Relief goes cold but H'bantota still burns

The severe drought which ravaged Hambantota district is continuing, though sporadic rain has been reported in the outskirts of the district. Assistant District Secretary W.A. Dharmasiri said a little rain was reported in Tissamaharama, Beliatta and other parts of the Hambantota district but it was inadequate and the authorities were still providing water by bowser to thousands of people.

He said most of the NGOs and others who came in at the height of the crisis had now gone away though the drought had not. Meanwhile, our Anuradhapura correspondent says people in the district are facing a water shortage as wells and tanks in the districts run dry. The Urban Council is sending water bowsers to villages, but it is hardly sufficient to meet their daily requirment, residents say. These pictures show the parched bottom of Nuwara Wewa and Kala Wewa.

Contents

• Air crew challenge time extension
• Unleaded fuel soon at little extra cost
• Special ladder for PSD boss
• Nine suspects in prison hospital; one ward for Ratwattes
• CMC gets tough on labels
• Global peace award for Dhanapala
• Lawyers visit the North on peace mission
• SriLankan Airlines delaying tactics on bonus payment
• Institute for trade unions
• Ray of hope for internally displaced people
• SC offers to set aside conviction on ST editor
• CC gets parliament funds
• Fax shock for Teldeniya court
• Fidgeting over flights
• Who's running our country-Ranil or Oslo?
• Bobby this is his only byline
• Trinco monitors meet tomorrow
• Government refuses to budge over university issue
• Jayalath wants UN action against CBK
• Jaffna welcome awaits Tiger politicos
• Naval harbour closed for visitors
  

Unleaded fuel soon at little extra cost
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is said to be bearing the cost involved in removing lead additives from petrol presently being marketed, in order to introduce unleaded petrol to the market. CPC officials said the cost will be high, but were unable to give the exact amount to be borne by the corporation. Since the CPC will be absorbing the cost, the price difference between leaded and unleaded petrol will not be a big amount, officials said.

The decision to introduce only unleaded petrol was made following intense lobbying by environmentalists over the years pointing to the impact leaded petrol had, especially on children. Environmental Foundation Executive Director Hemantha Withanage said lead in the environment killed brain cells of children, reduced the level of haemoglobin in the body, reduced transmission of nerve signals and stunted the growth of children. In addition, lead also resulted in epidemiological diseases breaking out.

Unlike leaded petrol, unleaded petrol had only aromatic hydrocarbons and thus does not pose much of an environmental hazard. The CPC has modified its refinery to remove lead additives from petrol marketed in Sri Lanka now. Accordingly, from the second half of this year, the CPC will market two grades of unleaded petrol which will be distinguished by their Research Octane ratings.

In the first phase of this programme, the CPC has already introduced 95 RON (Research Octane Number) unleaded petrol. The 90 RON unleaded petrol will be introduced from the second half of this year. The CPC has also informed that anti-valve recession additive would be made available at filling stations to motorists whose vehicles are fitted with engines manufactured prior to 1986 which may have soft exhaust valve seats for which lead provided a lubrication function.

Special ladder for PSD boss
By Tania Fernando
As Presidential Security Division director Nihal Karunaratne has been placed under prison guard at the National Hospital, shocking details about his promotion to the rank of Superintendent of Police without necessary qualifications have stirred another controversy.

It is learnt that the controversial chief bodyguard of President Chandrika Kumaratunga has been promoted as an SP though he did no sit the Efficiency Bar Examination (EBE). he was promoted with special cabinet approval, apparently overriding regulations of the police service and the Public Service Commission.

Mr. Karunaratne was promoted as an SP in March 2000 after the then PA cabinet on March 1, 2000 approved the promotion on condition that he should pass the EBE within one year of the appointment. But in April, another cabinet memorandum was presented by President Kumaratunga in her capacity as the Defence Minister, seeking the approval of the cabinet to nullify the March 1 cabinet decision and promote Mr. Karunaratne on a permanent basis with effect from March 1, 2000, not subject to any stipulation on the EBE.

