Most Sri Lankans or the world outside is still unaware -- the well-protected, secluded life under serene surroundings, with a thick layer of re-inforced concrete overhead, ended for Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on March 30.
There is considerable uncertainty, confusion and misunderstanding regarding the granting of the IMF facility. The need for it however is becoming clearer. Revelations of debt repayment obligations this year makes it vital that we obtain the facility in order to maintain the country status of not defaulting on international debt repayments.
It is no secret that the majority of the people in the country have a low opinion about the conduct of most parliamentarians. The arrest last week of two MPs, one for his alleged involvement in a killing of a political opponent and the other for the abduction of a child of a supporter of a political opponent, will do little to change this image of elected representatives in the eyes of the people.
UN Special Rapportuer on Torture Manfred Novak's stinging rebuke to the Obama administration this week that it is specifically obligated by the United Nations Convention against Torture to prosecute Bush administration lawyers who drafted torture policies and approved torture practices such as water boarding, is interesting in more ways than one.
When civilians get killed in conflicts in Sudan, Zimbabwe or Sri Lanka, the United Nations predictably raises hell. But when civilians are victims of domestic insurgencies or military conflicts involving the five big powers -- the US, Britain, France, China and Russia (plus Israel) -- the Security Council invariably remains silent or paralysed.
