Trouble at monks’ meeting to promote Gota as next PM

Thursday, 17 July 2014 

A meeting of monks organized with the dishonourable objective of getting defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa appointed as the prime minister in order to resolve the internal crisis faced by the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime has been a total failure.

This meeting took place at the Defence Ministry on June 14, with only 45 monks in participation. The defence secretary had expected total support from them, but unexpectedly, most of the monks present have begun criticizing the government. With the defence secretary failing to take the meeting towards his objective, the gathering dispersed without taking any decision.

Meanwhile, Medagoda Abhayatissa Thera of Sunetradevi Pirivena in Pepiliyana had been handed over the task of organizing another major meeting of monks. But, the Thera is reluctant to go ahead with the plan, which has made the defence secretary worried.

Electioneering to be handed over to Nil Balakaya, Army & homeguards

Thursday, 17 July 2014 

Scenting that leading SLFP figures are going to stay away from campaigning at the presidential elections, Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers have decided to use Namal Rajapaksa’s Nil Balakaya, the Army and the Home Guards for the purpose.

Towards that, Nil Balakaya is holding its training camps at every district. University lecturer Dhamma Dissanayake is in charge of the training. Such camps have already taken place in several districts.

Participants are promised government jobs after the election under a so-called 300,000 job generation programme.

The military itself has pointed out that using the Army will not be much of a success in electioneering, as the average soldiers are disillusioned with the government. A top official of the government has told the president that from the military, only the Home Guards from certain districts can be lured into joining the campaign work.

‘Organization to rescue SLFP’ launched to extricate country from clutches of Medamulana rogues and American citizen

(Lanka-e-News- 17.July.2014, 5.30PM) After the SLFP ‘s senior member Mahinda Rajapakse took over reins as the leader of the SLFP party , the originality of the historic party had been bastardized by the Medamulana uncouth uneducated American citizen , and the UNP renegades who crossed over for the most unscrupulous and self seeking reasons. In order to combat the betrayal of the original party , the ‘organization to rescue the SLFP ‘ has been launched comprising seniors , oldest and active members of the party .

Among the members of the organization are , former judges, senior lawyers , prominent personnel of the administrative sector, artistes, professionals , trade union leaders and many others. It is to be noted that since the SLFP was launched, during their reigns , never did the party take a racial or extremist stance. Moreover the party always respected the rule of law and promoted law and order in the motherland. It had been pointed out the original SLFP never robbed public funds nor acted in disrespect of the laws or legal Institutions. It did not 

resort to IRC tactics , or conduct itself as terrorists or extremists . But now , the party has dropped to such deplorable and disgraceful levels that the party members are even fighting shy of calling themselves publicly as an SLFP er. It is in order to rescue the party from its present leadership which is betraying its members and wreaking havoc on the party and its originality , that the ‘organization to rescue the SLFP ‘ had been launched , a spokesman for the organization revealed to Lanka e news. 

The spokesman for the ‘SLFP rescue organization ‘ told Lanka e news , his organization will not fear the American citizen who is holding the present SLFP party to ransom , nor be deterred or daunted by the political turncoats who somersaulted from the UNP . The organization will be launching on an extensive and intensive campaign to enlighten the public during the first week of August.

Upon being questioned by us about the Ministers and MPs of the government in the SLFP rescue organization , he said , there is n’t a single MP or Minister of the government who is against the organization.

When Lanka e news delved into the new development , it is learnt , the greater power of the SLFP headquarters at Darley road has shifted towards ‘SLFP rescue organization.'

A Darley road spokesman disclosed , though the Rajapakses who are getting ready for elections have asked for a list of party seniors from the SLFP headquarters, the Temple trees had still not been able to get that list ,which is a clear inference , to what extent the SLFP party has distanced itself from Temple trees .

When Lanka e news inside information division probed into this to ascertain the truth : according to Temple trees reporters , this is the stark truth . 

Interestingly , Rajapakses were planning to have a function at Temple trees after inviting the old SLFP members , but as the old members did not show any response , the function had to be postponed on several occasions. Even at the meetings held Islandwide for party reforms , the party district leaders are openly castigating the Rajapakses face to face.

