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Throughout the week, the LTTE suffered huge losses in men and material and was finally ousted by the state armed forces from Pudukudiyiruppu, the last of the towns it captured in Mullaitheevu.

Clock is ticking fast for the LTTE whose chief along with his son and some of his trusted colleagues has taken a refuge among the civilians in a No Fire Zone. Sri Lankan military intelligence has reported that LTTE's Intelligence Chief Pottu Amman has taken over the command of the dying

The tiny nation's economy has become yet another victim of the protracted ethnic conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese. This week, Standard and Poor credit rating agency has downgraded the rating of Sri Lanka from 'stable' to 'negative' reflecting concerns about the weak fiscal consolidation efforts and the unfavourable trends evident in the country's debt profile.

In Sri Lanka, everybody is uncertain about the future. Nobody knows what happens next. Take for instance, the victory march of Sri Lankan Army (SLA) which was once again bogged down by the LTTE's resurgence. Though the week started with the forward march of the Sri Lanka defence forces after the killing of the three senior female LTTE leaders at sea including Lt. Colonel Kalai Arasi,

LTTE's operational capabilities, in different dimensions, were hit hard at several places this week. While the Sri Lanka Air Force jets pounded the LTTE¿s communication base with transmitting tower in the north-east of Oddusudan junction, British parliamentarians came down heavily on the group's credit card frauds to fund its terrorist activities.

Former prime minister and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Begum Khaleda Zia has threatened to launch an agitation if any deal is signed between India and Bangladesh which will be "detrimental" to the country's national interest.

Former General Sarath Fonseka, who played a major role in decimating the LTTE, has formally announced his presidential candidature for the elections to be held in January 2010. He is all set to take on the current presidential incumbent and his former mentor Mahinda Rajapaksa as a common opposition candidate.

The United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee report on Sri Lanka released this week recommends that the US needs to adopt a fresh approach to this South Asian nation owing to its strategic importance in the Indian Ocean region.

Twenty-three candidates, including current President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former army general Sanath Fonseka, filed their nomination papers for the presidential elections to be held on January 26, 2010.

Bangladesh is contemplating allowing the entry of Indian container trains up to Ghazipur, close to the capital Dhaka. This will benefit the traders of both the countries as there will be reduction in the transportation cost.

National Security Advisor (NSA) M K Narayanan is of the view that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's international financial network is intact. He said that the epicentre of the separatist Tamil movement can turn out to be Tamil Nadu.

In a move that took many by surprise, Sri Lanka's Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe accepted most of the criticism leveled against his government by the United Nations over the resettlement of 250,000 Tamil refugees.

Sri Lankan Navy and Indian Navy successfully conclude their joint naval exercises, which started on October 6 and continued till October 8, 2009. The naval training exercise, code-named CADEX 2009, took place on the western seas off Sri Lanka.

A ten-member parliamentary delegation from Tamil Nadu visited Sri Lanka and met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and discussed the resettlement of the 250,000 war refugees.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa-led ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party-United People's Freedom Alliance coalition won the southern provincial council elections with a heavy margin.

Several thousand Tamil refugees have started seeking asylum in Australia and Canada. Both the countries, however, are wary of accepting the asylum seekers for security reasons.

Sri Lankan authorities criticised the latest move by the international community, particularly the US, to 'interview' war hero former army chief General Sarath Fonseka about events that led to the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the death of its leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

In a move that was not unexpected, Sri Lanka's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Sarath Fonseka resigned from his post, which was created exclusively for him by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government soon after the end of the ethnic war.

Sri Lankan Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samrasinghe claimed that 143,672 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been resettled. There were 280,000 IDPs when the fighting ended in May 2009.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for early Presidential elections, which would be held on January 23, 2010. Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, the President can call for an early election after the completion of four years out of his six-year term.

To mark the beginning of the Tamil and Sinhala New Year celebrations in the country, the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa announced a two-day unilateral ceasefire in the Northern Province. The truce declaration was also aimed at providing safe passage to civilians trapped in the "no-fire zone".

The two-day ceasefire call given by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa failed to produce any tangible results after it was rejected by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The 24-hour ultimatum issued to the LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran,

With the Sri Lankan security forces continuing their advance into north-eastern Mulaithivu district, the last stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the international community has again raised its concern over the safety of trapped Tamil civilians.

Blaming the ruling Awami League government for the deteriorating condition of power, water and law and order of the country, Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) launched a month-long agitation against the government.

After days of speculation and diplomatic haggling, the United Nations Security Council finally decided to discuss the humanitarian issue in Sri Lanka arising out of the ethnic conflict in the island nation.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officially admitted that their chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran "attained martyrdom" while trying to escape the last Tiger stronghold of Mullaithivu, where the LTTE top leadership had holed up in a final stand against the advancing Sri Lankan army.

Sri Lanka secured a major diplomatic victory when the United Nations (UN) passed a resolution backing its post-war plans for refugees. The UN resolution, which was passed 29 to 12 with six abstentions, urged support and assistance to Sri Lanka in its efforts to deal with large number of refugees.

Sri Lanka celebrated Victory Day at Galle Face Green in capital Colombo on June 3 to mark its victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, praised the soldiers for their sustained efforts in wiping out the Tigers.

Sri Lankan Chief Justice Sarath N Silva, who retired recently, ruffled many a feathers when he appreciated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for not dismantling the judicial system in northeastern Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is seeking foreign aid for the resettlement of 280,000 predominantly Tamil refugees, officially known as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), languishing in camps without any access to basic amenities like food, clothing and sanitation.

Local council elections in the Northern Province districts of Vavuniya and Jaffna will be held on August 8. Though President Mahinda Rajapaksa assured free and fair elections, the opposition wants foreign observers to oversee the conduct of the elections.

President Mahinda Rajapksa earned praise from all quarters for establishing the Development and Reconciliation All Party Committee. The committee comprises members from the main opposition United National Party,

Foreign aid reserves are at an all-time low in Sri Lanka. The island country requires foreign assistance to resettle millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and reconstruct war-ravaged areas of the northeast.

A major reshuffle of the Sri Lankan defence establishment took place last week. General Sarath Fonseka took over as the Chief of Defence Staff, a newly created post, with powers to map out military strategy and planning. Gen.

The so-called executive committee of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) appointed Kumara Pathmanathan alias Selvarasa Pathmanathan as the chief of the once dreaded outfit. There is intense speculation on where the executive committee is located.

The International Monetary Fund has cleared a standby facility of US $2.6 billion to Sri Lanka. This clearance comes despite criticism from various quarters over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

The new chief of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP, was arrested in Thailand on August 6. Thai authorities claimed that KP was arrested by the Malaysian Police after he had gone to Malaysia to meet with senior LTTE cadres to discuss his "new policies".

The ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa recorded an emphatic win in the local council polls held in the turbulent northern areas of Sri Lanka. The elections, held just two months after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE),

The Sri Lankan government has decided against cutting back expenditure on defence, given that a fragile peace has been established only recently after the decimation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The Sri Lankan government registered an official protest after the London-based Channel 4 television station telecast footage that showed Sri Lankan soldiers executing some blindfolded Tamil men in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka ordered a senior United Nations official James Elder to leave the country with immediate effect. Elder was the spokesperson of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

The Sri Lankan government is establishing special courts to clear the backlog of cases against former LTTE combatants, who either surrendered or were captured by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

The kidnapping of an American University professor and his Australian colleague in Afghanistan resulted in a failed rescue mission.