The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michelle Sison has said that the US is looking to increase investment in the country.

Speaking to the Hambantota Chamber of Commerce, the ambassador said she will do her ‘modest bit’ to build bilateral relations between the two countries.

"I am looking forward to doing my modest bit to promote and build bilateral relations between USA and Sri Lanka. We would like to increase investment, and are keen to know more about opportunities in the Hambantota District," Sison said.

Sison visited Hambantota harbour and the airport development project in the southern district.

Two of the four students held by the Sri Lankan military following the marking of Maaveerar Naal two months ago, were released on Tuesday.

The president of the Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) V Pavananthan and the member of the Science Faculty, S Solomon were released in Vavuniyaa.

Two students remain in detention.

British MPs raised the issue of the arrests of the Jaffna University students during the House of Commons debate on Tuesday. Expressing concern at the arrests, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Alistair Burt, said:

"Our high commissioner has expressed those concerns to the authorities in Sri Lanka, and we continue to monitor the detention of those students. We take every opportunity to raise human rights concerns with the Government of Sri Lanka, and I will raise those concerns, including this case, when I visit Sri Lanka fairly shortly."

Transcript of the debate is reproduced in full below:

Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP):

What assessment he has made of reported clashes between Sri Lankan security forces and Jaffna university students and the situation of those who have been arrested and detained.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt):

We are concerned about the attacks on students at Jaffna university in November last year. Our high commissioner has expressed those concerns to the authorities in Sri Lanka, and we continue to monitor the detention of those students. We take every opportunity to raise human rights concerns with the Government of Sri Lanka, and I will raise those concerns, including this case, when I visit Sri Lanka fairly shortly.

Mark Durkan:

I thank the Minister for his answer and his personal engagement. The attacks and arrests took place on the day after Tamil remembrance day. The region is highly militarised and even this week the Sri Lankan Parliament is looking at legislation to extend detention without warrant. When the Minister visits Sri Lanka next week, will he tell the regime there that he will not be persuaded by the language of reconciliation that it offers the diplomatic community, given that it offers only an arsenal of repression to the Tamil community?

Alistair Burt:

The hon. Gentleman puts his case well. I expect to have straightforward private conversations with the Sri Lankan authorities. I will make the point that if reconciliation is to mean anything, a straightforward gesture such as converting the current triumphal expressions following the end of the war into a day of national reconciliation, as recommended by the lessons learned and reconciliation committee, would be a good step forward and perhaps start to defuse the tension, an increase of which would be very unwelcome.

Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) (LD):

Commonwealth Heads of Government are due to meet in Sri Lanka this November, with Australia in the chair. Have concerns about human rights been raised in the Minister’s preparatory conversations with the secretary-general and the Australian and Sri Lankan Governments?

Alistair Burt:

Yes, concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka are raised among those who have the interests of all Sri Lankans at heart. The United Kingdom has made no decision yet as to the level of its attendance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

Two out of four of the Jaffna University students arrested by the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) in the Maveerar Naal protests are to be released on Tuesday, according to Vasanthy Arasaratnam, Vice-Chancellor of the University.

Out of the four, Bavananthan and Solomon will be released, after almost two months of detention at the Velikanda Rehabilitation Centre.

Uthayan reports that with academic activities resumed at the University of Jaffna, the institution is now facing fresh threats of examination boycott from peers of the detained students.

Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the US has said that ties between the two countries are improving.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya said that the embassy has an “excellent working relationship” with the US State Department and that US investors are very positive about the country.

"I must emphasize the embassy has an excellent working relationship with the US State Department.

"Effective representations were made to the State Department by the embassy; the US Authorities lifted the adverse travel advisory on Sri Lanka. I must also stress that if not for the assistance of the State Department, the Embassy would not have been able to successfully convince the US authorities to remove Sri Lankan ports from the list of High Risk Ports as declared by the US Coast Guard.

"In today’s context, one of our major aims is to project Sri Lanka’s true picture in the sphere of economic development, reconciliation, rehabilitation and redevelopment.

"The US is Sri Lanka’s largest export market with an annual turnover of US $ 2.1 billion. In terms of Foreign Direct Investment and tourism as well, the US is becoming a very important partner for Sri Lanka. The US is the largest single export destination for Sri Lankan goods, with over 20 % of our exports. Our exports to the US demonstrated an impressive growth of 7.7 % up to October 2012. According to the latest trade statistics, our exports to the US up to October 2012 amounted to US $ 1.8 billion.

"The USA is among first 10 sources of origin of tourists to Sri Lanka. Compared to 2011, arrival of US tourists to Sri Lanka, 2012 is indeed very impressive. Up to November 2012, US tourist arrivals numbered 26.251. This shows a 25% increase compared to the same period in 2011. Our short term objective is to increase this number to 45,000 within the next three years while expecting, in the long term, arrivals of approximately 100,000 by 2017.

"With the dawn of peace, many opportunities emerged for international business in Sri Lanka. The Embassy harnessed this conducive climate to showcase real business opportunities in Sri Lanka amongst US corporate leaders and captains of Industry. That’s something that we pushed for in collaboration with the Office of the US Trade Representative and the US Department of Commerce. Collectively, we have sponsored and facilitated several investment conferences for US businesses interested in Sri Lanka. These highly productive networking sessions held both in Sri Lanka and in the US have generated much needed enthusiasm.

"Now we are starting to see the fruits of these endeavours, as some large American hotels, heavy equipment operators, energy companies and airplane manufacturers are keen to do business in Sri Lanka."

In a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the DMK party president, M Karunanidhi, urged action against the Sri Lankan government's "intensive and systematic programme of erasing the Tamil language, culture, religion and diluting the concentration of Tamils in areas where they had historically been predominant."

