Sri Lanka army says Tamil Tiger leader trapped

KILINOCHCHI, April 24, 2009 (AFP) – The leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers is trapped in a small strip of coastal jungle in the northeast and leading his last remaining fighters, a top army commander said Friday.Journalists flown to Kilinochchi were shown a large haul of mortars and small arms said to have been captured […]

Sri Lanka clears Tamil editor over Tiger air attacks

April 24, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan court on Friday released a Tamil newspaper editor who had been detained over alleged links to Tamil Tiger air attacks in the capital, an official said.Nadesapillai Vidyatharan, who edits the Sudar Oli daily, was detained in February under anti-terrorism laws, but police told the Colombo Fort Magistrate […]

Asian View

April 24, 2009 (LBO) – Millicom International Cellular, the parent of Sri Lanka’s Tigo cellular network, says it may sell out of Asian units, despite getting new subscribers amid tough competition. Total revenues for the quarter were 846.0 million US dollars with 327 million coming from Central America, 236 million from South America and 171 […]

Golden Probe

April 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has asked customers of the failed Golden Key Credit Card Company to submit details of their deposits and company officials to declare assets. Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court last month ordered the Central Bank to probe the company after a group of depositors petitioned court saying it […]

Bidding List

April 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has cleared five out of six parties who expressed interest in buying a 33.3 percent stake in Seylan Bank to look into the bank in detail and submit bids, officials said. The Central Bank took over the bank and put it under the supervision of state-run […]

Fuel Mix

April 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will decide on whether to call proposals for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant after a study funded by Japan is completed, a senior government official said. Though much cleaner than coal, diesel or furnace oil, LNG, which is kept liquid under high pressure requires expensive infrastructure […]

Sri Lankan stocks up 6.9-pct over week

Apr 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up 1.94 percent on military gains Friday, amid optimistic sentiment among local investors which pushed the market up 6.9 percent over the week, brokers said. Almost 1.5 million shares of Tokyo Cement non-voting shares changed hands at 10.25 foreign to local, in what seemed to be […]

Sri Lanka rupee steady after volatile week

April 24, 2009 (LBO) – The rupee weakened to 120.70 levels against the US dollar, with a foreign bank on the buying side Friday, but recovered later in the day ending a week that saw the domestic currency fall about four rupees, dealers said. In late afternoon trade the spot dollar was quoted at 120.0/30 […]

Sri Lanka Amana Takaful cuts losses, sees scope in medical insurance

April 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Amana Takaful Insurance said it made a premium income of over a billion rupees in 2008, helping to reduce losses, and that it expects medical insurance to grow this year.Gross Written Premium grew by 26.56 percent to 1,024 million rupees with life insurance growing by 44 percent to […]

UN tells Tamil Tigers to surrender

UNITED NATIONS, April 22, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka must surrender and allow civilians trapped in the battle zone to leave, the UN Security Council president said Wednesday.“We demand that the LTTE immediately lay down arms, renounce terrorism, allow a UN-assisted evacuation of the remaining civilians in the conflict area, and […]

Sri Lanka Tigers resisting despite calls to surrender: military

April 23, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels encircled in a tiny strip of land by Sri Lankan government troops are continuing to put up stiff resistance despite calls for their surrender, the military said Thursday. The army said the guerrillas controlled just 10-12 square kilometres (around four square miles) of territory on the northeast […]

UN chief orders humanitarian team to Sri Lanka

BRUSSELS, April 23, 2009 (AFP) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ordered Thursday the immediate despatch of a humanitarian team to northern Sri Lanka, where thousands of civilians are trapped by fighting between troops and rebels.“I intend to immediately despatch a UN humanitiarian team to the no-fire zone,” he told reporters in Brussels, after a […]

Page 1839 of 3053