WikiLeaks: US Skeptical About Ranil’s Claim That He Has Tremendous Grassroots Support

October 10, 2013

“In a November 22 meeting with the Ambassador, Wickremesinghe cited ‘tremendous grassroots pressure’ as preventing him from giving up the party leadership (Ref A). We are a little skeptical of this claim.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and discuses the UNP’s internal crisis after the 2005 Presidential elections. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead on December 25, 2005.”Read More

WikiLeaks: Ranil Is A Perennial Loser As Well As A Perennial Survivor – US

October 10, 2013

“In the wake of the United National Party’s (UNP) defeat at the November 17 presidential polls, some members of Sri Lanka’s oldest political party are questioning once again whether Ranil Wickremesinghe, who led the party to defeat in 13 of the last 14 electoral contests, should continue as head. A group of 30 ‘reformist’ MPs is pushing Karu Jayasuriya, the UNP’s avuncular Deputy Leader, to replace Wickremesinghe. However, in addition to being a perennial loser, Wickremesinghe is also a perennial survivor, and we expect this latest challenge to his authority, like others before it, will eventually fade away.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

Ranil

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and discuses the UNP’s internal crisis after the 2005 Presidential elections. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead on December 25, 2005.

The ambassador wrote; “The defeat of Ranil Wickremesinghe in the November 17 presidential election marks the United National Party’s (UNP) thirteenth loss in fourteen electoral contests (at the local, provincial and national levels) under Wickremesinghe’s leadership. With so many losses in such a comparatively short time, some UNP stalwarts are once again reassessing Wickremesinghe’s suitability as leader of Sri Lanka’s oldest democratic party. These ‘reformist’ MPs argue that the time for a change is now–before local body elections (due in late March) or general elections (which the President may call at any time). As a result, the party is in ‘a terrible dilemma’ with an ugly ‘internecine’ battle brewing within, according to one such reformer, Sajith Premadasa, UNP MP from Hambantota and son of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1993. Morale in the party is at an all-time low, he asserted; another MP described the UNP rank-and-file as dispirited and ‘frustrated.’ A businessman close to the UNP told poloff recently that even dyed-in-the-wool Wickremesinghe supporters were beginning to question the wisdom of keeping Wickremesinghe on as party leader.”Read More

Isn’t the Nationalist a Mental Patient?

Reproducing historic article by Dr E W Adikaram

• by Nalaka Gunawardene
• - on 10/09/2013 

At a time when few practise what they preach, Lankan scholar, writer and social activist Dr E W (Edward Winifred) Adikaram (1905-1985) was an illustrious exception.

As a public intellectual, he had the courage of his convictions to speak out on matters of public interest — even when such views challenged widely held dogmas or went against populist trends. As a sceptical inquirer as well as a spiritualist, he always ‘walked his talk’. He never hesitated to take the often lonely (and sometimes bumpy) high road.

Isn’t the Nationalist a Mental Patient by nelvely

Nepotism: It’s All Relative

By Arjuna Seneviratne -October 10, 2013 

Arjuna Seneviratne

The last time I had to visit a police station to sort out a problem with my driving license, I called up my uncle, a retired ASP who called up the OIC who talked to the sergeant who frowned at the PC who got off his butt instantly and solved my problem without my having to even go to the cop shed. Recently, when a friend was in the GH-ICU,  my wife got her student’s mother who was a doctor at the place to give us hourly bulletins that were far better than any we would have received if we had sat down to high tea with the attending surgeon. Easy. Simple. And who needs to navigate that little known and less understood monster generally known as “staying in line”? Why, for crying out loud, engage in a fruitless and time consuming activity when we can just jump the queue and have done with it?

Regardless of the type of bureaucratic process involved, Sri Lankans, as a nation, bypass due process as a matter of course. In fact, due process is the last and least preferred modality of engagement when dealing with any kind of societal process that can beeven slightly resistive.  Whether it is obtaining a bank loan, getting an approval for our plans for a house, getting out of paying a traffic fine, springing a buddy out of jail, seizing state land for development, getting a contract, choosing a person to manage some area of a business… all of us, without exception, have thought, said or done things similar to the following:                                      Read More

More than 200 rushed to hospital following chlorine leak

WEDNESDAY, 09 OCTOBER 2013

More than 200 residents of Penderikwatta in Puwakpitiya were rushed to the Avissawella Hospital with respiratory difficulties following a chlorine pipeline burst this evening.

