the country following a Government request based on the cessation of active hostilities between the military and the LTTE. Earlier in the day, the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, told Reuters that the Government has asked aid agencies to scale down operations as the country’s "challenges are now different" with the end of a 25-year war.
July 10	The Government said that no date had been fixed for the re-opening of the Kandy to Jaffna stretch of the A-9 Road for civilian traffic as de-mining was continuing. "The A-9 Road will be opened to the public soon but it will only be done once de-mining is complete and special security measures are in place," Media Centre for National Security Director General Laxman Hulugalle said adding that from June 17 convoys carrying relief supplies to the refugee camps were traveling along the A-9 Road after a lapse of several years.
July 12	Minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias ‘Colonel’ Karuna Amman told BBC Sandeshaya that two senior LTTE leaders, Daya Mohan and Colonel Ram, who had lived in the Ampara jungles, had escaped. He added that Daya Mohan, the most senior LTTE leader to survive the military onslaught has left Sri Lanka and "escaped to Malaysia". Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka said that the deaths reported within the Sri Lanka Army is much lower during its victorious march to eliminate terrorism from the country compared to the number of deaths reported during 2000 when the Sri Lanka Army was losing ground to the LTTE. "Therefore, the victory achieved by the Sri Lanka Army sacrificing 5,200 lives is a great victory as it could achieve it minimising the number of deaths and casualties and could completely eliminate the LTTE without leaving any trace of it," the Army Commander said. He also said that about 26,000 Army personnel sustained injuries during the operation. The Commander also praised the political leadership of the country and said he was able to conduct the war successfully because of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s leadership. "I did my part militarily and President Mahinda Rajapakse played his role as the political leader," he said.
July 14	A presidential probe into the massacre of 17 local aid workers of the French aid agency Action against Hunger or Action Contre la Faim (ACF) exonerated the Sri Lanka military saying that the military was not operating in the area when the crime took place in August 2006. The chairman of the presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI), former Supreme Court Judge Nissanka Udalagama, has said in a report that the deaths occurred on the morning of the August 4, 2006 and until the night of that day the town of Mutur and the surrounding areas were under the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Transport Minister Dullas Allahapperuma reportedly said that Sinhalese will not be settled in the earlier Tamil dominated areas when displaced persons are resettled in the North. Addressing a press briefing at the Mahaweli Centre in Colombo on July 14, the Minister emphasised that no Sinhala colonies will be established in the areas where only Tamil people were living during the resettlement process. Denying a Parliamentarian’s comment to Times UK Online that the Government is trying to settle Sinhalese in Tamil villages under the cover of resettling displaced in the north, the Minister said not a single family other than original dwellers were resettled in the villages in the Musali Division in Mannar.
July 15	The Island reports that the Security Forces have commenced dismantling protective measures like bunkers and fences built around border villages since the defeat of the LTTE. On the instructions of the Ministry of Defence, such security measures that were in place in Tekkawatte, Muntrumurippu, Vairavapuliyankulam, Katkuli and Thavasikulam are being dismantled. Several roads in the vicinity of Vavuniya were kept permanently closed with barriers built across and deep trenches dug during the last eight years to prevent LTTE militants having free access to places of strategic importance. On the completion of the demolition of these barriers, public will be allowed free access along these roads. Furthermore, the Vavuniya-Kebitigollewa road that was closed for traffic, too, would be reopened soon, security sources said. Malaysia has pledged to cooperate with the Sri Lankan Government in preventing LTTE remnants from carrying out operations from countries in the region. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was given this assurance when his Malaysian counterpart Anifah Aman called on him on the sidelines of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. President Mahinda Rajapakse has rejected the idea of ethnicity-based separate provinces in an interview to the latest edition of the American magazine Time. Asked if he believed in some kind of self-governance for the Tamils, Rajapakse said, "Don’t say Tamils. In this country you can’t give separate areas on an ethnic basis, you can’t have this." But provinces could certainly have powers, to enable them to handle local matters, he stated. While rejecting the idea of changing the demography of Tamil-majority areas, the President pointed out that demographic changes were happening in the Sinhalese-majority Colombo. Ruling out any special devolution for the wholly Tamil-speaking Northern Province, Rajapakse said the North could not have a model of its own. He noted that there were differences among the Tamils as to what they should ask for, now that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been defeated and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead. Sri Lanka cancelled plans to purchase weapons and ammunition worth $ 200 million from China and Pakistan after the war against the LTTE ended, the newly appointed Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka said. Addressing the media after assuming duties as the new CDS, Fonseka said the Government cancelled the orders for weapons since the LTTE is completely defeated and its leader was dead.
July 16	President Mahinda Rajapakse has told the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that his Government remains committed to the resettling and rehabilitating the nearly 300000 war displaced in the north of the country in the shortest possible time. The issue of the war displaced, conditions in the relief centres and the need for reconciliation among all communities were discussed at the bilateral meeting between Rajapakse and Ban on the sidelines of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement Summit at Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt.
July 17	Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Army has expanded de-mining activities in the north. Chief of Defence Staff, General Sarath Fonseka, said all Army teams with experience in de-mining have been deployed in this regard. With the coordination of the army engineers’ corps, de-mining in the area to the north of Vavuniya is now being conducted. General Fonseka said a team of 500 personnel from the Indian army will arrive in Sri Lanka in the coming days to assist in the de-mining activities in the north. Sri Lanka’s Defence budget is to reach SLR 200 billion (USD 1.74 billion) in 2009. This is about 17 per cent of overall Government spending for the year. In 2008, the defence spending stood at SLR 166 billion (USD 1.4 billion). Earlier in 2009, the Defence Ministry had requested a raise to SLR 177 billion rupees (USD 1.54 billion) to pay for the war against the LTTE. Sri Lanka has requested a USD 1.9 billion International Monetary Fund loan to bolster foreign exchange reserves and solve a balance-of-payments problem.
July 18	President Mahinda Rajapakse re-assured the country that his Government will resettle the Tamil civilians displaced due to the war with the LTTE in the North as soon as possible. He said that he will not let the IDPs to remain in the welfare centers for long. The Government has said that child soldiers recruited by the LTTE would not be prosecuted and instead made to go to schools. The decision was announced by President Mahinda Rajapakse who said, "Our hearts are not vicious. We will not prosecute children who are 12, 13 and 14 years of age and were forced to take up arms. We need to integrate them into society after rehabilitation." The President also said his Government has released all people above 60-years from the temporary camps for the war-displaced while 40000 children are being given education, adds The Hindu. Nearly 15000 people above 60 had reported in the camps. Rajapakse said at least 80 per cent of the internally displaced persons would be resettled prior to the December-end deadline. He said his Government had given a new life to child soldiers by rehabilitating them in vocations of their choice at the rehabilitation camps.
July 19	Sunday Times reported that personal files belonging to the slain LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran – with details about arms deals and arms shipments, intended targets, suicide cadres and other key information – were unearthed last week. Equipment to monitor the movements of Air Force jets and UAVs, as well as weapons and weapon parts, were among the assorted items found. The items were found at the end of a six-day search operation conducted by a Police team led by Colombo Crime Division (CCD) Director, Superintendent of Police Vass Gunawardena. Anura Senanayaka, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in CCD, said files with more than 270 personal documents belonging to Prabhakaran were found in three large plastic containers. According to Gunawardena, the search party also found communication equipment used by the LTTE to monitor the movements of Sri Lanka Air Force jets and transmissions from UAVs. Satellite phones, laptops, fax machines, antennas, cables and other items were also recovered. In separate searches in the vicinity, Police found anti-aircraft missiles, parts of 120 mm, 130-mm and 152 mm artillery guns, chemicals and 33 LTTE suicide kits, as well as photographs of LTTE suicide cadres.
July 20	The Sri Lankan Police arrested the mastermind of an attack by the LTTE on the Sri Lanka Air Force base in Anuradhapura on October 22, 2007. Senior Superintendent of Police Ranjith Gunasekara confirmed that the suspect, identified as Thabo Ruban, has been arrested from a welfare center in Vavuniya a few days ago. The suspect has revealed that the light aircraft of the LTTE reached the area based on the information given by him to attack the Air Force Base. Police believe Thabo Ruban, from Kilinochchi area, reached the welfare centers in Vavuniya after the Government declared victory over the LTTE on May 18. The ICRC in Sri Lanka closed down its offices in the Eastern province. The Government has decided to conduct elections in other local Government institutes in the North soon after the conclusion of Jaffna Municipal Council polls. Canada was one of the top sources of funding for the LTTE, providing up to $12-million a year, said a secret intelligence report obtained by the National Post. The Sri Lanka Police arrested the chief of the LTTE "Eelam Bank", Colin Ruban, in capital Colombo. Colombo Page reported that Colin was arrested from a lodge on information revealed by intelligence units. According to sources, he was a resident of Puthukuddiyiruppu and had reached the welfare centers in Vavuniya during the last stages of the war. However, he later arrived in Colombo by paying SLR 250000 to a person who helped him to reach the capital. During search and clear operations in the Puthukuddiyiruppu area of Mullaitivu District, the Task Force-VIII troops uncovered a large stock of jewelry left hidden by the LTTE militants in Wanni, according to a Sri Lanka Army report. The latest recovery of gold jewelry to the weight of 37.5 kilograms confirmed speculation that the LTTE had collected jewelry of civilians who could have been in dire need of money due to maladministration of the LTTE before they were expelled from their fortresses by the SFs. The jewelry had been placed in tin containers and buried under the soil. According to reports, the LTTE was in the practice of exploiting the wealth of civilians in those areas in various ways, by way of ransom, "tax' and transactions through the "Eelam Banks".