The normal procedure would have been for him to sit the EBE conducted by the Public Service Commission. Justifying the request for exemption, the President said in the cabinet memorandum: "I am firmly of the opinion that the denial of the required leave for him to study and prepare for the Efficiency Bar Examination was unfair and deserves to be compensated. In fact the call on duty of this nature deprived him this essential facility.

His colleagues on the other hand, had no such impediment. Hence this situation should not stand in the way of his promotion; a promotion which he richly deserves."

The memorandum also said the case should not be treated as a precedent.

The President also claimed that on numerous occasions Mr. Karunaratne had requested for leave, but the DIG/PSD had to refuse such leave continuously because of the ongoing commitments. "I am personally aware that on several occasions when the DIG/PSD spoke to me about this matter, I was myself at a loss whether to grant his request," the President said.

Prior to the April cabinet memorandum, the then Defence Secretary Chandrananda de Silva on March 22, 2000 wrote to the Secretary of the Public Service Commission, stating that the President had granted special approval for the promotion of Mr. Karunaratne and sought the PSC approval for promotion on assurance that the PSD chief would sit the exam within one year.

"It was also decided that this appointment is made on account of special circumstances which are personal to Mr. Karunaratne by the nature of his duties. It should not be considered a precedent," the letter said. Then came the April cabinet decision to grant the promotion, exempting Mr. Karunaratne from sitting the exam.

On May 9, 2000, the PSC secretary informed the Defence Secretary that as per the decision of the Cabinet, Mr. Karunaratne had been promoted as an SP with effect from March 1 without having to sit for the examination.

Mr. Karunaratne is under arrest in connection with charges related to the Mathurata assassination attempt on Minister S. B. Dissanayake during the December election campaign.

Nine suspects in prison hospital; one ward for Ratwattes
At least nine suspects, including Lohan and Chanuka Ratwatte, are continuing to remain in the Bogambara prisons remand hospital without proper authority of prisons doctors, The Sunday Times learns.

Besides the Ratwatte brothers, seven other suspects in custody also are reported to have used their influence to remain in the prisons hospital. The prisons hospital can accomodate only 40 patients in the four wards. The two Ratwatte brothers occupy one ward and the remaining prisoners share the other wards.

As a result, some ill prisoners who should be kept in hospital continue to remain in their cells. Meanwhile, Desmond Fernando, former President of the International Bar Association (IBA) and Vice President International Commission of Jurists, yesterday cited the rights of a remand prisoner.

Quoting UN standards of minimum rule for the treatment of prisoners, the Prison Ordinance and Prison rules, Mr. Fernando said that "clearly it should be kept in mind that the law in no way requires that a person who is deemed to be innocent should in any way be punished prior to conviction by being made to change his lifestyle."
He said there seemed to be some confusion about the legal rights and principles relating to remand prisoners.

"The first important principle in this respect is set out in article 84.2 of the UN Standards of Minimum Rule for the Treatment of Prisoners. The principle is 'unconvicted prisoners are presumed innocent and shall be treated as such'. The UN document then sets out the rights of unconvicted prisoners. Our own prison Rules which are legally binding are rules made under the Prison Ordinance of 1877 as amended. The rules were made over 100 years ago.

"It is important to note that in law a remand prisoner has to be treated in accordance with his 'status and condition' (rule 196(1)of the Prisons Rules). Thus a remand prisoners is entiled to be a paying patient in a separate room in a hospital (rule 198(2)).
"In addition remand prisoners are enttled to follow their respective occupations and professions, to have daily visits from his relatives and friends (rule 200(1). To have confidential commucations with his legal adviser which the prison authorities have no right to examine (204 (3)). He is also entiled to have at his own expense books, newspapers and stationery. He is also entitled to such furniture and other equipment for his room provided that he does so at his own expense.

"In addition to getting his food from home or a third party he is also entitled to consume beer, cider, coconut toddy not excceding one pint and wine not exceeding half a bottle (rule 193) each day."

