Colombo, January 31
With the government ruling out any ceasefire, Lankan troops today rolled out to wrest the last territories held by the Tigers and foiled a rebel suicide boat attack, apparently aimed at breaking the naval blockade off the Mullaitivu coast.

In a fresh military offensive, troops seized a key luxury bunker fitted with a lift, which could have been used by LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, a military spokesman said.

This is the third bunker unearthed by the troops during operations over the past few weeks. The forces are on the lookout to capture Prabhakaran and other top LTTE leaders.

Lankan naval boats intercepted the LTTE suicide boat off the Mullaitivu coast this morning and blew it up by gunfire. This was the second Tiger boat to be intercepted in the last two days.

The army has seized large quantity of explosive materials and killed four LTTE cadres. The army snipers deployed in Mullaitivu and Chundikulam near Jaffna areas have taken more LTTE targets ahead of the own defences throughout yesterday, the Defence Ministry said.

Snipers deployed in northwest of Mullaitivu gunned down three LTTE cadres ahead of the defence line on Friday, it said.

In a separate confrontation reported in the south of the Puthukkudiyiruppu area in Mullaitivu, the LTTE suffered heavy damages, it said.

Troops also captured LTTE’s fortified bases near Udayarkattukulam in Mullaitivu. Two containers with overhead protection and five huts were found inside an LTTE base.

A lathe machine that had been placed inside a bunker was also unearthed, military sources said. Meanwhile, the army snipers deployed in general area Chundikulam in Jaffna peninsula gunned down a rebel ahead of the defence line, military sources said.

Troops of 621 Brigade uncovered two LTTE improvised mortar launchers from the same area while conducting consolidating operations, the ministry said.

Separately, infantrymen operating in the Udayarkattukulam have captured LTTE bases and military items left behind yesterday, the officials said. — PTI

Baghdad, January 31
Iraq imposed a nationwide security lockdown as voting began today in key regional elections with blanket measures not seen since the deadliest years of the insurgency, underscoring the high stakes for Iraqi leaders desperate to portray stability after nearly six years of conflict.

Although violence is sharply down, and with pre-election attacks relatively limited, authorities were unwilling to take any risks.They ordered cars off city streets, sealed borders and closed airports.

The top-to-bottom precautions show that the consequences run deeper than just the outcome of today's ballots for 440 seats on influential provincial councils across Iraq.

Voting carried off without major attacks or charges of irregularities would give a critical boost for Iraqi authorities as the US military hands over more responsibilities. But serious bloodshed or voting chaos could steal momentum from supporters of a fast-paced withdrawal of US combat troops next year.

The election is also a possible dress rehearsal for bigger showdowns later this year when the US-allied government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki could face challenges for power. "Our security is very well prepared," said the deputy interior minister, Iden Khalid.

Yet the full-scale clampdown also brought back an aura of some of Iraq's most unstable days, including 2005 elections, which many observers believe set the stage for sectarian violence a year later. — AP

The Obama administration has picked Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, a former top military commander in Afghanistan, to be the next United States ambassador to Kabul. “Tapping a career Army officer who will soon retire from the service to fill one of the country's most sensitive diplomatic jobs is a highly unusual choice,” the New York Times reported Saturday, citing administration officials.

But Afghanistan specialists say General Eikenberry, who served in Afghanistan twice, including an 18-month command tour that ended in 2007, knows the players and issues there well. “That is a valuable commodity in a year when the US will send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan and the country will hold presidential elections,” the report said. General Eikenberry has a track record for spotting problems in Afghanistan early, it said, adding that he was the one who warned about a resurgent Taliban and the need to keep the country from backsliding into anarchy. “He was also an early and vigorous champion of building up the Afghan Army to combat the Taliban, a top priority for the Obama administration,” The Times said. “And the General repeatedly warned that the US could not prevail in Afghanistan and defeat global terrorism without addressing the havens that fighters with Al Qaeda had established in neighbouring Pakistan.” General Eikenberry has the backing of Richard Holbrooke, President

Obama’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, officials said.Gen David Petraeus, the head of the Central Command; Gen David McKiernan, the top commander in Afghanistan and Gen. James Jones, a retired Marine Corps officer who is Obama’s national security adviser, are all expected to play important roles in carrying out Afghanistan policy.

Washington, January 31
Less than three months after Americans elected Democrat Barack Obama as their first Black President, the vanquished Republican Party too has chosen the first Black national chairman in its history.

The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party", declared the new Republican party chairman, former Maryland Lt Governor Michael Steele after his election held yesterday.

Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W Bush's hand-picked party chief, Mike Duncan, who bowed out declaring: "Obviously, the winds of change are blowing".

Steele takes the helm of a beleaguered Republican party that is trying to recover after crushing defeats in November's national elections that gave Democrats the control of Congress and put Obama in the White House.

Steele told his fellow party members that it would be a "great honour to spar" with President Obama.

Kishan Putta, co-founder of the bipartisan Indians For McCain grassroots movement, said just as they "were proud to see Barack Obama sworn in as the first African-American President of the United States, we are also proud today to see Michael Steele elected to chair his party".

"Today's news is a positive reminder that both parties value the contributions of Indian-Americans to our nation," he said. — IANS