July 21	Addressed as originating from the headquarters of the LTTE, an Executive Committee announced restructure of the organization and the leadership of Selvarasa Pathmanathan in taking up the future course of the movement, reports pro-LTTE Website Tamil Net. "We have set up a head office for our liberation movement and formulated various sector-based working groups and an executive committee," a press release on behalf of the Executive Committee said adding that the details will be shared in due course. The press release claimed the announcement is a collective decision arrived at after consultations "among our members, including our cadres who bravely fought their way out of the battlefield and our representatives abroad and in the Diaspora." "The Eelam Tamil people are in the midst of a critical and sorrowful period in the history of the struggle for freedom of our nation, Tamil Eelam. No one can deny the fact that we have experienced massive and irreparable losses, losses we would not accept even in our worst dreams," the LTTE's statement said, adds Express Buzz. It was the Tamils' 'historic duty' to rise up and fight for their `legitimate' rights, it said. But like all liberation struggles, the LTTE had decided to `modify' the form and strategies of the struggle according to the times and the exigencies of the situation. However, the 'Honorable Mr Veluppillai Prabhakaran shall remain forever, the leader of Tamil Nation hood', the statement added further. The statement said the LTTE had set up a headquarters, but did not disclose the location. It had also set up sector-based working groups and an executive committee to take the struggle forward `vigorously'. The LTTE, it stated, was also looking for `wise counsel' from the general Tamil public. In conclusion, the statement said, "If the Sinhala nation and those countries which support it consider that the Tamil peoples' freedom struggle has been defeated through the capture of the historical homeland areas of the Tamil people and the massacre of thousands of Tamil civilians, we shall consider that an illusion. Let us demonstrate to the world through our actions, that the fire of freedom awakened by our great leader V Pirabakaran continues to burn in the hearts of all Tamils, and only a free Tamil nation has the power to extinguish it." Although the amnesty period announced by the Sri Lankan Government to hand over illegal weapons expired a few weeks ago, more armed factions handed over their weapons to authorities on July 21. An armed Muslim group in Eravur in the Batticaloa District is reported to have handed over their illegal weapons to the chief priest of the mosque at Michchinagar in the morning. The weapons were subsequently handed over to the Deputy Inspector General of Police in the area by the chief priest. Seven guns and several hand grenades were among the weapons that had been surrendered, the Police said. An amnesty period to hand over the illegal weapons in the Eastern Province announced by the Sri Lankan Government ended on July 4. There are reportedly 18 armed groups in the Eastern Province with nearly 400 firearms in their possession. The SFs have opened the Vavuniya-Horowpathana (A-29) road for civil traffic after a lapse of three years. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said, "The A29 road was opened after three years which was closed due to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) threat." He noted that the LTTE had carried out a series of attacks on this important road, adding, "Therefore, people had to make a detour to Trincomalee after reaching Medawachchiya which was a long way for them." The Sri Lanka Government announced that they have taken steps to resettle more IDPs, sheltered in the welfare villages in Wanni at the beginning of next month under the Government's 180-day resettlement program. Addressing a special meeting at Vavuniya District Secretariat, the senior advisor to the President, parliamentarian Basil Rajapakse said that all the arrangements are now in place to resettle the displaced persons. According to Rajapakse, the Government plans to resettle 3,000 persons in 35 cleared villages in Wanni region beginning August 7. The Government has completed the de-mining activities of these villages with the assistance of international de-mining groups and the United Nations. President Mahinda Rajapakse said that he is prepared to face any court to defend Sri Lankan military commanders on charges of human rights violations during the recently concluded war with the LTTE, reports Hindustan Times. "The President emphatically stated that he was prepared to appear before any court on behalf of the military leaders," an official release said.
July 22	The Jaffna-Kandy (A-9) main highway was reopened for passenger transport in the morning of July 22 after a gap of three years. The nearly 200 mile- long A-9 Road was closed for passenger transportation in August 2006 after the army camp in Muhamalai in Jaffna came under attack from the LTTE. The road was open during the cease-fire period of 2003- 2006 but was under the control of the LTTE who imposed heavy taxes on the passengers. With the liberation of Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass, the Sri Lankan Army brought the entire highway under its control on January 9, 2009. The LTTE had mined the highway heavily to prevent the Sri Lankan Army offensive against them. The A-9 is the only land route which connects Sri Lanka's capital Colombo and the northernmost point of the country in the Jaffna peninsula. During the time it was closed the passengers had to travel between Colombo and Jaffna taking either the sea route or the air route. The Government opened the A-9 for military traffic in March and earlier this month for commercial traffic. The Government has set a six-month timeline for rehabilitating Tamils displaced by the recently ended conflict with the LTTE. Asked when the time limit for resettling the internally displaced persons began, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama said, "a month has gone" and wanted the global community to appreciate that the war had ended less than two months back.
July 24	The Government is scheduled to start resettlement process in the Vavuniya District on August 7. According to Resettlement and Relief Services Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, the resettlement of people in 35 Grama Niladhari (village-level official) divisions in the Vavuniya District is expected to begin on August 7. The Minister said these villages are being cleared of mines and all infrastructure facilities are provided to these villages before the displaced people are resettled in their original houses. "The Government has decided to set up examinations centres for the students who are sitting for the G.C.E. (A\L) examination within the welfare camps", he added. The Minister refuted recent media reports that over 100 people die in the welfare centers a week. He said one or two persons die in camps per week due to natural causes.
July 27	The mastermind behind the attack on the Anuradhapura Air Force Base in 2007 was arrested on an unspecified date by the officers of the Central Province Intelligence Unit (CPIU) on information given by the LTTE suspects in custody. Rasalingam Thaboruban, 26, of Kankasanthurai was among the displaced civilians in the Mannar District when the arrest was made by a special team of officials attached to the CPIU. Rasalingam in his confession to the Security Forces said a team of 25 LTTE cadres was assigned to launch an attack on the Anuradhapura Air Base and they had to gather information on how to access the Air Base for days.
July 30	The newly appointed LTTE chief Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP claimed that the outfit’s decision to give up armed struggle and take recourse to "political and diplomatic moves" was taken by its former chief Velupillai Prabhakaran along with other commanders at Mullivaikkal in the Mullaitivu District days before his death during Eelam War IV. In a statement posted on his website, KP, supposedly operating out of South-East Asia and wanted by the Interpol, dealt at length on his earlier statement about the LTTE’s decision to achieve the goal of Tamil Eelam. The Government said 9,797 former LTTE members were now detained at rehabilitation centers in island wide. Speaking to the media, the newly appointed Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, Major General Daya Ratnayake, said the number would increase up to 20,000 in the near future. He said that those former LTTE cadres need to be categorized and several of them should be produced in Courts as they had deeply been involved in terrorist activities. According to Major General Ratnayake, there are LTTE cadres in the rehabilitation centers who have surrendered to the Security Forces as well as who were arrested. He also said the former LTTE cadres will be directed to employment opportunities after they are rehabilitated completely. The Government is to review the rehabilitation process after a year.
July 31	A top LTTE militant, who is believed to have fixed the bomb in a vehicle that exploded at Digampathana in October 16, 2006 killing more than 100 naval ratings, was arrested in Vavuniya on an unspecified date. Police said a special team from the Central Province had arrested the yet to be named militant when he was getting ready to escape from the area. The Sri Lanka Police announced that except the Security Forces and Police, no other party will be allowed to carry weapons in the Eastern Province. The Deputy Inspector General of Police in the East, Edison Gunathilaka, said several main Tamil political parties who bore weapons in the past are also not allowed to carry weapons any more. According to the new rule, the political parties Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, Ealam People's Democratic Party, People's Liberation Organization of Tamil, Ealam People's Revolution Liberation Front are also not allowed to hold weapons. Following the conclusion of the earlier announced amnesty period the Police have reportedly commenced raids to arrest people who continue to possess weapons. The Government closed its SCOPP according to the instructions of the Presidential Secretariat. Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary-General of the SCOPP, confirmed that the Government has taken this decision after conducting extensive discussions on the necessity of a peace secretariat following the military victory over the LTTE. The SCOPP had commenced its activities on February 6, 2002 when the United National Party Government led by the former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe had attempted to resolve the ethnic conflict in North through peace talks with the LTTE. The Secretariat was headed by Bernard Goonetilleke (2002-2004), Jayantha Dhanapala (2004-2005) and Dr. Palitha Kohona (2006 - 2007) previously.
August 1	The Government established its sixth Police station in Wanni in the Kanagarayankulam area. The Inspector General of Police Jayantha Wickramarathna on August 1 opened the Police station and the new office of the Superintendent of Police. The Government opened Police stations in Madhu, Veditaletivu, Vakarai, Silawatura, and Omanthai in Wanni following the LTTE defeat in the region.
August 1-2	Two persons were killed and a woman injured in a bomb blast at Baduraliya in the Kalutara District in the night of August 1, Police said on August 2. The explosion occurred in a jungle patch in the rural part of Baduraliya.
August 2	A senior civil administration official was arrested for alleged links with the LTTE, Police said on August 2. Nagalingam Vethanayagam, the Government agent of Kilinochchi District, was arrested on July 31 following information from an arrested LTTE cadre. Vethanayagam held the post in the former LTTE political headquarters until January 2009 when Kilinochchi was recaptured by the Government troops. The Government agent is the senior most civil service administrative officer of a District in Sri Lanka. Police arrested the wife and a daughter of a former LTTE leader who attempted to leave the country. Police confirmed that the two suspects from Kilinochchi had attempted to leave for Budapest in Hungary. During questioning at the Katunayake International airport in Colombo, both failed to provide their identification, Police said.
August 3	The LTTE could be attempting to revive the organisation amid efforts by the outfit to rescue hardcore cadres housed in Government-run refugees camps for Tamil civilians in the Vavuniya District, said Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse. In an interview with Sunday Island, he said an organised campaign had been launched to free terrorists from refugee camps before Army and Police investigators, now engaged in a systematic screening process, closed in on them. Gotabhaya stated that the Government would not allow the LTTE to reverse the military victory achieved at a huge cost to the nation. He pointed out that ordinary civilians would never make an attempt to flee refugee camps as the Government, with the support of some international agencies, had provided adequate facilities for them. A TNA Member of Parliament (MP), Sivanathan Kishore, has said that the IDPs in the northern part of Sri Lanka are being smuggled out from their camps by organised groups. He stated that "smuggling of people from these camps is going on for some time." People in the camps have been paying huge money to get themselves out of the camps and some of them have even been escorted till the airport and have gone abroad, according to the MP. The Vavuniya District Secretary P.S.M. Charles said that the Government’s 180 day resettlement programme is in progress with another batch of 1,500 civilians from the Manik Farm relief village being re-settled in the Omanthai, Nochchimotai, Piramanalamkulam, Pirappumadu areas on August 5. TMVP members who had weapons in their possession before they entered into mainstream politics handed over a stock of arms and ammunition to the Army troops at Kudumbimalai in the Thoppigala area of Batticaloa District. The stock handed over included one Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) weapon, four RPG bombs, one Light Machine Gun (LMG) weapon, one LMG drum, one T-81 weapon, four T-81 magazines, two T-56 MK II weapons, 10 T-56 magazines, one T-56 MK I weapon and 220 rounds of T-56 ammunition.
August 4	Police arrested a multi millionaire businessman engaged in fishing industry and another LTTE militant along with a vehicle used for transporting LTTE weapons and explosives to the South. Police confirmed the duo was arrested at Parayanakulam in Mannar and the truck, which was specially made with several secret compartments to transport weapons and explosives, was seized. According to disclosed details, the two suspects have transported LTTE weapons and explosives for nearly five years.
August 5	The Government resettled another batch of IDPs who lived in welfare camps in Vavuniya. The Government Information Department said that 1,094 IDPs belonging to 439 families were transported to their own villages in Trincomalee, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Ampara and Kanthale. This is the first phase of the resettlement scheme of the displaced who were temporarily housed in welfare villages of Vavuniya. In addition, the Government took steps to resettle 3,112 persons of 1,051 families, who were originally residents of Jaffna and occupied various places in Vavuniya temporarily, back in their homes in the peninsula.
August 6	The newly appointed LTTE chief, Kumaran Pathmanathan alias Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam alias Selvarajah Pathmanathan alias KP, was arrested from Bangkok in Thailand. "He has been arrested in Bangkok. That is all we know at the moment," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. Kumaran Pathmanathan was brought to Colombo and is now being interrogated, The Island reported. Kumaran Pathmanathan, who had been the LTTE’s international relations chief till he claimed the LTTE leadership after the Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran in May 2009, previously functioned as the group’s main arms procurer. The Parliament passed the State of Emergency for another month.
August 7	The newly appointed LTTE chief Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, who was arrested from Bangkok in the night of August 6, was brought to Colombo the next morning, said Defence Affairs spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. Addressing the media in Colombo, the Minister disclosed that Kumaran Pathmanathan is in the custody of defence authorities and will be dealt with according to the law of the land following investigations. "KP who was posing as a national of several countries and carrying out multi- faceted activities was capable of convincing some of them even though the LTTE was defeated. This led some people to believe the LTTE might re-emerge again," he remarked. The Minister observed that the arrest sends a strong message that the Government has the support of the International Community in combating LTTE operations in foreign countries. Replying to a question whether Kumaran Pathmanathan will be extradited to India to face charges in connection with the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Rambukwella said there has been no such request so far and if such a request is made, the Government will deal with it according to International norms, treaties and conventions. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said that the victory against the LTTE was now complete with the arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan.
