[Washington Times]

Sri Lanka will hold accountable every person accused of war crimes during its decades-long civil conflict, the island nation’s ambassador to the U.S. says.

[Full Story]

[BBC]

Sri Lanka’s defence secretary has rejected the Tamil Tigers’ offer to enter a democratic process after their military defeat by government forces. In an interview with the BBC, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the LTTE rebels could not be trusted to give up “terrorism”. “I do not believe the LTTE can enter a democratic process after years of their violent activities,” Mr Rajapaksa said. The rebels had said they would give up violence after their leader was killed in recent fighting in the north-east. “I am not interested in LTTE at all,” the defence secretary - the most senior civilian official in charge of the war against the Tamil Tigers - told the BBC in a wide-ranging telephone interview. He said there were “enough democratic Tamil political parties in the country” to represent the Tamil minority.

[Full Story]

[AP]

Sri Lanka warned Western diplomats, foreign journalists and aid groups Sunday that they would be “chased” out of the country if they appear to favor the Tamil Tiger rebels. Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa singled out the ambassadors of Switzerland and Germany, and television networks CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera in his criticism of foreigners, accusing them of being biased. Rajapaksa said certain foreign media reports were damaging the security forces at a time they were “dealing the final death blow” to the Tigers.

[Full Story]

[Boston Globe]

ASIA’S longest civil war is building to a violent crescendo. In the island nation of Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese-majority government should be pressed to accept a cease-fire, to permit a political settlement. Government forces are besieging the rebel Tamil Tigers in the north of the country. Since abandoning a ceasefire in 2006 and a Norwegian-sponsored peace process earlier this year, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother, Defense Minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, have been vaunting their intention to crush the Tigers once and for all. There is little chance the brothers’ military campaign will produce anything other than a new phase of protracted guerrilla warfare. Meanwhile, over 200,000 civilians have been uprooted from their homes.

[Full Story]

[Tamils Against Genocide]

Description: In this video broadcast, Bruce Fein traces Sri Lanka’s genocidal history against Tamils, and focuses on the urgent need to prosecute, in the U.S. Courts, high-level Sri Lankan Government officials, Sri Lanka’s Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Sri Lanka’s Army Commander, Lt.Col. Sarath Fonseka, and Presidential Advisor, Basil Rajapakse for crimes against humanity

[Tamils Against Genocide]

Description: Bruce Fein, a representative of US-based non-profit organization, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), and former Deputy Associate Attorney General in the Reagan administration, on the mission and objectives of TAG. TAG was formed by Tamil Activists in the U.S. to seek criminal indictments against Sri Lanka’s Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Sri Lanka’s Army Commander, Lt.Col. Sarath Fonseka, and Presidential Advisor, Basil Rajapakse, for war crimes against Sri Lanka’s Tamils