On Tuesday American troops withdrew from Iraq’s cities to their barracks in accordance with an agreement the George W. Bush administration and the Iraqi government signed hours before a UN mandate permitting US presence in Iraq expired. The June 30 withdrawal was a milestone indeed, some analysts may say, given the fears many people entertained when the United States invaded …

Listening to people talk since the vote in the Human Rights Council, anybody would think that Sri Lanka’s approach to international relations was now clear. Newspapers have been full of praise for Dayan Jayatilleka and the principles he has been advocating. If they were genuinely convinced, I’d be delighted. I’ve always believed that a foreign policy based on solidarity with …

Close on the heels of the government crushing the world’s deadliest terrorist organization, the LTTE , its now flushing out Jihad militants operating in the East. Intelligence sources reveal that there are an estimated 500 Jihadi militants in the East. They allege that Batticaloa itself houses about 250 of them. Sources said that although earlier accusing fingers were pointed at …

I refer to Demos’ comment under the above heading in the Island of June 22 on my article and that of Kath Noble in The Island of June 15 and 17 respectively. There has been much confusion about what has been meant by what came to be called megaphone diplomacy. It referred to statements made both by bureaucrats and politicians …

The Sri Lankan government was moving against armed jihadis, a new menace in the Eastern part of the island country, which just ended a long drawn out war against the LTTE, claimed a front-page report in the weekly Lakbimanews on Sunday. Official Indian sources told The New Indian Express that presence of jihadis had begun to cause concern to both …