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Probe ordered into dropping of names Gulf_News, 10 February 2002. The ruling United National Front (UNF) government in Sri Lanka has ordered an inquiry after members of a coalition party for next month's local elections were dropped from the list of candidates, nearly causing the collapse of the two-moth-old government. The directive to hold the inquiry has been issued on the instructions of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNF plans to take disciplinary action against those found responsible. A party spokesman said that the inquiry will commence today and continue until tomorrow where they will ascertain as to how the names of the nominees from the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) were left out from the list of nominations from the central Nuwaraeliya district. More... Published: Sat Feb 9 17:35:38 EST 2002

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Election 2001 Results How Did We Do? - See how LAcNet election results projection fared.

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Thondaman has his way The Hindu - Nirupama Subramanian , 10 February 2002. The leader of the Ceylon Workers' Congress and Minister for Housing and Plantation Infrastructure, Arumugam Thondaman, gave the ruling United National Front a scare on Friday by resigning from his Cabinet post following a dispute with the party leadership over nominations for the March 20 local government elections...

Ratwatte responds to summons Gulf_News, 10 February 2002. Former deputy defence minister Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte yesterday responded to summons from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), which was once under him, to answer questions about his involvement in violence, including murder...

Colombo working on draft accord Gulf-News, 10 February 2002. Sri Lankan leaders were yesterday still working on a draft agreement put forward by Norway to enforce a mutual ceasefire between government security forces and the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels...

Sri Lanka police quiz ex-minister over massacre Yahoo/Reuters, February 10. Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday at the scene of a December massacre of 10 Muslim opposition supporters in central Sri Lanka as police questioned a former government minister over the killings...

NPC calls for Concrete Actions towards a political solution Saroj Pathirana in London. Saturday 09/02/02 1815 GMT Sri Lankan based peace movement National Peace Council (NPC) urged the authorities to start a genuine peace process stepping beyond a mere cease-fire agreement...

Colombo insists on right to intercept suspicious vessels The Hindu, 09-02-2002 . COLOMBO, FEB. 8. A draft truce agreement between Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE provides for cessation of hostilities on land, at sea and from the air, but discussions are continuing between the two sides on military action in self-defence...

New guidelines on Tamil prisoners BBC South Asia, Saturday, 9 February, 2002, 16:44 GMT . The Attorney General, Kamala Sabasan, told a group of activists that people charged with a failure to provide information about a terrorist activity would have their cases reviewed...

Norwegians wrap up peace talks in Sri Lanka Yahoo Singapore, February 8. Norwegian diplomats wrapped up two days of talks on Friday aimed at ironing out a pact that could pave the way for direct talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to end nearly two decades of ethnic war...

Thondaman Back in the Cabinet Saroj Pathirana in London, Friday 08/02/02 1615 GMT. CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman has withdrawn his resignation from the Cabinet of Ministers after consultation with the Prime Minister Ranil wickramasinghe...

Clarification from JVP re: peace protest JVP - Committee in UK, 10 February 2002. We write to point out an error in the article published in your web site under the title 'London anti-peace protest failure' by Saroj Pathirana, where it was claimed that the JVP had jointly organised a protest that was held in front of the Sri Lankan High Commission in London on the 4th February 2002, with a Sinhala communalist party...

Mano goes solo Daily Mirror, 09 February 2002. In a surprise move Colombo district UNP MP Mano Ganeshan has submitted a list of candidates to contest the Colombo Municipal Council on the Democrtatic Workers Congress ticket...

Burglar held, stolen goods recovered Gulf-News, February 8. Shamandra Kumar, a Sri Lankan, has been arrested on charges of stealing from several villas in Jumeirah, CID sources said yesterday...

US Navy Commander visits Sri Lanka The Hindu NUS, Colombo, Feb. 8. (Reuters). The Commander of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet arrived in Sri Lanka today on a tour of the region...

