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Dose of his own medicine
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene has had the tables turned on him by opposition legislators who have complained to the Secretary of the Inter-Parliamentary Union & Human Rights Commission for interfering with an investigation into the alleged attack on a policeman by Mr. Jayawardene's son. It is this politician who not very long ago complained to the very same commission against President Kumaratunga for endangering his life.

Taken for a bite
The Dobermann kept at the official residence of Speaker Joseph Michael Perera at Sri Jayawardenapura, Kotte, last week bit the leg of a police constable on duty at the premises. The constable had let the dog out for its usual walk when the animal had jumped on the policeman and bitten him. It seems that it's not only politicians and their kith and kin who are taking policemen for a bite but their pets too are following suit.

Signs of things to come
Journalists who regularly cover the JVP press briefings were in for a surprise last week when they were subjected to security checks at the entrance to the conference room at the Nippon Hotel in Colombo. Scribes who were used to walking in freely were pointedly asked for their media accreditation card, and particulars it contained were recorded before they were allowed inside. The party General Secretary Tilvin Silva too walked in flanked by two bodyguards. One wonders if their expectations for bigger positions in the much-awaited PA/JVP alliance has caused this sudden change.

Does the face look familiar ?
"Remain silent and see if you could spot anyone you have seen on TV" was the advice a schoolteacher gave a group of primary school children on an educational excursion to Parliament. It being very unlikely such young children stay up late watching political talk shows, they probably were more keen on spotting look-alikes of characters they watch on political comedies like "Ethuma" or "Methuma". Chances are they wouldn't have been disappointed by the dramas enacted in the House.

Better be silent than be dead
When a group of journalists went out to cover the recent CID investigations into the human smuggling racket, a police intelligence officer was on hand to brief them. When a scribe asked him if he could source the story to him, his spontaneous outburst was "No, no don't mention it". With all the recent killings of intelligence men allegedly by the LTTE, it is little wonder they prefer to remain anonymous.

NatWest sponsors LTTE sports show
From Neville de Silva in London
NatWest, one of Britain's top five banks, has sponsored a pro-LTTE Cricket festival in London despite a British government ban on the terrorist group.

NatWest Bank, when asked why it sponsored an event with some dubious connections said it was approached by some businessmen in Kent asking for sponsorship.

Asked whether NatWest was aware that a participant at the festival which it sponsored was the LTTE that is banned under British law as a terrorist organisation, the spokesperson said the bank had no knowledge of this.

Asked whether it would have sponsored the event if it was aware that an outlawed group was involved, the spokesperson said it was "a hypothetical question".

Asked whether the presence and speech of Anton Balasingham on the occasion was hypothetical or real, the spokesperson merely said the bank was unaware of it.
Asked whether she attended the festival herself she said no. Asked whether others from the bank might have attended it, she said she did not know but it was possible.

Asked whether the heavy police presence at the festival, the searching of cars and body searches did not indicate a get-together where the police seemed to anticipate physical violence, the spokesperson said she could not comment.

She said that NatWest might have to examine the position if it was approached for sponsorship again next year.

Sri Lankans doing business with NatWest, one of the five leading banks here, are up in arms at its sponsorship of a Tamil cricket festival where the LTTE, banned in the UK as a terrorist organisation, was a key participant.

The LTTE's chief representative in the UK Anton Balasingham, who has acted as the organisation's chief negotiator at the now stalled peace talks with the Sri Lanka Government, was the chief guest at last month's festival that culminated in fisticuffs and arrests.

Internal security at the festival was handled by men in blue uniforms akin to those worn by LTTE police in Sri Lanka's Tiger controlled areas, underlining the prominent role of the LTTE, one of the 22 organisations proscribed under Britain's Terrorism Act 2000.

Angry Sri Lankans are now threatening to start a movement to boycott the NatWest Bank if it continues to support activities that are seen to have LTTE links. Several thousands of persons of Sri Lankan origin bank with NatWest.

NatWest's sponsorship, reportedly for the second year running and the logistics of organising a boycott of the bank was a principal topic of conversation at a recent religious gathering.

Meanwhile last week's Harrow Times carried a prominent story headlined "Tamils' blood feud ended in slaughter", a reminder of the continuing saga of local crime involving Sri Lankans -- a saga that is increasingly tarnishing the image of an otherwise law abiding community.

"Two Tamils who brought a muderous tribal feud from Sri Lanka to London are facing life sentences for shooting a man dead in his home," Harrow Times said.

