Author: lbostgadmin
ICRC seeking urgent access to stranded Sri Lankan town
GENEVA, Aug 8, 2006 (AFP) – The International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to negotiate urgent access to the area around the northeastern Sri Lankan town of Muttur, where at least 4,000 people are thought to be stranded by fighting, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.Shelter equipment and clothing for the displaced were being distributed […]
Sri Lankan aid workers were shot dead: French charity
PARIS, Aug 8, 2006 (AFP) – Seventeen employees of a French charity found dead in northeastern Sri Lanka at the weekend were all executed by gunfire, the group confirmed Tuesday, demanding that those responsible be severely punished. Following the massacre, the charity suspended its local mission to Sri Lanka, whose 15 expatriate and 224 local […]
Families bury massacre victims amid tight security
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, Aug 8, 2006 (AFP) – Relatives Tuesday sprinkled perfumed water and buried aid workers gunned down inside their office in strife-torn northeastern Sri Lanka, while police maintained tight security.“I just want to get his remains now and give him a decent burial. There is nothing more I can do.He is already dead.” […]
Tigers lift water blockade
Aug 8, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels lifted a water blockade Tuesday at the root of Sri Lanka’s latest bloodshed, which has officially claimed over 440 lives, as a car bomb killed three people in the capital.The fighting in the past fortnight has been the worst since the 2002 truce, which has been repeatedly […]
‘s road accidents: report
NEW DELHI, Aug 8, 2006 (AFP) – India accounts for six percent of global road accidents but has only one percent of the world’s vehicles, a safety research consultant said Tuesday.The country has the world’s fourth highest annual tally of road accidents, said Jeya Padmanaban of consultancy JP Research, according to a Press Trust of […]
‘s tourism arrivals slip 2.5% in July
August 8, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka greeted fewer visitors for the second straight month in July, as holidaymakers shied away amidst heavy fighting between government and Tamil Tiger rebels. The Indian Ocean Island welcomed 55,354 travellers 2.5 percent lower over the corresponding month last year and the low numbers is also threatening the leisure […]
‘s treasury bill rates move up by 5-basis points
August 8, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s borrowing costs moved up on average by 5-basis points, when the Central Bank sold 8.3 billion rupees in treasury bills on Tuesday.Yields for three month notes rose 5-basis points to 10.38 percent, six month treasuries gained 4-basis points to 10.53 percent, while one year bills gained 5-basis points […]
Senior police officer killed in Sri Lanka blast
Aug 7, 2006 (AFP) – A senior police officer was killed and his driver critically wounded in a powerful mine explosion in central Sri Lanka Monday, police said, blaming Tamil Tiger rebels for the attack. The latest blast came as government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in a bitter battle over the control […]
French NGO probing killing of 15 aid workers in Sri Lanka
Aug 7, 2006 (AFP) – A French aid agency said it was trying to find out who shot dead 15 of its employees in northern Sri Lanka but that government troops had sealed off the scene of the massacre.The military has also accused the Tiger rebels of killing 100 Muslim residents, a charge denied by […]
Chief peace monitor hits out at Sri Lanka water attack
Aug 7, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s chief truce monitor has criticised government troops for shelling Tamil rebels as they tried to reopen a bitterly contested waterway at the centre of the heaviest clashes in years.An estimated 60,000 people have been killed since the Tamil insurgency began around three decades ago. Ulf Henriksson, head of […]
Aid agency probes Sri Lanka massacre as monitor slams shelling
Aug 7, 2006 (AFP) – A French aid agency was Monday trying to find out who shot dead 15 of its employees as a Nordic truce monitor hit out at the Sri Lankan government for shelling Tamil rebels as they tried to reopen a bitterly contested waterway.An estimated 60,000 people have been killed since the […]
Fresh artillery strikes in Sri Lanka, French struggle to find killers
Aug 7, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka mounted fresh artillery attacks against Tamil Tiger rebels Monday, a day after the guerrillas warned that shelling could lead to all-out war, military officials said. Troops kept up attacks in the northeastern district of Trincomalee even as Norway tried to broker a peaceful end to a water dispute […]