Describing the ongoing Sinhalisation of the Tamil North-East, the letter listed the names 89 Tamil villages that had been renamed with Sinhala names, the destruction of 367 Hindu temples and noted the alteration of village borders to change demographics.

Karunanidhi went on to exemplify  the intense militarisation and oppression of Tamil livelihood in the North-East, stating that there were 161 army camps in the war-ravaged Mullativu district alone.

The letter also shed light on lacking reconciliation and the grip the Sinhala army have over the local economy, stating that there was a "non-allocation of funds to resettle and rehabilitate internally displaced Tamil families, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure and promoting of Sinhala settlements on Tamil land and Sinhala takeover of the economic life Tamil areas, which impoverishes the Tamil"

The letter ended by calling on India, "the world's largest democracy", to fulfil its moral obligation and "stop this atrocity immediately."

See here for full letter.

In an outlandish criticism of the UN High Commissioner, Navi Pillay, the Acting Secretary of the External Affairs Ministry, Kshenuka Senewiratne, said:

"The Government of Sri Lanka notes, with deep regret and concern, your statement delivered at the OHCHR Press Briefing on 18th January 2013 where reference has been made to Sri Lanka. At the outset, I wish to reject categorically the contents of this statement, as it lacks any semblance of objectivity, steeped as it is in bias, marred by erroneous facts and further compounded by the inappropriate tenor of its language, all of which are indicative of unequal and invidious treatment of Sri Lanka.

To me this is reminiscent of the action taken by MrHannyMegally following the visit of the OHCHR team to Sri Lanka in September 2012, when he deviated from the accepted practice, by de-briefing third parties, even before briefing you, in your capacity as High Commissioner, or the Permanent Representative of the country concerned.

It may also be recalled that when the latter pointed out the impropriety of this unacceptable conduct of Mr. Megally at that juncture, you accepted our Representative’s submission. However, your action in resorting to unwarranted comments with a series of innuendos on an issue which is entirely a domestic matter for Sri Lanka, and that too without first engaging with our Permanent Representative or the delegation of Sri Lanka in Geneva, demonstrates yet again the deviation from established procedure, amounting to blatant interference in an issue of a sovereign country."

The letter went on..

"Your assertion that “Sri Lanka has a long history of abuse of executive power” is offensive to this nation, and is clearly beyond your mandate. In this regard, you have transgressed the basic norms which should be observed by a discerning international civil servant, by bringing into question the constitutional governance of a sovereign State."

See here for further excerpts.

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has snubbed the United States, stating that China would be there to help replace any losses, reported Colombo Telegraph.

Speaking at a presentation ceremony by the National Chamber of Commerce, Rajapaksa stated that US Ambassador Sison questioned him “each time” he met her over the inaction in punishing Sri Lankan soldiers for alleged war crimes.

Rajapaksa rebuffed her comments, stating

“The biggest threat the US can pose to Sri Lanka’s military is to take away their defence scholarships… We can send our soldiers to China for training”

He went on to state that Sri Lanka allegedly received no weapons assistance from the US during the war.

Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan, spoke at his home on Saturday about the reassignment of local council borders and the 'current' political situation.

Sampanthan claimed that resolving Tamil grievances was not a government priority and that he hoped for a meaningful action at the UN Human Rights Council in March.

Uthayan reports that Sampanthan further stated:

"No-one can deny the Tamils our birth rights. Authority must be handed back to us. In order for Tamils to live as equal citizens, it is essential that power is in our own hands."

The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Rauff Hakeem, has claimed that an increase in anti-Muslim incidents could be due to an international conspiracy against Sri Lanka.

The Justice Minister urged the government to put a stop to the “hate campaign”, which included protests against halal meat, organised by Buddhist monks.

The Buddhist Power Force, better known as Bodu Bala Sena, claims that the island’s Muslims are a threat to Buddhism and their way of life and that they will “strengthen and defend the Buddhist religion and its heritage,” using all options.

Hakeem said in a statement that it was “distressing” to see that conflict between ethnic groups was “flaring up” again.

“The derogatory references to the Muslims as a community, and the related isolated incidents that have taken place in different parts of the country in the recent past, are also a disturbing trend that ought to be reversed. We seek a peaceful end to these hate campaigns immediately," Hakeem said according to The Island.

“At a time the country is recovering from a protracted thirty-year war, it is distressing to note that the conflicts between ethnic communities are showing signs of flaring up again, aided and abetted by certain groups trying to discredit the government and the Sri Lankan State.

“We must act with restraint and tolerance, by not falling prey to vested interests that spread hate and religious bigotry and thereby inviting unwanted external interference. I believe that this could also be part of a conspiracy to isolate Sri Lanka in the international arena.

“As intelligent citizens who love our motherland we must not pay heed to those promoting religious disharmony.”

See here for article on “concerns” about Islam harboured by Sinhala Buddhists, according to DailyNews.lk.

The body of a young woman was found in Visuvamadu, Kilinochchi, reports Tamilwin.

The body, found badly burnt, was discovered by a passerby in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police state that they have no further details on the identity or circumstances of the corpse.

The Chinese government has donated $50million worth of sports equipment to the government, for distribution amongst children in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi.

An agreement was signed by China's Ambassador to Sri Lanka Wu Jianghao and External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris at an event in Temple Trees, reported ColomboPage.

The Chinese Ambassador said at the function that he toured several areas in the North, including Jaffna, some time ago and observed the change that has taken place in the areas affected by the conflict.

Mr Jianghao stressed his government's support to uplift civilian life and strengthen school education in the region.