THE federal government has begun returning Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka, amid signs the threat to minority groups there and in Afghanistan is easing.

Australia must add its voice to calls for a democratic future

THE arrest of failed Sri Lankan presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka was not unexpected, but it was swift. He was hauled from his home by military police about 9.20pm on Monday and taken away in a van.

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.