Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists trade accusations as Minsk deal frays

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (2nd L) listens to explanations as he inspects a military drill, with the National Security and Defence Council Oleksandr Turchynov (L) seen nearby, at a training ground near the city of Mykolaiv April 25, 2015.

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KIEV/MOSCOW | BY PAVEL POLITYUK AND JASON BUSH- Sat Apr 25, 2015

(Reuters) - The Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine traded accusations on Saturday, reviving concerns that a peace deal signed in Minsk in February may collapse, although monitors said the violations were still relatively limited.

One Ukrainian serviceman was killed and two were wounded when separatists shelled Ukraine’s National Guard on Saturday at Shyrokyne, a village east of the port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov in Ukraine’s southeast, Kiev’s military said.

“Today at 0625 hours, the adversary used 122 mm artillery. They are banned under the Minsk agreements,” spokesman Dmytro Gorbunov told the television channel 112.

The commander of the battalion that came under fire was separately quoted as saying the serviceman had been killed when a medical vehicle taking him to hospital was fired on.

Rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine also stepped up accusations. “Today a rather explosive situation has formed, which demands the urgent intervention of the international community,” rebel spokesman Eduard Basurin said, according to the Donetsk News Agency.

Basurin said Ukrainian forces had fired on an aid convoy from Russia, killing one person. He later accused them of increasingly frequent attacks and indiscriminate fire on populated areas, Interfax reported.

Gleb Kornilov, head of the Foundation for Aid to Novorossiya, a Russian aid organisation, told Reuters that an aid column had come under fire from Ukrainian troops near Shyrokyne on Thursday when it accidentally strayed from an agreed route, and that a Russian citizen had been killed.

“The convoy didn’t try to hide,” he said. It was in broad daylight, with flashing lights, with our stickers on all sides. All the same, they opened fire.“

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which is monitoring the ceasefire, said the violations were still limited.

"NOT VERY ACTIVE CONFLICT”

“We are not in a phase of very active conflict like we have seen in previous months,” OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier told Reuters on the sidelines of a security conference in Estonia.

“It looks like it is the local commanders but I agree that, if we don’t take these things under control, there is a risk of a larger deterioration, so we have our teams heading back or are already back in that area to engage with the commanders.”

Another rebel representative, Denis Pushilin, said a fresh build-up of military hardware by Kiev in showed that it was intent on a “military solution of the conflict”, according to the Russian news agency RIA.

He said the rebels were not opposed to the deployment of international peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine - a long-standing demand by Kiev - but accused Ukraine of violating the Minsk deal by failing to discuss constitutional changes with the rebels.

Attending military exercises in southwestern Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko said: “Ukraine is strictly implementing the Minsk agreements, therefore the Ukrainian armed forces will never attack first.”

Large quantities of heavy weapons with a calibre of more than 100 mm have been withdrawn by both sides under the Minsk deal, brokered by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.

Yet both sides regularly accuse each other of violating the accord.

The Kiev military says rebels are keeping up pressure on the Mariupol, strategically important not least for its position between rebel-controlled eastern regions and the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in March 2014.

More than 6,100 people have been killed in the conflict, which erupted in the Russian-speaking east after Russia seized Crimea following the overthrow of a Moscow-backed president in Kiev.

(Writing by Richard Balmforth and Jason Bush; additional reporting by David Mardiste in Tallinn; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Kevin Liffey)

Greeks’ view of the debt crisis: ‘What lies ahead is great, great hardship’

Three months on from Alexis Tsipras’s victory, hope is ebbing away and support for his party is haemorrhaging

A woman selling lottery tickets outside a closed shop in central Athens. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters

Helena Smith-Saturday 25 April 2015

Another week. Another crisis. Another make-or-break meeting that may, or may not, throw Greece into the unchartered waters of default, eurozone exit, destitution and despair.

It is a sliding scale of drama, of high-octane intensity that Greeks have learned to watch with a mixture of shock, angst, bewilderment and dismay. Today dismay predominates.

Five years on – Thursday was the fifth anniversary of the debt-stricken nation’s request for a bailout – there is an overriding sense of worse to come.

