By Walter Jayawardhana

Recalling the recent history, when the last war to eliminate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was going on, General Sarath Fonseka called the then JVP parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa over the phone, Weerwansa said yesterday.

That was the time there was a conspiracy to defeat the government in the parliament. General Sarath Fonseka reportedly told Weerawansa do not let the government fall; if that happened the war to destroy the LTTE will collapse, he alarmed. Weerawansa replied he would try to do something.

Weerawansa said, at that time he was the only parliamentarian General Fonseka called.

Wimal Weerawansa, now the leader of the National Freedom Front, was speaking in the Thulawa talk show by Sudharman Radaliyagoda of the state owned Independent Television Network (ITN) on Thursday.

Talking about the political gossip spread by certain websites Weerawansa said General Fonseka is one of the few modern heroes Sri Lanka produced and he did not think the General would never betray the country and would get into the trap of the reactionaries. Much of the stories spread cannot be believed. The Lankadeepa published a news item , Weerawansa said, that Ranil Wickramasinghe , the UNP leader spoke to Fonseka over the satellite phone on Fonseka’s alleged break with the government. If Wickramasinghe ever talked to Fonseka would he ever publicise that, Weerawansa queried. He said , the Lankadeepa published the story on the request of Ranil Wickramasinghe. Weerawansa said, the imperialistic reactionary forces wanted to create a Pilimathalawwa out of Fonseka. Pilimathalawwa did not get into history as a national hero but as a man who ate crumbs of the white man. Due to the split between Pilimathalawwa and King Rajasingha the Sinhale Kingdom collapsed and the white man won, a military feat impossible before this rift. He said Fonseka, a real hero of a historical war of liberation never would want to become that.

He said the very people who started praising Fonseka who said earlier that he was not even fit to be the Commander of the Salvation Army. One said any fool could go to war. Another one said instead of Kilinochchiya he was taking the army to medawachchiya. Ranil Wickramasinghe said Thoppigala which he helped capture was mere jungle.

Weerawansa said the recent pity shown for Fonseka by these reactionary forces reminds him of the pity shown by the foxes telling that the goat was getting wet in the rain.

By Walter Jayawardhana

Jude Theodore Katz of a District Court Manhattan New York refused to reduce the bail of US$ 100 million for alleged supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam when his insider trading scam came up before him on Thursday.

“I see no reason to modify the bail since only $2.5 million had been paid in cash,” said Judge Katz.

But the judge eased his travel restrictions to travel within the United States of America.

The balance of the 100 million minuse 2.5 million has been paid by securities and properties. Rajaratnam lawyers argued that the bail should be modified to US $ 25 million.

Rajaratnam’s lead Attorney, John Dowd told the court that Raj Rajaratnam is a kindly character who had preserved the Galleon papers and had not frozen his assests after the arrest on October 16. But judge katz simply did not buy the arguments.

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Australian confirmed that at least 12 people who are feared dead in the vessel that sank off Cocos Islands close to Australia are Tamil asylum seekers who were trying to avoid Indonesia and Malaysia for fear of being detained on their way to Australia.

One dead body has been found and the eleven others missing are feared dead, the reports indicated.

Prime Minister Rudd of Australia said that he had already spoken to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and sending a special envoy to Sri Lanka to discuss about Tamil people who are coming to Australia as asylum seekers.

A SEARCH was under way yesterday for at least 11 Sri Lankan asylum seekers missing in the Indian Ocean after their boat sank while heading for Australia.

Search aircraft and ships were combing an area about 330 nautical miles north-west of the Cocos Islands, where the vessel sank.

In a sign of the difficulty the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, faces over the asylum seekers, he said he would send one of the nation’s top diplomats, John McCarthy, to work with Sri Lanka on the matter, THE Australian said.

An Australia-bound tanker, LNG Pioneer, and a Taiwanese fishing boat, FV Kuamg, had picked up 27 survivors and one body by last night.

But as nightfall approached, the drama was still unfolding. The crew of an RAAF P-3 Orion patrol plane spotted two more survivors in the water and dropped a liferaft to them. Three others were seen clinging to debris and trying to propel it towards the raft.

The Sri Lankans had been in the water for more than 14 hours when they were picked up by the Taiwanese fishing boat, the Australian said.

