SRI LANKA: News Briefs
Parliament approves amendments to Terrorist Financing Act: Parliament on February 8 approved the draft bill to amend the Terrorist Financing Act. The draft bill when presented to Parliament on February 6 got hung up in the definition of the word 'terrorist' when the opposition pointed out that the word 'terrorist' had not been defined clearly. The Leader of the House and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva clarified to the House who a terrorist is today and according to the Minister's definition, a terrorist is a person who is directly or indirectly involved in any terrorist activity or a person who aids and abets him. The Act is amended to prevent collection of funds for terrorist organizations. Colombo Page, February 7, 2013.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa rules out Tamil autonomy: Ruling out granting minority Tamils of the North any political autonomy as a solution to the three-decades-long ethnic conflict, President Mahinda Rajapaksa on February 4 said "it is not practical for this country to have different administrations based on ethnicity. The solution is to live together in this country with equal rights for all communities." Rajapaksa claimed that though nearly four years had passed since the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were routed, Sri Lanka "had to face continued challenges to protect the freedom and independence of our motherland. For this very reason we have now come to a very strong situation. Similarly, facing up to these challenges have increased our desire to be committed to our freedom". The Hindu, February 5, 2013.
[Source: SATP]