“All I see is worried faces,” sighs Giorgos Pappas, who has a bird’s-eye view of central Athens from his appropriately named Cosmos café. “Anyone who can is taking their money abroad. Nothing is moving; the market is dead.”

Riding high on the promise of hope, Alexis Tsipras’s anti-austerity government initially enjoyed unparalleled support. But three months later, with a life-saving deal no nearer with its creditors – the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund – hope is ebbing. Greece desperately needs to find €7.2bn (£5.1bn) in funds under its €240bn bailout, but Athens’ inability to agree reforms in exchange for the money is pushing it to the brink of default.

Last week, surveys showed the Syriza party-led coalition haemorrhaging the popular backing that has kept it buoyant. Support for the leftists and their hard-line stance in negotiations has dropped precipitously. Only 45.5 % told pollsters at the University of Macedonia that they endorsed the government’s stance, compared with 72% in February.

After an unusually long, wet winter, the sun has come out, which has helped lift the mood. Tourists are pouring in and with them comes the feelgood spirit of spring. But no amount of coping can hide the exhaustion of a nation with no idea of what tomorrow will bring. What everyone does know, thanks to regular newspaper headlines, is that time is running out. The endgame is here because cash reserves are perilously close to running dry. The light at the end of the tunnel remains cutbacks and reforms: that is to say more misery for a country that has seen its economy contract by a quarter since 2010.

On the street foreboding grows. The sight of the government now scrambling to find funds, which included ordering local authorities and state organisations to hand over cash reserves last week, has sparked panic that bank deposits could be next. Amid talk of a parallel currency being introduced and civil servants being paid in IOUs, anxious savers have rushed to clear out their accounts. “Everyone thinks their savings will be next,” said an official at the Bank of Greece.

The finance ministry described the sequestration of local government funds as an “internal loan” but it was denounced as a coup d’etat by enraged mayors and prefects.

After meeting Angela Merkel on Thursday, Tsipras said he was optimistic an interim agreement would soon be reached. But Greeks know another bailout will be needed even if the short-term €7.2bn in secured.

“Even if there is a temporary solution it will not solve our problems,” sighed prominent communist MP, Liana Kanelli. “Our country produces nothing. Its manufacturing base has been destroyed, it is de-industrialised and agriculturally deserted. What lies ahead is great, great hardship.”

The world according to Amos Yee and the meaning of tolerance

Amos Yee released on bail, April 21, 2015. Pic: CNA. 

By Carlton Tan-Apr 25, 2015 

In an astonishing act of self-interest—it couldn’t have been anything else, the notion of grace being quite foreign to the intolerant religionists, who we call ‘Christians’ when in polite company—one deluded worshipper of the malicious and deceitful fantasy deity, Jesus Christ, unwittingly posted bail for Singapore’s dearly beloved, prisoner of conscience, Amos Yee. Since Amos is a selfless, precocious, fount of wisdom and a boy-genius who will hopefully run our country someday; and since he is the epitome of what it means to be an underdog challenger of oppressive institutions; three lawyers have seized the opportunity to get in the good graces of Singapore’s next Prime Minister, his inability to obtain gainful employment from the MDA notwithstanding.

The World According to Amos Yee and the Meaning of Tolerance by Thavam Ratna

​The Fight Over Canada’s Patriot Act

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has introduced an ambitious and unpopular intelligence reform agenda. Can anyone stop it?

BY JUSTIN LING-APRIL 24, 2015

TAWA, Canada — When Michael Zehaf-Bibeau barreled through the halls of Canada’s Parliament on Oct. 22, 2014, he could have tried the door on his left. If he had — notwithstanding the blood he was losing, the security detail closing in on him, and the pile of chairs and tables stacked behind the door — he would have been face-to-face with Canada’s government. The room was full of members of Parliament. The ministers of public safety and national defense were there. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was just yards away, locked in a side room, guarded by his caucus members.

The Fight Over Canada’s Patriot Act by Thavam Ratna

Pakistan activist Sabeen Mahmud shot dead in Karachi

Sabeen Mahmud, one of Pakistan's most outspoken human rights campaigners, has been killed by armed men after giving a talk in Karachi, writes Saira Jaffer.

