TAMIL DIASPORA OF UNITED KINGDOM
Thirst of Tigers is always the mother land Eelam
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Swiss condemn 'attack' on Sri Lanka embassy worker
An employee of the Swiss embassy in Sri Lanka has been "detained and threatened" in Colombo, sparking anger from Swiss authorities.
Switzerland summoned the Sri Lankan ambassador and demanded an inquiry after the incident came to light.
Swiss officials said unidentified men tried to force the woman to "disclose embassy-related information".
They did not provide more details, but it comes after a top Sri Lankan police officer reportedly sought Swiss asylum.
It is widely believed he feared for his safety after the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka's president earlier this month.
Mr Rajapaksa, a former wartime defence chief, is accused of vast human rights abuses, which he denies - and was the subject of numerous investigations.
What happened to the woman?
The Sri Lankan employee at the Swiss embassy was "detained against her will on the street and threatened at length", a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman said.
He said this was "a very serious and unacceptable attack on one of its diplomatic representations and its employees".
Switzerland had reported the incident to Sri Lankan authorities, he said, and was demanding an immediate investigation.
It also called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and for "the guarantee of the security of the Swiss representation in Colombo and its employees to be fully restored".
The Swiss ambassador to Sri Lanka was said to have "conveyed" that message to the country's prime minister and foreign minister.
The Sri Lankan ambassador to Switzerland has also been summoned.
What's the background?
The Swiss statement made no mention of the police officer's asylum case.
The officer, Nishantha de Silva, had earlier been involved in official investigations into criminal allegations, including some against Mr Rajapaksa - claims the president has denied.
The allegations date to the 2005-2015 presidency of Mr Rajapaksa's brother, Mahinda, who was a key figure in the election campaign and has since been appointed prime minister.
Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror quoted a government minister, Bandula Gunawardana, as saying the administration was not aware of the incident.
The Rajapaksa family is one of the most powerful in Sri Lanka.
Supporters hail Gotabaya Rajapaksa for playing a crucial role in crushing the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels and bringing to an end Sri Lanka's long-running civil war in 2009, when he was defence secretary.
Opponents fear the return of the dynasty could spark a new crackdown on critics.
The government has put airports on alert and provided them with the names of hundreds of police officers who might attempt to leave the country.
Several journalists who were critics of the government when the Rajapaksas last led Sri Lanka were abducted, tortured and killed. Thousands of people, particularly Tamils, vanished in what have been described as enforced disappearances.
Earlier this year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the BBC that war crimes allegations against him were "baseless".
Sri Lanka Rajapaksas: Return to power for wartime leader brothers
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Sri Lanka's new president has sworn in his brother as interim prime minister, a remarkable return to power for the siblings who oversaw the brutal end to the island's civil war 10 years ago.
Mahinda Rajapaksa took the oath as PM at a brief ceremony in Colombo.
His younger brother Gotabaya was voted in as president on Sunday and has said he wants to rule for all Sri Lankans.
But rights groups are concerned - wide-scale abuses were documented when the Rajapaksas were last in power.
Mahinda was president from 2005-2015, but was barred from standing again by a two-term limit, while Gotabaya was his all-powerful defence secretary. Both men deny any wrongdoing.
The election was Sri Lanka's first since the deadly Easter Sunday attacks shattered a decade of relative calm - and security was a key issue.
Militants linked to the Islamic State group targeted churches and high-end hotels across the island in April, killing more than 250 people.
What is the Rajapaksa legacy?
The brothers spearheaded the crushing defeat of separatist Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebels in 2009, ending a decades-long war in which abuses were committed on both sides and at least 100,000 people were killed.
During its final stages, thousands of people disappeared - many are said to have been tortured or killed. There were numerous accounts of surrendering LTTE forces being killed even while waving white flags, or after being taken into custody. The video evidence of this is compelling, despite the government's strenuous denials.
The enforced disappearances continued into the years after the war ended, when businessmen, journalists and activists seen as opponents of the Rajapaksas were rounded up and never seen again.
The Rajapaksa government denied any role in the disappearances. Earlier this year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the BBC that war crimes allegations against him were "baseless" .
To this day Tamil widows and family members protest in an effort to draw attention to the fate of relatives who disappeared during the war.
Who backs the Rajapaksas?
The devastating Easter attacks destroyed the sense of hard-won calm - and many voters were won over by Gotabaya Rajapaksa's reputation as a tough defence chief.
The previous government had been forced to admit it had suffered a "major intelligence lapse" after failing to adequately share information from Indian intelligence officials about a potential attack.
But mob reprisals and hate speech since Easter against the Muslim minority have left many of them fearful and the substantial Tamil minority is still mistrustful of the new president. Gotabaya Rajapaksa's comfortable margin of victory is thanks in large part to support from Sinhalese Buddhists.
The majority (about 75%) of Sri Lanka's population of 22 million are Sinhalese and the vast majority of those are Buddhist. Tamils - both Hindu and Christian - as well as Muslims are substantial minorities.
The north and eastern provinces overwhelmingly rejected Mr Rajapaksa. These regions are dominated by Tamil, Hindu and Muslim populations who broadly supported his opponent, Sajith Premadasa.
This split in the vote has raised fears for reconciliation in a country polarised along ethnic and religious lines.