COLOMBO — March 3, 2026 — G. L. Peiris, Sri Lanka’s former foreign minister, on Monday called on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to publicly articulate the government’s position on the escalating crisis in the Middle East, warning that the fallout could quickly destabilize key pillars of the island’s still-recovering economy. In a letter dated March 3, reviewed by Jaffna Monitor, and addressed to the President at the Presidential Secretariat, Professor Peiris said the “volatile situation” in

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s state-run petroleum corporation said it had distributed 370,000 liters of petrol across the Jaffna Peninsula over the past two days, responding to what officials described as a surge in purchasing driven by public anxiety over escalating tensions in the Middle East. The distribution covered 43 fuel stations across the peninsula, according to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. Under normal circumstances, Jaffna District consumes approximately 100,000 liters of pet