``There are two challenges before us,'' Rajapaksa said in a speech yesterday, according to the government's Web site. ``One is the challenge of eradicating terrorism and the other is the challenge of eradicating poverty.''

The army won control of the Eastern Province in July, allowing terrorism to be wiped out in the region, Rajapaksa said. The process of eliminating terrorists in the Northern Province is being achieved by the military operations undertaken in recent months, he added.

The LTTE's defeat in Sri Lanka's east left the group holding bases only in the north to carry out its fight for a separate homeland, a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of 70,000 people in the past 24 years. The military is targeting LTTE leaders, killing the group's military intelligence chief at the weekend and the head of its political wing in November. More... Discuss this story Published: Mon Jan 7 22:53:16 EST 2008

“Emirates has notified the Government of Sri Lanka that it will not be renewing the Shareholders' Agreement which expires on 31st March 2008 and accordingly, with effect from 1st April 2008, management control of SriLankan Airlines will be passed to the Government of Sri Lanka,” said SriLankan Airlines’ Managing Director Mr. Timothy Clark in an official statement.

“Emirates will continue to manage the Company until 31st March 2008 through the offices of Mr. Peter Hill and his management team. Emirates will retain its 43.6% equity in the Company for the time being and continue to have a Board presence.”

The decade long contract is set to conclude 1, April, 2008. The Sri Lankan government and Emirates have participated in talks over the past two years but have failed to come to an agreement on the airline continuing its management of the national carrier. More... Discuss this story Published: Mon Jan 7 23:01:18 EST 2008

Finally, the government decided to perform the last rites at the expense of drawing the international community’s ire. It was exactly what the LTTE wanted. The government stands accused of killing the ceasefire agreement signed by the then prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in February 2002. But don’t blame the government alone. We are all guilty of killing, nay murdering the ceasefire agreement. When we say murder it means it was done with premeditated malice.

It was the LTTE which dealt the initial blows to the ceasefire deal by trying to assassinate government and military leaders, by setting off roadside bombs targeting security forces personnel and committing provocative acts with impunity.

The Rajapaksa administration on its part failed to take any confidence-building measures. It came to power, dismissing the ceasefire deal as a flawed document. Once in power, it was more concerned about its political survival than bringing peace to the country. War is probably the only plus point of the Rajapaksa government. It is the prime factor that props up the government’s popularity among the masses who grin and bear the rising cost of living in the hope that Rajapaksa would eliminate the LTTE’s terrorism and thereafter bring peace and prosperity to the country. More... Discuss this story Published: Mon Jan 7 22:56:23 EST 2008