Recently , at the meeting of SLFP organizers held at Beruwala , when Minister Lakshman Yapa another turncoat who pole vaulted from the UNP began speaking against American funding for the projects to educate the public on casting of votes , it were SLFP stalwarts who protested against him. Mahinda Yapa speaking against Lakshman Yapa pointed out , it will do immense and infinite good if America educates the voters on voting for Sri Lankans who cast votes just for three exercise books or a mammoty . 

Thereafter , a majority of senior party members of the SLFP had also expressed views in support of Mahinda Yapa.

Polls Chief under fire

Editorial-July 16, 2014

The UNP has trained its propaganda cannon on the Elections Department. With weeks to go for the Uva PC polls, it has declared that it has no confidence in Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya. The Opposition does not expect the upcoming elections to be free and fair, it has said.

Politicians’ claims are not to be taken as gospel. They are adept at making mountains out of molehills and molehills out of mountains depending on their political needs. But, the UNP’s concerns about the gross abuse of state resources by the government for electioneering purposes and other election malpractices need to be appreciated. For, such offences give the ruling coalition unfair advantage and prevent the Opposition from improving its competitive edge.

The UNP has also taken exception to the Polls Chief’s decision to reduce three provincial council seats in the Badulla District and adding them to the Moneragala District. In such an eventuality, candidates in the Badulla District will have to obtain a higher number of votes to get elected, the UNP, has argued, threatening legal action. One is reminded of Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, who had a voting district carved out by changing the existing borders to favour his party in 1812. The Boston Weekly was quick to coin the portmanteau word, ‘Gerrymander’ because the new district had the shape of a salamander. One wonders whether the redistribution of PC seats in Uva is a different version of Gerrymandering. The onus is on the Polls Chief to clear doubts in voters’ minds.

There is no panacea for the many ills our vital institutions are afflicted with. They have to be tackled separately. But, the 17th Amendment to the Constitution could have served as an effective antidote to unbridled politicisation of public institutions if it had been properly implemented; it should have been retained and improved. The Independent Commissions created under it to depoliticise the public service, the police, the judiciary, the Elections Department etc had the potential to evolve as robust institutional safeguards with the passage of time. The present dispensation cannot be forgiven for doing away with that unanimously adopted constitutional amendment.

A claim is being made internationally that Sri Lanka is drifting towards a dictatorship and the government has sought to counter it by demanding to know how such a threat could persist in a country where there are so many elections. Its argument that such claims are only part of a hostile campaign against this country may be tenable, but the fact remains that frequent elections alone won’t help prevent the debilitation of democracy. Elections have to be free and fair if people are not to lose their faith in the electoral process which is the lifeblood of democracy.

Too many elections could also have a deleterious effect on voters’ enthusiasm. The practice of staggering elections may not be of recent origin, but it needs to be done away with.

The incumbent Polls Chief seems to be no believer in an independent election commission. Asked by the media for his views on the scrapping of the 17th Amendment, he wanted to know whether there was anything that he had been able to do while that amendment was in force but could not do at present due to its absence. If he is confident that the existing laws are strong enough for him to carry out his duties and functions efficiently without giving in to political pressure, he should hold free and fair elections without leaving any room for doubts to be cast on his independence and impartiality. That is the only way he can silence his critics who are not charitable in judging him, and help prevent public disillusionment with the electoral process.

Aluthgama Gun-Shot Victim Goes To SC; Full Text Of The Petition

July 17, 2014 

A resident of Dharga town – Mohamed Junaid Mohamed Imran who had been victimized by the anti-Muslim violence that erupted in the area last month filed a Fundamental Rights Petition in the Supreme Court yesterday over the failure of the Police Department to uphold its powers and duties.

Major General (Retd.) Nanda Mallawarachchi – Secretary to the MInistry of Law and order

The petitioner who had suffered gunshot wounds on June 15 as a result of the anti-Muslim violence in Dharga town, has cited that he has been violated due to the gross and systematic failure on the part of Sri Lanka Police Department to uphold the rule of law and to fulfil their duties and obligations specified under the Section 56 of the Police Ordinance No: 16 of 1865.