Police Headquarters said that a call was given to the 119 emergency unit informing them of the incident at the Penderikwatta Water Purification House.

When contacted by Daily Mirror, the Avissawella Hospital said that more than 200 people were inside the hospital, while another 300 were waiting outside, at the time of going to press. (Supun Dias and  Chaturanga Pradeep)

19 GARMENT FACTORY WORKERS HOSPITALISED FOR FOOD POISONING

October 9, 2013 

Police reported that 19 garment factory workers 

were hospitalised in the Medawachchiya area for food poisoning after consuming a meal provided to them by the company they work for.

The workers had consumed a meal given to them for lunch following which they had been admitted to the Medawachchiya hospital.

Four of the victims have received treatment and were discharged while the 15 others were admitted for further treatment.

The Medawachchiya police are conducting further inquiries into the incident.

Mervyn's millionaire businessman friend abducted

Wednesday, 09 Oct 2013

The police suspect that a millionaire businessman of Kadawatha and his security officer, who were on their way home early yesterday morning after patronizing a casino in Colombo, have been abducted by a group at Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo.

According to Maradana Police, the Montero jeep belonging to the businessman was found around 5:00 a.m.

The police suspect the abductors had been tailing the businessman since he got into the jeep after leaving the club.

The police had contacted the wife of the businessman after they found his contact information inside the vehicle.

A finger print expert had been summoned to inspect the prints on the vehicle and the assistance of the Police Scientific Investigation Division had also been enlisted.

A retired Commando Corporal of the Special Forces had been functioning as the personal security officer of the millionaire businessman, based on information received by the police.

Two special police teams, one from the Maradana Police and the other from the Colombo Crime Investigation Division, are conducting investigations.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Relations and Public Affairs, Mervyn Silva, refuted the widespread rumour that the abducted millionaire businessman is his Coordinating Secretary, but stated he was a friend.

Matale Mass grave findings to China for Carbon dating 

 By Nimal Gunathilake,Matale Corr- October 7, 2013                                                                                            

 Samples of human skeletal remains unearthed from a Matale mass grave would be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department to be sent to laboratories at the Institute of Archaeology, Beijing, China for radiocarbon dating, Judicial Medical Officer of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital Dr. Ajith Jayasena said yesterday.

Dr. Jayasena, who participated in the exhumation of skeletal remains, said that the bones had been dated preliminarily to the 1986-90 period by a team of local experts led by Prof. Raj Somadeva of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeological Research. The samples of human bones would be sent to Beijing for international level confirmation so that they would be tested using sophisticated radiocarbon dating systems. The second verification had been permitted by the Courts.

Dr. Jayasena said that teeth found along with human skeletal remains were being studied at the Forensic Medicine Institute in Colombo and the report was due within the next six days. The report is expected to be submitted to the Matale Magistrate’s Court on Nov. 04.

The first signs of the mass grave were noticed when a group of labourers dug up a section of the Matale Hospital grounds on Nov. 26, 2012, to construct a bio gas unit. Subsequent excavations led to the discover of skeletal remains belonging to 155 persons besides metal rings, coins and some pieces of charcoal. Relatives and family members of those who went missing during the JVP’s second armed struggle in 1987/89 period have so far submitted 64 affidavits to the Matale Magistrate’s Court.

'We will attack her whenever we have a chance': Taliban renews threat to kill schoolgirl Malala, 16, who survived terrorist shooting on her school bus

shooting on her school bus

• Malala Yousafzai was shot by Taliban in Pakistan for views on education
• The 16-year-old has released a book about her amazing recovery
• Malala, who no lives in Birmingham, is tipped for a Nobel Prize
• Received Pride of Britain Award from David Beckham on TV tonight
• Taliban spokesman warns that terrorists plan to attempt to kill her again
• 
  

By STEVE NOLAN and MARK DUELL- 8 October 2013

Taliban terrorists who shot Malala Yousafzai in the head have threatened to attempt to kill the schoolgirl again if they get the chance.

The 16-year-old survived being shot by a gunman who boarded her school bus a year ago in Swat valley after angering the terror group with her outspoken and courageous public pleas for girls to be educated.

But Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said yesterday that the teenager remains a target after releasing a book about her horrific ordeal.

