News
Talks with Tamil expats: Civil society ready to support
Sri Lanka Collective for Consensus (SLCC) yesterday (21) welcomed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s call for a dialogue with the Tamil Diaspora to explore ways and means of addressing reconciliation issues through domestic systems.
The following is the text of the statement issued by the SLCC: “We are glad to note the stand of the President at the UN General Assembly in New York and the Foreign Minister at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. We are pleased that they have spoken of carrying on those changes that they had spoken to us about and which shows commitment.
In our meetings with members of the government, including the president, we presented the issues that we felt needed to be addressed by the government. These included bringing the PTA into line with international standards, releasing long term prisoners held under it, addressing the issue of missing, and the Muslim burials and targeting of Muslims, releasing of land in the north and halting continuation of land grabs especially grazing land in the east, implementing the 13th Amendment in full and holding elections to the provincial councils, appointing of appropriate persons to the vacancies in the Commissions and obtaining NGO inputs to the proposed NGO law.
The President’s offer to talk to the Tamil Diaspora is a positive initiative. We believe this has to be preceded by changes on the ground that meets the needs of the people, especially those who have suffered due to the war, and not be words alone as the people have heard them many times before. We ask for time bound commitments to be implemented as confidence building measures. Another confidence building measure would be to lift the ban on those Diaspora groups that have credibility both within Sri Lanka and internationally prior to commencing the talks.
The President’s intention to deal with contentious issues requires the support of the parties in the opposition, especially the minority parties which have democratic mandates with them. As civil society we will support the effective functioning of the already established reconciliation mechanisms such as the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), Office on Missing Persons (OMP) and Office for Reparations (OR) by the correct dissemination of information and seeking appropriate leadership within them. In these circumstances, we will be happy to work collaboratively with the government to open a new door to reconciliation in Sri Lanka.”
A meeting between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), was held today (21) at the Presidential Secretariat.
During the discussion, Admiral Paparo extended his best wishes to President Disanayake and the new government on their planned initiatives. He also acknowledged Sri Lanka’s continued support in ensuring the security of the Indian Ocean region and maintaining a peaceful maritime environment.
Furthermore, Admiral Paparo reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to strengthening the enduring bilateral ties between the two nations and expressed support for Sri Lanka’s new governmental policies.
President Disanayake conveyed his appreciation for the assistance provided by the United States in enhancing human resources within Sri Lanka’s defence sector. The President also acknowledged the longstanding support extended by the U.S. in this regard.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony C. Nelson of the U.S. Army, and Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the United States Indo-Pacific Command David Ranz were also present at the meeting.
SriLankan Airlines has announced that SriLankan Airlines flights UL 503 (Colombo to London Heathrow), scheduled to depart at 12:50 hrs and UL 504 (London Heathrow to Colombo), scheduled to depart at 20:40 hrs today [21 March 2025], have been cancelled.
Passengers requiring assistance are encouraged to contact the SriLankan Airlines Customer Centre at 1979 (within Sri Lanka), +94117 77 1979 (international) or +94744 44 1979 (WhatsApp chat) or reach out to their nearest SriLankan Airlines office or their travel agent.
The United Kingdom’s Heathrow airport has closed until midnight on Friday due to a power outage, throwing the plans of tens of thousands of travellers into chaos.
London’s main airport, which is Europe’s busiest gateway, said on Friday that it had suffered a “significant” power failure due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the facility.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” Heathrow airport said in a post on X.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said the shutdown would affect “at least” 1,351 flights.
“We’re trying to stop passengers from travelling to the airport, and then work with airline partners on flights that are delayed, diverted, or cancelled,” a Heathrow spokesperson told Al Jazeera. “Passengers can reach out to airline partners to work on rebooking.”
Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from London, said the roads leading to the airport were blocked, causing “traffic chaos locally”.
“But local traffic disruption is nothing compared to the air traffic disruptions that will be spreading around the world,” he said.
Heathrow is one of the most globally connected airports and regularly ranks among the top five busiest gateways worldwide.
The airport serves more than 200 destinations in nearly 90 different countries and territories, and last year handled nearly 84 million passengers, the largest number on record.
[Aljazeera]
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