He has named the IGP N. K. Illangakoon, Anura Senanayake – Senior DIG Western Province, R W C N Ranawana – Deputy DIG Police, Major General (Retd.) Nanda Mallawarachchi – Secretary to the MInistry of Law and order and the Attorney General as the respondents to the Petition.

The petitioner in making his case has asserted that he suffered from gun-shot injuries when he attempted to look into the safety of his neighbours, whose houses were set ablaze. He charges although a mob of about 300 people were in the area, the armed STF officials stood by without taking any steps to dispel the mobs.

The petitioner has noted that due to his medical condition following the gun shot would he is no longer able to pursue his employment.

Click here to read the petition for more details.

Pushpa Rajapaksa, too gets Chinese attention

 Thursday, 17 July 2014 

The Economic Development Ministry has got the Chinese government agreed to allocate 100 million dollars a year from the annual Chinese loans to Sri Lanka to ‘Liya Sarana’, a private project by Pushpa Rajapaksa, the wife of minister Basil Rajapaksa, say ministry sources.

Such a massive allocation from the loans obtained at very high interest is being made to realize her dream of becoming the wife of the country’s prime minister, and ultimately the first lady soon, say the sources.

Attempts by Basil Rajapaksa to get his wife nominated as the chief ministerial candidate at the last western provincial council election failed due to strong opposition by first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa.

Chinese gimmick to win votes!

 Thursday, 17 July 2014 

The external affairs ministry is planning to bring the Chinese president and the Japanese prime minister to Sri Lanka soon after the conclusion of the Uva provincial council polls, say ministry sources. The government is preparing to launch a massive media campaign to deceive the voters by using both these visits politically, say the sources.

The main objective of that campaign is to tell society that China’s government will take charge of Sri Lanka for a five year period. Advertisements in the media will tell the people that the massive aid being received from China and Japan will be used to make Sri Lanka a heaven on earth.

An advertising agency has already been given the responsibility of creating computer graphics of villages developed through that aid and these graphics will be shown by video at pocket meetings at village level. The plan is to get these advertisements published free of charge in the state media as development advertisements, while getting them published in the private media by paying exorbitant payments. The private media is also to be bribed to carry news and current affairs programmes disadvantageous to the opposition candidate, reports say.

Malaysian passenger plane 'shot down' in Ukraine

THURSDAY 17 JULY 2014

A Malaysian passenger plane is reported to have crashed in Ukraine, near the Russian border - with a Ukrainian official saying it was shot down by a ground-to-air missile.

Malaysia Airlines        ✔ @MAS

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Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.

11:36 AM - 17 Jul 2014

Malaysian Passenger Plane 'Shot Down' in Ukraine by Maria Anderson

Thailand's ex-PM Yingluck given permission to leave country

Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gives a traditional greeting as she arrives at the Constitutional Court in Bangkok May 6, 2014.

BY AMY SAWITTA LEFEVRE-BANGKOK Thu Jul 17, 2014

(Reuters) - Thailand's military rulers have given permission to former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to travel to Europe where she is expected to attend the birthday party of her brother Thaksin, also a deposed former premier, officers said on Thursday.

A military spokesman said Yingluck, forced from office by a court ruling days before the military seized power in May, was permitted to leave provided she stayed out of politics. He said she would be allowed back into Thailand at the end of her trip.

The military briefly detained Yingluck and hundreds of other politicians, activists, academics and journalists after the May 22 coup, which it says it staged to restore order after months of sometimes violent protests against her government.

Some of those detained remain in custody under martial law while the military's National Council for Peace and Order has banned hundreds of others from leaving the country. It has also stifled dissent and dispersed anti-coup protests.

"Yingluck has not done anything that violates our orders so her personal trip to Europe has been approved," said army spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree.

"Yingluck is not a wanted person. Of course we will allow her back into the country. Why would we not?"