August 8	The ruling UPFA party secured a comfortable victory in the elections for the Uva Provincial Council (PC) held on August 8, 2009 winning both the Badulla and Moneragala Districts. The UPFA received over 80% of votes in the Moneragala District and over 60% in Badulla which was a traditional stronghold for the main opposition United National Party (UNP). The UNP received the highest number of votes in Badulla polling division securing 34.40 percent. Around 80% of postal votes were cast in favour of the ruling party. Voters in Jaffna elected the ruling party to govern the Jaffna Municipal Council (MC). The UPFA secured 13 seats of the 23-member MC and the Tamil National Alliance-affiliated Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) secured eight seats. An independent group and Tamil United Liberation Front led by V. Anandasangaree won one seat each. In Vavuniya, the ITAK won a majority of five seats in the 11-member Urban Council (UC) while the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam-affiliated Democratic People's Liberation Front secured three seats. The UPFA came in third with two seats while the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress won one seat. In both the Northern elections, the main opposition UNP was defeated and failed to secure more than two percent of the votes. Colombo Page, August 9, 2009.
August 9	The LTTE asked the international community to intervene and investigate how their new leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP was detained in Malaysia and later flown to Sri Lanka for questioning, and ensure his safety and security. If the Government of Malaysia from where Kumaran Pathamathan was reportedly arrested does not have any information on the matter, we demand an inquiry into the whole episode, a statement from the LTTE said. If he has been brought to Colombo as claimed by the Government of Sri Lanka, we call upon the international community to become involved in this matter in order to assure the safety and security of Kumaran Pathmanathan according to international standards and to facilitate access to legal representation, it added.
August 10	The Government is exploring the possibility of arranging for LTTE cadres, taking refuge in Colombo and suburbs, to surrender to the authorities, Defence sources said. A senior officer of the Defence Ministry said intelligence sources were well aware that key LTTE cadres and others who infiltrated Colombo and other areas on suicide missions targeting VIPs and top military personnel are now mingling with the public pretending to be ordinary citizens. "The security forces have launched an operation to apprehend them but the Government may provide them an opportunity to surrender to the security forces or the Police," he said. The Government has said displaced people living in the relief camps in the country's north would be allowed to leave only when the LTTE cadres hiding in these centres are identified. The Attorney General, in a written submission to the Supreme Court, said on August 10 that officials are in the process of identifying the LTTE militants. His submission came in response to a complaint filed by the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a rights group, urging the release of displaced people from the relief camps run by the Government in the northern Districts of Jaffna and Vavuniya.
August 11	Unidentified assailants shot dead a Muslim armed group leader, identified as Abdul Samath, in the Eravur area of Batticaloa District. According to Senior Superintendent of Police Ranjith Gunasekara, the victim, who was also the chairman of the fisheries association in the area, was shot dead at his residence at about 10:30pm (SLST). It was reported that he had handed over several illegal weapons to the Police few weeks ago during the special amnesty granted by the Sri Lanka Government. President Mahinda Rajapakse urged the international community to help the nation crackdown the international financing arm of the LTTE. He said the LTTE was still active in some countries, especially in South-East Asia and Europe. In an interview to an Indian television channel, Rajapakse said the arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP last week was very important because he claimed to be the new LTTE chief after the death of Vellupilai Prabhakaran.
August 12	A plot to carry out a suicide attack on President Mahinda Rajapakse in his hometown Madamulana with the involvement of a suspect arrested in connection with the killing of Southern Provincial Councillor, Danny Hiththetiyage, came to light at the Mount Lavinia Magistrates court on August 12. The TNA has nominated S. N. G. Nathan for the post of Chairman of the Vavuniya Urban Council. General Secretary of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) and TNA parliamentarian Maavai Senathirajah said that he would inform the Elections Commissioner the decision in writing on August 13. The ITAK, a constituent of the TNA, got five seats in the recently held election to the Vavuniya Urban Council. Nathan obtained 1099 preferential votes at the election. Though he was nominated as the leading candidate of the TNA, he came third in the preferential votes list. Meanwhile, the party has also decided to appoint N. S. Muguntharathan who topped the list with 2551 votes as the deputy chairman. Other members representing the ITAK in the council are E. Sivakumar (1105), S. Surenthiran (858) and I .Kanagiah (791). Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardne revealed that LTTE chief Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP was trying to build up connections with the US State Department. He told a news conference that KP had got involved with the group 'Tamils for Obama' in USA for this reason.
August 13	The Government of Sri Lanka is planning to resettle 75,000 IDPs to their original areas of residence, according to a recent report released by the USAID. Sri Lankan Government authorities plan to return 75,000 IDPs in four phases during the month of August, including 15,000 IDPs to villages in the Vavuniya District, and 25,000 IDPs to locations in the Kilinochchi District, the USAID report on current situation released on August 10 said. The Government plans to provide the returnees with care packages consisting of shelter materials, cash grants equivalent to $220 with additional subsidies for farmers, and a six-month food supply, including USAID/FFP commodities distributed by the UN World Food Program (WFP). However, according to the USAID fact sheet, the Government has not provided a comprehensive framework to date, for the implementation of the proposed returns plan and enhanced coordination with humanitarian agencies. According to the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the President National Data Center which continues to register IDPs in Manik Farms camp had registered 125,260 IDPs and issued 90,000 IDP identity cards by the end of July. The registration process represents ongoing Government efforts to record the number of IDPs in a national database in order to improve IDP services. Detained LTTE chief Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP has reportedly revealed the presence of a large cache of arms and ammunition hidden by the outfit in capital Colombo for carrying out attacks, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said. Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardne said Sri Lanka had not violated any international laws by arresting Kumaran Pathmanathan and had proved that it had the capacity to neutralize the international network of the LTTE.
August 16	The Government is reportedly in the process of establishing the authenticity of various details that the detained LTTE chief Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP has revealed to the Sri Lankan authorities about several local individuals and organisations that have reportedly supported the LTTE and their terrorist movement, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. The Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, Major General Daya Ratnayake, has said measures have been taken to rehabilitate over 10,000 ex-LTTE cadres in the North by the Government. In an interview with Sunday Observer, he said, "The process to classify the ex-cadres into different groups considering their age, gender and involvement in the outfit has already been completed and the ground work to move them into new rehabilitation centres is nearing completion." Informing that over 80 percent of these ex-cadres are now temporarily sheltered in Government schools, he stated, "We want to hand over these government schools and five new centres are under construction at the moment. They will be moved to the new centres before the end of this month." The children between the ages of 12 to 18 years have already been separated from the group. There are over 455 children, the majority of whom the LTTE had forcefully recruited at its last stage of the battle. Former female LTTE cadres numbering 1,700 have also been separated and housed separately. The authorities have taken steps to separate male ex-LTTE cadres over 45 years of age and they will be given training according to their professions, skills, and their liking to undergo a vocational training.
August 17	The Government said that over 15,000 Internally Displaced Families (IDFs) from the Jaffna District will be resettled in their original homes soon. According to the Resettlement and Relief Services Minister Rishad Badiudeen, authorities have already identified over 15,000 IDFs who claim to be residents of Jaffna and their details have been forwarded to authorities in the Jaffna District. The Minister stressed that they would be resettled in their original homes in Jaffna District after the Government officials gave an assurance that they are permanent residents of the Jaffna. These families are now living in welfare centres in the Vavuniya and Mannar Districts. The Minister added that the Presidential Task Force on Northern Development is committed to resettle as many displaced civilians as possible within the time frame of 180 days. Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka said that displaced persons in welfare centres cannot be haphazardly resettled in their former villages on outside pressures or compulsions because terrorist remnants hiding behind displaced civilians may take the opportunity to resort to terrorism once again. He said five to six LTTE cadres were falling into Security Forces custody every week from welfare camps and those pressuring the Government to expedite re-settlement process should understand this reality. He also said that de-mining had not been fully completed for the re-settlement process to begin.
August 19	The APRC Chairman Minister Tissa Vitharana said he handed over to President Mahinda Rajapakse on August 14 a document which was a summarised report of the recommendations of more than three years of deliberations of the APRC. "We expect a feed back from President Rajapakse before our next move. He will go through the summary before he gives instructions to the APRC on the next step," Vitharana told Daily Mirror. The APRC, during the last three years or so, had come to a consensus on a number of key proposals expected to be incorporated in a new Constitution which is aimed at resolving the ethnic problem. They included a new Constitution, reverting to the Westminster System pruning of Executive Presidential powers, a Constitutional Court, a second chamber of Parliament, a national Land and Water Commission and reviving the Village Committee system. The APRC was appointed by President Rajapakse on July 20, 2006 and has held 178 sessions so far. However, only 13 political parties took part in the APRC deliberations. The main opposition United National Party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, Tamil National Alliance and Jathika Hela Urumaya abstained from taking part in the deliberations. The United States announced that it is contributing an additional USD six million for de-mining activities in northern Sri Lanka to help expedite the resettlement of the Internally Displaced persons in their original homes.
August 20	Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has reportedly called on foreign countries to hand over to Sri Lanka the LTTE cadres and their assets worth millions of dollars. "He (KP) is a seasoned man, so he's coming out with information very slowly during interrogation. He was the person who ran a massive network to purchase arms and ammunition for the LTTE for nearly 30 years," Rajapakse told BBC. The estimates about the LTTE's assets and investments range from USD 300 million (£182m) to USD 1 billion. "Once it is proved that these assets belong to the LTTE, then concerned countries should hand over the assets as well as the remaining LTTE members to Sri Lanka," added Rajapakse. The Re-settlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Rishad Bathiudeen told Parliament on August 20 that the Government has re-settled 59,608 displaced families in Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Mannar, Ampara and Jaffna Divisional Secretariat (DS) divisions during the past few months. According to figures, 35766 families have been re-settled in Batticaloa DS division while 22068 families have been re-settled in Trincomalee DS division. The Government has re-settled 669 families in Mannar, 51 families in Ampara and 1,054 families in Jaffna DS divisions. The Minister also said the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 2009 is 288938.
August 21	A Sri Lankan minister has said that the LTTE had funded the production of Tamil films as part of its international business ventures. The Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister, Abdul Risath Bathiyutheen, reportedly said films thus tainted by 'LTTE blood money' included those of Rajnikanth, a popular Tamil actor in Tamil Nadu in southern India. Bathiyutheen made this charge in an interview to www.asiantribune.com, which quoted him as saying, "Millions and millions of US dollars were given to a London-based Tamilian. He was asked to produce Tamil films in Chennai [capital of Tamil Nadu] with top stars like Rajnikanth." The interview also reportedly had a mention of pro-LTTE Tamil Nadu politicians like S Ramadoss, V. Gopalsamy a.k.a. Vaiko, Thol Thirumavalavan and P Nedumaran as the other alleged beneficiaries. When contacted, Rajnikanth's office, however, said the actor refused to comment on the issue. An unnamed police official said such charges had been heard of in terms of logistical support or hospitality extended to film units abroad, but he had not come across a single case to prove it. "Rajnikanth is busy shooting for his film Endiran (Robot) and cannot be reached till late tonight," sources at the actor's residence in Chennai told Hindustan Times. Vaiko denied the allegation saying, "This is sheer nonsense and political mischief." The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Sarath Fonseka said that the secret behind the success of the Sri Lankan military in its war against the LTTE was its transformation from a conventional to a guerrilla force. "From our side, we changed our tactics and started acting like guerrillas, making incursions into their territories in small groups and carrying out daring attacks when the LTTE challenged us in the jungles," said General Fonseka. He added that the decision to wage a war was political and the Army together with the other forces fought the war according to the political will.