CMC gets tough on labels
By Faraza Farook
The Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council is monitoring labelling violations, especially on imported products to ascertain if the labels contain the required information such as the expiry date. With several sweets flooding the market for the New Year the department is also taking samples of these sweets.

However, the lack of a microbiologist is hampering work in the Public Health Department. Though regular raids are carried out and samples collected, the department is unable to prosecute people and carry out tests on all the samples.
With the MRI burdened with the task of catering to the entire country, the Public Health Department sent only a limited number of samples, those which they are certain of taking legal action.

PHI officials say the recruitment of a microbiologist will help the department in carrying out more raids and prosecute more violators of health standards.

Global peace award for Dhanapala
The San Francisco-based Global Security Institute is presenting its inaugural Alan Cranston Peace Award to UN Under-Secretary-General Jayantha Dhanapala, who heads the world body's disarmament Affairs department. The award honours "visionary leaders who share the late Senator Alan Cranston's conviction that nuclear weapons are unworthy of civilisation".

The award is also meant for those who, through their efforts, demonstrate exemplary service in eliminating weapons of terror. The institute says that Mr. Dhanapala, who for 30 years has been steadfast in his dedication to global peace and security, "has made countless contributions in strengthening the international arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament regime". The award will be presented at a ceremony on April 16 at the United Nations.

Lawyers visit the North on peace mission
Lawyers of the Colombo Magistrate's Court will visit Jaffna on April 25 as part of 'The Movement Towards Peace' launched recently. The 35 lawyers, most of whom are members of the Colombo Magistrate's Court Lawyer's Association (CMCLA), would be leaving Colombo on the eve of April 25, a spokesman said.

The lawyers would build a rapport with their colleagues practising in the North and discuss problems faced by the legal fraternity and in the administration of justice, he said. During the visit, the lawyers would meet religious dignitaries, refugees and displaced persons and other officials to discuss the establishment of a Legal Aid Centre in Jaffna to give refugees access to justice. They would meet representatives of the LTTE, he said.

CMCLA president Hemantha Warnakulasuriya had liaised with several donor agencies here and abroad to establish a Legal Aid Scheme to help the poor in the North and East. The second phase of the project would concentrate on conducting seminars and allaying the fears of the people of the South, sources said.

SriLankan Airlines delaying tactics on bonus payment
By Tania Fernando
The management of SriLankan Airlines catering services is yet to pay the annual bonus of last year, despite instructions from the Labour Commissioner requesting them to make the payment. The letter sent to the chief executive officer of the Catering Services said the staff should be paid their annual bonus for the year 2001 and 2002.

"I wish to draw your attention to clause 10 (1) of the collective agreement signed between SriLankan Airlines Catering Services and the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sangamaya (SLNS) that non payment of bonus is a violation of the collective agreement," the letter said.

It said inspite of the drop in the aviation industry profit, the earning capacity of the airlines catering services had been relatively good. "As such you are advised to pay the employees the bonus of the past year." The directors were to take a decision over the matter, sources said. "If they don't pay the money, the SLNS is planning to take legal action against the Catering Services", sources said.

They said the management had been postponing it for the past two months and was not keen on taking a decision probably feeling that the rest of the airline staff would also request for the bonus.

Institute for trade unions
The government is to set up an institute for trade unions, Labour Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe announced this week. "The institute will be set up this year," he told The Sunday Times. Mr. Samarasinghe said talks were being held with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as it supported the project. Meanwhile, All-Ceylon Union of Government English Teachers (ACUGET) president M. A. Stanley Perera told The Sunday Times the government had taken steps to set up the permanent centre for trade union officials with staff, equipment and other facilities and this was revealed to an ACUGET delegation which met the Labour Minister in parliament this week.

The minister had assured the delegation that certain proposals made by unions would be embodied in the formation of the proposed trade union institute, Mr. Perera said.
The institute is to be a residential school where lecturers would be drawn from various departments, universities and organisations like the ILO and located in a permanent building, sources said.

