The Liberation Tigers’ bombing raid on the main Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) airbase at Katunayake last Monday has signalled what one security analyst has termed a new phase in the island’s protracted conflict.

Way back in 1983, Velupillai Prabhakaran, on the alert, rode a bicycle through Jaffna to oversee a spot near the university his colleagues had picked to ambush Sri Lankan troops. Few people knew him then, and fewer had heard of the Tamil Tigers. A quarter century later, the same man, now a legend, has made history by using Tamil ingenuity to transform two light aircraft into stealthy bombers to target the air base of his enemy right in the heart of Sri Lanka.

The new Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Mr Bodalagama lacks both the subtlety and ability of Lakshman Kadirgamar, another indication of the new President’s inability to find anyone of any talent to support his moribund government.

Journalist Parameshwary Munusamy walked out of the Terrorism Investigations Department on the morning of Thursday, March 22, 15 kilos lighter in weight. A greater weight was off the mind of this 24 year old journalist when the Supreme Court ordered her release last Wednesday after the Attorney General said there was no evidence against her to frame charges of having links with the LTTE.