JAFFNA, Sri Lanka: A 38-year-old Tamil man from Jaffna died early on Saturday, Oct. 3, in a house fire in a suburb northeast of Paris while visiting relatives, according to French news reports and people familiar with his family. Jaffna Monitor has confirmed the man's identity as Rexson Selvarasa, 38, originally from Jaffna. He was born on July 16, 1988. Mr. Selvarasa was a vocalist, and people who knew him described him as a known supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE, w

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: A debate in Sri Lanka's Parliament on Tuesday on regulations under the Foreign Exchange Act turned into a dispute over the Tamil Tigers, with two lawmakers from Jaffna District taking opposing positions in the chamber. S. Shritharan used his speaking time to raise the removal of a bust of Thileepan, a political leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who died on a hunger strike in 1987. He called for the ban on the LTTE to be lifted and accused the government of pursu

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Dayasiri Jayasekara, an opposition lawmaker, challenged the government in Parliament on Tuesday over commemorations for Thileepan, a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who died on a hunger strike in 1987, asking why such events were permitted while the separatist group remains banned in Sri Lanka. Mr. Jayasekara, who represents Kurunegala District for the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, put the question to Aruna Jayasekara, the deputy minister of defense, during the cha

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A medical board has determined that Maj. Gen. Suresh Salley, the former head of Sri Lanka’s State Intelligence Service, is fit to be discharged from the National Hospital in Colombo, the attorney general’s office told a magistrate on Tuesday. Mr. Salley, who has been hospitalized for nearly four months while being held under a detention order, is expected to be returned to the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department after his discharge, the Fort Magistrate’s Court