August 23	The arrested LTTE chief Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP has told investigators that the outfit had tried to acquire nuclear weapons and know-how to be used against the Sri Lankan army. A media report stated that Pathmanathan, who was arrested in a South East Asian country on August 6, has told interrogators that the LTTE had tried to acquire nuclear weapons and technology from western countries. "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 Nation stated.
August 24	The NIB uncovered a plan to assassinate Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse with the recovery of a suicide kit, arms and ammunition from a house in Mutwal, a suburb in the capital Colombo. According to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Nimal Mediwaka, the NIB officials found a cache of arms and ammunition, including a suicide kit weighing over five kilograms, a machine gun and 13 Cyanide capsules, concealed in a cupboard in a housing unit at Mutwal under the directive of a LTTE leader in Colombo. The unnamed LTTE leader had reportedly planned to launch a well coordinated attack on the Defence Secretary. "It is believed that they had planned to hurl hand grenades at Rajapakse’s motorcade as a part of the massive assassination bid. The terrorists had planned to launch this attack using a explosive laden motor bike. Officials are combing the island to trace the explosive laden bike and the suicide cadre who were directed to crash into the motorcade of the Defence Secretary," Mediwaka said. The Defence Secretary had earlier in 2006 survived a LTTE suicide attempt in Colombo escaping with minor injuries although eight of his security guards were killed.
August 25	Police personnel serving at Thirimunai in the Kalmunai area of Ampara District encountered an isolated group of LTTE militants and killed two of them. During subsequent search in the lagoon area where the incident occurred, Police found the dead bodies of the slain militants along with one T - 56 weapon, one magazine and 25 rounds of ammunition. President Mahinda Rajapakse said that the displaced people in the North will be resettled in their original homes soon after the mines were cleared in the respective areas to integrate them into the national development process. The Federal Appeals Court in San Francisco in US has ruled against an appeal to de-list the LTTE by the Humanitarian Law Project, which had challenged an executive order issued by the then US President George W. Bush in 2001, Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat website reported on August 25. Under the order, the LTTE remains listed as a terrorist organisation by the US.
August 26	A LTTE militant disguised as trooper committed suicide in Police custody on an unspecified date. Trooper Siddiqui with the voluntary armoured corp was cooking for the CDS General Sarath Fonseka since 2002 in Jaffna and was his main chef at his official residence in Colombo where he moved in 2004. According to the report he was a LTTE cadre given the job of ensuring access for LTTE suicide cadres to enter the Army headquarters and target Fonseka.
August 27	The Sri Lankan Supreme Court said that war-displaced persons in Government-run camps should be allowed to go if they are non-combatants and have a place to go. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress chief Rauf Hakeem, at a news conference in Colombo, charged that 70 Muslim families re-settled in Verugal in the East had been chased away while 450 Muslim persons in Musali in the North had not been allowed to get on with their livelihood. "The Government is carrying out showpieces just to show the world that it is re-settling the displaced people but the essential thing should be a proper programme of re-settlement," he said. The Government announced that it is making arrangements to re-settle at least another 50,000 IDPs now housed in relief camps at Vavuniya, in the next two weeks.
August 28	The Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, revealed that the Government has reliable information that the LTTE cadres have infiltrated the welfare camps in the North for the IDPs. The Supreme Court in Sri Lanka has ordered authorities to file charges or release the LTTE suspects in custody.
August 31	The JVP has reportedly opposed giving land, Police and finance powers to Provincial Councils. Intelligence sources have reportedly told the Defence Ministry that LTTE militants, including women cadres, masquerading as civilians are making an attempt to control civilians held at welfare camps in the Vavuniya region, especially the Manik camp, and have suggested that the internally displaced persons of the camp should be re-located to smaller camps. A survey conducted by the Government Agent (GA) of Vavuniya District has revealed that at least 10,000 refugees have escaped from the camps located there. Reports indicated that it was the LTTE that attempted to assassinate Bashir Wali Mohmand when he was Pakistan's High Commissioner in Sri Lanka three years ago. Interrogation of an arrested LTTE militant in recent weeks revealed that the outfit had set off the blast at Kolpitty junction in capital Colombo on August 14, 2006, and that Mohmand was not a deliberately chosen target, Police said. The LTTE's plan had been to attack any VVIP convoy taking that route at that time. The LTTE cadre came to know that the VVIP he had struck was the Pakistani envoy only after the blast, which killed seven Sri Lankan Security Force personnel. On return to Pakistan after completing his term, Mohmand, however, charged that India's external intelligence agency, RAW, was behind the attempt on his life in Colombo. In Sri Lanka, however, Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella had said that the Pakistani envoy was attacked because the LTTE was angry that Pakistan was arming the Sri Lankan Security Forces, when most other major powers, including India, had refused to sell arms to the island nation.
September 1	At least one child was killed and two more were wounded during an explosion in the Achchaweli area of Jaffna District. Jaffna Police said the three children found the explosive device while they were playing in the area. The JVP said there would be no free and fair election without the implementation of the 17th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution. Speaking at a function in Matara on September 1, JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said the Government should take action to implement the 17th amendment right now. He pointed out that the country needs an independent Elections Commissio and an independent Police Commission urgently as the presidential election will follow the upcoming Southern Provincial Council elections. The 17th Amendment requires establishment of independent commissions to administer the Police, Judiciary, Public Service and Elections. President Mahinda Rajapakse said he wants to achieve reconciliation with Tamil communities in the north and east since the civil war is over and the LTTE was defeated. "I don't want to just be the liberator, I want to be the leader who brings permanent peace and development to this country and reconciliation with Tamil communities in the North and the East," Rajapakse said in an interview with Forbes. "The war is over. Now we have no excuses. We have to start working and develop this country," he added.
September 3	A racket carried out in the IDPs camps in Vavuniya to help the LTTE militants still hiding there to escape using false NICs had come to light recently, Police sources said. These false NICs had been produced by some persons within the IDP camps with the help of several outsiders as well and had been sold at very high prices to yet to be detected LTTE militants in the IDPs camps. The Police source said that the racket came to light after the arrest of a suspect, identified as 46-year-old Subramanium Rachchandran, who had tried to escape following treatment at the Vavuniya hospital.
September 5	The SLA said that the report published by The Island on September 4 has no whatever proof or any other evidence to affirm any involvement of Japanese experts for clandestine LTTE operations, said to have occurred during and after the Tsunami disaster in 2004. The Army categorically denied having any knowledge on such Japanese involvement in the said report titled "Japanese experts helped LTTE launch submersibles". Neither the 58 Division has had found any evidence to ascertain launch of such submersibles with Japanese help, the SLA said.
September 7	The TNA stressing the importance of jointly working for the wellbeing of the country and it's people emphasised that they are ready to cooperate with the Government to restore peace and prosperity in the country. The TNA made this assurance following a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapakse held at Temple Tress. A media communique issued by the President's Media Unit stated that the Government has given its priority to re-settle the people displaced due to terrorism and expedite de-mining activities. President Rajapakse said, "The re-settlement activities will be completed very soon under the program implemented by the Government. This would provide an opportunity for the TNA and other political parties to engage in their political activities freely and democratically. The Government will not allow any room for the LTTE or any other terrorist organization to hold the people to ransom and take them in to a trap again."
September 8	A former employee of a Sri Lankan NGO has reportedly brought to the notice of the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse the alleged involvement of the group in smuggling LTTE operatives to Colombo over a period of time. According to him, the LTTE suspects held at welfare centres in the Vavuniya District, too, have reached Colombo with the help of the NGO.
September 10	The Ministry of Defence said that 30,000 people are expected to be resettled in newly cleared areas under the Uthuru Wasanthaya' (Northern Spring) 180-day development programme. The Parliament passed the State of Emergency for another month with a majority of 87 votes. The bill received 100 votes for it and 13 against it. For the first time, Sri Lanka's Marxist party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which supported the bill since August 2005, abstained from voting and walked out of the Parliament.
September 11	A Colombo Court released two LTTE leaders, former media spokesman Velayudan Dayanidhi alias Daya Master and interpreter Velayudan Kumaru Pancharatnam alias George Master, following several months of remand custody. The Government re-settled another group of IDPs in their own villages in the country's North and East. According to current statistics, the Government has resettled nearly 29,280 IDPs after the conclusion of war between Government forces and the LTTE.
September 12	Police raided an establishment in the Sea Street area of Colombo, said to be involved in sending escapees from the Vavuniya Welfare Centres abroad, and arrested six persons along with a number of forged passports, visas and other documents.
September 13	Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani is reported to have said that the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse, had told him in Libya recently, that elements in Sri Lanka were linked with terrorist events in Pakistan, including the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on March 3, 2009. The Sri Lankan Government is planning to re-settle as many of the remaining nearly 250000 war displaced as possible in the area west of the Jaffna-Kandy (A9) road before tackling resettlement in the Wanni east.
September 18	The New York-based LTTE leader Vishuanadan Rudrakumaran announced that the LTTE proposed Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (PTGTE) will function as an organization of the Tamil Diaspora. Rudrakumaran made this announcement in www.puthinam.com. The PTGTE will continue to lobby with Governments for the establishment of separate State in the North and East, the Website said. In the United States, United Kingdom and Canada where there are large communities of Sri Lankan Tamils and where the LTTE as well as some of its front organizations is banned as a terrorist organization, the PTGTE will function as a front of the old LTTE carrying on activities aimed at separatism in Sri Lanka. The PTGTE is a new front introduced after the killing of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, by Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, before he was arrested on August 6.
September 20	An engineer of a private ship owned by the arrested LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, who arrived through the Bandaranaike International Airport, was arrested by the State Intelligence Services. Sri Lanka in cooperation with the IOM will launch a US$ 23 million programme to rehabilitate former LTTE militants with the help from the international community. Sri Lankan authorities released another batch of over 5,000 IDPs from the welfare centres in Vavuniya in a ceremony held at the Vavuniya Urban Council. Arrangements are in place to resettle another 3,000 IDPs in 32 villages in Vavuniya in the next few days as de-mining looked completed in their resettlement areas, the Government announced.
September 22	A female LTTE cadre committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule, while being taken to the Police following her arrest at Ukkulamkulam in the Vavuniya District, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
September 23	The Minister of Export Development and International Trade, G.L. Peiris, at a press briefing in Colombo said that although the Sri Lankan Government is able to control all international activities of the LTTE, the outfit’s communication system is still functioning and continuing acts against the country. The Minister said the general public is always ready to support the Government in its war against terror but some political parties try to let down war heroes who crushed the LTTE terrorism in the country. "Pro-LTTE people still try to summon leaders of the humanitarian mission against the LTTE to the International Criminal Court," Peiris noted. Recently a proposal to bring war crime inquiries against Sri Lanka has been submitted to the United States Congress, the Minister informed.