Ragularperuma Sachithanandan (26) of Wembley and Nagarasa Sivakumar (33) also of Wembley were convicted by an Old Bailey jury of the murder of Suresh Kumar Selvarajah (26).

They and Thiruja Kanaganayagam (25) were also convicted for the attempted murder Selliah Parminghalingham, the father-in-law of Selvarajah.

Prosecutor John Hilton QC told the court that the gang from the Ariyala region of northern Sri Lanka had a deep hatred of people from Mr Parminghalingham's region of Mannar.

"It seems that the attitudes travelled with those men when they came to the UK to make a new home. In 2001, a man from Ariyala was murdered and Partheepan (Selvarajah's brother-in-law) was arrested but not charged and this caused great upset among the Ariyala people."

Ex-judge arrested over timber racket
By Hiran Priyankara, Puttlam Correspondent
A former District Court Judge along with a court registrar and a clerk has been charged with illegal authorisation of the sale of timber and undervaluing its price at a court auction three years ago.

Detectives said the investigations against the scandal were conducted by the police and the CID after Forest Department officials made a complaint that 225 teak logs valued at more than Rs. 200,000 had been undervalued and sold for less than Rs. 2,500 at the Puttlam district courts auction. The forest officers had seized the timber when it was being illegally transported by two persons at Bangadeniya.

Following the complaint, the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) called in the CID to assist in the investigations and directed the ex-district court judge for Puttalam, the Registrar and the Clerk to resign from their posts immediately. However, only the judge resigned while the other two employees were interdicted.

On July 25 this year, the former District Judge was arrested and produced in courts, but he was later released on bail. The ex-registrar obtained bail when the case was taken up on August 6. The case will be taken up for hearing on August 20.

Lanka woos Chinese investment and visitors
Feizal Samath reporting from Beijing
Saturday - Trade, investment and tourism issues are to figure prominently during Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's four-day trip to China.

It is a working visit, not a state one - the norm for most visiting Sri Lankan leaders in the past.

While Mr Wickremesinghe is certain to brief Chinese leaders here on the progress in the peace process, he is more likely to focus on economic issues and woo investment and more visitors to Sri Lanka.

In a new policy initiated by the Wickremesinghe administration, the premier's overseas visits are now heavily tied up with trade and investment with a team of top businessmen always accompanying the official delegation - and an investment/trade conference invariably held. This was the case during the US/UK visits.

Tourism is being promoted particularly because Sri Lanka was placed on the list of approved destination status for China's growing, affluent, travellers, last November. Business trips are unlike state visits, which are mostly ceremonial.

Mr Wickremesinghe and his delegation including Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando, Plantations Minister Lakhsman Kiriella and Deputy Health Minister Sajit Premadasa flew into the city of Siamen, about a three hours drive from Beijing, where they stayed the night. They proceed to Beijing on Sunday.

His official programme begins on Monday, when he addresses a trade, investment and tourism conference organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Sri Lankan embassy, at the Kerry Centre Hotel, a popular businessmen's hotel and convention centre.

After four or five face-to face meetings with interested Chinese investors, Mr Wickremesinghe will address some 150 local delegates, highlighting the benefits of investing and visiting Sri Lanka particularly after a ceasefire came into force last year.

Board of Investment Director General Arjunna Mahendran, Tourist Board chairman Paddy Withana and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce chairman Tilak de Zoysa - part of a 50-member business delegation- follow with presentations, further underscoring this point.

Three agreements on double tax avoidance, annual diplomatic exchanges between the two foreign ministries and the twinning of Shanghai, the commercial hub of China, and Colombo cities are to be signed when Mr Wickremesinghe meets Chinese Premier Wen Jaibo later on Monday.

The Sri Lankan Premier also had meetings with President Jujin Tao, and other senior leaders. The last time a Sri Lankan leader visited China was when President Chandrika Kumaratunga came here in 1996.

Beijing, the cultural and administration capital of China, is a bustling city with skyscrapers, shopping

malls, hotels and convention centres, and beautiful and wide tree-lined avenues. Much like Hong Kong but with far more space, the city has dozens of McDonalds, KFC and other western restaurants and coffee shops. That's the nice side of urban China. Outside in the vast countryside, there is extreme poverty and wide income disparities.

In the meantime China is always on the look out for foreign investment but additionally is also encouraging domestic entrepreneurs to invest overseas and bring back the profits home.

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