The Sunday Times Columns - Sunday, February 25, 2007

	Political Column
	More secret deals with the LTTE
	By Our Political Editor
	Security at Temple Trees, the presidential abode, is usually tight. But on Wednesdays, it became routinely tighter. That evening ministers turned up for the weekly Cabinet meeting. It was in a room which which had to be re-furnished to accommodate the jumbo Cabinet.
	5th Column
	Time to straighten things up after the jumbo holiday
	By Rypvanwinkle
	My dear Mahinda Maama,
	Situation Report
	Army holds jaya pirith, Tigers warn of bloodbath
	By Iqbal Athas
	The LTTE mortar attack on diplomats, United Nations and Government officials twelve days ago has had its sequel.
	The Economic Analysis
	Is there a future for paddy farming?
	By the Economist
	We would have a plate of home-grown rice for some years to come. Despite the inability of the government to assist farmers to sell their produce and the increasing costs of production, shortages of labour and several other critical problems they would survive.
	Thoughts from London
	Those who point fingers must first clean their spots
	By Neville de Silva
	That was rich. That was indeed rich. Shortly after foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama, on his first visit to London in his new role as minder of our foreign policy, met Britain’s foreign secretary Margaret Beckett, a press release from the foreign and commonwealth of office landed in my computer.
	Issue of the week
	Iran’s diplomatic victory at Baghdad meeting
	By Ameen Izzadeen
	The meeting yesterday in Baghdad saw officials from Washington and Tehran, which have not had diplomatic ties for more than a quarter of a century, sitting down at the same table. The way events are unfolding in West Asia makes one wonder whether the United States was working for Iran.
	Focus on Rights
	Where is the law in Sri Lanka today?
	By Kishali Pinto Jayawardena
	What is perhaps most disturbing in regard to the currently rampant killings, abductions and disappearances is the disinclination of many, (excepting in rare instances) to invoke the authority of the law in order to compel accountability, at least in instances where state complicity is strongly suspected.
	Lobby
	Of human rights, secret pacts and the CFA
	By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent
	When the emergency regulations came up for debate in Parliament the alleged secret agreement between the President and the LTTE prior to the presidential elections became the subject of debate.
	Inside the glass house
	International security a pawn in the game big powers play
	By Thalif Deen at the united nations
	After the massive international outrage that followed the US military disaster in Iraq, the UN Security Council remains wary about providing any political or legal cover that will justify a future American invasion — be it North Korea, Iran or Syria.