According to the New York Post, he said: 'She is not a brave girl and has no courage. We will target her again and attack whenever we have a chance.

Scroll down for video-video

Threat: Malala Yousafzai, who received a Pride of Britain Award from David Beckham last night, remains a Taliban target according to a spokesman for the terror group

'We Will Attack Her Whenever We Have a Chance' Taliban Renews Threat to Kill Schoolgirl Malala, 16, Who Sur... by nelvely

Myanmar Religious Leaders Urge Harmony After Anti-Muslim Clashes

A Muslim woman comforts another who lost her home during recent violence in Thabyuchine village in Thandwe, Rakhine state, Oct. 3, 2013.

RadioFreeAsia -2013-10-07

Religious leaders in a western Myanmar town reeling from deadly anti-Muslim clashes urged calm on Monday after fresh violence broke out in the country’s central Irrawaddy Delta region. 

On Sunday night a mob of Buddhist residents destroyed five Muslim houses in the region’s Kyaunggon township, some 70 miles (100 kilometers) outside the former capital Yangon.  

The unrest, the first reported in the region since June 2012, was sparked by allegations that a Muslim man had attempted to rape a 14-year-old Buddhist girl a month ago. 

Police have arrested at least five people over the clashes, which come on the heels of similar mob violence that killed five people in Thandwe township in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state last week during a presidential tour to the coastal region. 

State media reported over the weekend that police have arrested 44 people over the Thandwe attack, with reports indicating that the detainees included members of both Buddhist and Muslim communities. 

Urging peaceful coexistence

On Monday, Buddhist and Muslim leaders traveled to the township to promote calm and urge members of the two communities to live together peacefully. 

Prominent Buddhist monk Sayadaw Nyanissara and Aye Lwin, the Chief Convener of the Islamic Center of Myanmar, addressed Buddhist residents together on Monday afternoon and will speak to Muslim residents on Tuesday.  

Sayadaw Nyanissara told RFA’s Myanmar Service before the speeches that he would be telling residents “not to be concerned about what religion someone comes from if they commit a crime, since the crime is his or her own action.” 

“All religions aim for peace,” he said, adding that he would be distributing among locals information about Islam aimed at dismantling misperceptions of the religion.  

Muslim residents told the Associated Press that during the clashes—in which a 94-year-old woman was stabbed to death—local police had failed to protect them a mob of hundreds of Buddhists armed with knives and sticks who went on a rampage in Pauktaw and Thabyuchine villages. 

'Outsiders'

The clashes had erupted as President Thein Sein made his first visit to Rakhine state since taking office in 2011 in a bid to promote reconciliation between Buddhist and Muslim communities following deadly clashes over the past two years.

A statement posted on the website of President Thein Sein’s office last week said he was “suspicious of the motive” behind the violence which may have been instigated by “outsiders.” 

Among those detained earlier this week was ethnic Rakhine National Development Party’s the Thandwe chairman, Maung Pu. 

The RNDP and Amyo Batha Tharthanar, a Buddhist organization aimed at protecting Rakhine ethnicity and religion, have called on authorities to release the detainees, saying Rakhines have been unfairly arrested and blamed for the violence. 

“The authorities haven’t tried to get the real perpetrators, though they have arrested leaders and members from political and civil society organizations,” Amyo Batha Tharthanar chairman Nandawbatha said. 

“Most of those detained were not involved in the unrest,” he said, warning that unnecessary detentions would serve to heighten tensions in the area. 

The unrest in Thandwe and Kyaunggon are the latest in a series of incidents that have killed at least 45 people this year.

Clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists that rocked Rakhine state last year left more than 200 dead and 140,000 displaced. 

Reported by Min Thein Aung for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.

Gwynne Dyer: Republican hardliners calling the shots

Senator John Boozman leads a Capitol tour in place of staffers and interns who have been stood down. Photo / AP

Tuesday Oct 8, 2013

By Gwynne Dyer

A salient feature of American "exceptionalism" is the belief that the United States can never be ordinary. If it is not the best, then it must be the worst. If it is not destined to dominate the world forever, then it is doomed to decline and decay.

This kind of thinking explains why much of the commentary in the United States about the recent "shut-down" of the US Government, and also about the impending default on the national debt (due on October 17), has started at hysterical and quickly geared up to apocalyptic. We Americans have lost the mandate of Heaven, and it will soon be raining frogs and blood.

