Wanni Doctors Were “Coached” – Wikileaks

Sunday, August 28, 2011
A US embassy cable released by the Wikileaks website last week quotes a former US official in Colombo as saying that a group of doctors who were in the Wanni during the war, had been “coached” on what to say at a press briefing in Colombo after they were arrested.
Dr T. Sathiyamoorthy, Dr T. Varatharajah and Dr. Shanmugarajah, who while in the Wanni, had made claims of heavy civilian casualties, contradicted their statements at a press briefing organised by the government in July 2009.
A secret cable dispatched in August 2009 by the Charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Colombo James R. Moore, said that the doctors had not lied when giving their original statements to the media during the war. Read More »
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Grease Yakkas In Puttalam

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Terror spreads like greased lightning

Puttalam August 24, 2011: A soldier stands guard in front of an army tank in a display of force. Photo by Abdul H. Azeez, Sivakumar, a heart patient for five years, leaves a young family behind Photo by Lalith Perera and Picchai sustained heavy injuries and is glad to have walked off alive Photo by Dileesha Abeysundara

By Abdul H. Azeez - in Puttalam and Kalpitiya

When Pakeer Thambi Kalladi Picchai (62) first heard about grease yakkas he thought it was a lie. But on Friday  August 19 he went through an experience that left no doubts in his mind about the reality of their existence.
Picchai lives on a farm spanning five acres. The area of Puttalam he lives in, Karaithivu, Arikkavillu consists of vast stretches of farmland.  Houses are located far apart from each other. At 5 p.m. his neighbours came to his house and asked him to help look for some suspicious people seen wandering about the area.
He took his torch and set off after breaking fast, but could not find anyone. Thus he returned home.

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