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Envoys step up Sri Lanka peace efforts after suicide bombing
Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan peace broker Norway launched a bid Tuesday to salvage planned talks after the rebels’ worst-ever suicide bombing that killed more than 100 people and prompted government retaliatory strikes.Special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer arrived in Colombo to try to finalise arrangements with government leaders for talks scheduled later this month […]
Black Tigers: the deadliest suicide bombers
Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) – The Tamil Tigers’ latest suicide bomb attack, the deadliest in the island’s history, has illustrated that the rebel army still ranks as a master of the tactic.The elite band of “Black Tigers” is regarded by guerrilla supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran as a “protective armour” and one of the most effective weapons […]
Sri Lanka hits back after suicide attack, talks in balance
Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes hit Tamil Tiger targets Tuesday, a day after a suicide bombing killed more than 100 people and derailed efforts to save a collapsing peace process.The rebels and the government had agreed to hold October 28-29 peace talks in Switzerland before Sri Lanka’s worst-ever suicide attack on […]
‘t want to talk: analysts
Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) – The worsening cycle of violence in Sri Lanka, where Tamil Tiger rebels this week launched their bloodiest-ever suicide attack, is a sign that neither side in the brutal ethnic conflict is ready to sit down for talks slated for next week, analysts said Tuesday.In the latest carnage, more than 100 […]
Counting the dead after Sri Lanka suicide attack
DAMBULLA, Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) – Through a narrow doorway leading to the dead, the grim routine of cataloguing the slain from Sri Lanka’s latest suicide bombing ground on late into the night.Dazed young sailors, some smelling of alcohol, crowded round the doorway in a building set apart at one end of the hospital grounds […]
Sri Lanka opens government bond market to foreign investors
October 16, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has decided to liberalise its capital account by throwing open the government bond market to foreign investors, the Central Bank said Monday.Foreign investors are currently allowed to invest in equities, corporate debt and Sri Lanka development bonds or dollar bonds issued by the government. Central Bank’s superintendent of […]
Le Divorce
Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Monday ordered the breakup of the restive Northeastern Province, a massive administrative region claimed by Tamil Tiger rebels as a separate state.The creation of the province was a key Tamil demand accepted by a 1987 peace accord that gave limited authority to minority Tamils in the […]
Warner Music sees Asia as the driving force mobile music growth
SINGAPORE, Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) – Asia is now the driving force behind demand for mobile music services which will make up for lost revenue by telecom firms in their voice-only services, a US recording label Warner Music said Monday.South Korea and Japan dominate the mobile music market and Asia Pacific holds the largest market […]
Choices: Geography or ideology?
October 16, 2006 (LBO) – “While the JVP supports a vibrant free market economy to generate growth, we are completely against an unbridled, uncontrolled open economy, which in the long run would cause immense harm to our economy. We believe in an economic model based on the successful models of India and China.” (Somawansa Amarasinghe’s […]
Sri Lankan war plane crashes
Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan war plane crashed Monday shortly after take off on a mission to attack Tamil Tiger rebels, official sources said adding that pilot ejected and there were no casualties on the ground.The Israeli-built Kfir jet crashed shortly after take off from the main Katunayake airbase which is located […]