So everybody take your tranquilliser of choice (mine's a double scotch), and let's consider what is actually going on here. The United States is the world's oldest democratic country, with an 18th century constitution that is bound to be an awkward fit for 21st century politics. But that hasn't stopped the United States from becoming the world's biggest economy and its greatest power. Has something gone fundamentally wrong?

The problem lies in Congress, specifically in the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority is refusing to pass the budget, and threatening not to raise the official debt ceiling either, unless President Barack Obama postpones the implementation of his bill extending medical care to all Americans.

The Affordable Care Act was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by Obama almost four years ago. Last year it passed scrutiny by the Supreme Court, and was subsequently welcomed by a majority of the voters in the presidential election, so Obama is understandably refusing to yield to blackmail. But the House Republicans seem mysteriously unworried by the fact that the public blames them for the impending train wreck. Why?

Because 80 per cent of the Republicans in the House of Representatives don't have to worry about what the general public thinks. They represent congressional districts that have been so shamelessly gerrymandered by state legislatures that it is almost impossible for anybody who is a Republican to lose an election there. National public opinion is no threat to them, whereas the views of their extremist Tea Party colleagues are a potentially lethal danger.

You can't gerrymander the Senate; every senator's "district" is the entire state he or she represents. State legislatures controlled by the Democrats also gerrymander congressional districts to create safe seats for their own party, but there is no organised extremist group in the Democratic Party that will try to destroy elected members of their own party.

Republicans seeking re-election to the House of Representatives may not have to worry about their Democratic opponents, but they certainly have to fear the Tea Party. If it decides to mount a challenge to an incumbent in the Republican primary elections, the far-right challenger will be lavishly funded by the Tea Party's wealthy supporters, and that may mark the end of the incumbent's political career.

So the Republicans in the House of Representatives, even those generally open to compromise, are keeping their heads down for fear of angering the Tea Party. That means it is possible (though not probable) that the October 17 deadline will be missed, and the US Government will be forced to default on its debt. How bad would that be?

Very bad, according to a US Treasury spokesman. "Credit markets could freeze, the value of the dollar could plummet, US interest rates could skyrocket, the negative spillovers could reverberate around the world." And it might rain frogs and blood.

Or maybe not. There would certainly be turmoil in the markets: many people would lose money, and some would gain. But it would not be a repeat of the crash of 2009, when it was suddenly understood that huge amounts of the mortgage debt held by banks could never be repaid.

The US Government can still pay its debts; it just has to get Congress' permission first. And the markets, while prone to panic, are not completely stupid.

Nor is the US Constitution fundamentally broken. It always requires a fair degree of compromise between the various branches of the Government in order to work smoothly, and at most times in history that co-operation has been forthcoming.

The current paralysis is due mainly to the gerrymandering of congressional districts that makes members of the House of Representatives less afraid of public opinion than of the views of their own party's hardliners.

It wouldn't hurt to put some controls on election spending as well, so that rich ideologues had less influence. But that is merely desirable; ending the gerrymandering is absolutely essential. It will take time, but this is a problem that can be fixed. And in the meantime, the US Government is not really going broke.

Is Burma in the midst of constitutional Catch 22?

By Zin Linn Oct 09, 2013 

Burma’s seemingly civilian government headed by President U Thein Sein has declared itself as a reformist administration since it took power in March 2011. Now, these claims are being put to the test as it comes under increasing pressure to revise the constitution.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks as she asks a question during a regular session of parliament. Pic: AP.

Is Burma in the Midst of Constitutional Catch 22 by nelvely

Workers accidentally doused with toxic water at Fukushima nuclear plant

This aerial photo shows the storage tank, fifth from left at left plot, which workers detected the water dripping from the top, at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture in Japan on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013.(AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press - October 9, 2013

TOKYO -- Six workers at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant have been accidentally doused with highly radioactive water, the plant operator said Wednesday, adding to a growing list of mishaps that are shaking confidence in the utility's ability to handle the crisis.