SATURDAY 25 APRIL 2015

Sabeen Mahmud, a prominent Pakistani human rights activist was shot dead by gunmen on Friday in the southern city of Karachi, shortly after hosting an event on one of Pakistan's most controversial subjects.

Pakistan activist Sabeen Mahmud shot dead in Karachi.odt by Thavam Ratna

When the hospital’s drug cabinet is bare

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via Reuters)

By Lenny Bernstein April 24
I worry about a lot of things that could go wrong if I'm taken to a hospital, but until today this hasn't been one of them: Hospitals are routinely running short of critical antibiotics, often for months at a time.

When Larissa May, an associate professor of emergency medicine at George Washington University, and a team of researchers checked, they found that hospitals across the country ran short of 148 anti-bacterial drugs over a 13-year period, from 2001 to 2013. The average time without a drug was nearly nine months (injectable drugs generally ran short for even longer periods than medications taken by mouth). Thirty-two of the medications ran short more than once, including one, Meropenem, which was short seven different times for a total of 1,114 days.

These were not exotic pharmaceuticals that were needed now and then. We're talking about front-line antibiotics used to treat various infections, including multidrug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and clostridium difficile. In some cases, the only drug available against a certain infection ran short.

[Mutant, drug-resistant bacteria is spreading in the U.S., CDC warns]

There's no question that "these shortages often impact clinicians' ability to treat infections," May wrote. In a 2010 survey, clinicians reported "adverse outcomes" because of drug shortages in 20 percent of their cases. May's research team did not look for fatalities, so it's unclear whether any resulted from a drug shortage.

"It's pretty scary, really," May told me in an interview. "There are some infections for which there are very limited alternatives, or no alternatives for that drug." So in some cases, the drug cupboard is simply bare, she said.

We've all  heard of drug-resistant bacteria and the problem of over-prescribing antibiotics. But I doubt the average person understands it's possible to be admitted to a hospital for a serious infection and have the doctor say the pharmacy is simply out of the drug he needs. But it happens all the time, according to the data May's team compiled from a database run by the University of Utah Drug Information Service. The study was published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

[White House anounces plan to fight anti-biotic resistant bacteria]

For example, injectable doxycycline, used to treat Lyme disease, pneumonia and urinary tract infections, ran short three times during the study period, for a total of 1,515 days.

Vancomycin, used to treat severe skin infections and endocarditis, among other conditions, ran short three times for 373 days and was still on shortage when the study ended.

The Food and Drug Administration defines a drug shortage as a period when total supply of various versions of antibiotics is inadequate to meet projected demand "at the user level." Individual hospitals may or may not have some on hand, depending on recent use.

There are several reasons why this happens, according to the study. Drug companies have been merging, prompting consolidation of their manufacturing facilities. The profit margin for antibiotics is thin, providing little incentive for those companies to come out with new drugs. Some drugs, such as one for the treatment of Pneumocystis pneumonia, are produced by a single manufacturer.

Communication between hospital pharmacies and drug manufacturers also needs improvement, the research concludes. "In half of cases, physicians and nurses learn about drug shortages from pharmacy staff, often when the pharmacy is unable to dispense the medication," they wrote.

May said she is hopeful that a new federal government program to create incentives for development of new antibiotics will be helpful, and she suggested that manufacturers be required to alert hospitals when drugs are running short.

Lenny Bernstein writes the To Your Health blog. He started as an editor on the Post’s National Desk in 2000 and has worked in Metro and Sports.

Sri Lanka: Widows of War

101 East examines the plight of thousands of widows struggling to survive in post-war Sri Lanka.

23 Apr 2015 23

When a barrage of artillery slammed into Sivalingam Maheswary's town in Sri Lanka's northeast, her husband and son were among those killed.

Sivalingam was one of the few survivors, but she lost her right arm in the shelling on the frontline of the country's civil war.

The guns have since fallen silent but 90,000 widows like Sivalingam are now struggling to earn enough to feed themselves and their children. The number of widows is almost as high as the death toll caused by the decades-long war.

