| News |
||||
|
Journalist-diplomat's husband in mystery train death By Neville
de Silva in London Khan Azard
(32), husband of Sithara Khan, Second Secretary Information at the
High Commission here, left for work as usual on Wednesday morning
but never returned home. Sithara Khan
who worked for several years at The Sunday Times before moving into
the foreign service was to have returned to Colombo at the end of
December after completing her three-year posting. However the
Foreign Ministry extended her stay by another two months or more
and she was due to return in late February. When it was found that Azard had not reported for work on Wednesday and he seemed to have gone missing, the police who were informed launched a search. The Diplomatic
Protection Division which was also informed of the missing person,
later informed the High Commission that the body of an Asian male
was found at the Cricklewood Station, near where the Khan's lived. I was with
High Commissioner Faisz Musthapha early Thursday afternoon when
a police officer from the Diplomatic Protection Division who had
come to the High Commission in connection with some other matter
was informed of the discovery of a body of an Asian male at Cricklewood
and passed it on immediately. Later the identity
of the person was established after Sithara Khan handed over to
the police fingerprints of her husband. It is now established
that Khan Azard, a computer technician holding a degree from an
American university, died as a "result of a collision with
a train". "The attendent
circumstances will have to be established after an inquiry,"
High Commissioner Faisz Musthapha told The Sunday Times. What it means
is that Azard was killed when he was run over by a train and the
inquiry will try to ascertain how it happened. It is known that Azard has a history of blackouts and whether this led to his falling and ending up on the tracks or other circumstances caused it, might be revealed if the CCTV cameras usually installed at these stations have recorded the incident. The inquiry itself is likely to take a week or two as a jury has to be empanelled. Azard's body
was released by the Coroner pending the inquiry. Janaza prayers were held yesterday morning at the mosque in Hendon. Pongu resolution for troop withdrawal In what is seen
as an LTTE backed campaign, a massive organisation including student
groups moved a resolution calling for the withdrawal of security
forces from the northern peninsula. The resolution
which was moved at the 'PonguThamil' festival held at the Jaffna
university premises, stated that they would not accept the 'occupation
of the army' in what they called the 'Tamil homeland'. More than 300 academics, trade unionists and the student union organizing committee of the Pongu Thamil' programme were involved in passing the resolution. The resolution
while emphasising the need for troops to vacate the areas if civilians
were to return to their homes and lead a normal life also said the
government should accept the LTTE as the sole representative of
the Tamils, the concept of the traditional homeland and self-determination
of the Tamils. It also called
for the handing over of lands to civilians to carry on with their
agricultural activities. It also said
nobody should call for the LTTE to decommission weapons as that
was the only means of protection of the Tamil people 'Pongu Thamil' programmes have been earlier held in various parts of the north and east. By Nalaka
Nonis. The Environment
Ministry had declared the Karagam Levaya area in Hambantota as a
bird reserve while the Southern Region Development Ministry had
reserved the land as a suitable area for the construction of the
Hambantota harbour. Minister Rukman
Senanayake said it was a mistake as the area had already been reserved. He said his ministry was taking immediate steps to revoke the gazette notification. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