Ray of hope for internally displaced people
The Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlement in a coordinated effort with the UNHCR began the registration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) on Wednesday to plan their future. The registration or survey on the number of IDPs to be carried out by nearly 500 enumerators and 60 supervisors, is expected to be completed by the end of April and the preliminary report will be made available in mid-May.

Rehabilitation and resettlement Ministry's senior consultant A. Kunasingham said the registration of IDPs was to establish actual figures on the number of displaced which would help donor organisations and NGOs to formulate programmes to assist IDPs.
A ministry source said they would register around 250,000 families in Sri Lanka. Of the 250,000 questionnaires published, 220,000 copies were in Tamil and the rest in Sinhala. A poster also had been published asking IDPs to contact the UNHCR or the ministry if they were interested in returning to their homes, he said.

The largest number of IDPs were reported from Puttalam, Mannar, Vavuniya, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna with the second largest group from Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara and the third largest from Gampaha, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura, ministry sources said. They said 700,000 to 800,000 were displaced, 41,309 families were in welfare centres and 142,000 with families and friends. Both these groups had been given dry rations, they said. The number of IDPs with friends and relatives were not known while refugees in Tamil Nadu camps amounted to 66,000 persons and thousands more outside camps. The number of persons who fled abroad was not known, sources said.

Under a crash programme the ministry would resettle 20% of the families living in camps. Meanwhile, in areas such as Thenmarachchi, families had voluntarily resettled without the assistance of the ministry. Resettled families would be provided with dry rations for six months and under the Unified Assistance scheme they would be given Rs. 15,000 to assist them and under the second phase of the same programme, families would be given Rs. 50,000 as a permanent housing grant, ministry sources said.

The UNHCR has expressed willingness to complement the Unified Assistance Scheme by offering a needs-based package to all returned IDPs which would comprise essentials, such as, cooking utensils, plastic sheeting, mats, bedsheets and if required, shelter materials. With the Treasury lacking funds to assist resettlement programmes in the country, the ministry is seeking assistance from other sources to carry out it projects. Sources said the ministry was negotiating with funding agencies to finance their resettlement projects.

Dr. Kunasingham said the ministry spent Rs. 2500 million per annum on dry rations to be given to nearly 200,000 families. The UNHCR spokesmand said the situation in the country was still fragile to actively promote any repatriation and thus would not encourage any organised return of refugees.

Criminal defamation appeal
SC offers to set aside conviction on ST editor
The Supreme Court this week offered to set aside the conviction and sentence against The Sunday Times editor Sinha Ratnatunga and discharge him from the indictment of criminal defamation against President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva on Monday said in view of the admitted facts in this case, the Supreme Court could act in terms of the Criminal Procedure Code and set aside the conviction on the basis of a statement the editor could make and the consent to that statement from the Attorney General and the virtual complainant (President Chandrika Kumaratunga).
Chief Justice Sarath Silva said the court could set aside the conviction under Section 306(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979 on the basis of the statement made by the editor.

Senior Counsel for the editor S. L. Gunasekera moved for time to study the Chief Justice's proposal. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, Justices Dr. Shirani A. Bandaranayake and P. Edussuriya granted time till May 13 for the matter to be taken up again. Chief Justice originally offered to settle the case when it came up first before him on August 28 last year. The criminal defamation case arose out of a gossip column published in The Sunday Times in February 1995. The High Court of Colombo had found the Editor guilty on two counts and given him a 1 1/2 years imprisonment sentence suspended for seven years.

The Court of Appeal later upheld the order of the High Court and the editor then took the case to the Supreme Court. Senior Counsel S. L. Gunasekera with Ronald Perera instructed by Samararatne Associate appeared for The Sunday Times Editor. R. I. Obeysekera PC with Wijaya Wickremasinghe PC, Ashley Herath and A. W. Yusuf appeared for President Kumaratunga and Deputy Solicitor General Palitha Fernando with State Counsel Gihen Kulatunga appeared for the Attorney General.

