Thursday, May 31, 2007

Time ripe to take a decision on ceasefire, Sri Lanka government

Sri Lanka Defense Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said to media today that the time is ripe for the government to take a decision on the ceasefire agreement signed with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).

The Minister said that there is a huge contrast between the articles in the ceasefire agreement and the ground reality.

The government is seemed responding to the consecutive bomb attacks by the Tamil Tigers targeting the military vehicles in Colombo and suburbs.

The government is under severe pressure from the Sinhala nationalists to abolish the Memorandum of Understanding signed in February 2002 with the LTTE.

Read more,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/May30144542SL.html

You can't help so we need Pak, China to help fight Tigers, Lanka tells India

With Tamil Tigers stepping up attacks, Sri Lanka has quietly alerted India that it will need to approach Pakistan and China for urgent arms purchases to counter the LTTE's aerial threat.

But Colombo has asked Delhi for technical assistance to train radar operators and flight controllers manning the two Indira radars provided by India last year, besides an additional pair of radars to detect low-flying aircraft.

Sri Lankan Defence Secretary and President Mahinda Rajapakse's brother Gotabaya Rajapakse, who met National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and all three Services chiefs during his recent visit, is believed to have conveyed that Colombo understood Delhi's political compulsions which were preventing increase in military cooperation between the two countries.

Rajapakse told Indian authorities that Colombo, which had urgent need for air defence equipment in view of the bold aerial attacks being carried out by the Tigers, would be approaching Pakistan, China and other countries.

Extracted from,
http://in.news.yahoo.com/070530/48/6gguo.html