September 24	The LTTE were reportedly set to get 10 new aircraft through an Eritrea-based arms smuggling network when the Government's military offensive reached its climax. According to Hindustan Times, the aircraft had been dismantled and were to be shipped to the north-eastern coast of Sri Lanka when the war reached a decisive stage. "The LTTE calculated that the war would stretch but it didn’t happen; the aircraft could not be delivered," the daily quoted an unnamed senior Sri Lankan military officer as saying. According to the army officer, the LTTE while waiting for the aircraft to arrive got the pilots trained from training schools in Malaysia and Indonesia. Trained instructors were also present in Sri Lanka. The Army has recovered pilot training simulator from the jungles of Mullaitivu. "At least a dozen pilots had been trained. Two among them have been arrested. The rest could be hiding among the internally displaced persons (in refugee camps)," the officer told the daily.
September 25	Four civilians who were collecting sand in the Mulli area of Jaffna District sustained injuries when a buried landmine exploded.
September 27	The Government has completed the profiles of over 10,000 former LTTE combatants who are now under Government custody in the welfare camps waiting to be either tried or rehabilitated. The authorities have prepared profiles for each suspected LTTE cadre with details including, personal information, nature of the involvement with the LTTE, education standard and the skills they would like to pursue. The former militants will face charges in a court if they had been involved in grave crimes such as murders and abductions. However, the Government is yet to finalize the legal procedures to process the arrested and surrendered militants. The militants who were either involved in minor crimes or forcibly recruited by the LTTE leadership in the later stage of the war and the militants who surrendered to the Security Forces will be rehabilitated to integrate them back in to the society, the authorities said.
September 28	At least 20,000 of the nearly 300,000 IDPs in the Vavuniya camps had escaped, said Senior SSP, Ranjith Kasturiratna, at the Kandy District coordinating committee meeting chaired by Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake. Kasturiratna said special Police teams from Kandy had been dispatched to the IDP camps in the North to conduct investigations. Police investigations had revealed that about 20,000 had escaped from the camps. They were believed to be LTTE cadres. The Norwegian Government helped the LTTE to establish relations with Eritrea in a move to procure arms, ammunition, and equipment from China using Eritrean end-user certificates and other documents needed to legally buy weapons, a media report said. The Government plans to set up a Special Tribunal to try over 10,000 LTTE suspects who have been involved in various crimes and has even sought help from the US and UK in dealing with the former rebels.
September 29	The EPRLF-Pathmanabha group, an anti LTTE Tamil political party, said that Tamil political parties should arrive at some consensus when it came to issues such as power devolution and the resettlement of displaced civilians. The EPRLF leader R. Sritharan said it was time for the Tamil political parties, including the TNA and the EPDP, to come under one umbrella while maintaining their individual identities. Authorities have sent a special prison representative to Anuradhapura prison to discuss with the LTTE detainees the issue of their hunger strike which is continuing for several days. Prison Commissioner General Major General V. R. Silva confirmed that 40 LTTE suspects, being held in Anuradhapura prison, are continuing with their hunger strike.
October 1	Balraj Naidu, who was a influential committee member of the Singapore Reform Party, has been arrested and produced in court for an extradition hearing over an alleged arms deal with the LTTE, Daily News reported. Naidu was arrested on a warrant and produced in courts, said Singapore Strait Times. The man was arrested at his home last week and brought to court on September 29 for a brief court appearance. The businessman is wanted by the United States (US) Government on two terrorism related charges. He is also wanted by the US for allegedly brokering arms deals with the LTTE. No formal charges have been laid against him so far.
October 2	An unidentified assailant killed two army soldiers who were on duty at Paranthakadathan in the Mannar District. Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police, Nimal Mediwaka, said the assailant had fired at a group of soldiers who were on duty in the area. Two of the soldiers had succumbed to their injuries following the attack and another one sustained injuries. The suspect, believed to be a member of an armed group in the area, is reported to have escaped after the incident.
October 3	Police arrested three Sinhala nationals who have allegedly supported former LTTE cadres to leave the country through sea routes illegally. Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Nimal Mediwaka said that the three suspects were arrested from a hotel at Vaikkala area in Negombo. These three suspects have reportedly supported former LTTE militants who fled the welfare camps in Vavuniya to leave for Australia by boats.
October 4	A political solution to the ethnic issue will not be found until a new Parliament is convened after a likely General Election in March 2010 as the President Mahinda Rajapakse Government expects a clear 2/3rd majority to pass a new Constitution based on the APRC proposals, the APRC chairman and Minister Tissa Vitarana said.
October 7	The Defence Ministry said that intelligence agencies are now searching for several high-profile LTTE front agents-cum-arms dealers. "The agencies have tracked the LTTE terrorist agents who are alleged to have links with many militia and terrorist organisations. These agents had worked clandestinely, based in foreign shores supporting and abetting LTTE's perpetrated crimes against humanity," said a report on the Defence Ministry Website. "According to reports, Sivarasa Pirundaban alias Achchudan alias Suresh, Ravi Shanker Kanagarajah alias Shangili, Bahitharan alias Bhavi, Narendran Rathnasabapathi alias Naren, Ganeshruban alias Ruban, Ponnaiah Anandarajah alias Aiyya alias Rajah alias Aiyyanna are alleged to be under intense scrutiny," said the Ministry.
October 9	Palitha Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, said that Sri Lanka had fallen victim to dangerous forms of maritime terrorism. Speaking at the UN general debate of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) on crime prevention, criminal justice and international drug control he stated that following the recent defeat of a terrorist group [LTTE], it had been discovered that their networks were being transferred to arms smuggling and drug trafficking on the international arena. He noted that terrorist groups with their transnational linkages and multi-faceted criminal networks generated a vast and complex mix of criminal activities, ranging from fund-raising, using overseas bases, terrorist financing, money laundering, arms procurement and other organized criminal activities, all of which were interrelated.
October 10	At a meeting with a visiting delegation of Indian Parliamentarians from the southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu at India House in Colombo, the TNA alleged that the Sri Lankan Government wants to change Wanni's demography by settling at least 30 percent Sinhalese in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts. The TNA delegation also charged that Buddhist stupas are being built in Wanni with an intention to change the predominantly Tamil region's culture and ethnicity.
October 12	22 suspected LTTE cadres went on trial on October 12 for running an extortion racket among ethnic Tamil Diaspora in Paris (France) to fund their separatist struggle in Sri Lanka.
October 13	Sri Lanka will hold Presidential and General elections before April 2010, the Government said adding that a declaration in this regard will be made at the session of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party on November 15. The Media Minister, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, made the announcement at a press conference in capital Colombo confirming that President Mahinda Rajapakse would seek re-election before his term expires in 2011. A re-election bid after completing four years of his term is in line with Sri Lanka's Constitution. According to the Constitution, the President, at any time after the expiration of four years from the commencement of his first term of office, can declare his intention of a re-election, for another term. President Rajapakse will be completing four years of his presidency on November 19, 2009. He was elected as the fifth President of the country in 2005 for a six-year term that is to end in 2011.
October 16	Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse revealed that the Government has made arrangements with the assistance of its ambassadors to obtain the assets accumulated by the LTTE to Sri Lanka. He said the people should be vigilant since separatist forces are still active though terrorism has been defeated fully in the country. "Separatist forces who could not achieve their objectives through the LTTE have not stopped their attempts although terrorism has been fully defeated in the country," he added.
October 16-17	A US-based hedge-fund billionaire charged as part of an insider-trading case was investigated by US authorities for allegedly raising funds for the LTTE, The Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper said federal agents had uncovered documents showing that Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, was among several wealthy Sri Lankans in the US whose donations to a Maryland-based charity made their way to the LTTE. Rajaratnam, 52, was among six people arrested on October 16. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said this is the largest-ever hedge-fund insider-trading case, the paper noted. Prosecutors allege Rajaratnam and his ring of alleged co-conspirators earned US$ 20 million in improper gains, the report said. Rajaratnam’s New York-based Galleon fund firm manages $ 3.7 billion in investments. As part of a separate terrorism probe, which was led by the FBI in Brooklyn, New York, eight other people have pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to the LTTE, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Wall Street Journal stated. Documents in a federal criminal complaint filed in US District Court in New York’s Eastern District include allegations by federal agents that money donated to a US charity called TRO USA, of Cumberland, Maryland, was funnelled to the LTTE, the paper noted. The case was brought against Karunakaran Kandasamy, described by prosecutors as the head of the US branch of the LTTE, the paper said. In the same case, an FBI agent cites documents uncovered in court-authorized searches as showing donations to TRO USA made by a person identified only as "individual B."
October 18	President Mahinda Rajapakse said Sri Lanka is still threatened by separatist forces five months after the defeat of the LTTE. He stressed that the Sri Lankans will defeat separatists and "build a new country", adding, "We shall not fear to take the necessary decisions in the face of dangers we may face."
October 19	A civilian was injured in an APM explosion in the Puresanthivu area of Jaffna District.
October 20	Under the Government's process of re-establishing peace and harmony in the country, 45 new police stations have been established in Northern and Eastern provinces after the two provinces were liberated from the LTTE, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jayantha Wickramarathna said. He said new police stations will be set up to cover the entire two provinces within the next few months. According to the IGP, the police department has established 37 new police stations in the East and eight stations in the North after the regions were liberated from the LTTE. Another four police stations are to be established in Kilinochchi District, he added.
October 22	The resettlement of the largest number of IDPs of the North took place with 41,685 IDPs resettled in 108 Grama Niladhari (village-level office) Divisions of Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi Districts. Senior Presidential Advisor and Member of Parliament (MP), Basil Rajapakse, said though Sri Lanka is a small country, they have been able to resettle a large number of IDPs in a short time though some countries were still not able to resettle displaced persons for years.
October 26	The Government has made remarkable progress in resettling the people displaced by the war between Government forces and the LTTE, the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe said. Addressing a media briefing in Colombo at the Presidential Secretariat, Minister Samarasinghe said the number of IDPs has been reduced from 288,000 to 196,088. The IDPs have been resettled in their original homes in a secure environment with all the assistance given to restore their livelihood, the Minister said. However, the IDPs have been given a choice of a location to resettle and they are not forced to choose the location, the Minister added. The resettlement was due to the successful de-mining process, said the Minister adding that the Government has purchased 24 de-mining machines and 1,000 trained soldiers are assisting the de-mining operations. In coming weeks more IDPs will be resettled as the de-mining process continues the Minister told reporters.
October 27	Around 300 senior LTTE cadres have been arrested by the Security Forces in September 2009 following information gathered by the Army Intelligence Unit. These cadres were detained while being housed in certain welfare villages, including Menik Farm in Vavuniya, mingling with ordinary civilians who had escaped the then LTTE-held area from North, Army sources said.
October 28	An indictment has been filed before the Colombo High Court against four suspects, including a Sri Lanka Customs' Additional Director and a Wharf Executive, for aiding and abetting two persons to provide a GPS unit to the LTTE on July 30, 2007, according to Daily News. The Attorney General filed indictment against the Sri Lanka Customs Additional Director Indra Sarath Balasooriya and Wharf Executive Rajendran Yogarajah for aiding and abetting Roy Manoj Kumar Samadanam and his wife Ridma Roshani Selamban to provide a GPS unit to the LTTE. According to the statement made by Samadanam, a Sri Lankan expatriate in Canada when he came to Sri Lanka he was introduced to the LTTE by a friend. Then he was asked by the LTTE to help them to bring telecommunication equipment from Singapore and Malaysia. He further stated that later Muhundan and Sinawan in Singapore sent goods from Singapore. He got them released and sent them to the LTTE. The indictment includes productions of three boxes, four radar sets, four radar antennas, 150 VHF mobile phones.
