‘Sellam Nagaradhipathi’ behind Moneragala 

Ninja style attacks!

 Monday, 01 September 2014 

Five JVP and four UNP offices in Wellawaya and Moneragala were either attacked or set on fire on August 29 and 30, and three of them were completely destroyed, said CaFFE in a media statement. Also, 21 opposition paty offices in Moneragala had been destroyed within the space of 72 hours last week, says the statement further.

When Lanka News Webs made investigations, it was revealed the person behind all these Ninja style attacks is Hambantota mayor Eraj Ravindra Fernando, notoriously known as ‘Sellam Nagaradhipathi’ for his toy pistol bravado. What is special in this is that he is planning these attacks from Colombo. He spends most of the time of the day at casinos in Colombo and sends various groups to the areas to stage the attacks, very reliable sources told us.

After state intelligence reports pointed out that the UPFA has become seriously declined due to five years of inefficient and inactive rule of former Uva chief minister Shashindra Rajapaksa, the government has decided to use thuggery to win the election. Hence these attacks. Eraj Fernando, who is staging these goons’ attacks to be in the good books of the Rajapaksas was a pioneer in minister Rajitha Senaratne’s ‘Pra’ group that had operated during the 1987-89 terror period.

Video: No third term for Rajapaksa – It’s clear as cutting a piece of cake

MONDAY, 01 SEPTEMBER 2014
There are no provisions legally for President Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest a presidential election for the third time says the Member of the Central Committee of the JVP Attorney at Law Sunil Watagala.

Responding to a question posed by a journalist at a media conference held yesterday (31st) Mr. Sunil Watagala said, “There is a debate going on in the legal sector at present. The government is scared of this debate. There is an interpretation ordinance act in Sri Lanka. According to this Act no laws can be made that would influence the past. The 18th amendment constricted democracy and cast away law and order in the country. When bringing in this amendment an important thing was forgotten to be included. The President took oaths according to the 17th amendment. As such, he could be in his position as President only a second time according to clause 31.2 of the Constitution. It is very clear like cutting a piece of cake that the incumbent president cannot contest the presidential election a third time.

If not the interpretation ordinance act has to be torn apart. There were instances when the interpretation ordinance act was notoriously used to wriggle through the law. This Act was used to bring casino act by deleting ‘casino’ and inserting ‘associated facilities’ instead. However, the interpretation ordinance act clearly states no laws can be made that would influence the past. As such, there is a drastic conflict between this Act and the 18th amendment. It is the interpretation ordinance that would come out victorious. It has created a turbulent in the legal sector.

According to the existing law the incumbent president cannot contest for the third time. People in UPFA expecting Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest a third time is a serious error. Hence, we tell the people in the country to be alert. The government is attempting to continue its path of constricting democracy, casting away law and order and act against the Constitution. As the existing law is very clear a referendum cannot be held. The Constitution states a referendum cannot be held for such a legal matter.”

HRCSL cautions trade unions 

BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody-September 1, 2014 
 
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) yesterday said trade union actions in the country should not exceed limits as it would cause harm to the citizens' right of life.
 

Referring to the recent five-day strike by the Joint Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine (PSM), Legal Secretary and Media Spokesman of the HRCSL, Nimal Punchihewa observed that patients across the country suffered and their right to be treated had been denied.
 
 
He explained in the legal context, despite media publicity, an interim order issued by a Court would only be effective once the respondents physically received it.
"These are issues concerning human beings and it is the government's responsibility to meet the demands of trade unions through discussions," Punchihewa stressed.
"Hospital authorities could issue vacation of post letters, but trained personnel, as in the health sector, cannot be recruited overnight," the Media Spokesman opined.

SL Muslims Want Indonesian Govt To Ensure Security Of Borobudur Buddhist Temple

September 1, 2014

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL) has called upon the government of Indonesia to ensure the safety and security of Borobudur against the threats that have been posed on the religious establishment by Islamic State militants (ISIS).

In a letter to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, MCSL President N M Ameen has referred to the reports of the threats posed by the ISIS to the ancient and historical temple Borobudur, which is the largest Buddhist temple in the world.