A SEARCH was under way last night for at least 11 Sri Lankan asylum seekers missing in the Indian Ocean after their boat sank while heading for Australia.

Search aircraft and ships were combing an area about 330 nautical miles north-west of the Cocos Islands, where the vessel sank.

In a sign of the difficulty the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, faces over the asylum seekers, he said he would send one of the nation’s top diplomats, John McCarthy, to work with Sri Lanka on the matter.

An Australia-bound tanker, LNG Pioneer, and a Taiwanese fishing boat, FV Kuamg, had picked up 27 survivors and one body by last night.

But as nightfall approached, the drama was still unfolding. The crew of an RAAF P-3 Orion patrol plane spotted two more survivors in the water and dropped a liferaft to them. Three others were seen clinging to debris and trying to propel it towards the raft.

The Sri Lankans had been in the water for more than 14 hours when they were picked up by the Taiwanese fishing boat.

The boat is different from the Indonesian ship where 78 Tamils are refusing to get off the ship and step on the Indonesian soil. They insist they lived in Indonesia for many years and only want to go to Australia.

By Walter Jayawardhana

Australian radio reports said that a boat with about 20 people has sunk off between Cocos Islands and Australia while an atttempt was made to rescue the people in the boat.

Reports said the boat has capsized and 17 were rescued while the others were feared drowned.

Earlier in the area boats with Tamil asylum seekers were travelling. It is not yet known exactly who these people feared missing at the moment.

Australian sources said the boat capsized when it was attempted to be rescued reacting to the large vessels attempting to help.

Chief of Defence Force Angus Houston said the vessel sunk after capsizing during the initial rescue operation.

“I understand when the first ship got there, this vessel was still intact,” he said.

“Somehow or other during the process of interaction between the ship and trawler and also the stricken vessel, there’s been capsize and people ended up in the water.”

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor said all efforts would be made in the search for those still missing.

It is believed about 40 people were aboard the vessel when it sunk.

The 17 people rescued so far were now aboard a commercial vessel, the LNG Pioneer, but the search for those still missing was being hampered because it was not yet light.

Mr O’Connor said it was unclear how many people remained missing.

“We can’t determine that at this point,” he told Sky News.

“We are working with the commercial vessels and will continue to do so until we’ve done everything we can to rescue these people who have been on an unseaworthy vessel.

“It’s been a very difficult operation, and things will hopefully be easier in terms of searching for any passengers that may still be requiring assistance once there is light.”

Authorities are yet to determine if the group are asylum seekers.

“We want to make sure that we work with the commercial vessels that are in the area and ensure the safety and wellbeing of the passengers that have been rescued,” Mr O’Connor said.

“Once we’ve done that we can certainly work through those other issues.”

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Rescue Coordination Centre responded to a distress signal from the vessel, which was 350 nautical miles northwest of the Cocos Islands, late on Sunday night.

The boat was in Australia’s search and rescue zone.

The centre broadcast a message to all shipping asking any vessels in the area to render assistance, an AMSA spokeswoman said.

Two vessels responded, including the LNG Pioneer, which threw life rafts to the people in distress.

A Taiwanese vessel also responded to the call for help and is assisting the LNG Pioneer.

A Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion plane was also en route to assist early on Monday, the spokeswoman said.

“We believe there were approximately 40 people on board the (sunken) vessel but we don’t have an exact number,” the spokeswoman said.

“We haven’t had any confirmation of any bodies being recovered so we are still hopeful, but we have grave fears for their safety given they have been in the water for some time.”

AMSA first received notice a boat had sunk about 10.40pm on Sunday

By Walter Jayawardhana

Bulgaria and Sri Lanka immediately after their leaders President Georgi Parvanov and President Mahinda Rajapaksa met in Colombo for bilateral talks and a state lunch took the first steps to promote trade by starting off with a business dialogue for their entrepreneurs.

Minister Dr. G.L. Peiris addressing a business forum of both Bulgarian and Sri Lankan businessmen said the visitors have come at the best possible time since after a 30 year war Sri Lanka is looking forward of establishing new investment opportunities for rapid development under favourable terms.

A business forum was organised in Colombo November 1. It was arranged by the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka. It opened under the patronage of Minister Dr. G.L. Peiris. The purpose of this meeting was to introduce small scale Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to more than 70 investors who had come from Bulgaria and to appraise them about the availability of investment opportunities.

