British Defence Secretary Liam Fox to visit Sri-Lanka

British Defence Secretary Liam Fox to visit Sri-Lanka[ Wednesday, 06 July 2011, 02:51.56 PM GMT +05:30 ]British Defence Secretary Liam Fox is to visit Sri Lanka later this week, a spokesperson at the British High Commission in Colombo said.

Fox is scheduled to deliver the Lakshman Kadirgamar lecture over the weekend and on the sidelines of the lecture may meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and External Affairs Minister G.L Peiris.

His visit comes amidst concerns raised by the British government over allegations of human rights abuses being committed in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the conflict.

Fox was initially scheduled to visit Sri Lanka last December but was later forced to abandon his plans following a reported row with Foreign Secretary William Hague, who feared that he would upset Britain's carefully balanced approach to Colombo.

However the UK Ministry of Defence blamed the postponement of his visit on the need for him to extend a visit to the Gulf. A spokesman for the defence secretary told the British media last year "Dr Fox has postponed his private visit to Sri Lanka due to an extension to his scheduled official visit to the Gulf. He intends to carry out an official visit to Sri Lanka next year, during which he proposes to fulfil the speaking engagement that he had planned."

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Ranil Wickremasi​nghe met United Nations Secretary

Ranil Wickremasi?nghe met United Nations Secretary[ Wednesday, 06 July 2011, 01:43.07 PM GMT +05:30 ]Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe met United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and held discussions.

The meeting took place Tuesday afternoon at the UN headquarters in New York.

The Opposition Leader has appraised the UNSG on the developments in Sri Lanka and discussed Sri Lanka's response to the report of the Panel of Experts appointed by the Secretary-General.

Wickremasinghe said BanKi-moon has understood the UNSG will pursue the matter until Sri Lanka conducts a credible investigation on the allegations of human right violations cited in the report.

"The problem will not simply go away until Sri Lanka conducts an acceptable (to UN) investigation," Wickremasinghe said.

The opposition leader said the major issues discussed during the meeting included restitution of democracy in the country, upholding human rights and freedom of expression.

Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to United States, Devinda Subasinghe who accompanied the Opposition Leader during his visit to New York said it is an opportune time for Sri Lanka to start a high-level dialogue with the United Nations and the United States which is urging the Sri Lankan government to investigate the allegations .

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Defence Secretary pays his special attention to Gajaba regime

Defence Secretary pays his special attention to Gajaba regime[ Saturday, 02 July 2011, 04:42.18 AM GMT +05:30 ]Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa pays his special attention to the officers of the Gajaba regime specially when granting the promotions to the Army officers.

According to the sources this is the regime where Gotabaya Rajapaksa served has the Army officer.

Sources also said Defence Secretary always work according to his own wish when naming the Army officers as the ambassadors to the foreign countries.

Sources further said officers of the Gajaba regime will receive more opportunities to get scholarships where they will be able to continue their higher studies in foreign universities.

Due to this tension situation as raised among the army personals sources said.

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Ranil Wickramasi​nghe to meet UN General Secretary

Ranil Wickramasi​nghe to meet UN General Secretary[ Friday, 01 July 2011, 04:14.10 AM GMT +05:30 ]UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon is to meet opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe in New York next week.

According to thesources, this meeting is scheduled to take place on 5th July and comes amidst allegations of human rights violations being committed in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the war.

Ranil Wickramasinghe left for the US this week meet US senators and other officials and discuss Sri Lanka.

Wickramasinghe was also to attend a meeting of the International Democrat Union (IDU) for which he is a vice chairman.

The IDU Executive Committee is meeting in Washington DC this week.

The Washington meetings of the Executive and Standing Committee on Foreign affairs will include briefings by high-level US speakers on a wide range of issues, including both domestic and foreign policy.

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United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton placed Sri Lanka among Tier 2 countries

The report noted that the Sri Lankan government convicted three traffickers, in the first case under its anti-trafficking legislation, and rejuvenated its inter-agency task force.