October 29	The Government hopes to resettle majority of the war displaced Tamils by January 2010, assured the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, amidst rising pressure from the US and other western nations to send the Tamils home. "The Government has consistently maintained that Internally Displaced Persons will be screened and released in a structured and well managed manner," he Minister said. "We are hopeful of achieving our target of resettling a majority of IDPs by 31 January next year," he added. The Resettlement and Disaster Relief Minister, Rishad Bathiudeen, said of the total number of IDPs in the north numbering 2.85 lakh, nearly one lakh people have been sent back home. He also said one of main constraints in resettling the IDPs in their hometowns or villages was the time taken to clear the landmines in those areas.
November 1	The Government is seeking access to a group of Sri Lankan Tamils detained in Canada following intelligence reports that some of them are LTTE cadres. The suspected LTTE cadres, including some of those believed to be involved in the group's clandestine shipping operations, were arrested recently while approaching the Canadian coast in a LTTE-operated ship. An unnamed senior Government spokesman told The Sunday Island that representations had been made to the Canadian High Commission in Colombo in this regard. He said that the Sri Lankan mission in Canada, too, called for access to the detainees as this would help Sri Lankan intelligence services to track down remaining LTTE operatives based abroad. An intelligence official said the Canadians have been fully briefed of the presence of LTTE cadres on board the seized vessel.
November 4	A Singaporean opposition party member will be extradited to the United States (US) and tried for allegedly trying to supply arms to the LTTE, officials in Singapore said. The defeat of the LTTE had ended the insurgency but they remained a terrorist group that "could potentially have a significant impact on Canada," said the RCMP Commissioner William Elliott. The Cambodian-registered Ocean Lady arrived in Canadian waters on October 17 and the Canadian Police and its immigration officials have been investigating the identities and backgrounds of its human cargo. Chinese arms consignments for the LTTE had been moved overland to North Korea across the China-North Korea border before being transferred to the outfit’s ‘floating’ warehouses on the high seas close to Indonesia, for about a decade, The Island reported. Sources also said that Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP had established the Chinese-North Korean route though the slain LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran replaced him with another person subsequently identified as ‘Castro’. The Japanese Government, too, investigated the North Korean link. Japanese investigators had visited Colombo and met with senior Defence Ministry and intelligence services officials in connection with their investigation, sources said. Sources further said that the LTTE had obtained a considerable amount of weapons of East European origin, too, and smuggled them to north-eastern Sri Lanka. A high profile US investigation had revealed that the LTTE had capacity to carry out mid-sea transfer about 200 nautical miles off Sri Lanka. Top LTTE representatives, including foreign nationals, who had negotiated with undercover US agents posing off as arms agents said that what they paid for, should be delivered to LTTE ships about 200 nautical miles off Sri Lanka. Millions worth of arms, ammunition and equipment captured by Sri Lanka consisted mainly of Chinese weapons, including a range of artillery pieces, sources added. The Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Rishard Bathiudeen announced that the resettlement of 50 percent of the IDPs who were in the welfare villages in the Northern Province to their former homes was a major success for the Government. The number of IDPs had now been reduced to 150,000 from the original total of 280,000.
November 5	Rajeeva Wijesingha, secretary in the ministry of disaster management and human rights, said that the LTTE may have had links with the CPI-Maoist in India. Lawyers for the Federal Government in Canada revealed that at least two of the 76 men who came to Canada illegally on October 17 are cadres of the LTTE. President Mahinda Rajapakse said that the LTTE deprived the freedom of Muslim community who co-exist peacefully with other communities in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar Districts.
November 6	The Prime Minister (PM) Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka told the Parliament that the SFs had been able to remove land-mines in an area extending to four million square metres in the Northern Province (NP). The Government reiterated its commitment to complete the ongoing resettlement of the conflict-displaced civilians in the North by the end of January 2010. According to the Government has already resettled 119,687 IDPs in their own villages during the last few months. The exact figure of internally displaced persons to be resettled now is 143,534. Minister Samarasinghe stressed that they will complete this resettlement process on or before the 31st of January 2010. Andrej Mahecic, spokesman for the office of the UNHCR said that the resettlement of IDPs is continuing at a rapid pace and about a third of those displaced during the conflict in Sri Lanka have returned home over the past three months. "Some 90,000 internally displaced people have returned to their villages in Sri Lanka’s north and east over the past three months, under the ongoing return plan of the Sri Lankan government," he informed, adding, these include 39,000 people who have headed home in the last two weeks "as part of the government’s efforts to accelerate the process".
November 8	Sri Lanka Government snubbed moves by the LTTE remnants to hold a ‘poll’ in April 2010 to elect members to its so-called transitional Government, saying this was another futile attempt to revive the terror organisation. The Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Sunday Observer that their (LTTE) declared Government-in-exile was a myth and so is the move to hold a poll as announced on November 5 by the US based LTTE proxy Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran. Earlier, Rudrakumaran said the poll will be conducted among the Diaspora community to elect members for what they called the Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (PTGTE).
November 9	The LTTE’s Eastern Province leader Ram, who had escaped from the Army, was re-arrested. The LTTE in a press statement issued welcomed all the current democratic moves in the Diaspora, such as referendum on Vaddukkoaddai Resolution, Country Councils and Transnational Government and said that even if one of the efforts is at shortfall, it will affect all the others. "These are democratic efforts for which people have taken over the leadership to gain their political aspirations and while welcoming them the LTTE requests that they should be accomplished with full participation of people," said the statement addressed LTTE headquarters. "It is now a historical duty of all Tamils to firmly tell the whole world that what they desire is independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam and they have their homeland, nationalism and the right to self-determination to claim it," the statement further said.
November 10	The Government has taken measures to expand facilities at existing rehabilitation centres and set up another seven centres to speed up the rehabilitation process, Government sources said. 14 rehabilitation centres are in operation currently and with the new additions the number will increase to 21. According to the Government, 11,000 child soldiers of the LTTE are under the protection of the troops. The ex-combatants receive education and vocational training at the rehabilitation centres. Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda visited the rehabilitation centre at Thampamaduwa in Vavuniya and said the Government intends to make the former combatants skilled professionals in various fields and utilize their support for the development of the country.
November 12	Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Sarath Fonseka, who as Army Chief led the war against the LTTE, sent in his resignation letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse, possibly to join politics. Sources in the Presidential Secretariat said Rajapakse would accept the resignation with effect from December 1.
November 14	Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse said in capital Colombo that it was important to develop good relations with India to defeat the LTTE politically in the international arena and prevent its recrudescence. He said that though the LTTE had been defeated militarily, it was politically active overseas. Some military cadres who had escaped were also active, he added. "Their vast international networks of sympathisers and criminal associates who funded and facilitated their separatist ambitions are still operating outside Lanka," Gotabaya said. In this context, it was important to develop ties with other countries, especially India, he said. "The relationship developed over the past four years with our closest ally, India, helped us in our war against terrorism. Having their support helped reduce the pressure by other nations, allowing us to proceed with our humanitarian operations. It is important that we strengthen this relationship further in the years to come," Rajapakse further said.
November 16	The Sri Lanka Government released 20 LTTE suspects who had been arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The Prison Commissioner General, Major General V. R. De Silva, told the media that 20 LTTE suspects have been released on the advice of the Attorney General's Department after dismissing their cases due to lack of evidence. This was the second occasion that the Government has released LTTE suspects due to a lack of evidence. The Government released another group of 26 LTTE suspects in October 2009. According to the prison chief, nearly 600 LTTE suspects are still in custody, The two LTTE cadres who were arrested by Police in Vavuniya were found to have links with the abduction of a youth and demanding SLR .500000 as ransom, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), I. M. Karunaratne said. A 17-year old was abducted by unidentified suspects in Vavuniya on September 21 and the abductors demanded SLR 500000 ransom from the family. "It was reported that the family members have paid Rs. 100,000 as an initial payment to the abductors. The suspects have spent all the money", the SSP added. As reported earlier, Police arrested two LTTE suspects in Vavuniya on November 11.
November 18	Ensuring the free movement of civilians from North to South, the Government announced that security clearance is no longer a requirement for Jaffna civilians to reach Colombo via land routes.
November 20	The new LTTE leadership’s plan to form a PTGTE came a cropper when about 90 percent of the Tamil Diaspora members showed their contempt by abstaining from voting for the proposed outfit. Nediyavan, who succeeded Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP as the new LTTE leader, was in for total disappointment when Tamils in Norway rejected his leadership on November 15. The Norway based LTTE leader decided to hold the first phase of PTGTE election in Norway itself hoping for a resounding victory to force Oslo to recognise the separatist outfit. But only 2,667 out of a total of 27,000 Tamils in Norway voted. The LTTE candidate lost and Vijaya Shankar, an Indian Tamil from Chennai - capital of southern Indian State of Tamil nadu - came first with 1,864 votes. The Police uncovered a fresh plot by the Tamil Diaspora to carry out a massive bomb attack in the capital city of Colombo. The recent arrest of Ananda Varnan, a top LTTE militant, in Vavuniya by a special Police team has revealed the planned attack. The Police had also recovered a powerful bomb which was to be used in the attack, a senior Police official told The Island, adding, that Varnan had received SLR 30,000 from his masters based in Malaysia to carry out the operation. According to him, the Police had swooped down on the suspect after receiving information regarding a person looking for several detonators. Under interrogation, the suspect had led investigators to a seven kilograms claymore mine and a remote controller in an LTTE hideout. The Police said that the suspect had planned to trigger a claymore attack in the city in the next few days. The suspect had admitted that he had obtained the remote controller from a shop in Vavuniya. The suspect had escaped from an internally displaced person (IDP) facility in the Vavuniya area after he was brought to the Vavuniya Hospital to receive medical treatment. Investigators said that Varnan had been involved in a series of bomb attacks in the city and its suburbs over a period of time.
November 23	President Mahinda Rajapakse ordered a fresh Presidential election, possibly in the second half of January 2010, two years ahead of his tenure. "President Mahinda Rajapakse proclaimed that he will seek a fresh mandate as per constitutional provision and this has been duly gazetted (Gazette Notification No. 1629/8/20091123)," Secretary to the President told www.news.lk after midnight on November 23. Under the Constitution, the President can call a Presidential election once the incumbent completes four years of the six-year term. A court in France sentenced 20 out of 21 LTTE militants who were accused of extorting millions of Euros from the Tamil community in France to prison terms, reports Colombo Page. An AFP report said the leader of the group Nadaraja Matinthiran has been sentenced to seven years in prison for extorting USD 7.4 million (5 million Euros) as taxes from the Tamil community living in Paris and other surrounding areas to finance the LTTE terrorist activities in Sri Lanka. The other 19 defendants were sentenced to six year or less while one was acquitted. The court also ordered that the Coordinating Committee of Tamils-France be dismantled after ruling that it was a front for the LTTE, AFP reported. According to the report most of the suspects were arrested in April 2007 and charged with criminal conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, financing of terrorism or racketeering to finance terrorism. French prosecutors said the Tigers imposed a "revolutionary tax" on the Tamil immigrants to France most of whom were political refugees living in Paris and neighbouring areas.