Expressing his views the Minister said the visit of the Bulgarian delegation including its President will help uplift the private sector of the two countries.

Among those present were Bulgarian Economic and Energy Minister Trivo Trikov, President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Stephen Simionov, BOI Chairman Dhammika Perera and Export Development Board Chairman Anil Koswatte.

In the joint statement issued by both countries at the end of the visit the ongoing economic ties between Sri Lanka and the European Union of which Bulgaria is a member was mentioned. The EU gives the GSP + concession to Sri Lanka. The joint statement said, “The two presidents have been unanimous in their stance that the development of EU-Sri Lanka relations contributes to the country’s prosperity. They have noted the mutual willingness for continuing the constructive dialogue for enhanced economic, trade and investment cooperation.”

A business delegation from Bulgaria, which accompanied the visiting President, joined the Business Forum later in the day. A Cooperation Agreement was signed between the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry which would aim to enhance private sector economic cooperation between the two countries.

During the morning sessions of the talks of the two leaders they diverted attention to further enhancing bilateral political dialogue and cooperation in the economic, cultural and other spheres of mutual interest. It was pointed out that both sides enjoy excellent cooperation in the framework of the UN and other international organizations. The Bulgarian leader was informed by the Sri Lankan President about the efforts made in the process of post conflict rehabilitation. Bulgaria was confident that the process will be successfully completed.

Parvanov said he hoped this process will be successfully completed on the basis of substantive participation of all ethno- religious communities, while preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

By Walter Jayawardhana

Many Sri Lankan Tamils who were living in the Oceanic Viking ship have now admitted to living in Indonesia for years and not coming directly from Sri Lanka when they were picked up by the ship.

“It’s been revealed that most of the Sri Lankan asylum seekers in a standoff with Australian authorities off Indonesia’s Bintan Island have admitted living in Indonesia for years, providing the Rudd government with leverage to convince Indonesia to take them back”, the Fairfax newspapers reported.

The reports said, In written messages thrown off the Oceanic Viking, the Australian customs ship that has been home to the 78 ethnic Tamils for the past two weeks, the asylum seekers said they had been living in Indonesia for as long as five years and had been accepted by the United Nations office in Jakarta as genuine refugees.

The reports said, “They said they engaged a people smuggler because of their frustrations that no country would accept them, leaving them to sit in limbo in rented accommodation in Indonesia, unable to work or study.

“The message insisted the Sri Lankans had arrived in Indonesia ‘normally’.

“Part of the Indonesian justification for not taking the Sri Lankans is that they are refusing to be registered by their immigration officials. But it appears that they already have been. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees doesn’t process asylum seekers unless they have been registered first, Fairfax says.

“Saturday’s development came as the federal government announced a doubling of the capacity of the Christmas Island immigration detention centre as it braces for more boat”

The Sri Lankan admission that they were living in Indonesia for years, provided the Rudd Government with leverage to convince Indonesia to take them back, Australia’s Age newspaper said.

The development is seen by Australian officials as a possible circuit-breaker to the stand-off, which has caused much political and diplomatic anguish.

Indonesia’s senior official in charge of the matter, Sujatmiko, said he was unaware of the history of the asylum seekers but asked that all information be passed to him as a matter of urgency.

By Walter Jayawardhana

Canada’s Commissioner of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) William Elliot said that security experts fear the migrant smuggling ship intercepted off the West Canadian coast could be the first wave of defeated Tiger fighters fleeing for safe haven following their devastating defeat in May this year, in Sri Lanka .

The RCMP Commissioner said the very arrival of the defeated terrorists in a ship owned by them and the potential for others to follow raises serious security concerns for Canada.

William Elliot was addressing on Friday (October 30)an Ottawa Conference of security and intelligence experts.

Canada, he added, also home to an estimated 250,000 Tamils and “one of the few places in the world where LTTE terrorists (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or Tamil Tigers) and supporters might seek to hide in plain sight, and potentially launch terrorist activities.”

Terrorism experts say, the Commissioner said, the migrant smuggling ship intercepted off the West Coast carrying 76 Sri Lankan Tamil men this month is owned by the outlawed Tamil Tigers. Some fear it may be the first wave of defeated Tiger fighters fleeing for safe haven following the end of Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war.