Several hours later, the national anti-corruption agency said it would forward a criminal case against Yingluck, related to a loss-making state rice-buying scheme, to the attorney general. If the case is forwarded to a court and she is found guilty, Yingluck could face time in jail.

It was not clear if the decision by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) decision to forward the case would have any bearing on Yingluck's travel plan. The commission said the decision to let her go abroad was the military's.

Earlier, General Teerachai Nakwanit, army commander for the region which includes Bangkok, told Reuters Yingluck was expected to attend the 65th birthday party in France this month of Thaksin Shinawatra, removed by a 2006 military coup.

Thaksin has lived in self-exile since 2008 to avoid serving a sentence for corruption.

The ouster of Yingluck's government was the latest twist in a decade-long power struggle pitting Thaksin, who gained widespread popularity for providing social benefits in impoverished rural regions, against the royalist-military establishment.

'HUGE DAMAGE'

For six months before the coup, Thailand was convulsed by establishment-backed protests aimed at ousting Yingluck, who became Thailand's first female prime minister when she swept to power in a 2011 election.

Protesters wanted to eradicate the influence of her family, including Thaksin, a former telecommunications billionaire. He is free to return to Thailand, but faces the prospect of time in prison if he does.

At least 30 people were killed in sporadic violence over the months of unrest and the economy was badly bruised.

The United States and European Union have led international condemnation of the army's seizure of power and downgraded diplomatic ties.

At the junta's request, the foreign ministry has revoked the passports of at least six people, including two anti-coup movement founders who fled the country.

Yingluck, 47, has been under investigation by Thailand's anti-corruption agency over a rice-buying program which offered farmers a price for their rice well above the market level.

Wicha Mahakun, a member of National Anti-Corruption Commission, said the agency would forward her case to the attorney-general who would consider whether to pursue criminal charges against Yingluck for dereliction of duty.

"It is important for the prime minister to consider policy carefully but the defendant chose to continue the scheme which caused huge damage to the state," Wicha told reporters.

The scheme was at the heart of her government's populist policies, but caused huge financial losses to the state. The military is conducting nationwide inspections of rice warehouses to assess the extent of corruption related to the scheme.

(Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Robert Birsel and Ron Popeski)

CIA station chief ordered out of Germany has left, US confirms

Germany demanded spy chief's expulsion after two alleged German double agents working for the US were unmasked

The CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPZ

 Thursday 17 July 2014 

The CIA station chief in Germany left the country on Thursday after Berlin's shock decision last week to demand his expulsion, the US and German governments said.

"We are confirming that the individual who was asked to leave the country last week is no longer in Germany," a US embassy spokesman said.

A German foreign ministry spokesman also confirmed the news that the US spy chief had left.

The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung cited German and US government sources as saying that the man took a commercial flight from the western city of Frankfurt bound for the United States.

Germany last week ordered the CIA station chief out of the country amid the worst diplomatic row between the close Nato allies since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which Berlin vocally opposed.

Chancellor Merkel's government made the dramatic announcement after two alleged German double agents working for the United States were unmasked.

Federal prosecutors are investigating a defence ministry employee and an agent for the BND foreign intelligence agency on suspicion of supplying secrets to Washington.

The cases stoked still seething anger in Berlin about revelations that the US National Security Agency conducted mass spying operations against targets including Merkel's mobile phone.

Merkel and US President Barack Obama spoke by telephone Tuesday for the first time since the expulsion order against the CIA chief.

A White House statement said little about the conversation, only that Obama and Merkel "exchanged views on US-German intelligence cooperation, and the President said he'd remain in close communication on ways to improve cooperation going forward."

Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert declined to reveal the content of the "confidential" conversation but stressed that Germany saw "deep differences of opinion on the issue of the activities of the US intelligence services".

In a interview with public television last Saturday, Merkel lamented the breakdown of trust between Germany and the United States and a return to the thinking of the "Cold War era where everyone is suspicious of everyone".

US secretary of state John Kerry attempted to mend fences Sunday at talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Vienna, insisting that the transatlantic allies remain "great friends".

Russia Is Firing Missiles at Ukraine

As the U.S. slaps additional sanctions on Moscow and Donetsk separatists, new evidence emerges that short-range rockets are being launched from Russia into Ukraine.

