OTHER NEWS LTTE aircraft sighted A series of protest campaigns against recent EP polls Pillayan- first chief minister for Eastern Province Pillayan - new CM EP    Advertisement Print Version | Email to friend Sri Lankan military bars foreign media from polls 08-05-2008 Sri Lanka\'s military barred foreign journalists Thursday from covering weekend elections in the east that are seen as a test of confidence in the government, which seized the region from Tamil Tiger rebels last year. Maj. Gen. Palitha Fernando said any foreigner not registered as an election observer cannot be in Eastern province during the polls. An Associated Press reporter and a photographer were stopped at a checkpoint and were asked to go back. Fernando said the barring of journalists and other foreigners during the elections was for their own protection. \"It could be dangerous. If something happens and a foreigner gets injured it will create problems,\" Fernando said. Saturday\'s first-ever elections for the Eastern Provincial Council are seen as a referendum on the government\'s performance since it drove the rebels from their strongholds in the province last year. Opposition parties accuse the government of forming an alliance with a group of former rebels accused of killings, abductions and recruiting child soldiers. They say the group has terrorized opposing candidates and voters. The government says the group\'s members carry guns only to protect themselves from the Tamil Tigers, from which they broke away. Tamil Tiger rebels have fought the government since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils in the island\'s north and east. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting. The government announced last July that it had cleared the east of rebels, although the guerrillas continue to operate in small cells and launch sporadic attacks on soldiers. Print Version | Email to friend

LTTE aircraft sighted Fri, 16-05-2008 04:00:00 An LTTE air craft was detected by the air defence system yesterday evening over the LTTE built Iranamadu runway, military sources said. A senior Air Force official told media that the air defence system had detected the LTTE aircraft soon after, it was airborne. “However it immediately disappeared from the radar system, as it went down,” the official said. ... |FULL STORY|

A series of protest campaigns against recent EP polls Fri, 16-05-2008 19:00:00 UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake , said , this Govt. has no capacity to do anything legal and honest ,whether it is administration, development or in the conduct of elections. It thrives only on murder, mayhem, corruption and malpractices. The Eastern Provincial Council elections bore all those hallmarks, he added. At the last Presidential elections it entered into a pact with the LTTE paying them billions of rupees betraying the country, and won. This time it entered into an allianc... |FULL STORY|

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Pillayan- first chief minister for Eastern Province Fri, 16-05-2008 18:00:00 Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan was sworn-in as the Chief Minister for the Eastern Province before President Mahinda Rajapaksa this evening. Three other provincial councilors also took their oaths, as cabinet of ministers despite M.L.A.M Hisbullah was absent. They are T.Navaratnarajah, Wimalaweera Dissanayake and M.Uduma . After swearing in ceremony Minister Athaullah welcomed the newly appointed Chief Minister. Chandrakantha obtained the highest number of preferential vo... |FULL STORY|

Pillayan - new CM EP Fri, 16-05-2008 14:00:00 Mr.Pillayan took oaths as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council in a short while ago.... |FULL STORY|

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