The workers removed the wrong pipe from equipment at the plant, sending toxic water spilling onto them and the entire floor of the facility housing a set of three units designed for primary, partial water treatment, said Yoshimi Hitosugi, the spokesman for Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Exposure to the workers, who were wearing face masks with filters, protective hazmat suits and raingear, is believed minor but still under investigation, Hitosugi said. The six were part of an 11-member team, and the remaining five were not splashed, he said. The workers managed to reattach the pipe.

The accident is the latest in a spate of leaks and other problems caused by human error that have added to public criticism of TEPCO's handling of the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi, which is still in precarious condition since its triple meltdowns following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

In order to keep the melted reactors cool, they must be continuously doused with water that then becomes contaminated with radiation and must be pumped out and stored in tanks at the site.

Last week, workers overfilled a storage tank without fully checking water levels, causing a leak, possibly to the sea.

In August, the utility reported a 300-ton leak from another storage tank. That came after the utility and the government acknowledged that contaminated groundwater was seeping into ocean at a rate of 300 tons a day for some time.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said repeated mishaps could be a sign of the harsh work environment.

"Careless mistakes are often linked to (declining) morale," Tanaka said a regular news conference. "People usually don't make silly, careless mistakes when working in positive environment and motivated. The lack of it, I think, may be related to the recent problems."

Harper wise to shun Commonwealth hug-a-thon, Rosie DiManno says

Commonwealth heads of government have moved from silence to tacit endorsement of Sri Lanka’s oppressive regime, making their November meeting in Colombo a PR coup for its president.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper talks with United States Secretary of State John Kerry as they arrive to the Family Photo and Gala Dinner during the APEC summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia on Monday, Oct. 7, 2013.

By: Rosie DiManno Columnist, Published on Mon Oct 07 2013

Newspapers in Sri Lanka, most of which are controlled by the ruling regime of President Mahinda 

The Toronto Star

Rajapaksa, have been for months breathlessly reporting on preparations for the Commonwealth heads of state meeting.

Harper Wise to Shun Commonwealth Hug-A-thon, Rosie DiManno Says by nelvely

Black July: Indira Gandhi, Gunawanse And The Left

By Rajan Hoole -October 8, 2013 |

Rajan Hoole

Sri Lanka’s Black July – Part 35

One piece of testimony came from IGP Rudra Rajasingham. When asked about the Left being accused of the July 1983 violence, he said that he was surprised when the accusation was made, adding that the Left was definitely not involved. This seemed a matter-of-fact statement made without any cal-culation. But when told that Ratnatunga and T.D.S.A. Dissanayaka had made him party to the accusation, he was disturbed and later even annoyed. Yet his silence all these years seems unaccountable if the President misquoted something that took place in his presence to which he was party.

The truth has a funny side to it, and tells us something about Jayewardene. It comes from placing the key elements of Ratnatunga’s testi- mony in a different perspective. An informant came to Ernest Perera on Wednesday night, the story goes, with information about the plot. The informant appeared to have had this informa- tion on Sunday (24th), but the reasons for the delay in communicating it are not comprehen- sible. (The informant reportedly put this down to Perera being at Kanatte till late on the 24th and there being a curfew on the 25th and 26th.) Rajasingham and Perera left the President at 9.00 PM on the 28th. Then according to Ratnatunga, Jayewardene summoned Ernest Perera to his private residence at 6.00 AM the following morn- ing and got him to dictate a statement to his pri- vate stenographer J.A. Paulasz.

Jayewardene then made photocopies of the statement and gave it to his service chiefs and later in the morning to the visiting Indian For- eign Minister, Mr. Rao. This statement was about the said leftist plot to overthrow the Government and was in print with the signa- ture of an official for the first time. Ratnatunga says: “IGP Rudra Rajasingham, although unaware of this new development, was however the least sur- prised.” Ratnatunga appears to be saying something that he does not wish to elaborate. Jayewardene could have asked Perera to record a statement when he and Rajasingham were with him the previous evening, which he did not. Did Rajasingham too learn about the leftist plot for the first time when the state- ment was handed over to him the following (29th) morning?

Certain truths stand out from this re- markable episode. There had been a wider constellation of forces of the extreme Right which the UNP had been trying to bring under its umbrella, that had lent their sup- port to the violence of July 1983. This has been suspected but not fully explored. Many of the links were informal and remained un- recorded. But there had been tell-tale signs for some time. Among them was the attempt to drive the Tamil students out of Peradeniya in May 1983 where the core organisers had strong UNP connections.

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