CC gets parliament funds
By Harinda Vidanage
The government will use funds allocated to parliament to pay the members of the Constitutional Council and the independent commissions to be appointed by it under the 17th Amendment. Parliamentary Secretary General Dhammika Kithulgoda who is also the secretary to the Constitutional Council told The Sunday Times since there was no time to make the necessary allocations before the 2002 budget, this measure was adopted.

Mr. Kithulgoda said they would rectify this soon by making a formal request to the Treasury to allocate the funds to an independent head. The government this week released the salary scales of the commissioners amounting to Rs. 10 million.
The Constitutional Council would include the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, the Speaker and a representative of the President and six more members. Each member would be paid Rs. 30,000 a month. This would amount to an annual expenditure of Rs 3.6 million, sources said.

They said members of the independent commissions to be appointed under the Constitutional Council would receive a monthly allowance of Rs. 20,000 each and the chairmen of each commission would get Rs. 25,000. The total expenditure would be Rs. 6.4 million, they said.

Fax shock for Teldeniya court
Officials at the Teldeniya Magistrate's Courts are puzzled over how a fax arrived there from the Presidential Secretariat. The fax said to be addressed to Courts, had contained a copy of an order by the Court of Appeal granting bail to three suspects, all members of the Presidential Security Division (PSD). The PSD men, who are suspects in the Udathalawinne massacre, were remanded on the orders of the Teldeniya Magistrate. Inquiries are now being made to ascertain how the fax originated.

Fidgeting over flights
SriLankan Airlines has requested for a guarantee of US$ 10 million from the government to begin flights once again to Frankfurt and Milan. The airline ceased flights to Frankfurt and Milan after the attack on the airport in July last year, when six of their 12 fleet aircraft were damaged. It cited the destinations were running at a loss.

The government had asked the management of SriLankan Airlines to begin flights once again, as Germany was one of the most lucrative destinations for tourism. Meanwhile, the airline has claimed that the destinations were not profitable hence, the closure of the offices. However, they have said they would begin flights immediately if the government would give them a guarantee of US$ 10 million.

Sources said they were very profitable destinations operated by the airline.
Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge told The Sunday Times one of the best markets was Germany and with SriLankan airlines stopping their flights, there was a reduction in the tourist arrivals from that country.

"Even those who want to sign contracts are hesitant to do so as the airline is not flying to that sector," the Minister said. He said the airline had to help improve the tourism industry. "They say they will fly once we give them the guarantee. We have asked them to forward the necessary documents for us to look into it", he said.

Who's running our country-Ranil or Oslo?
JVP launches scathing attack on ceasefire agreement and LTTE deals
By Shelani Perera
The JVP yesterday again lashed out at the ceasefire agreement and proposed peace talks, charging that the LTTE was going full steam ahead for a separate state while Norway was trying to run our country. JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva in an interview said the JVP would not in any way recognise the Norway led ceasefire monitoring committee and would take its case directly to the court of the people. Excerpts from the interview:

Q: What is the JVP's view on the proposal to setup Executive Committees on the lines of the principles in the Donoughmore constitution. The UNF government says the All party executive committees in Parliament would promote the ideals of consultative, consensus politics.

A: We will give our response when the proposals are spelled out clearly. But indications are that the UNF has a hidden agenda. The aim appears to be not so much to strengthen parliament democracy and develop the country but to weaken the opposition and get more authority for the government to push ahead with some unpopular meassures.

Q : The government is also to introduce amendments enabling MPs to vote according to their conscience especially on mattress relation to the ethnic issue. How do you see that?

A: We don't no the details, but it seems it would be a one way street allowing Opposition MPs to vote with or crossover to the government but not the other way.

Q: Last year the JVP started a probationary relationship with the PA. What is it like now?

A: The MoU between our two parties ended with the dissolution of Parliament. There is no official connection now but when we need to work together on a national issue we will do that.

Q: But on the main national issue- the current ceasefire agreement and proposed peace talks- the two parties appear to be on different courses.

A: We don't have any specific agreement with the PA on this issue. The JVP's basic stand is to join any force that fights for the rights of the people. So if the PA shows the same attitude in solving this problem we could get together. For example when the UNP was in the opposition we worked together on certain issues.

