My good wishes and greeting go to all our followers of Islam today, on the occasion of the religious festival of Eidul Aldha Hajj.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the Trincomalee Naval base today, for an inspection on the needs of the officers and to see first hand the shortcoming of the base.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa today handed over houses to 100 families from the Galle District who lost their houses due to tsunami of December 26, 2004.

Colombo will soon be made the hub of South Asian ports that will be a most attractive location for vessels to call at, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurating the Port of Colombo Southern Development Project yesterday (Dec. 18).

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who met diplomats from five SAARC countries and other Asian and Middle Eastern countries today, briefed them on the causes that led to the promulgation of the new regulations to combat terrorism.

Taking all this into consideration the record of endless violence and terror by the LTTE, our overnment decided to reactivate provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to face this cruel and senseless terrorism. We also have for the first time defined terrorism, and brought in special provisions and regulations to curb it.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Opposition Leader and leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickramasinghe met at Temple Trees today for discussions on taking forward the cooperation between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the UNP in keeping with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two parties.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa concluded a successful visit to India today (Nov. 29) with an hour-long meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Shrimathi Sonia Gandhi called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa for informal discussions today (Nov. 28). She met the President at his suite in the Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi. This is the second meeting between the Sri Lankan President and the leader of the Congress Party in the past year. They last met when the President came on his first official visit to India, in December last year.

The Indian Minister of External Affairs, Pranabh Mukherjee called on the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier today for official discussions on matters of mutual interest. This was the first of a series of meetings between the President and Indian leaders scheduled for today and tomorrow.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to have a series of important meetings with India leaders in New Delhi today (Nov. 28) and tomorrow (29).

"The secret of my achieving this position is my unshaken determination and the fact that unlike many other politicians I have not changed political parties. I have been in the same political party from the time I began politics," said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, answering a question, when he met with students of St. George's College, Mussoorie today (Monday 27).

"I have always said I am ready for negotiations with the LTTE. I have said so earlier and I say so today, too. In fact in my first statement on assuming office as President I invited the LTTE for negotiations. But their response was to begin attacking unarmed members of the security forces and civilians, from about a week after I made that request.

"The South Asian region is beset with problems of human rights violations. The impunity with which the LTTE in Sri Lanka violates the human rights of the Tamil-speaking people in particular, and the Sri Lankan people in general, is a glaring example this.

"Urban Good Governance also calls for an 'inclusive' approach to the solving of urban problems. Most towns consist of a diversity of persons and groups. To most towns, people have migrated in the past from different parts of the local region, bringing with them their own traditions and cultural practices.

The construction of an accelerated housing scheme for soldiers comprising 20,000 housing units, to be completed in four stages is under way. This is the first time that a massive housing project is to be constructed exclusively for soldiers to be allocated on easy terms.

The Indian Foreign Secretary Shri Shivshankar Menon, currently in Sri Lanka, yesterday called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and other senior government officials for extensive discussions on a range of issues relating to bilateral cooperation between the two countries

"Ajith was a talented and competent journalist who was fully committed to his profession. Progressive in his political outlook he always championed the cause of the ordinary people. His demise is a great loss to the journalistic fraternity as well as to the nation", said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a message.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was presented with the first copy of the biography of former President D B Wijetunga today (22), at Temple Trees.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the relevant authorities to adhere to the UNESCO and Archaeological requirements to protect the Galle Fort which has been declared a World Heritage, when designing the construction of the Galle International Cricket ground.