101 East examines the plight of Sri Lanka's forgotten war widows and asks how the island nation's new regime will help thousands of widows struggling to survive.

TISL Salutes the Bribery Commission for its Brave Stand

24/04/2015

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), the local chapter of the global movement against corruption, salutes the proactive nature in which the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) is currently operating, after years of suppression and political interference.

Based on an increasing number of complaints, the CIABOC has initiated several investigations and probes against allegations of large scale corruption running into billions of rupees by high ranking officials and politicians, some of whom have already been summoned for further inquiry and questioning.

Issuing a statement today the TISL said; ” The Bribery or Corruption Commission is a fundamental tool required in an active democracy to ensure transparency in transactions, accountability of those who are in positions of authority and the good governance of a country.

“it is most refreshing and timely to witness the CIABOC taking a strong stand against corruption and complaints made against leading politicians, their close associates and high ranking government officials. We are also happy to note that the police also have taken very strong stand against corruption and in fact investigating in to series of financial scandals.

“In this context it is particularly distressing to note the irresponsible stance and noncooperation of certain parties, including Parliamentarians, against the actions of the CIABOC undermining not only their authority but also the rule of law. As a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), Sri Lanka and its elected representatives are duty bound to uphold the standards and provisions outlined in the Convention and at a minimum allow for the impartial investigations of allegations and complaints without disruption or undue influence.

“Currently CIABOC is running full stream and staff is working restlessly to investigate large number of complaints running in to more than 1500. It was no secret this was due to timely action taken by hard working Director General of the CIABOC. While appreciating her work, TISL earnestly appeal to the government and opposition politicians to allow Director General and the CIABOC to work independently to see smooth running of the country’s highest anti corruption institution. We further urge all parties concern to assist CIABOC and Police in respect of investigations”, the statement further adds.

Zhou To Xi Carrying Forward The Bandung Spirit

By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera -April 24, 2015

Asanga Abeygoonasekera

The recent visit to Pakistan by Chinese President Xi Jing Ping secured $46b for development of power and infrastructure sector. This sizeable Chinese foreign investment will help Pakistan’s economy significantly. The elevation from “iron friends” to an all weather strategic partnership relationship between the two nations was significant. After signing more than 50 cooperation deals between the two countries promises to raise the bilateral trade from $16b to $20b over three years was planned.

The proposed development plan of China Pakistan Economic corridor where the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road meet is significant. It will affect the entire south Asian region. According Xi “We need to form a ‘1+4′ cooperation structure with the CPEC at the center and the Gwadar Port, transport infrastructure, energy and industrial cooperation being the four key areas to achieve a win-win result and common development,” This statement reflects the deep interest and commitment of China to support nations such as Pakistan. Similar initiatives launched in other South Asian nations such as Sri Lanka’s Hambanthota port will contribute immensely to regional economic and trade enhancement and intensification .

China, a giant neighbour to South Asia will work closely and strengthen its relationship with South Asia over the next decade. Pakistan and China who assisted Sri Lanka to defeat the terrorist LTTE could work together on further improving and contributing toward international counter terrorism efforts and enhancing counter terrorism capacity building in the region.

The large scale flow of Chinese assistance to developing nations in South Asia and Africa will be a great relief to these nations who battle to improve the economic conditions.  Read More

Sri Lankan President Seeks Support to Curb Executive Powers

24/04/2015

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena appealed Thursday for support for legislation to check the enormous powers of the presidency, one of his key election pledges.

In a televised address to the nation as his government marked 100 days in power, Sirisena asked lawmakers to “become a partner to strengthen the freedom and democracy of the people.”

The bill will be debated next week, with the minority government needing two-thirds of the votes in the 225-member parliament to pass it.

The proposal includes strengthening Parliament and setting up an independent judiciary and police.

Parliamentary supporters of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who narrowly lost the January election to Sirisena, oppose the proposal and may have enough votes to thwart it.

Sirisena, who was health minister in Rajapaksa’s Cabinet, has accused Rajapaksa of being an autocrat.

Sirisena said the changes are necessary “to restore freedom and democracy, build a decent society and to prevent creation of dictatorial rulers in the future.”