Rights board gives employers 'warning call' National Post, February 5. In a ruling that may prompt some employers to re-examine the way they conduct job interviews, Air Canada has been ordered to compensate a Toronto man who was denied employment because of his ethnicity...

Sri Lanka's premier weathers first crisis - COLOMBO Kyodo News, 10 fEBRUARY 2002. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has successfully weathered the first political crisis faced by his two-month-old coalition government sparked by a dispute with a minority ally over seat-sharing at next month's local elections...

Thondaman Resigns from the Cabinet Saroj Pathirana in London, Friday 08/02/02 1240GMT. Leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) Arumugam Thondaman today resigned from the government along with all his party members...

Indian, Pakistani umpires excluded from ICC panel Yahoo India, 09 February 2002. Pakistani and Indian umpires have been excluded from the International Cricket Council (ICC) panel of umpires which would be launched from April 1...

New Sri Lanka govt to face local polls in March MSNBC, Friday,Feb. 8. 12:18GMT. Sri Lankans will vote in local council polls on March 20 and 25, the first test for a new government elected four months ago on promises of peace and economic reform, officials said on Friday...

Norway team briefs India on progress in Sri Lanka peace moves The Hindustan Times, Colombo, February 8 . Norway's peace facilitation team on Friday briefed India on the status of efforts to broker peace in Sri Lanka, as the delegation spent another day discussing modalities for a proposed structured truce between the government and the LTTE...

Coalition problems solved in Sri Lanka BBC South Asia, Friday, 8 February, 2002, 16:33 GMT . Two members of the Sri Lankan government who resigned earlier on Friday in a dispute over next month's local elections have now reversed their decision...

Reception Marks 45th Anniversary of China-Sri Lanka Ties Nothern Light, Friday, February 08, 2002 9:03 AM EST . BEIJING, February 8, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) held a reception here Friday to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations...

CPJ welcome Journalist's Assailants Sentenced Kavita Menon - CPJ, 09 February 2002. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday's decision by a Colombo High Court judge to sentence two Air Forces officers to nine years in prison for their role in a nighttime raid on the home of Iqbal Athas, the award-winning defense correspondent for The Sunday Times...

Sri Lanka set to open key road through rebel area MSNBC, Friday, Feb. 8. 12:19 GMT. OMANTHAI - Sri Lankan military officials said on Friday that de-mining work was on track for the reopening next week of a crucial highway that will allow vehicles to travel from the capital to northern Jaffna for the first time in 10 years...

Sri Lankans to face local polls in March The Hindu NUS, Colombo, Feb. 8. (Reuters). Sri Lankans will vote in local council polls on March 20 and 25, the first test for a new government elected four months ago on promises of peace and economic reform, officials said today...

Half cornea of ex-Sri Lankan president transplanted in Japan Kyodo News, Friday, Feb 8, 08:48GMT. Half of a cornea donated by late former Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jayewardene was recently transplanted into the eye of a 66-year-old woman at a hospital in northeastern Japan, local newspapers reported Friday...

More perks for opposition leader Daily Mirror, 08 February 2002. A government move is afoot to elevate the status of the Opposition Leader in state protocol and provide him with more perks - significantly on the heels of the new incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse taking office...

First Crack Surfaces in Sri Lanka's New Government as Electoral Organizer Quits Nothern Light, Thursday, February 07, 2002 9:14 PM EST . The first crack surfaced in Sri Lanka's new government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickemesinghe on Thursday with the resignation as the United National Party's electoral organizer for the central Nurawa Eliya District Naveen Dissanayake, who is also the Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries...

China, Sri Lanka vow to develop ties The Hindu NUS, Friday, Feb. 8. 11:19GMT. Top Chinese and Sri Lankan leaders today vowed to make joint efforts to develop mutually beneficial and equal bilateral ties to a higher level...

U.S. seventh fleet commander visits Sri Lanka MSNBC, Friday, 8th Feb, 08:50 GMT. The commander of the U.S. Navy's seventh fleet arrived in Sri Lanka on Friday on a tour of the region...

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