It has been pointed out by the MCSL that the ISIS threat that has been levelled against Borobudur has been carried out with the sole intention of targeting places of religious significance in order to create turmoil across the world in the name of Islam.

“It is an act against the Holy Quran and the teachings of our beloved prophet Muhammad,” Ameen has asserted in his letter.

The MCSL has called upon the Indonesian government to ensure the safety and security of the temple and other Buddhist sites in Indonesia and to protect these places of religious significance from any harm.

Emphasizing on the fact that Islam is a religion of peace where no space is allowed for terrorism or violence, the MCSL has stated that these threats and violent actions carried out in the name of Islam are funded and armed by vested interests to destabilize the Arab and Muslim regions.

Furthermore, they have pointed out that Indonesia – the country with the largest Muslim population is duty bound to protect all religions’ places of worship as required by their noble religion.

Sri Lanka looks to China as Norochcholai power plant breaks down again
31 August 2014
Sri Lankan authorities have announced that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed with China in September to help repair the $1.35 billion Norochcholai power plant as it broke down yet again this week.

The Sunday Times -(Sunday, August 31, 2014

China is to play a bigger role in Sri Lanka’s power generation sector by helping to maintain the US$ 1.35 billion Norochcholai coal fired power plant that has been plagued by repeated breakdowns. President Xi Jingping who arrives in Colombo on a two-day visit on September 16 will watch, together with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the signing of first of two Memorandums of Understanding for this purpose. It will be between the Ministry of Power and Energy and China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Power and Energy Minister Pavitra Wanniarachchi, who obtained the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers has declared that the Chinese role will ensure there will be not be “any future technical failures.”A copy of the MoU, obtained by the Sunday Times, reveals that it will be for three years with provision for extension. Its aim is described as “to provide technical cooperation for stable, efficient functioning of the Norochcholai Coal Power Project.”

Later, the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) will sign a follow-up MoU to give effect to the agreement reached. At present, the Norochcholai or Lakvijaya Power Project is maintained by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). The first MoU paving the way for the state institutions of the two countries to work jointly is for:

n Providing operation and maintenance advisory service for the Project.n Assisting CEB to plan to purchase its spare parts requirements on a long term basis, facilitating CEB to procure genuine spare parts from original manufacturers at competitive prices while guaranteeing cost effectiveness, quality and technical standards to ensure effective operation and maintenance of the Project in a timely manner.

n Providing effective advisory services for annual inspection and overhaul of the project, and the related machinery including advisory services on effective remedial measures to be taken to rectify the shortcomings and lapses, particularly with regard to machinery of the Unit One of the project.
n Providing training to CEB personnel with the intention of improving their technical capabilities and to provide exposure to a different technical culture to such CEB personnel.

A four-member committee is to be established in terms of the MoU to supervise the implementation of the provisions. Its co-chairpersons will be the Power and Energy Ministry Secretary and the Chinese embassy’s Economic and Commercial Counsellor. The other members are: Chief Executive Officer/General Manager of the CEB or the CEB’s Additional General Manager in charge of the subject of Generation and the President or the Deputy President of the Chinese firm CMEC.)

reported the MoU will be signed when China's President Xi Jingping visits Colombo on September 16^th, with Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Minister Pavitra Wanniarachchi, adding the increased Chinese role will ensure there will be not be “any future technical failures.”

Jellyfish reportedly clogged up filters at the trouble-plagued plant, with officials struggling to fix it before the Chinese President's visit. Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Media Spokesman Senajith Dassanayake said,

“Around 30-40 divers have to be used to remove these creatures from the filters. We were hoping to remove these creatures from the filters of Unit 1, but unfortunately, seas these days are extremely rough in the area and the divers haven’t been able to go in thus far.”

In 2012, an earlier breakdown at the plant had caused island-wide power shortages.

See our earlier posts:

26th breakdown and counting (11 January 2014)

Chinese power plant failure causes nationwide power cuts (25 July 2012)

12 breakdowns since power plant opening (21 August 2012)
 
Chinese engineers flown in amid questions of sabotage (18 August 2012)

Health sector demands before Cabinet –Health Secy 

Sudhrama-August 31, 2014

By Don Asoka Wijewardena

Health Secretary Sudhrama Karunaratne yesterday said that the demands put forward by the Joint Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine (JCPSM) had been submitted to the Cabinet Secretary Sumith Abeysinghe for Cabinet approval.

