However, SLMC said that when they had approached the victims families soon after last Friday's judgment they had been reluctant to sign a petition due to fear for their 'own security', as they did not want to antagonize 'certain people' and take the matter any further.

"However we have spoken to our district organiser and other party members in Kandy, and they are scheduled to meet these families again either this week or next week, to persuade them to agree to sign this petition," SLMC High Command member Nizam Kariapper said.

On January 20, Colombo High Court acquitted Anuruddha Ratwatte and his two sons, along with five others, while handing down the death penalty to five army personnel charged in connection with the Udathalawinna murder case.

Delivering the Judgment, High Court Judge Deepali Wijesundera said that there were serious defects in the indictment regarding the first and the second accused.

This case was heard before a Trial-at-bar in the High Court with three judges, but at the latter stage it was heard by two Judges; Deepali Wijesundera and Sunil Rajapakse.

Anuruddha Ratwatte, his sons Lohan and Chanuka and twelve others were alleged to have been engaged in the murder of ten persons at Udathalawinna, on December 5, 2001, the General Election day

Discuss this story Published: Thu Feb 2 08:24:53 EST 2006

The scare took place during the course of a security check with sniffer-dogs, said Inspector General of Police Chadra Fernando. He said one of the dogs had caught the scent of something underneath a carpet in the Parliament Chamber and refused to move.

"It may have been some glue or some such that must have given the smell of explosives," Fernando said. "But when the carpet was removed, it proved to be nothing at all."

The incident occurred close to an opposition bench moments before sittings were to commence. Subsequently, Parliament convened but was adjourned barely two minutes later until Feb. 14.

The Chamber was emptied and the area was sealed as investigations commenced, Fernando said.

The bomb scare took place as opposition lawmakers of the Tamil National Alliance prepared to stage a protest in the well of the House over the alleged abduction of 10 ethnic Tamil aid workers.

Discuss this story Published: Thu Feb 2 00:58:25 EST 2006

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera announced the appointment at a news conference but declined to give any other details.

``He will be the leader of the Sri Lankan delegation,'' Samaraweera said.

The talks, stalled since April 2003, are to be held later this month in Switzerland and are aimed at preventing the island from descending back into civil war.

The rebel delegation will be led by London-based theoretician Anton Balasingham.

Norway - which brokered a 2002 cease-fire and helped with subsequent peace talks - convinced the government and rebels to resume the peace process after escalating violence killed at least 150 people in two months.

No firm date for the talks has been announced.

De Silva, 61, studied law in England and has handled hundreds of constitutional and human rights cases. He was also a legal adviser to former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world's first female prime minister.

He was active in politics from his school days and was first elected to Parliament in 1989. He has held several key portfolios, had a seat on the executive board of the World Health Organization, and was WHO's vice chairman in 1998-1999.

De Silva narrowly escaped death in 1996 during a visit to the northern rebel-held stronghold of Jaffna when a bomb blamed on the rebels exploded, injuring him and killing seven others.

Discuss this story Published: Thu Feb 2 07:57:32 EST 2006