Colombo, August 11
A high-level commission appointed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to look into the last seven years of conflict with the LTTE opened public hearings today, amid global apprehensions over its credibility and mandate to probe war crimes.

The eight-member ‘Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’ recorded the testimony of its first witness, former top diplomat Bernard Goonatilake, who participated in the talks between the government and LTTE in 2002-2003.

It is to report to the President within six months from the date of appointment, May 15, on the events in the period between February 21, 2002 and May 19, 2009 when the war had ended.

The commission opened its proceedings a day after a group of 57 US lawmakers asked the Obama Administration to call an independent international probe into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

The group said such a probe is in the best interest of the US and people of Sri Lanka to ensure lasting peace after a quarter century of ethnic conflict. “Such a peace can only be reached once the truth about the past is understood,” it said in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

After holding sittings in Colombo this week, the commission is scheduled to operate from Vavuniya to facilitate the persons in the conflict-affected areas to give evidence and state their grievances.

The commission comprises persons of eminence, representing the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural nature of the Sri Lankan society.

Its findings will seek to take Sri Lanka towards the common goal of a multi-ethnic polity, in a spirit of cooperation, partnership and friendship, learning the lessons from recent history to ensure that there will be no recurrence of such tragic conflict in the future.

While assessing the conflict phase, the commission will search for any violation of internationally-accepted norms of conduct in such situations. It will also go into the circumstances that may have led to such actions and identify persons or groups responsible for such acts.

It is also expected that recommendations would be sought on the nature of compensation to be granted to the victims or their dependents who have suffered in this conflict situation.

The commission will also look into the institutional, administrative and welfare measures already taken in the post- conflict phase and that should be taken further in order to effect reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation.

The legislative and administrative measures that may be necessary in order to prevent such situations in the future and to promote national unity and reconciliation among all communities are also part of the mandate of the commission.

Former diplomat Goonatilake, who participated in the talks between the government and the LTTE in 2002-2003, told the commission that the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) was signed without any serious negotiations.

It was signed on the text presented by the Norwegian mediators with inputs from LTTE theoretician Anton Balansingham. It was full of shortcomings that could be seen as beneficial to the LTTE, he said. — PTI

Moscow, August 11
The wildfires raging in Russia's Volga region of Mordovia are threatening the lives of 15,000 inmates of a prison camp surrounded by dense forests, according to reports.

"The fifteen thousand inmates of correction camps in Zubovo-Polyanski district of Mordovia are in the ring of fire," Gazeta.ru news portal reports said.

The reports say that it would be difficult to evacuate them as four years ago railway tracks up to 60 km, linking the area to the nearest station, were dismantled.

Although the Emergency Situations Ministry claims that the fire has been localised and there was no threat to the prisoners, the chief of the prisons department has expressed concern over the safety of the inmates.

"In a TV statement last night Chief of the Prisons Department in Mordovia, Major General Viktor Malkov said the situation around the correction camps is extremely precarious.

If a tree tops catch fire, the inmates will be burnt alive, as the camps are located in the middle of forests," Gazeta.ru reported.

Earlier, wildfires threatening several prison camps were doused and the evacuation of convicts serving terms for grave crimes by special vehicles was cancelled, it noted.

However, the opposition 'Yabloko' party leader Sergei Mitrokhin has sought a probe into the dismantling of the railway track by the Prosecutor-General and demanded that proper arrangements be made for the evacuation of inmates of the prison camps.

The Federal Prisons Service has, however, assured that they have enough vehicles to evacuate all the inmates in case of emergency. — PTI

London, August 11
Roger Hunt, who spent a traumatic 43 hours at a room in Mumbai’s Oberoi Hotel when LeT terrorists stormed the complex in 2008, has penned a graphic account of his ordeal in a book that is climbing the charts in Scotland and elsewhere.

Titled ‘Be Silent Or Be Killed’, the book was released last month and has generated much interest in Britain. Hunt said he owes his life to India’s black cat commandos, who killed the terrorists. Hunt had just finished dinner in Oberoi when a waitress tried tempting him with the desserts on offer. But he decided against another course. It was the first of a series of decisions that would save his life, as the restaurant was strafed with machine-gun fire just a few minutes later.

Hunt describes the events in considerable detail in the book, and includes several email exchanges with his family, friends and work colleagues through his BlackBerry.

“I was fortunate to survive one of the most audacious terrorist attacks in recent times,” he told PTI today.

He said he had nothing but “immense admiration” for the people in India, and particularly those in Mumbai whom he met at the time of the deadly attacks that left 166 people dead.

Hunt, 44, then an executive with the Royal Bank of Scotland, was on his second visit to Mumbai to set up a new operation there, but was caught up in the massacre in the Oberoi. He spent 43 hours in room 1478 of the hotel.

“My experience in India was all very humbling and has had a profound impact on my life. I now understand that there are so many parallel lives beyond my existence in Scotland,” he said.

“I have not a single bad feeling about the Indians and their fabulous country. While I’d still be nervous about returning, until my own demons are fully exorcised, there is no doubt that Indians, and Mumbai in particular, truly suffered because of the attacks.” “My story is a personal one. I am not a politician, a media celebrity or even a senior bank director, but I have been encouraged to tell my true story. It is how I became caught up in the Mumbai massacres and witnessed the slaughter of innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. — PTI

Karachi/Lahore, August 11
Thousands of people fled their homes as the swollen Indus river caused fresh flooding in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province today even as the UN warned there could be a second wave of deaths if aid does not speedily reach the millions of victims.

The Indus, which caused widespread devastation in central Punjab province, flooded vast tracts of lands in Larkana, Dadu and Naushero Feroze areas of Sindh province.

Flows of over 800,000 cusecs were recorded at some places as the waters flooded hundreds of villages.

Schools and colleges were closed as thousands of people fled their homes in the flooded areas in boats. Others were rescued by military helicopters and hovercrafts.

The level at the Sukkur Barrage continued to hover around 1.13 million cusecs and water seeped through cracks in protective walls around Sukkur city.

Officials said they expected the flood waters to hit Thatta district by August 16. Over 350 villages in the area have already been evacuated. Soldiers have been deployed at key bunds and dams. — PTI

London, August 11
As many as 18 Indian migrants working illegally in the UK face deportation after being arrested in a major crackdown to tackle unlawful working, sham marriages and bogus colleges, officials said on Wednesday.

The workers were arrested at two catering firms in West London, a clothing factory in Leicester and a restaurant in Aberdeen. They were arrested for working illegally and for other immigration offences.

The four businesses have been issued with warnings that they face up to 180,000 pounds in fines for employing the workers, unless they can prove they carried out the correct right-to-work checks.

The enforcement operations by the UK Border Agency took place between July 22 and 29 as part of planned nationwide action to tackle illegal working, sham marriages, bogus colleges and organised immigration crime, it is officially stated today.

Damian Green, the UK Immigration Minister, said, "The government will carry out an intense period of enforcement activity over the summer. We are determined to make it harder for illegal immigrants to come.” — PTI