The JCPSM demands could not be granted overnight as they needed recommendations of the Finance Ministry, Salaries and Cadre Commission and Management Services Department, she said. The court has issued an injunction order to halt the strike launched by the JCPSM from yesterday (31).

The JCPSM had been holding many discussions with Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena and her on Class One and Super Grade promotions of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine personnel. Then the Health Ministry with the concurrence of Finance Ministry Deputy Secretary, Public Administration Ministry Secretary and Health Secretary had appointed a sub-committee, which had submitted the report with necessary recommendations, the Health Secretary said.

Karunaratne said that the trade unionists of the JCPSM had been informed that the demands put forward by them had been submitted to the Cabinet for approval.

She stressed that the main demand of the JCPSM was permission for the Medical Laboratory Technologists, Radiographers, Pharmacists, Physiotherapists to do engage in private practice after duty hours like doctors and nurses, but that matter, too, needed Cabinet approval.

A patient had filed a case against the strike launched by the JCPSM and the court issued an injunction order on August 29 suspending the strike for two weeks.

JCPSM President Darmakeerthi Epa, contacted for comment, said that the JCPSM had informed its affiliated employees to report for duty on August 31 morning by honouring the court order issued on August 29. During the strike the JCPSM had held three discussions with Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, who said their demands had been submitted to the Cabinet for approval. The JCPSM regretted the inconvenience caused by the strike to the patients, he said

PS chairman threatened by supporters of SB’s son

Mr. Narada Dissanayake receives letter of appointment as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) co-organizer for Hanguranketha from President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees on Sunday (August 31). (Pic By : Sudath Silva)

September 1, 2014

The Chairman of the Hanguranketha  Pradeshiya Sabha, Ranasinghe Dissanayake, claims that four supporters of Narada Dissanayake, son of Minister S.B. Dissanayake, threatened to kill him within 5 days.

Narada Dissanayake was yesterday appointed as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) co-organizer for Hanguranketha. He was handed the letter of appointment by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees.

The Hanguranketha  PS chairman stated he was threatened by a group of Narada’s supporters who were celebrating the appointment last evening by lighting firecrackers and shouting on top of vehicles in the Udawatta area in Hanguranketha.

 They threatened me saying they would kill me within 5 days and that they were “Narada’s people,” Ranasinghe Dissanayake told Ada Derana. 

He claimed that even his nephew was threatened by the men and that two of them who he identified were involved in murders. 

The PS chairman said he lodged a complaint with Hanguranketha Police this morning regarding the incident.

He also accused Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake’s supports of plotting to defeat the previous budget of the Hanguranketha Pradeshiya Sabha and later remove him from the chairmanship. 

However, attempts by Ada Derana to contact Minister S.B. Dissanayake’s son Narada Dissanayake regarding the alleged incident were unsuccessful. 

Gota revealed as political advisor to Sajith!

 

Monday, 01 September 2014 

Defence ministry secretary Nandasena Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is the political advisor to Sajith Premadasa, who is aspiring to become the deputy leader of the UNP, Rajapaksa has admitted in front of Colombo mayor A.J.M Muzzamil and several urban councillors of the party.

Spending most of the time of the day in a bad temper, it was surprising for all to see Gotabhaya all smiles at a recent function, where he spoke to everyone present. He has gone to the mayor and the councillors of the UNP and chatted with them about political crises.

He said that he always advised that person – who is none other than Sajith – to become friendly with Ranil and make him contest the presidential election, ensure his defeat and gain the party’s reins to his hands.

Gotabhaya said however, that Sajith does nothing, and waits for others to do everything for him, but that from the government side, he cannot do anything about it, and that he does not make use of the support he is giving him.

A few days later, mayor Muzammil has related that to Wickremesinghe, who said that he knew all about it. He said that he knew who Sajith is and who are behind him. Before everything else, we must win, and after that everything else can be taken care of. Until then, he asked, he be allowed to play his own game.

Broadcasting Regulations Of 

Bangladesh And A Debate

| by Swadesh Roy writes from Dhaka

( September 1, 2014, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) In Bangladesh, private television is a new phenomenon; it has been started from 2000, but it has been spread recently. 