November 23	A court in France sentenced 20 out of 21 LTTE militants who were accused of extorting millions of Euros from the Tamil community in France to prison terms, reports Colombo Page. An AFP report said the leader of the group Nadaraja Matinthiran has been sentenced to seven years in prison for extorting USD 7.4 million (5 million Euros) as taxes from the Tamil community living in Paris and other surrounding areas to finance the LTTE terrorist activities in Sri Lanka. The other 19 defendants were sentenced to six year or less while one was acquitted. The court also ordered that the Coordinating Committee of Tamils-France be dismantled after ruling that it was a front for the LTTE. According to the report most of the suspects were arrested in April 2007 and charged with criminal conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, financing of terrorism or racketeering to finance terrorism. French prosecutors said the Tigers imposed a "revolutionary tax" on the Tamil immigrants to France most of whom were political refugees living in Paris and neighbouring areas. A Jane's Intelligence Review report in August 2007 said the LTTE's profit margin was some USD 200 to 300 million per year.
November 25	The Canadian officials have found more traces of explosives on Princess Easwary which brought 76 Sri Lankan Tamils to Canada in October, Canada Border Services Agency revealed. The traces of RDX, which is used to make plastic explosives, especially for military has been found in three separate compartments of the ship, sources further added. Residues of another two types of explosives have also been discovered on clothing of two migrants and they have been taken in to the custody by Canadian immigration officials. The Canadian terrorist experts have alleged that at least two of them belong to the LTTE. According to the Sri Lanka's Defense Ministry sources the Princess Easwary belongs to Ravi Shankar Kanagarajah alias Shangili, a most wanted transnational terrorist cum kingpin of overseas based human trafficking and illegal arms smuggling activist. The ship is an LTTE floating warehouse extensively used in human smuggling and gunrunning activities, the report added.
November 26	The Government said that all the displaced civilians from Jaffna who were in the camps have returned to their original homes and there will be no more Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Jaffna in the Manik farm welfare village in Vavuniya. According to the Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees a total of 59,475 IDPs have been removed from welfare centers in Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee (Pulmoddai) for their resettlement in Jaffna. "As a result the number of IDPs in Vavuniya District had come down to 121,617 as at 25 November," the Secretary to the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlement, U.L.M. Haldeen said. The Ministry Secretary said all the displaced from Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara have been completely resettled now and they are returning to normalcy with their lives. The Government has taken measures to allow the remaining IDPs more freedom of movement from December 1, and the welfare villages would be open villages, Haldeen noted.
November 27	A senior Police officer said that around 350 LTTE cadres, who had taken refuge among ordinary IDPs in camps, have been arrested by the Police, among which were around 50 female cadres. He said that among those arrested were those who had been trained in handling explosives, guerrilla warfare and in handling heavy weapons. In order to detain terror suspects, a special camp has been set up at Pampemadu in Vavuniya District to accommodate the increased numbers, the security sources said. The Presidential Election will be held on January 26, 2010, announced Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake. Nominations will be accepted from 9.00am (SLST) to 11.00am on December 17. This will be the country’s fifth Presidential poll to elect the sixth Executive President. The 2008 electoral register will be used for the election with a total number of 14,088,500 persons eligible to vote. President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is the incumbent in office, decided to go for a Presidential election though his term of office expires only two years later in November 2011.
December 1	The Government of Sri Lanka seized three LTTE ships overseas and is in the process of bringing them to the country, a news report revealed. The ships are expected to arrive in Colombo soon, The Island said in a report on December 2. All information with regard to the ships had been disclosed to the SFs by the recently arrested LTTE's chief arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP. Interpol has helped the SFs to act on information provided by KP, sources said. The ships were known to have been utilized for transportation of arms, ammunition, and human smuggling in the past by the overseas LTTE outfit. Sri Lanka Navy has taken charge of the three vessels and they are expected to reach Sri Lankan waters under tight security during the next couple of weeks, the report said, quoting highly placed Government officials. Sources have refused to divulge further information. Information about local contacts of the LTTE, provided by KP, was being verified, sources added. The seizure is considered as the first step in the Government's endeavour to confiscate LTTE's overseas assets. Sri Lanka Navy managed to destroy 10 LTTE vessels during war time which had been engaged in arms smuggling.
December 2	The Government will take over all the LTTE property and assets in the possession of individuals and groups in Sri Lanka and abroad. The LTTE has 14 ships, five of them belonging to the self-appointed LTTE chief Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP now in custody. Addressing the media at the Media Centre for National Security, Defence Affairs spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the Government Intelligence has identified properties of the LTTE in various parts of the world. Action has been taken to confiscate these LTTE properties held by individuals and groups. "The Government has sought the Attorney General’s advice to take action to take ownership of the LTTE properties," he added. It is known that the LTTE possesses 14 ships and five of them belonged to KP. The Government had taken steps to bring three ships belonging to KP. "More than 600 accounts of KP were frozen by the Government and it is in the process of probing LTTE financing channels," the Minister added.
December 4	Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said that a total of 169,938 IDPs have been resettled in their native places within a short period providing them along with the provision of health, shelter, sanitary, education co-operative, water, electricity and other facilities in their villages, reports Daily News. "As a result of the speedy resettlement program the number of IDPs in welfare villages has come down to 112,062 from 282,000," the Minister told a media briefing on December 4. Most probably by December 31 the Government will resettle a large number of IDPs out of the remaining or else complete resettlement activities, Minister Samarasinghe added. At present 105,664 IDPs are in Vavuniya, 1,738 IDPs in Jaffna, 2, 298 IDPs in Trincomalee. Approximately 2,360 IDPs are receiving treatment in several hospitals. A total number of 112,062 IDPs are yet to be resettled.
December 6	A Marxist group of Tamil militants with connections to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and Cuba is preparing to mount a new insurgency in Sri Lanka. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was founded in eastern Sri Lanka in August and has vowed to launch attacks against Government and military targets unless its demands for a separate Tamil homeland are met. "This war isn’t over yet," Commander Kones, head of the PLA’s Eastern District military command, told The Times during a night meeting in a safe house in the east of the country last week. "There has been no solution for Tamils since the destruction of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] in May. So we have built and organised the PLA and are ready to act soon. Our aim is a democratic socialist liberation of the northeast for a Tamil Eelam [the desired Tamil state]." Kones said that he had no intention of trying to emulate the LTTE’s style of warfare, but suggested a more asymmetric strategy involving attacks by widely dispersed PLA cells. However, he added that his targets would include economic and administrative centres, as well as military forces. Other PLA insiders said that one of their likely first fights would be with groups of former LTTE cadres led by ‘Colonel’ Karuna [Karuna split from the LTTE ranks in 2004 and later joined the Government, but still holds influence in eastern Sri Lanka.] "We are getting stronger by the day, much stronger than any other group," Kones said, adding, "The day of action is close."
December 7	The Palestinian Ambassador in Sri Lanka, Anwar Al- Agha, denied reports that a link exists between the People’s Liberation Organization (PLO) in Palestine and a new Tamil armed group called the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the East of Sri Lanka, according to Daily Mirror. Agha said that he was not even aware of the existence of such a group, and that it is not possible for such ties to exist. His observations follow a report which appeared in The Times hinting that an organization called the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in the East of Sri Lanka had the support of the well known PLO, who are active in Palestine, as well as another country. "We have had strong ties with the legitimate Government of Sri Lanka and have supported the Government in defeating terrorism and still support the Government in their efforts," he emphasized. Sri Lanka Government spokesman for National Security and Defence Minister Keheliya Rambukwella speaking to Daily Mirror said that the country was on a reconciliation course and as such it was likely that groups of this nature would exist and added that the matter would be dealt with "politically and administratively". Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara stated that a matter of this nature needed to be backed by substantial evidence.
December 8	Sri Lanka Parliament extended State of Emergency for another month with a majority of 74 votes. The Sri Lanka Navy brought three LTTE ships to the Sri Lankan waters. Sources told The Island that the Government had taken custody of the vessels following negotiations with foreign officials subsequent to information provided by the new LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanthan alias KP, who had been in charge of the LTTE arms procurement network. The TNA said that a political solution based on federalism was foremost among their conditions for supporting either of the two main candidates at the presidential election. The TNA leader R. Sampanthan has already held negotiations with President Mahinda Rajapakse and General Sarath Fonseka, but the party has not yet to decided on its final stand. Besides, the party, which has 22 Member of Parliaments (MPs) , has also asked for the speedy resettlement of the displaced civilians, the scaling down of troops stationed in the Jaffna peninsula, the removal of High Security Zones and the withdrawal of plans to set up military camps in the Wanni area. Suresh Premachandran, the party’s MP for the Jaffna District told Daily Mirror that his party was awaiting responses from the two main presidential hopefuls on their stands regarding a political solution to the ‘Tamil national question’. Premachandran said that neither of them appeared to be clear about his position in this respect. "Troops continue to occupy certain public places in Jaffna and some hotels. They have to be removed immediately so that the people can live normal lives. We do not mind these troops being there if they are confined to barracks. Demilitarisation should take place in the post war era. Today, we see the IDPs being resettled in an ad hoc manner. The government does not have a proper road map for the resettlement," he added. Asked for his comments on the progress of the negotiations between the TNA and the main presidential candidates, Premachandran said that there had been some positive responses.
December 9	Authoritative sources said that the three ships were believed to be among the LTTE fleet that was targeted by the SLN during September 2006 – October 2007 period. The SLN destroyed eight vessels in four separate operations on the high seas. The Government said that most of the people associated with the LTTE now held in detention will be released, ABC News reported on December 9. The secretary of the Ministry for Disaster Management and Human Rights, Rajiva Wijesinha, said of the 11,000 LTTE cadres, only 200 are being charged, adding, the rest are in rehabilitation for eventual return to society. "The vast majority we believe, even if they were involved in actual combat, were more people who were conscripted and forced to do so," he added. "And then there are girls who I think were just forced into a rather horrid life for a few months. I think that in the long run we believe very much that what you would call real hardcore Tigers are extremely few," he further added, saying, most of the LTTE cadres handed themselves in. The Government said the process of returning people displaced by the conflict to their homes is well under way and will be completed by the end of January 2010. It also claimed the 130,000 people remaining in refugee camps enjoy complete freedom of movement and can leave at any time.
December 11	Authorities in Thailand arrested five people, including a LTTE cadre, for producing and smuggling more than 300 fake EU passports and other official European documents, officials said. They said Police seized from the group more than 300 bogus passports, produced in Thailand but made to look like official documentation from 14 EU countries including Britain, France and Belgium. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said the suspects, all arrested since August 21, were 32-year-old Pakistani man Azad Said Giyani and a 35-year-old Sri Lankan man, known to be a LTTE cadre. A 43-year-old Thai woman was arrested for assisting them. A 38-year-old man from Myanmar was arrested on suspicion of producing the passports and a 28-year-old Thai woman is also being held for helping him. In a statement the DSI said Thai authorities had also picked up a British national, Ahoor Rambarak Fathi, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on September 27, 2009, carrying 104 stolen genuine passports. Fathi, travelling under fake Swedish documents, had passports from Britain, Spain, France, Sweden and Russia, that had been smuggled into Thailand. "He (Fathi) confessed that he had trafficked stolen passports into Thailand more than 20 times," the statement said. The DSI said Thailand is a known hub for the trafficking of fake and stolen passports.
December 12	The leader of PLOTE said in a press meet held in the PLOTE office in Jaffna, "We are not preparing ourselves to launch another armed struggle. The accusations that we had abducted minors from Vavuniya camps are baseless." He further said that after the talks held with President Mahinda Rajapakse his party has decided to support him in the forthcoming presidential election, sources in Jaffna said.
