41.  Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe addresses government troops in the northern town of Vavuniya, where three members of a former Tamil militant group were gunned down the day before.

42.  Prominent in the former group are the countries of southern Europe, including France, who will take over the presidency from the Germans in January.

43.  Rangoon, which has said that regional development would follow on the peace agreements, is keen to get all former armed groups involved in the national convention.

44.  The former group member, whose identity was concealed, told MSNBC television that the leader of the group was Marshall Applewhite.