Sri Lanka's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN post, vacant following Bandula Jayasekera's department triggered by a sexual harassment scandal, is now reportedly slated to be filled by Major General Shavendra Silva, who “was allegedly among those mentioned by MP Sarath Fonseka in a media interview where he had said that the former 58 Division Commander had received orders to shoot at sight LTTE suspects who came with white flags to surrender to the army during the final stage of war.” [ Full Report ]

    Last week, a commission began investigating the final phase of a horrendous decades-long civil war. This war, which ended last year, caused tens of thousands of deaths, prompted military interventions from a regional power, drew in a transnational diaspora, and spawned numerous refugees. The war's aftermath presents significant implications for the international community concerning counterinsurgency, terrorism and refugee flows. Unfortunately, it occurred in Sri Lanka, a country that receives negligible, if any, attention in US media or political discussions. If the international community were to focus on this crisis, however, diplomatic pressure to address the grievances driving the conflict combined with reconstruction aid could yield tremendous benefits. [ Full Report ]

    With members in Lok Sabha alleging that Indian aid was not reaching the displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka, government today said it was continuously monitoring the issue based on periodic assessment of the situation. "Doubts have been expressed whether the beneficiaries are receiving the aid sent by India. We are heavily dependent on the International Red Cross the UN Commission on refugees (to send assistance) ... We are continuously monitoring the situation on the basis of periodic assessments," external affairs minister SM Krishna said in reply to a calling attention on the rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils. [ Full Report ]

    Doctors in Sri Lanka have found 23 nails in the body of a tortured housemaid who returned to Colombo from Riyadh, Sri Lankan Embassy sources told Arab News on Tuesday. “We have received this complaint from the Foreign Ministry in Colombo, who said the maid has been allegedly tortured by her sponsor,” a senior diplomat from the Sri Lankan mission in Riyadh told Arab News. “We are looking for the sponsor. We were able to track down the Saudi recruitment agent in Riyadh and we will summon the sponsor to discuss this issue,” the official said. [ Full Report ]

    Indo-Chinese trade is growing, but as the Economist points out, it is a lop-sided, subservient relationship (Indian iron ore for Chinese finished goods) that deepens Indian fears of Chinese encirclement, as they are outflanked again and again in their own neigbourhood by China – in Burma, in Sri Lanka, In Pakistan. At the same time, like an irritating little brother, China basically ignores India or treats it with ill-concealed contempt, both at a diplomatic level, but also on the street where attitudes to India are openly dismissive – a dirty, smelly, chaotic Third World kind of place in the view of many Chinese. [ Full Report ]

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated it will release the next tranche of a multi-billion dollar loan to Sri Lanka. Following a two week mission to the country, the body gave an upbeat assessment of Sri Lanka's economy. It said government targets for deficit reduction were on track, with taxes increasing and spending being cut. An IMF mission also arrived in Serbia on Monday to assess its economy with a view to releasing a loan payment. [ Full Report ]

    More than 400 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who arrived in Canada aboard a cargo ship 11 days ago have been told they must stay in jail. The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board agreed with government requests for more time to check the migrants' identity papers. Government officials want to establish whether any are militants from the Tamil Tigers, a group banned in Canada. Some 49 children arrived with the group, but they have not been detained. [ Full Report ]

    The High Court is hearing a challenge from two Tamil asylum seekers that their lawyers say could undermine the basis for offshore processing. The two asylum seekers, identified only as plaintiffs M61 and M69, arrived by boat in 2009, reaching Christmas Island on October 2. Both claimed refugee status out of fear they faced persecution from the Sri Lankan army, agencies of the government and paramilitary groups because of their alleged support for the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam. [ Full Report ]

    Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa is to leave for India today (24) on a two-day official tour till the 26th. During Rajapaksa’s visit, he is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other high ranking members of the Indian government. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge were to also participate in the Indian tour, but later cancelled the plans. [ Full Report ]

    Earlier this month, a boat carrying 492 Tamils claiming to be refugees from Sri Lanka's recently ended 26-year civil war arrived in Canada on the MV Sun Sea, having set sail two and half months earlier. Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) is now processing the asylum claims of those on board. While the 492 refugee claimants represent only around 2% of Canada's annual refugee intake, the MV Sun Sea has been taken on as a symbol of the spectre of a refugee influx, notably by the conservative National Post newspaper and Stephen Harper's Conservative government. [ Full Report ]