As for the current ceasefire agreement we did have talks with the PA and agreed on some action. But apparently because of the local polls, the PA then backed out. The JVP however is continuing on the course of action against the delas with the LTTE and the PA is welcome to join us in that action.

Q: How do you see the ceasefire agreement?

A: The warning we sounded is coming true now. The LTTE is using the agreement to strengthen itself militarily and politically . The LTTE is blatantly violating the agreement and the government is doing precious little about it.

Q:So what is the JVP doing about it?

A: We believe this move has to be stopped and defeated before it leads to a separate state. Several related crises like the Muslim problem have already errupted. We will join other groups which oppose this initiative and carryout a big protest.

Q: Will the JVP make any official complaints to the ceaefire Monitoring Committee?

A: We don't recognise this monitoring committee which we see as largely a pro LTTE committee. This committee also threatens the sovereignty of our country. Decisions are taken not by the Prime Minister who was elected by the people but by this committee or the Norwegian Ambassador. For instance the final decision on the opening of the A9 road is to be taken by the chief monitor. It is a blatant interference in the internal affiars of our country. So we have absolutely no intension of making any complaints to this committee. We have gone to the court of the people.

Bobby this is his only byline
Beyond and perhaps above the limelight of prestige and fame, sub editors are a breed who work late into the night as the last line of defence in producing a national newspaper.

Bobby Fernandez was one of them. In the great old days of journalism there was an unwritten principle that the name of the journalist would appear in his or her newspaper only in the obituary notice. Bobby Fernandez had that privilege. Though he served two newspaper groups for about two decades with efficiency and dedication his name finally appears only in this obituary.

In lighter vein Bobby also had the traditional journalistic link with the bottle and his simple sling bag often had Brandy and shandy besides newspapers. Of course as in so many other cases in journalism, the occupational hazzard finally drove Bobby from the desk to the death bed.

Like many Patricians from Jaffna Bobby moved into his professional life with a command of the English language along with a healthy awareness and interest in current affairs ranging from politics to horse racing. After serving for decades in the Electricity Department and then the Ceylon Electricity Board, Bobby joined the Sun group of newspapers in the early 1980s as a proof reader. There were no blackouts and power cuts those days but Bobby's training in the Electricity Department perhaps gave him a special insight or inspiration for night work. His excellent work in reading printouts and page proofs together with his commitment to work till dawn soon made him the ideal candidate when the Sun group wanted sub editors. He continued his good work in the higher position as a sub editor and at one time was virtually the night editor of the Sun recasting more than five pages by himself and bringing out the late city edition safe and sound.

After the closure of the Sun group Bobby moved almost immediately to the Wijeya newspapers and The Sunday Times where he continued the good work in editing news for the front pages. But during the past few years, age caught up with him as did ill health and Bobby's role and responsibility went into a decline till he decided to retire in the year 2000.

Bobby Fernandez died last Wednesday at the age of 72. Like old soldiers old journalists also do not die, they just fade away.So it was with Bobby. Thank you Bobby for your contribution and interesting company. Goodbye and God be with you.

Trinco monitors meet tomorrow
By Sinniah Gurunathan
The first meeting of the Trincomalee district monitoring mission will be held tomorrow at the Hotel Club Oceanic in Uppuveli The committee's Norwegian head Victoria Lund said three complaints had been received and would be taken up. The Chief Incumbent of the historic Seruvila Raja Maha Vihare Ven. Sumangala Dharmakeerthi Thera and a Colombo businessman M.K.Akbar are the government's nominees on the monitoring committee while the LTTE has nominated lawyer K.Sivapalan and retired Grama Sevaka officer S.Tharmalingam.

Government refuses to budge over university issue
By Nilika de Silva
While university chancellors and the President are protesting against the move to re-appoint the university boards, the government remains adamant. Although six vice chancellors have written to the Prime Minister over the issue no response had been received, sources said.