Killy-Dilith in media campaign to save Tiran

Friday, 24 April 2015 

Killy Maharaja (the plumber) and Dilith Jayaweera are involved in a media campaign to save businessman MP Tiran Alles who has become bankrupt due to his media business. Tiran’s Ceylon Newspapers (Pvt.) Ltd., the publisher of ‘Ceylon Today’ and ‘Mawbima’, is facing closure.

The number of journalists and other staffers who had left the company since its inception is four to five times its existing staff. The reason is that the owner’s constant interference in the duties of the editorials. That was not second to the intimidation the media had to undergo during the previous Rajapaksa regime. Killy’s MTV/MBC Media Network and Dilith’s Derana are now trying to whitewash Tiran. The reason that has brought the trio together is their common stance of opposing Ranil Wickremesinghe. They are abusing their institutions to throw mud politically and personally at him.

Due to the political and business games he had played, Tiran is facing ruin, and adding to that, his connections with the LTTE too, now have come to light. Killy and Dilith have taken up the responsibility of whitewashing all those garbage, but what they should understand that Tiran should be born again if his wrongdoings are to be rectified.

100 Days Of Uncertainties

By Hilmy Ahamed –April 24, 2015

Hilmy Ahamed

The much promised good governance of the 100-day government of Sirisena-Wickremesinghe has come to the end of its promised period. No dissolution of parliament as expected has taken place. A confident president went on national media and claimed a successful 100 days of governance. The promise of dissolution of the parliament on the 24th of April and early general elections is unlikely to happen until the 20th amendment to the constitution is passed and sufficient time is allocated to conduct the next general elections under the Proportional Representation (PR) system at the district level to a mixed First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) and PR system.

The majority of Sri Lankans who elected the incumbent against all odds were treated to unprecedented uncertainties during these 100 days. The end of the current government’s 100-day programme has not yielded the promised results as expected, even though people are able to sleep in peace, devoid of the Rajapaksa tyranny. The SLFP led UPFA called the shots in parliament during this 100 days and made sure that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe was held to ransom at every opportunity so that the corrupt and criminals among them would go scot free. Their trump card was their majority in parliament. President Maithripala Sirisena failed to use his executive powers to take control of the political chaos and ensure proper governance.

Will President Sirisena pay the price by becoming a President under siege in the next parliament, shouldMahinda Rajapaksa manage to get a sizable representation through a now inevitable coalition of political discards of the UPFA that he would lead? Fragmentation of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party votes is likely to ensure a long stay in opposition for those who will remain in Maithripala’s SLFP and Mahinda Rajapaksa’s coalition.

                      Read More

The 100 days programme of President Sirisena: People’s perspectives

• by Groundviews 
• - on 04/24/2015 

On the 23rd April, President Sirisena completed a 100 days in office. On a site – one of many – that has monitored the implementation of the 100-days programme, 10 out of 25 promises are indicated to have been fulfilled. This week Groundviews wandered around in Colombo talking to its citizens in an attempt to find out what the public opinion is; are people satisfied with the new government?

Have the last three months had an impact on the lives of the Sri Lankan citizens and what are their prospects for the future? The opinions are diverse; some see change and have experience improvements in their lives, and some don’t. Some support the new government and some still support Mahinda Rajapaksa. A view that was consistent was the focus on the lowering of living costs and the raise of salaries. People are demanding their basic needs to be covered.

Other goals in the 100-days programme such as the introduction of the 19th Amendment and the Right to Information Act seems abstract to most of the citizens. Many did not know of them, others felt they were unimportant as long as the cost of living and the salaries did not improve. Furthermore, most of the interviewed citizens were either slightly or gravely disappointed with the new government, because they hadn’t kept their promises. On the other hand, several emphasised that 100 days is not enough to judge a new government and that they need more time to bring about change.

Produced by Ingeborg Lohfert Haslund-Vinding, a Danish journalist currently in Sri Lanka reporting for and working with Groundviews, access the new photo story here.

