"There is a group within the SLFP who abuse that freedom and democracy. They go on instigating people and rousing racism. Many of those who held leading positions of the SLFP sometime back are supporting that campaign. Disciplinary action should be taken immediately against them."

"Sports officials must work with more responsibility to develop sports. Even under the good governance government some Sports Ministry officials don't carry out their duties properly as they are influenced by money and power. It is always sports clubs, institutions and sports personnel who pay the price for all misconducts of officials. To change this trend sports authority must take the necessary steps."

"It does not matter if they come from Singapore, China, Japan or Ethiopia."

"You get him out and half the battle is won."

"If Kumble was born in Australia or England, he would have got much more prominence in world cricket considering his superb record in both forms of the game. Kumble is definitely the best role model for any youngster entering the game."

"Arjuna made us believe in ourselves. He did it for two decades. We owe a lot to him. He helped us become a force in world cricket. He is definitely the most influential cricketer Sri Lanka ever produced."

"BBC Interviewer: Mr. Prime Minister, the introduction as Sinhalese as the official language by your government [Sri Lankan Government], appears to have damaged the good relations, which previously existed between Sinhalese and Tamils, how do you justify this act? S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike: Well, when our country became independent, naturally the question aroused... of national language. superseding English as the official language of the country. Sinhalese, we decided upon, as the official language, because 70% of the people of Ceylon are Sinhalese. At the same time, we naturally realized that the Tamil minority had a language that was also old, very rich language, literature... so on, and therefore we decided, also, to give a reasonable use to the Tamil language, as a language of a national minority. In such matters, and education, examinations, and the public service, and so on: We fear that that is the fairest way, for a problem to be settled."

"Gordon Fairclough (Reporter of Wall Street Journal): So under the new government, do you plan to relook at the country's ties with China?"

"A priority for us is the creation of more jobs that will minimise poverty and provide for prosperity for all Sri Lankans. Towards this, we need to enhance our capacity to successfully compete in global markets while creating the necessary space for investments to come in."

"Ranil Wickremesinghe: We recognize the People's Republic of China, as it was established. We signed one of the first trade agreements with China. With a further development by successful governments, whatever political hue. So we'd like to continue that close relationship with China. Of course, from time to time, there can be issues that arise, but I'm sure we could... we're confident that dispute those issues, the relationship will not be altered in a significant way. In addition to the fact that there's a government [2x] relationship, the main political party also have their individual relationship with the Communist Party of China."

"It was not clear how many of them were killed by the (Lankan) army or whether the LTTE had moved the people to the war zones which led to the death of some of them. We may not have the full expertise to identify the exact factors that led to those casualties. So international participation is welcome for determining such causes. But the right to make the final judgment who was responsible for the deaths and on the nature of punishment should rest with the judicial system of Sri Lanka. The judicial system in Sri Lanka was in shambles earlier, but now it is returning to normal. The sovereignty of each country must be respected in such issues."

"Interviewer: Prime Minister, it's 6 years, since the war, and there is still no investigation."

"Ranil Wickremesinghe: We are putting together the mechanisms of accountability and reconciliation. By me or so, when we had to.. before the UN council meeting in Geneva with our proposals already."

"Interviewer: The critical issue as far as the international community and indeed I think as far as the Tamils are concerned, is the international dimension of the president said last week there will be no international involvement in this investigation."

"Ranil Wickremesinghe: No, we are not ruling that out. I'm just going out with the flow, he has not ruled it out. The first prong of the people itself. Whatever they must do, they must find also benefit and that's a long process started."

"The Indian ocean is in need of a mutually benefiting security architecture established on a multilateral basis"

"We are looking at how power sharing takes place within the Constitution."