The UNP's list of nominations for the Colombo Municipal Council, the island's largest local authority was rejected by the Elections Department on technical grounds that an underaged candidate had been included in the list in violation of the election laws.

The UNP filed a petition in the Appeal Court seeking redress in a bid to contest the election and retain the control of the CMC, which they had controlled continuously over four decades.

"We will file action in the Supreme Court against the Appeal Court decision," the UNP's Assistant Secretary Tissa Attanayake said after the court ruling.

The UNP sources said they would explore the possibility of backing one of the independent back up teams in the election in an attempt to gain control of the CMC.

The local elections for 266 of the 330 councils will be held next Thursday while elections for councils in the war battered north and east regions would be held six months later on Sept. 30. More... Discuss this story Published: Fri Mar 24 21:08:54 EST 2006

At least three Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mainstream members had died when the renegade faction headed by Karuna attacked them at Verugal in the eastern port district of Trincomalee around 9:30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT) Thursday, defense officials here said.

The Karuna faction attacked a sentry point of the main stream group by using rocket propelled grenades and small arms.

However the LTTE mainstream Trincomalee leader Elilan had said that only one of their members was killed in the attack.

The LTTE rebels have demanded the disarming of the Karuna faction as one of the main demands during last month's face to face talks in Geneva.

They allege that the Karuna faction operates in the Eastern province in collusion with the government troops - a charge denied vehemently by the government.

The rebels meanwhile under the front organization the Tamil Resurgence Force staged a shut down protest in the port town of Trincomalee Friday demanding action to implement the agreements reached in Geneva.

The residents said that Tamil owned shops and businesses remained closed while public transport came to be affected.

However the businesses run by the majority Sinhala community in the multi ethnic town remained open, the police said. More... Discuss this story Published: Fri Mar 24 21:07:30 EST 2006

"I don't know that they can build up their forces and be serious about peace. We also are building our forces. But building up a legitimate army is very different from building up a terrorist force." More...

Discuss this story Published: Fri Mar 24 08:41:15 EST 2006