December 13	31,148 eligible Eezham Tamil Diaspora voters over 18 in France participated this weekend in the referendum to say yes or no to independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam and 30,936 of them said yes, reports LTTE Website Tamil Net. The postal votes permitted to interior areas of France are yet to be counted and is expected to be between 2,000 and 3,000. In the absence of any official statistics, Police estimates earlier placed the number of adult Eezham Tamils in France between 25,000 and 35,000. The referendum was organised by the formation committee of the country council of Eezham Tamils called "The House of Tamil Eelam," supported by 61 Eezham Tamil organisations in France and two NGOs, Mouvement de la Paix (Movement for Peace) and Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amitié entre les peuples (Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples). Financial Times, on a follow-up article to October coverage on young Tamils, said that while the western crackdown on the LTTE’s financiers among the Diaspora, has created despondency among this often wealthy migrant community, the "clued-up second-generation migrants were turning to political lobbying," and that, "these young activists said the fight for Eelam, an independent Tamil homeland, was far from over." The CID arrested the Finance Division head of the TRO, a LTTE front organization, in Jaffna. He was arrested by a special team of officers in Chunnakam where he lived with his wife. Prior to his arrest he had lived in a welfare camp in Vavuniya for a few months and moved to Chunnakam a few weeks ago claiming his wife was pregnant. She had worked as a Samurdhi animator in Kilinochchi. The suspect has admitted to his interrogators that he transferred millions of rupees to the LTTE accounts from the TRO funds. He is alleged to have provided millions of rupees to the terrorist organization for its war effort. Investigations have revealed that he provided TRO funds to slain LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, its Political Head S. Thamilselvan, Bhanu and several key members. Military intelligence had earlier said there were at least 10,000 LTTE combatants and activists in the IDP centres. They had crossed over to the army held terrain during the final stages of the war on terror. Among them were family members of top LTTE leaders, including Prabhakaran’s mother and father.
December 14	A parliamentarian from the TNA is to contest the presidential polls to be held in January 2010. The Election Secretariat sources said TNA Jaffna parliamentarian M. K. Sivajilingam paid his deposit to contest the polls as an independent candidate. Sivajilingam earlier said that he will contest as an independent candidate if the TNA does not a field a presidential candidate. The Jaffna Member of Parliament opposes both candidates, incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse and the former Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka. The TNA, however, was divided on its decision whether to support the two main candidates, or to field a contender from the party. Sivajilingam a leading member of the TELO, was an ardent supporter of the vanquished terrorist outfit of LTTE. During the height of the war, he was in Chennai (India), after taking leave of absence from the Sri Lanka Parliament in October 2008.
December 18	Sri Lanka Transport Board recommenced the commuter transportation between Kandy and Jaffna after a lapse of 26 years, Colombo Page reported. The first bus bound for Jaffna after the A-9 highway was opened left the Kandy bus stand at 3am (SLST), the Chief Minister of the Central Province Sarath Ekanayaka said. The commuter service between the two cities had been suspended for 26 years due to the LTTE terrorism in the North. Early reservations of seats in the Kandy-Jaffna buses are available for the commuters.
December 19	99.82 percent of 48,583 voters mandated independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the poll conducted in 31 centres across Canada.
December 21	Princess Chrisanta, a cargo vessel formerly belonging to the LTTE was acquired by the Navy. It was held in a foreign country and was acquired through information gained through the state intelligence service, on a directive by President Mahinda Rajapakse and Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse. The vessel was escorted into the Colombo harbor on December 21. It was brought to the harbor by Navy tug boats Nandimitra and Vijayabahu. Six Navy personnel, led by former Media Secretary to the Navy, K.P.K. Dassanayake took part in the exercise. It is believed that the vessel was to be used to aid the escape of LTTE leaders following heavy losses in the war. It has the capacity to carry one light helicopter. This is the largest of the eight LTTE vessels discovered or acquired by the Navy so far. The vessel, 90 meters in length and 16 meters in depth has an enormous cargo capacity of 5,000 metric tons. The vessel which is now a property of the Sri Lankan Navy will be used in the future by the Navy as well as in the country’s development process. It is currently fully operational, needing only a few minor adjustments. Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe emphasized that the LTTE had a strong international shipping network and received much support from foreign countries. However following the battle over terrorism, an increasing number of countries have decided to join forces with Sri Lanka and this situation would continue in the future, he said. The interview given by Sarath Fonseka to the Sunday Leader on December 13, 2009 wherein he alleges that three LTTE leaders who came to surrender with white flags during the final stages of the battle were shot dead by ground troops has opened an United Nations (UN) probe into possible war crimes charges against the Heroic Forces. The UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse has demanded an explanation regarding the allegations made by Fonseka that the Defense Secretary has instructed the Commander of the 58th Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army to shoot those surrendering. The UN is inquiring particularly "the circumstances of the death of three representatives of the LTTE Balasingham Nadeshan, Seevaratnam Pulidevan and Ramesh, as well as members of their families, in the night of 17 to 18 May, 2009." In his letter, Alston says that the information that he has received are based on the allegations made by Sarath Fonseka in the above mentioned interview. He also says "accounts of journalists embedded with the SLA 58th Brigade confirm some of the alleged circumstances of the deaths of Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh and their families." Referring to "fundamental legal rules applicable to all armed conflicts under international humanitarian law and human rights law", particularly Article 5 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Special Rapporteur has inquired about the accuracy of the allegations and demanded information and documentary proof in the event that the accusations are inaccurate. The letter also seeks information on the family members of Nadeshan, Pulidevan and Ramesh. The Presidential Secretariat in a release said the Government is making a careful study of the UN Rapporteur’s letter, prior to a formal response, and any action that may be necessary. The Presidential Secretariat in a release said the Government is making a careful study of the UN Rapporteur’s letter, prior to a formal response, and any action that may be necessary. Three Sri Lankan Tamils in Melbourne in Australia are to plead guilty to charges of providing money to the LTTE. Aruran Vinayagamoorthy, 35, Sivarajah Yathavan, 38, and Arumugam Rajeevan, 43, of New South Walse, are to plead guilty to a single charge of providing money to the LTTE, their lawyers informed the Australian Supreme Court on December 21. The Sri Lankan Government said that it has identified up to three former LTTE militants seeking asylum in Australia on a boat intercepted after a personal request from Kevin Rudd to Indonesia's President. In October, a boat carrying 255 Tamil asylum-seekers to Australia was stopped by the Indonesian navy.
December 23-24	The authority at Poonthotam detention camps in Vavuniya, Major Weerasekera, on December 23 said that more than 35 former LTTE cadres detained in the camp were to be released on December 24. They told the reporters in Poonthotam that there are 209 detainees and 35 among them will be released on December 24.Some of the detainees who are in the camp have been with the LTTE for just three days while others have been for few months. However in other rehabilitation camps there are former LTTE combatants who have been with the LTTE for even for 24 years. Some of them have been ‘lieutenant colonels’ of the LTTE, according to the army. The detainees whom the journalists visited on December 23 are trained vocational activities such as beauty culture, tailoring, Masonry and sewing.
December 25	A Singapore opposition party member has been extradited to the US where he stands accused of trying to supply arms to the LTTE. Balldev Naidu, 47, a businessman and co-founder of the Reform Party, was extradited on December 18, the Straits Times newspaper said quoting the Home Affairs Ministry. A LTTE vessel recently seized and brought to Colombo by the Sri Lanka Navy had been among five ships acquired by the group during the Eelam War IV though they could not be used at least once to smuggle in weapons.
December 27	The Government is planning to close down Menik Farm welfare camp in Vavuniya as soon as possible, Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said, adding, that all IDPs in the Northern region will be back in their homes by January 31. "We are working hard to resettle all the IDPs by January 31 to meet our 180- day deadline. At the moment, there are only about 80,000 IDPs in welfare camps," he added. Speaking to The Nation, Minister Samarasinghe said about 120,000 IDPs had availed themselves of the freedom of movement by December 17. Of them, some 80,000 have returned to the welfare camps. According to the minister, the numbers had further come down by the evening of December 26 with only 80,000 persons remaining in the camps of which 72,000 had returned after visiting their relatives. "We are expediting the resettlement process to ensure the closure of the welfare camps ahead of the deadline. At the same time, the de-mining process is going ahead," he said. Referring to IDPs willingly returning to the camps, he said, "This shows that the IDPs are satisfied with the conditions in the camps giving lie to the media reports to the contrary. We do not propose to encourage those taking advantage of the freedom of movement to return from December 1. They may come back the same day. They are not required either to return on the date of return they indicate in their application forms which they have to submit prior to leaving the camp. They may stay wherever they like," he added.
December 29	President Mahinda Rajapakse said when he came into power he introduced a people friendly manifesto Mahinda Chinthana and told the public if it could be successfully implemented, the benefits would be for the whole country, Daily News reported. "People accepted it and rallied round us with new vigor. We never forgot our election promises. Today I have come forward for re-election after completing 98 percent of my promises," he added. Government said that it has resettled over 173,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) within five months in their native places. Addressing a media briefing at the Wanni Security Forces (SFs) headquarters Wanni SFs commander and competent authority for IDPs Major general Kamal Gunarathne said as of December 23rd only 108,573 IDPs are remaining at the welfare villages out of over 280,000 displaced civilians received by the security forces. The Commander said the resettlement is not an easy task. The Government resettles 1,000 IDPs in their own villages on a daily basis immediately after the areas are cleared of mines.  He said the dangerous inmates have been separated and sent for rehabilitation away from the regular IDPs according to UN regulations. De-mining officials, meanwhile, say the de-mining process is difficult in the northern region as the LTTE have mined the areas in an unpredictable pattern which is hindering the resettlement of the IDPs by the deadline at the end of January. "There is no set pattern of landmines laid by the LTTE landmines and we confront with various challenges," Major K. Raju, an expert of the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) told Indian reporters recently. According to Major Raju whose team is involved in de-mining activities in north-western Mannar District, the unpredictable landmines pattern, poor visibility because of thick jungles in the terrain was slowing the de-mining progress. The Government despite having given a pledge to resettle all the displaced people by the end of January 2010 said that there was no deadline for the resettlement of the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who were in the camps in Vavuniya. Disaster Management and Resettlement Minister Samarasinghe told Daily Mirror Online that no such assurances were given earlier. "We did not promise to complete the resettling process on a particular date. However, the Government is working hard towards completing the process as soon as possible," he said. He said around 100,000 IDPs still remain in the camps whilst 20,000 have been granted freedom of movement from the camps. The Minister said the Government had organized ‘go and see visits’ for the IDPs to enable them to visit their homes and allow them to decide if they wished to remain in their home towns or otherwise. "If they want to return to their homes, then they may. However, if they wish otherwise we will make other arrangement for them," he added. Minister Samarasinghe said that he could not comment on what would happen to the camps once all the IDPs were resettled, but said that the permanent structures once vacant would most likely be utilised.
December 31	Sri Lankan authorities have decided to lift the night time curfew imposed in Jaffna from. Governor of the Northern Province Major General G. A. Chandrasiri said that the curfew will be lifted from Jaffna as the normalcy has returned to the peoples' lives and the traveling on A-9 is permitted. The curfew will be lifted on the advice of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Chairman of the Uthuru Wasanthaya Task Force, Senior Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapakse.

https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/srilanka/timeline/2009.htm