Broadcasting Regulations of Bangladesh and a Debate by Thavam Ratna

Russia says Ukraine talks should seek ‘immediate ceasefire’

01/09 10:41 CET
Despite Western claims that Russia is backing separatist rebels in Ukraine and has sent its own troops over the border, Moscow has again insisted that it won’t intervene militarily.

Speaking to students in the capital, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” to be discussed during crisis talks in Belarus today.

“There will be no military intervention,” Lavrov said.

“ We are exclusively in favour of a peaceful solution to this terrible crisis, to this tragedy, and everything we do is to seek a political solution to the conflict.”

The talks in Minsk will bring together representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE security forum and separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

As President Putin urged talks on the “statehood” of southern and eastern Ukraine, his counterpart in Kyiv, Petro Poroshenko, accused Russia of launching “direct and open aggression”.

Ukraine now says it has had to pull troops back from defending the airport in the eastern city of Luhansk, after they were faced with a “batallion of Russian tanks”.

And Ukrainian troops and local residents are reinforcing the port of Mariupol, the next big city in the path of pro-Russian fighters who pushed back government forces along the Azov Sea last week in an offensive on a new front.

Ukraine: how can the west bring Russia to heel?

Monday 01 Sep 2014

With the Ukraine government alleging “hundreds” of Russian tanks have crossed into its territory, European leaders are, once again scrambling for a response.

But a response to what? Russian intentions are becoming hard to read.

Militarily it’s fairly clear that, after the loss of territory by the original Donetsk People’s Republic rebels, and massive loss of face after the shoot-down of MH-17, pro-Russian forces have opened a third area of operations, along the south coast of Ukraine, threatening to create a land corridor from Russia to occupied Crimea.

At the same time as Vladimir Putin has begun to talk about “Novorossiya” – code for Russian annexation of Dontetsk and Luhansk oblasts – his foreign minister, Lavrov, has called for a ceasefire.

I read this not as incoherence but a message: since you, the west, cannot bring yourselves to do anything to deter us, we the Russians will demonstrate our capability to make this situation endlessly chaotic. Endless chaos for Ukraine is the Kremlin’s plan B once it cannot control Ukraine; chaos in which the West can never guess whether Putin intends to drive tanks towards Odessa, or pull them back across the border.

More sanctions

In response the EU has ordered its civil servants to prepare a new round of economic sanctions. The UK is said to be pressing for the closure of the SWIFT bank-clearance service. (Glance at your own bank statement: in the top right corner there will be a SWIFT code for your branch: that’s how fundamental SWIFT is).

Closing off SWIFT would be a big move. Even if targeted it would severely limit some Russian firms’ ability to do business with the rest of the world. It would put the onus on major banking groups to police the embargo – and as they found out with Iran, the cost of sanctions busting can be billions.

But Angela Merkel said at the weekend she wanted any future sanctions to be mapped onto the old ones – that is, closing loopholes and tightening the noose on the small group of Russian businessmen and two or three giant banks and oil groups aligned to Putin, who’ve been prevented from travelling, and in some cases from issuing bonds on Western markets.

Slowly, the Nato leaders are having to re-learn the art of statecraft the hard way. Putin knows they will not use military force. He knows their preference is to go back to the old situation, and they want to leave as many doors open as possible. He also knows they cannot “read” him – since even his own close aides cannot read him.

The problem for the East is, between sanctions that make life difficult for a few people and the paralysis of the entire Russian finance system, there are very few gear changes in-between.

Military trading

So into the gap come weapons. Croatia has done a nifty deal to supply 14 Mi-8 transport helicopters to Ukraine, in return for the USA giving Croatia some second-rate US AH-1 attack helicopters.

Meanwhile Hungary has supplied 58 soviet-style T-72 tanks, usable by the Ukrainian military, to a private firm in the Czech Republic, which a Polish newspaper has said will end up, eventually, in Ukraine.

Poland’s national security chief has declared there is no constitutional obstacle for Polish weapons going to Ukraine, and insiders believe the ground is being laid for bilateral Polish-Ukrainian military aid.