Although it is too early to reach conclusions whether any of the people pose a security threat to Canada, the fact that they have come, and the potential for others to follow, raises security concerns, said Elliott.

Even if the object of potential LTTE terrorists in Canada was not specifically Canadian, the results could still be devastating, he said.

By Walter Jayawardhana

A NDTV television broadcast said 78 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers , who are determined to reach Australia on board an Australian cargo ship have refused to step on Indonesian soil and adamantly refused to do anything else than going to Australia.

In the ship the Tamils, who are mostly Tamil rebels fleeing away from the Sri Lankan authorities have refused medicines and refused to allow any identity checks by the Indonesian authorities.

The people were rescued by an Australian ship when they were heading towards Australia about 10 days ago.

Indonesian authorities said they are now working to find a place for the Tamil asylum seekers . At a local detention center there is no room for them , they said.

Asylum seekers coming by seafaring vessels have become a political problem for Australia.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said detention and processing them in Indonesia will prevent more coming to Australia risking their lives.

By Walter Jayawardhana

Pix by Sudath Silva President Donated US $10,000 US Dollas for SriLanka Lumbini Development trust

President Mahinda Rajapaksa making brief statement to the pressmen gathered there said that the development of Lumbini, one of the most sacred sites of the Buddhists all over the world was not only the responsibility of the Nepalese government but also the rest of the world including Sri Lanka.

Rajapaksa a devout Buddhist said coming here to Lumbini , the birthplace of Prince Siddhartha who later attained Buddhahood through an ascetic life was his life long dream.

He said in the years to come Lumbini will attract increasing numbers of pilgrims and made a personal donation of US 10,000. At this time the information officer of the Lumbini Development Fund Hari Dhoj Rai showed him the master plan for the Lumbini Development.

The Nepali government beefed up high security around Lumbini due to the visit of President Rajapaksa and he also offered pooja at Maya Debi (Devi) Temple at Lumbini, Nepalese reports said.

The main business of the President’s visit to Lumbini was to gift and dedicate the first phase of the Sri Lanka Maha Viharaya at Lumbini that was built at the cost of 74 million Rupees of state money . The completed phase consists of a liabrary, a resting place,and a museum and a monastery.

In fact, the Sri Lanka Lumbini Development Trust Fund was established 25 years ago when President Rajapaksa was a novice MP in the parliament and the work at the Sri Lanka section was started then. But unfortunately, the work had been neglected until the President re-invigorated it. The Sri Lankan monastery has been established on land leased by the Nepalese government to Buddhist nations to construct monasteries of their own traditions.

The Sri Lanka government has announced that it would put up the second phase of the Sri Lanka monastery at the cost of 194 MIllion Rupees

By Walter Jayawardhana

For thousands of years Sri Lankans through their native traditions knew what food is good or bad for particular ailments.

In fact, food was part of medicine and vice versa.

Not only their mostly vegetarian food but the spices that used to cook them were basically the natural way of treating or avoiding diseases. That’s what the Western man is re-discovering now through laboratory tests.

In a Metropolitan center like London, through their exposure to their former Raj and the large Indian population and the large number of restaurants in London people like curry. But so far few have realized it could be used to beat cancer.

Irish scientists said recently Turmeric contains curcumin, which scientist have found kill esophageal cancer cells.

 Research carried out by University College Cork in Ireland has revealed that turmeric, the spice used to make curries, contains molecules that can kill esophageal cancer cells.

Before this previous scientific studies have suggested curcumin which gives our ‘Kiri Hodda’a distinctive yellow colour can suppress tumours and the people who eat lots of curry may be less prone to the diseases.

In the latest study the Irish scientists have found curcumin started to kill oesophageal cancer cells within 24 hours. The cells also began to digest themselves, they said in a study published in the British Journal of Cancer.

Director of the Cork Cancer Research Centre at UCC, Professor Gerald O’Sullivan, said that the findings could lead to the development of the naturally occurring chemical into a treatment in the fight against esophageal cancer

The disease kills 500,000 people around the world every year.

Curcumin is tested as a potential treatment for other diseases like, dementia and arthritis too.

An Irish media which revealed about the new finding at Cork said, “So eat up that curry, and don’t complain that it burns your throat. Looks like that could be a very, very good thing.”