In brief
Postal strike
Over ten million letters piled-up in Colombo following a strike by postal workers demanding overtime payments and dismissal of Postmaster General Soma Kotakadeniya. The government declared post and telecommunication as essential services on 24 April and sent the military into the Central Mail Exchange.
Attack
Reports say forty Muslim families fled from Kudapokuna in Polonnaruwa District in April following LTTE attacks. They have taken refuge in other villages nearby.
Disease
Fifty children are reported to have died of an unidentified viral disease in urban areas of southern Sri Lanka in April. Over 1,000 patients were treated for the disease in Colombo hospitals.
Conscription
Sri Lanka declared a five-day amnesty on 4 May for 15,000 Army deserters. Deputy Defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatte says the government will introduce compulsory military service if the amnesty fails to bring back the deserters.
Fundraising
Addressing the Royal Institute of International Affairs on 15 April, Foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar expressed dissatisfaction over Britain’s lukewarm response to Sri Lanka’s call to crackdown on LTTE fundraising in the United Kingdom.
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