Last week the university boards were issued with letters asking them to resign and inform their willingness to be reconsidered for appointment. Copies were sent to the vice chancellors as well with a March 25 deadline. Sri Jayewardenepura University vice chancellor Jagath Wickremesinghe said he had never experienced such a request being made before. Prof. Wickremesinghe said, "Universities enjoy academic liberty and an autonomy endorsed by the Supreme Court."

Meanwhile, University Grants Commission chairman B. R. R. N. Mendis in a statement said with the change of government it was customary to re-constitute the councils and boards. In November 1994 all university councils were re-constituted by asking the UGC members to tender their resignations, Prof. Mendis said. Citing the reasons why the UGC decided to re-constitute the university councils he said there were many vacancies in them due to the resignation of UGC-appointed members, expiry of their term, and members not attending meetings on a regular basis.

He said complaints received from students, staff and parents about administrative problems in many universities was another reason for the move. As a result the academic programmes in many universities were disrupted, sources said.

Jayalath wants UN action against CBK
By S.S.Selvanayagam
Minister Jayalath Jayawardene has renewed his complaint to the United Nation's Human Rights Commission asking it to take action against President Chandrika Kumaratunga for allegedly violating his basic political rights and acting in a manner that threatens his life.

Dr. Jayawardena said he had told the UNHRC that although a new government was now in office, Ms. Kumaratunga was still the President and had legal immunity from any prosecution here. Dr. Jayawardene's complaint dates back to a speech made by President Kumaratunga in January 2000 where she accused him of having close dealings with the LTTE. She had also made similar accusations against ACTC leader Kumar Ponnamblam who was mysteriously killed a few days later.

Dr. Jayawardene told the UN Human Rights Commission that he and his family members faced a similar threat due to what he saw as a provocative speech made by the President and other PA leaders. He said the President's action was a violation of his basic right to life and his political rights.

Jaffna welcome awaits Tiger politicos
From our Jaffna correspondent
The political scenario in Jaffna is due to undergo changes as the LTTE, after a lapse of seven years, is set to return to active politics tomorrow. A committee has been set up to organise the welcome ceremony for the LTTE cadres who would return to carry out political activities. The event will coincide with the opening of the A 9 highway.

President of the welcoming committee, S. Paramanathan told 'The Sunday Times' that they had decided to organise the ceremony to support the idea of the LTTE returning to the peace process. All arrangements are being made at the entrance to Jaffna city from the A-9 road, near Chemmani. The details of the ceremony were discussed at a meeting held at the Jaffna University earlier this week.

Representatives from religious bodies, the business community and labour unions as well as academics and students attended the meeting. The organisers, most of them youth, have been busy putting up decorations while posters have sprung up in the city welcoming the return of the LTTE cadres. Some of the posters carry verses welcoming their return.

Loudspeakers are being used to play Tamil revival songs and are set to announce the return of LTTE cadres to Jaffna. Senior Assistant General Secretary of the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union, T. Panchalingam told 'The Sunday Times' that many of the people hope that with the opening of the highway, social, religious and cultural links will be established between the people of the north and south.

Special arrangements have been made for people who want to travel up to the entrance to the city while members of cultural troupes are due to take part in the ceremony.
Senior government servants, Jaffna Mayor Sellian Kandiah and Tamil MPs are expected to take part in the ceremony. 'The Sunday Times' learns that the LTTE's political wing representatives will initially be based at Jaffna Central College as the school is located close to the police station facilitating them to make their security arrangements.

Naval harbour closed for visitors
Navy Headquarters has imposed a ban on visitors to the Naval Harbour and the Dockyard in Trincomalee. The only exception will be the immediate members of families of Navy personnel.

The Sunday Times learns that orders to this effect have been sent to the Eastern Naval Area Headquarters by a senior official at Navy Headquarters shortly after he made a visit to Trincomalee. The order says the case of government officials and diplomats visiting the area would be determined by Navy Headquarters. With the ongoing cease-fire, there has been a large increase in domestic tourists visiting Trincomalee.