Heavy fighting spreading to Mannar

By Walter Jayawardhana

HEAVY FIGHTING SPREADING FROM VAVUNIYA TO MANNAR MORE CLOSE TO TAMIL TIGER HEADQUARTERS

Heavy fighting spreaded into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held area of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka and the Army said twenty Tamil Tigers and three Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed.

The Sri Lanka Army said they were trying to neutralize some LTTE guns that were continuously firing at their troops in Mannar District.

According to the Army the international Committee of Red Cross officials serving the Omanthai entry -exit point North of Vavuniya pulled out during the morning hours of March 23 as the cross loading point was heavily shelled by Tiger artillery guns . The army said until further notice the cross loading point was closed.

The Army said due to the heavy shelling all North bound and South bound traffic was blocked. Army said all security neasures were taken to ensure safety to entrapped civilians by resisting enemy shell power.

Commenting on the Mannar District clashes Army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said, “”The LTTE is attacking with mortars … without considering the safety of the civilians in the area. Three soldiers were killed and 4 injured.

“We have retaliated to neutralise them and we have observed more than 20 Tiger dead bodies.”
Earlier the LTTE claimed that the they were fighting fierce artillery battles with hundreds of troops who had crossed into territory in Mannar, they claimed as their own.

The Mannar clashes came at a time the LTTE fighters have been evicted from about 230 square miles (600 square kilometers) in the Eastern Province.

Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said on the previous day, Thursday,13 LTTE rebels were killed by the army.

During the recent months the LTTE has suffered heavy set backs like losing three ships carrying arms and hundreds of square milles of land in the East.

Analysts said there are signs that the war is gradually shifting to places close to LTTE headquarters from the East.

Miracle birth of a baby due to rare surgery of a Sri Lankan doctor

By Walter Jayawardhana

WORLD PRAISES A SRILANKAN DOCTOR WHO SAVED A BABY BY RARE SURGERY AFTER MOTHER MISCARRIED HIS TWIN SISTER

Britons and Americans were jubilant that a Sri Lankan doctor was able to save a baby boy whose twin sister was miscarried by the mother through carrying out a rare surgical procedure to sew him into his mother’s womb.

The rare surgery performed by Consultant Obstretcian Sumanaseela de Silva was on the British air hostess Kelly Bradburn and the her delivery of a normal baby has been flashed across the British press as a miracle.

Writing to the London’s Daily Mail the baby’s grandparents, Jenny and Keith Stainer called the birth a miracle and said, “We would like to send our thanks to Dr De Silva for looking after Kelly and bringing our grandson Archie safely into the world, it was a long and traumatic pregnancy for Kelly, and thanks to Dr De Silva we have Archie who is beautiful, he is a miracle for us all to treasure.”

After twenty weeks into her pregnancy of twins and going into an advanced stage of labor Kelly Bradburn . From Perton, West Midlands, in the United Kingdom was rushed into hospital where the Sri Lankan Consultant Obstetrician was working.

The 26 year old mother miscarried one of the twins, a girl, and that’s when the staff of the maternity unit of the Russells Hall Hospital at Dudley went into emergency action to save the other twin. The Obstetrician Sumanaseela De Silva performed an extremely rare rescue cerclage procedure on the patient.

Sumanaseela De Silva inserted a stich into Kelley’s cervix to close the opening and trap the second twin inside the womb, as he understood the tendency of the tissues to release the second one like the first. He thought by doing it he could keep the unborn baby for the full period until he is fully grown. Talking to the Sinhalese service of the BBC he said this is like tying the mouth of a gunny bag so that nothing could escape.

The London Daily Mail said, “It was only the ninth time this procedure had been carried out anywhere in the world, and doctors warned Mrs Bradburn and her husband Martyn that even after the operation the baby had only a 50/50 chance of survival.”

But the crossing of fingers was over when the baby Archie was born, weighing 5lb 11oz as a fully grown healthy one.

Kelley Bradburn, an air hostess working for Monarch Airlines was quoted having said, When we first came into hospital it was originally thought that we had lost both of the babies.

“But when we realised we hadn’t, Mr De Silva told us about a possible procedure which could save our second baby. (In Britain Consultant physicians or surgeons are always called by the honorific title, Mister-a doctor being lesser one) “We knew even if it was a little chance then we still had to go for it.”

She further said, “At 38 weeks Mr De Silva removed the stitch and Archie was born following a normal delivery.”

Sumanaseela de Silva said, that he was seeing the patient every three weeks and administered a steroid to help develop the baby’s lungs. He said, “Although this type of rescue procedure is not unique there have been, at most, eight cases reported in world medical literature.

“Often when the mother is fully dilated at such an early stage in her pregnancy she will progress to deliver the second twin, so it was a real challenge to save her baby. It was wonderful to deliver Kelly’s baby and to know that both she and the baby are fit and healthy.”

