The post war scenario

Below we carry excerpts of a speech made by Mangala Samaraweera at the Sri Lanka — America Friendship society gathering held recently at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo. “THE POST WAR SCENARIO” - in my view is a misnomer as I feel that it is still a little too premature to talk of a post war situation as Sri Lanka has yet to win the peace despite the convincing victory over the LTTE. Perhaps, we ought to be looking at “ The post Mullativu scenario” for the moment.

Turning dream into reality

HISTORY IS AN EXTRAORDINARY THING. While many might think of it as a slow inexorable process and while it does typically involve vast time spans – sometimes it can sneak up on you. For months 20 million people had been anticipating the news that would usher in the dawn of a new era on the island. But after dozens of missed deadlines and a lifetime of conflict when news began trickling in, of the most significant event in the last 30 years of the country’s political history, many were caught completely off guard.

What Next?

THE WIPING OUT OF THE LTTE by the armed forces resembles a giant tree being chopped off like nipping a tender bud. It is a historical event for Sri Lanka bearing an utmost significance and such historical events occur only once or twice in a century. The individuals who provided the leadership for such a major event inevitably become major personalities themselves. When Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected as the president of this country I thought a leader with a fitting counter personality to Prabakaran has come to power. This fact I have mentioned in my previous articles directly and indirectly. I had a feeling that Prabakaran would witness his end in the hands of Mahinda.

Special Report

War’s End in Sri Lanka: Blody Family Triumph

THE SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT, MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA, savoured a victory that had eluded every Sri Lankan head of state before him: he declared on television that after more than 25 years, his troops had defeated one of the world’s most enduring guerrilla armies on the battlefield. Behind that victory speech was a historic and bloody family triumph, guided by two of the president’s brothers: Gotabhaya, the influential Secretary of Defense, and Basil, a so-called special adviser who devised the political strategy around the war effort.

Snippets From Asia

• A suicide bombing in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, has killed at least five members of the paramilitary civil defence force, military officials said. (more...)
• Security is tight across Bangladesh for elections to return the country to democracy after two years of a military-backed interim government. (more...)
• (RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced its relief after journalist and writer Lenin Kumar Roy and his two assistants were granted bail by a judge in Bhubaneswar district on 17 December 2008 (more...)
• (FNJ/IFEX) - The Nepalese media has witnessed a series of attacks on media workers and media outlets over the past several days, most of them at the hands of ruling party unions. (more...)
• (FNJ/IFEX) - The premises of the Himal Media group, based in Hattiban, Lalitpur, a region in central Nepal, were attacked by two groups led by the Maoist-allied All Nepal Communications (more...)