Cool and calm ... children play on the shore at Ambalangoda, on Sri Lanka's southern coast. The Boxing Day tsunami devastated the island's coastal belt nearly five years ago, killing 40,000 people in Sri Lanka and more than 225,000 in 14 countries. More than 1 million people were displaced.

THE Sri Lankan Government has angrily denied an allegation by a former army chief, General Sarath Fonseka, that the Defence Secretary ordered the killing of Tamil Tiger rebel leaders as they were trying to surrender.

AUSTRALIA and Sri Lanka have signed an agreement that both countries say will make it easier to investigate and prosecute people smugglers.

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd must urgently travel to Sri Lanka to inspect overcrowded camps in the country's north, housing up to 300,000 displaced people, according to an Australian-based Tamil rights advocate.

AN AUSTRALIAN United Nations official has received anonymous threats to his safety days after being branded a terrorist sympathiser by the Sri Lankan Government and ordered to leave the country.