Sri Lanka and the United Nations are locked in a bitter row over the release of the UN Panel report on alleged crimes in Sri Lanka. External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told government leaders including President Mahinda Rajapaksa that he had obtained an assurance from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that the report would not be released publicly. Hence he was of the view that the UN had reneged on that assurance.

The project by the Indian government to build 50,000 houses for the displaced people of the north has been further delayed because of a dispute over the bids for the construction, a cabinet minister told the Sunday Times. The initial project for 1,000 houses is also at a standstill. Minister Douglas Devananda said two Indian companies had bid for the project to build the houses at Rs. 500,000 each, but they were now demanding Rs. 700,000 thereby delaying the project.