And writing from Dover , United States, Susan Jarrett said, “This truly was a mircle. My daughter had twins and she almost lost them and I know the feeling when you think this is possible and then to witness such a mircle. May God continue to bless this family.”

Woolmer was murdered by strangulation

By Simon Evans

Murder claim rocks cricket showcase

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) – Jamaican police launched a murder inquiry on Thursday into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer at the World Cup, saying he was strangled.

The death on Sunday was “due to asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation,” according to a police statement read to a news conference at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston where Woolmer was found unconscious before he died on Sunday.

“Bob was a large man — it would have taken some force,” deputy commissioner Mark Shields said. “Hopefully we will bring the killers to justice as soon as possible. We will use every energy we possibly have to track down the killers.”

A day before the 58-year-old Briton died, leading contenders Pakistan were eliminated from the World Cup by debutants Ireland in a result which stunned cricket.

The sport’s governing body said the World Cup would continue despite the shock of Woolmer’s murder which has completely overshadowed the seven-week tournament being played in the Caribbean for the first time.

‘BETTING MAFIA’

There was growing media speculation on Thursday that Woolmer had fallen victim to a “betting mafia.”

Asked about these suggestions, Shields said: “Everything you have heard would be a line of inquiry.” He said no stone would be unturned into discovering why Woolmer was murdered.

It was known that he was writing a book at the time of his death but its contents were unknown.

Shields said there could be one or more people involved in the actual killing but added that there was no evidence of forced entry into his hotel room.

The police have seized the hotel’s electronic security recordings as part of the investigation and are still awaiting results of toxicology and histology (science of examining body tissue) tests.

Pakistan team media manager Pervez Mir, told Reuters on Thursday that the security at the hotel was too “lax” in his opinion.

‘GREAT SADNESS’

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed said: “We face shock and outrage and great sadness for Bob’s family. There has been speculation that as a result of all this, the World Cup will be discontinued. That will not be the case.

“Perhaps it will be a measure of the game and its resolve as to how we can complete this World Cup in view of this shock.”

He said the former London Metropolitan Police commissioner Paul Condon was standing by and willing to assist with the murder inquiry. Condon has been involved with helping the ICC fight corruption within the sport.

Shields added that the Metropolitan Police, South African and Pakistan forces had been contacted over the investigation but so far the Jamaican police were working solely on the case.

The Pakistan cricket team, who flew from Kingston to Montego Bay within Jamaica earlier on Thursday, said they were shocked by the latest development.

“Tragic, yes, worrying yes, because we have a member of our team, a national coach of Pakistan who has been murdered and this is not something which can be taken lightly,” Mir told reporters. “We are all very worried right now.”

IFJ hails release of Parameshawary as a triumph for justice in Sri Lanka

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its relief at the news that Sri Lankan journalist Munusamy Parameshawary has finally been released from custody.

The IFJ has been campaigning for the 23-year-old Mawbima reporter’s release since she was arrested on November 21, 2006, by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan Police.

Despite languishing in detention for four months, Parameshawary was released on March 22 without any charges laid against her.

IFJ President Christopher Warren said Parameshawary’s release was a victory for human rights and freedom of the press.

“We are very happy to hear that Parameshawary’s imprisonment is finally at an end,” Warren said.

“This is a triumph for justice and freedom of expression in Sri Lanka,” he said.

“But the fact remains that she should never have been held in the first place.”

“Parameshawary’s detention was a frightening example of the threats to basic human freedoms in Sri Lanka – it is disgraceful that legislation supposedly introduced to protect Sri Lankans from terrorism is instead being used to silence and intimidate the media,” he said.

“It is an important win for those who refuse to bow to government pressure, and gives hope that with solidarity, determination and vigilance, achieving a peaceful, open Sri Lanka is possible.”

Parameshawary was held under Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Prevention laws, and for many weeks was not even allowed access to lawyers, her editor or family.

Prior to her arrest she was reporting on Tamil issues and investigating disappearances in Colombo.

On January 31, the IFJ and journalists’ organisations in more than 10 countries supported a Day of Action led by IFJ affiliate, the Free Media Movement (FMM), and wrote to the Sri Lankan government demanding Parameshawary’s release.

Locally more than 500 postcards were sent protesting her detention.

The IFJ acknowledged its gratitude to the many Sri Lankan and international groups and individuals, including the FMM, who campaigned tirelessly for Parameshawary’s release, and commended them for their solidarity.

“The strength and determination of the campaign to free Parameshawary should send a strong message to the Sri Lankan government that violations of press freedom and journalist rights will not be tolerated,” Warren said.

“We urge the Sri Lankan government to heed the voices of international criticism and act decisively to give Sri Lanka the free, safe and independent media it deserves.”