UPFA politicians summoned on contempt charges

Several UPFA politicians sit outside the Bribery Commission on Thursday (23). Photo: Sanjeewa Lasantha

April 24, 2015 

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today issued notice on 27 persons including 10 UPFA Parliamentarians to appear before the court on May 8 on contempt of court charges, after they violated a court order and staged a protest opposite the bribery commission.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilipitiya issued notice on the individuals after considering a report presented to the court by the Cinnamon Gardens Police.

A protest was organized in front of the Bribery Commission yesterday (23) condemning the decision to summon former Defence Secretary for questioning despite a court order issued the previous prohibiting such a gathering at the location.

The ten UPFA MPs issued notice include Dullas Alahapperuma, Bandula Gunawardena, Janaka Priyantha Bandara, Roshan Ranasinghe, Sarath Weerasekara, Udith Lokubandara, Jayantha Ketagoda, Weerakumara Dissanayake, Gamini Lokuge and SM Chandrasena.

Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga, Western Province Councilors Udaya Gammanpila and Roger Seneviratne have also been issued notice.

Meanwhile several Buddhist monks have also been issued notice to appear before the court.

They include former Coordinating Secretary to the President on Religious Affairs Ven. Watinapaha Somananda Thero, Chairman of Public Service United Nurses’ Union Muruttettuwe Ananda Thero, chief prelate of the Sunethra Devi temple in Pepiliyana Ven. Medagoda Abayathissa Thero, Convener of the Ravana Balaya Ittekande Sadda Tissa Thero and General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) organisation Ven. Galaboda Atte Gnanasara Thero.

Govt. shocked by distortion of National Flag by pro-Rajapaksa supporters

Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith P. Perera – Pic by Upul Abayasekara

By Dharisha Bastians-April 25, 2015
High officials in the Government yesterday expressed shock at the distortion of the National Flag by pro-Rajapaksa protestors demonstrating in front of the Bribery Commission on Thursday.
Crowds of protestors opposing a Bribery Commission investigation against former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday, carried lion flags that were conspicuous by the absence of the orange and green stripes used to represent minority communities in the National Flag.
“It’s bad enough that these were thieves supporting other thieves. They are also racist thieves,” Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith P. Perera told journalists at a news conference yesterday.
Deputy Minister Perera said Thursday was not the first time pro-Rajapaksa supporters had waved this particular brand of the lion flag.

“We saw this a month or so ago in Kandy as well. We call upon the Police and the Attorney General to exercise the law against those who distort the country’s National Flag, and incite racial tensions in the country,” Perera charged.
The Deputy Minister noted that it was bad enough that the National Flag was being taken to a protest at which protestors were standing against the enforcement of the country’s laws. “Action must be taken against those who gave leadership to this protest,” he said.
Former Ministers Bandula Gunewardane and Dulles Allahapperuma were in attendance at Thursday’s protest.
The Deputy Minister said that the Supreme Court in its recent ruling on the 19th Amendment, had noted that the National Flag was a symbol of unity in Sri Lanka.

Bribery Commission protest: MPs summoned for contempt of court

Several senior UPFA MPs have been summoned by the Colombo Chief Magistrate on charges of contempt of court, after they demonstrated at the Bribery Commission on Thursday in violation of a court imposed ban.
Former ruling party MPs Bandula Gunewardane, Dulles Alahapperuma, Gamini Lokuge, Janaka Ketagoda and Sarath Weerasekera, who led the protests when ex-Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was summoned before the Commission this week, have been issued notice by the courts.

UPFA Provincial Councillors Prasanna Ranatunga and Udaya Gammanpila have also been issued summons.
The organisers have been noticed to appear in court on 8 May. (DB)

Dulles apologises for use of doctored lion flag

Amid controversy and a proposed Police inquiry into the distortion of the National Flag at the demonstration outside the Bribery Commission on Thursday, SLFP strongman and former Minister Dulles Alahapperuma apologised for omitting the two stripes on the flags carried at the protest.
“This version of the flag was not distributed by organisers of the protest,” Alhapperuma told reporters at a media conference yesterday.
Alahapperuma said the organisers regretted the use of the flag at the demonstration.

“We would like to make a public apology. It should not have happened. We are sorry if it has caused pain to any persons or groups,” the former Minister noted.