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Top Tamil Tiger leader shot dead in Sri Lanka
May 22, 2006 (AFP) – A top Tamil Tiger field commander was shot dead in eastern Sri Lanka Sunday by an unidentified gunman, rebel and military sources said. The number two in the Tamil Tiger military wing and its chief intelligence operative in the eastern region — identified as Ramanan — was gunned down in […]
Refugees reach Tamil rebel capital after fleeing alleged massacre
KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, May 21, 2006 (AFP) – Refugees who fled after an alleged military massacre on a northern Sri Lanka islet arrived at the inland Tamil rebel capital at the weekend, and brought their fishing boats with them.“We want to go to a fishing area,” he said. – by Ian Timberlake The 120 people […]
Sri Lanka Tigers warn against EU ban as violence escalates
May 21, 2006 (AFP) – The chief negotiator for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels warned Sunday that an imminent European ban on the group could scuttle future peace negotiations, as artillery duels continued in front-line regions.London-based Anton Balasingham said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam would retreat from talks with the government if they are […]
New firing across Sri Lanka’s de facto front lines
May 20, 2006 (AFP) – Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels traded artillery fire across a de facto front line in the island’s north Saturday, military officials said.There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side after a 30-minute exchange of fire at Muhamalai in the Jaffna peninsula, but the main entry and exit […]
Clean Closet
May 20, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s securities watchdog is in the final stages of drawing up rules to make corporate governance mandatory among listed companies from January next year, a top official said Friday. The island’s quoted companies are famous for their cronyism in board rooms and lax corporate governance. The new rules, pushed […]
French are rudest, most boring people on earth: British poll
LONDON, May 20, 2006 (AFP) – The French were voted the world’s most unfriendly nation by a landslide in a British poll published on Saturday. They were also voted the most boring and most ungenerous. A decisive 46 percent of the 6,000 people surveyed by travellers’ website Where Are You Now (WAYN) said the French […]
‘s de facto front lines
May 20, 2006 (AFP) – Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels traded artillery fire across a de facto front line in the island’s north Saturday, military officials said.There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side after a 30-minute exchange of fire at Muhamalai in the Jaffna peninsula, but the main entry and exit […]
Mysticism, modernity collide in ritual at Indonesia’s Merapi
KINAHREJO, Indonesia, May 19, 2006 (AFP) – The guardian of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi leads a silent procession — or what should be — around his hamlet under the cover of night in a bid to appease the volcano’s ancient spirits. Merapi, which means “Mountain of Fire”, has been belching potentially deadly heat clouds from its […]
Sri Lanka tourism stays steady in April, despite local violence
May 19 (LBO) – Tourist traffic to Sri Lanka stayed steady in April to reach 46,000 travelers, despite ongoing political instability and civil unrestthe island’s main tourism promotion body said Friday. Our advisory was updated to include a reference to local elections that take place next week and warning against political gatherings and demonstrations, John […]
Bigger Footprint
May 19 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia, Friday kicked off a 150 million dollars expansion drive to grow its mobile and broadband business in Sri Lanka. For the three months to March 31, Dialog’s net profits soared 39 percent to 2.39 billion rupees, while revenues jumped 55 percent to 5.95 billion […]