Laxman Kiriella loses his cool and insults a lady reporter

United National Party’s Laxman Kiriella who lost his cool at a party press conference insultingly told a lady reporter of the Colombo press that by holding a piece of paper and a pen one could not become a journalist.

He became seemingly upset when the young reporter of the fair sex asked him a question about his leader’s contentious statement on the Army victory at Thoppigala that has created a hornet’s nest even among his own party supporters.

Kiriella , a lawyer like his own leader quite average even in his own field , started patronizingly giving a lecture to the reporter on good journalism. He has had no formal training in journalism....

....The former UNP Minister Kiriella, who has not studied journalism or practiced it at any time in a recognizable way advised the reporter that she must know the acreage of Thoppigala jungle, the number of trees there (as if he knows), the number of square kilometers etc. before asking questions about his leader‘s unpatriotic and inborn hatred of his people. Needless to say people undoubtedly were amazed by these new Kiriella theories of journalism.

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http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6528

Murali reaches 700 Test wickets

SRI Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan has become the second bowler after Australia's Shane Warne to capture 700 Test wickets.

The off spinner reached the landmark when he had Bangladesh's last man Syed Rasel caught in the deep by Farveez Maharoof on the fourth day of the third and final Test at the Asgiriya stadium in Kandy.

The dismissal signalled Sri Lanka's victory by an innings and 193 runs to give the host a 3-0 sweep of the series.

Muralitharan finished with six wickets in each innings to claim 10 wickets or more in a Test for the 20th time.

Muralitharan, 35, is now just nine wickets away from surpassing the retired Warne's world record tally of 708.

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http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,,22075530-23210,00.html

Sri Lanka complete sweep of Bangladesh series

Muttiah Muralitharan ended the match with his 700th wicket as Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 193 runs in the final Test in Kandy on Saturday to win the series 3-0.

Bangladesh, trailing by 369 runs on the first innings, were dismissed for 176 in their second innings just before tea on the fourth day at the Asgiriya Stadium.

Muralitharan, who claimed six wickets in each innings, is now just nine scalps away from surpassing retired Australian Shane Warne's world record of 708 wickets.

The off-spinner had last man Syed Rasel caught by Farveez Maharoof in the deep to become only the second bowler after Warne to take 700 wickets.

Sri Lanka, who won all three Tests by innings margins, will now meet the tourists in a three-match one-day series starting in Colombo on July 20.

Extracted from,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/14/1978713.htm

Four LTTE terrorists to be sent for trial in Colombo - Maldives

Four Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres who are currently in a Maldivian jail, caught while smuggling weapons to Sri Lanka in a hijacked Indian trawler will be sent to Sri Lanka to stand trial as terrorists soon.

Maldivian Foreign Minister Dr. Shaheed has announced that he would not stand in the way of transferring the LTTE cadres jailed for smuggling guns through Maldivian waters, also to stand trial in Colombo on additional charges of terrorism under Sri Lanka law.

The Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Male Mohamed Farooq has confirmed to a Maldivian news agency that he has had successful talks with the Maldivian Foreign Minister about the transfer of the prisoners and the Maldivian Foreign Minister has indicated that he would not stand in the way of a transfer of the terrorists to face a trial in Colombo.

Both men have played down the concerns of some pro-Tiger NGO's that the LTTE prisoners would be at the risk of their lives in a Sri Lankan jail.

The international gun running fiasco occurred when the LTTE terrorists, hijacked an Indian trawler with 12 crew members, on March 29, while the DMK party was blaming that on Sri Lanka.

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http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070714_02

Bogollagama to bring sacred hair relic to Lanka

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama yesterday said he would bring the Lord Buddha’s scared hair relic offered by the Chittagong Buddhist Viharaya to Sri Lanka next Thursday, while Asgiriya Chapter Mahanayake Most Venerable Udugama Sri Buddharakkita Thera would also be part of the Sri Lankan delegation to visit Bangladesh to accept the historic relic.

The sacred hair relic has been offered to the Madampe Senanayake Aramaya by the Chittagong Buddhist Viharaya on a request made by its Chief Patron Keerthi Senanayake.

Addressing a news conference in Colombo, the Minister said the sacred relic would officially be handed over to him by his counterpart in Bangladesh. The sacred hair relic will be brought to the country on July 19 to coincide with the government’s plan to celebrate the Thoppigala victory in the East. The celebration was earlier scheduled for July 16 but later postponed by three days.

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http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/07/14/front/03.asp