Amnesty International accused Sri Lanka on Tuesday of instilling a climate of fear by stepping up repression, adding its voice to calls for the Commonwealth not to hold its next summit in Colombo. In a new 78-page report, the London-based watchdog said President Mahinda Rajapakse's government -- already facing UN censure over its rights record -- was strengthening its grip on power by clamping down on any show of dissent. "Violent repression of dissent and the consolidation of political power go hand in hand in Sri Lanka," said Polly Truscott, AI's deputy regional director.

Sri Lanka had hoped to showcase its post-war revival at this year's Commonwealth summit, but observers say its biggest international event in decades is in danger of becoming a major embarrassment. Invitations have yet to be posted for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and with more than six months to go, several key leaders are expected to stay away as a mark of protest against President Mahinda Rajapakse's regime.

Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated northern region will hold its first elections for a provincial council that will grant limited autonomy to the former war zone, the president's office announced Monday. President Mahinda Rajapakse told newspaper editors that conditions were right to hold the northern provincial council elections in September more than four years after fighting there ended, his spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said.

A 19-member delegation from the National Defence University (NDU) Pakistan is currently visiting Sri Lanka. The delegation comprises senior officers from Pakistan’s Armed Forces and Civil Services as well as Officers from USA, UAE and China, who are undergoing National Security and War Course at NDU. The delegation is led by Commodore Asif Saleem, SI(M).