Lithuania’s prime minister said yesterday: “Russia is practically at war against Europe.” She called on EU countries to supply Ukraine with weapons saying: “Ukraine is fighting a war on behalf of all Europe.”

Dependence on Russia

This is not just rhetoric.  Europe’s big powers will not go down the route of harsher economic moves:  Germany has its gas dependence on Russia, Italy has its financial dependence, and Britain has large part of the Russian elite interspersed into its own business elite. So those small countries with a life-or-death dependence on the Nato guarantee – Poland, Lithuania, Hungary – are preparing if not boots on the ground then tracks on the tank transporter.

In addition, Nato announced it has created four trust funds through which western governments will fund the Ukrainian military’s logistics, its command and control systems, cyber warfare and payroll. That’s quite a lot of proxy warfare for a country that is still formally non-aligned, though Ukraine’s PM said at the weekend he would propose to end the country’s non-aligned status and re-start moves towards Nato membership.

Make no mistake, serious sanctions by the West would collapse the Russian finance system, and very quickly. It’s often said the reason they are reluctant is the harm it would do our own economies directly.

As I’ve written before, there is a bigger impediment: overt use of economic and financial sanctions by western countries where the “plumbing” of the global system sits – in SWIFT’s case it is Belgium – would be interpreted across the world as a step back from globalization.

That’s why they are not making moves on the basis of one town, or one satellite image from Ukraine. But the less they do economically, the more we’re going to see Nato’s eastern members act bilaterally.

- See more at: http://blogs.channel4.com/paul-mason-blog/russia-ukraine-sanctions-swift/2165#sthash.q0VtRUrp.dpuf

Preparing for War with Ukraine’s Fascist Defenders of Freedom

On the frontlines of the new offensive in eastern Ukraine, the hardcore Azov Battalion is ready for battle with Russia. But they're not fighting for Europe, either.

• BY ALEC LUHN-AUGUST 30, 2014

MARIUPOL, Ukraine - Blue and yellow Ukrainian flags fly over Mariupol's burned-out city administration building and at military checkpoints around the city, but at a sport school near a huge metallurgical plant, another symbol is just as prominent: the wolfsangel ("wolf trap") symbol that was widely used in the Third Reich and has been adopted by neo-Nazi groups.
Preparing for War With Ukraine’s Fascist Defenders of Freedom by Thavam Ratna

Syrian army, rebels fight on Golan where peacekeepers held

1 OF 2. A rebel fighter is seen during a battle with Syrian army soldiers in Syria near the border fence with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights September 1, 2014. 

2 OF 2. U.N. vehicles drive in Syria, near the border fence with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights August 31, 2014. 

BY BAZ RATNER AND MANUEL MOGATO-EIN ZIVAN Golan Heights/MANILA Mon Sep 1, 2014

(Reuters) - Heavy fighting erupted on Monday between the Syrian army and Islamist rebels on the Golan Heights, where 44 peacekeepers from Fiji are being held by militants and scores of their fellow blue helmets from the Philippines escaped after resisting capture.

Syria's three-year civil war reached the frontier with Israeli-controlled territory last week when Islamist fighters overran a crossing point in the line that has separated Israelis from Syrians in the Golan Heights since a 1973 war.

The fighters also turned against the U.N. blue helmets from a peacekeeping force that has patrolled the ceasefire line for 40 years. After the 44 Fijians were captured on Thursday, more than 70 Filipinos were besieged at two locations for two days.

All the Filipinos reached safety over the weekend. Thirty-two were rescued from one outpost on Saturday and 40 escaped from the other position early on Sunday while rebels were sleeping after a seven-hour firefight.

Fiji says it is negotiating the release of its 44 troops. The United Nations says it is not sure where they are being held. The Nusra Front, Syria's affiliate of al Qaeda, says it is holding them because the U.N. force protects Israel.

It was not immediately clear on Monday whether forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had managed to retake control of the Quneitra crossing from the Nusra Front rebels.

Persistent gunshots and explosions from mortar shells and other munitions could be heard on the Israeli-occupied side of the frontier and combatants could be clearly seen targeting each other with their weapons.

At least one tank belonging to the Syrian army was also involved and some rebels could be seen a few metres (yards) away from the frontier fence.