• BY MICHAEL WEISS , JAMES MILLER-JULY 16, 2014

Just as news broke today that the U.S. Treasury Department was instituting a new suite of sanctions against Russia, video evidence has emerged apparently showing the most definitive proof yet of Moscow's direct participation in the ongoing war in eastern and southern Ukraine: Russian rockets being fired toward Ukraine.

Russia is Firing Missiles at Ukraine by Maria Anderson

Taliban attacks Kabul airport as presidential election recount begins

By Erin Cunningham July 17  

KABUL — Taliban insurgents staged a predawn attack Thursday on Kabul International Airport, firing rocket-propelled grenades from a nearby building and prompting airport officials to close the runway to commercial flights for several hours.

Taliban Attacks Kabul Airport as Presidential Election Recount Begins by Maria Anderson

Israeli naval ship bombs Palestinian children on Gaza beach, killing four

Group of young children reportedly attacked by shellfire from Israeli navy ship in Gaza City harbour area close to hotel at which journalists staying, with four dead

By Robert Tait, Gaza City and Staff

3:42PM BST 16 Jul 2014

Four children were killed in Gaza City on Wednesday, medics said, in Israeli shelling witnessed by The Telegraph and other foreign journalists.

The four were among a group on the beach when the attack took place, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, with some of the surviving injured children taking refuge at a nearby hotel where journalists were staying.

^{A young boy lies on the floor of a restaurant in a hotel, where his wounds have been treated, following the attack (Robert Tait)}

Journalists heard two loud explosions outside the Gaza City hotel, before children were pulled into the restaurant area for treatment.

A journalist who saw the incident said some of the children who survived were running away when another shell seemed to be aimed at them.

The children being treated at the hotel are believed to be approximately 10-11 years of age.

^{One of the survivors in the hotel where he is being treated (Robert Tait)}

So far, Israel's campaign, now in its ninth day, has killed 214 Palestinians, with a Gaza-based rights group saying over 80 percent of them were civilians.

In the same period, militants have fired more than 1,200 rockets at Israel, which on Tuesday claimed their first Israeli life.

Hamas said it had rejected the Egyptian truce efforts because it had not been included in the discussions.

The peace initiative continued on Wednesday, however, with a Hamas official holding talks with Egyptian leaders even as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas also arrived in the Egyptian capital to join the diplomatic initiative.

Israel-Palestine: This is how it ends

As a new round of violence kicks off in Israel-Palestine and more children are killed, it's not enough just to call for another ceasefire. It’s time to take definitive non-violent action to end this decades long nightmare. 

Our governments have failed -- while they have talked peace and passed UN resolutions, they and our companies have continued to aid, trade and invest in the violence. The only way to stop this hellish cycle of Israel confiscating Palestinian lands, daily collective punishment of innocent Palestinian families, Hamas firing rockets, and Israel bombing Gaza is to make the economic cost of this conflict too high to bear. 

We know it works -- when EU countries issued guidelines not to fund the illegal Israeli settlements it caused an earthquake in the cabinet, and when citizens successfully persuaded a Dutch pension fund, PGGM, to withdraw, it created a political storm.

This may not feel like a direct way to stop the current killing, but history tells us that raising the financial cost of oppression can pave a path to peace. Click to call on 6 key banks, pension funds and businesses to pull out -- If we all take smart action now and turn up the heat, they could withdraw, the Israeli economy will take a hit, and we can turn the calculation of the extremists politically profiting from this hell upside down.

Road Map I: What More Congress (and the Administration) Can Do to Promote Accountability in Sri Lanka

Just Security

By Ryan Goodman-Tuesday, July 15, 2014 

The Obama administration has taken the lead internationally to promote accountability in Sri Lanka. The principal focus is on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s decades long civil war. But those efforts are also important to addressing the situation of Tamil, Muslim, and Christian minorities in Sri Lanka today.

Road Map I What More Congress (and the Administration) Can Do to Promote Accountability in Sri Lanka by Maria Anderson