A large Syrian flag that had been flying for days between the Quneitra crossing and the abandoned town was taken down and a United Nations position in the area, thought to be unmanned, was pounded with mortar shells.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence in the Syrian civil war, said the Nusra Front and allied fighters were battling government forces near the Quneitra crossing and in the nearby village of al-Hamiydiah.

The Observatory said there were casualties on both sides. Observatory founder Rami Abdelrahman told Reuters the Nusra Front's aim appeared to be "to end once and for all the regime's presence in the area and it also appears that the goal is to expel the international observers".

PHILIPPINES DEFENDS DECISION NOT TO SURRENDER

The U.N. peacekeeping force in the area, known as UNDOF, includes 1,223 troops from India, Ireland, Nepal and the Netherlands as well as the Fijians and Filipinos who came under attack last week.

The Filipino blue helmets had been besieged in outposts known as positions 68 and 69 until their rescue from one on Saturday and escape from the other early on Sunday morning. The United Nations said both Syria and Israel helped in the rescue.

The Filipino army chief, General Gregorio Catapang, said his men had defended themselves in defiance of an order from their U.N. commander, who had told them to surrender their weapons to prevent harm befalling the captured Fijians.

"The UNDOF commander wants to save the Fijians at the expense of the Philippines," Catapang told reporters at the main army base in Manila after speaking to Filipino soldiers on the Golan Heights by Skype.

"We are not at fault if the Fijians were captured. They surrendered their guns. I was telling the UNDOF commander to save first the Philippines and then we will help the Fijians. After all, they were already captured. There is no assurance that if we surrender our weapons we will not be captured, so the UNDOF commander will have a bigger problem," he said.

He added that there was nothing in the rules of engagement that provided for the Filipinos to surrender their weapons, and he fully supported the decision of the Filipino commander on the ground to defy the order to give up his guns.

The United Nations has announced that the Philippines will pull out of UNDOF. Austria, Japan and Croatia have also pulled their troops out of the force because of the deteriorating security situation as the civil war in Syria reaches the Golan.

On Sunday, Israel's military said it had shot down a drone that flew from Syria into Israeli-controlled airspace over the Golan. It was not immediately clear who had dispatched the unmanned aircraft or the nature of its mission in an area where fighting from Syria's civil war has occasionally spilled over into Israeli-held territory.

In a statement, the military said the drone was downed by a Patriot missile near the Quneitra crossing.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry in Beirut; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Israel seizes 400 hectares of West Bank land

US official describes as "counterproductive" Israeli announcement to appropriate land, said to be largest in 30 years.

Last updated: 01 Sep 2014 
The United States has urged Israel to reverse its decision to seize nearly 400 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, a move anti-settlement activists termed the largest land grab in 30 years.

Israel announced the massive land appropriation on Sunday in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem just days after Gaza ceasefire.

A Palestinian official said the latest land grab by Israel would cause only more friction after the Gaza war that left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead and over 10,000 injured.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on Israel to cancel the appropriation. "This decision will lead to more instability. This will only inflame the situation after the war in Gaza," presidential spokesman Abu Rdainah said.

A US State Department official called the announcement as "counterproductive to Israel's stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians".

"We urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision," the official said in Washington.

Peace Now group, which opposes Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, territory the Palestinians seek for a state, said the appropriation was meant to turn a site where 10 families now live adjacent to a Jewish seminary into a permanent settlement.

International criticism

Construction of a major settlement at the location, known as "Gevaot", has been mooted by Israel since 2000. Last year, the government invited bids for the building of 1,000 housing units at the site.

Peace Now said the land seizure was the largest announced by Israel in the West Bank since the 1980s and that anyone with ownership claims had 45 days to appeal. A local Palestinian mayor said Palestinians owned the tracts and harvested olive trees on them.

Israel has come under international criticism over its settlement activities, which most countries regard as illegal under international law and a major obstacle to the creation of a viable Palestinian state in any future peace deal.

Israel has said construction at Gevaot would not constitute the establishment of a new settlement because the site is officially designated a neighbourhood of an existing one, Alon Shvut, several kilometres down the road.

About 500,000 Israelis live among 2.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.