Tigers, navy clash as bomb scares panic Sri Lankan capital

June 28, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels clashed with a naval patrol and mortared military positions in the restive north Wednesday as schools in the capital shut amid fears of bomb attacks, the government said.Five sailors were killed in the attack, the military said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were believed […]

Hundreds gather for funeral of slain Sri Lankan general

June 28, 2006 (AFP) – Hundreds gathered Wednesday for the sunset funeral of a top Sri Lankan army general who was assassinated earlier in the week amid ongoing attacks by Tamil Tiger guerillas.Major General Parami Kulatunga, the army’s number three, was killed Monday along with four others when a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber rammed […]

Five sailors killed in Sri Lankan naval clash

June 28, 2006 (AFP) – Five Sri Lankan sailors were killed and three wounded in an exchange of fire with Tamil Tiger boats in the island’s northwest, the defence ministry said Wednesday.The navy and the Tamil Tigers clashed in the same area earlier this month in a major sea battle that killed more than 50 […]

” not enough

June 28, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Wednesday demanded the Tamil Tigers apologise for the 1991 assassination of former Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi, saying their latest expression of regret over the killing was meaningless. “The whole world knows that the LTTE killed Rajiv Gandhi,” Sri Lankan government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. “In their latest television […]

Welcome Back

June 28, 2006 (LBO) – India has asked Sri Lankan vanaspati manufacturers to begin exports of the vegetable oil under new controls, amidst trade talks between the countries in Colombo. The move is one that violates the spirit of the free trade agreement between the countries, Sri Lanka™s Department of Commerce says and will take […]

Housing King

June 28, 2006 (LBO) – HDFC Bank, the island’s largest housing bank, plans to expand its core business with moves to get into property development, an equity research firm said Wednesday. Executed through a fully-owned subsidiary HDFC Real Estate Development Ltd the state-run housing bank hopes to pay for the mammoth projects by leveraging its […]

More Goodies

June 28 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s Board of Investment has re-done its tax incentive scheme with an emphasis on off-shore investments and large scale infrastructure projects. The traditional five year tax holiday will be replaced with a more rationalised scheme to raise the quality of investments, BOI chief Lakshman Watawala told businessmen on Wednesday. The […]

Nest Egg

June 28, 2006 (LBO) – A collective agreement covering the salaries and benefits of the state bank employees is due to be signed Thursday, Sri Lanka’s largest bank employees union said. After two-years training, the government has agreed to absorb the trainees into the permanent cadre, main union said.More than 20,000 state-bank employees would get […]

High Altitude

June 28, 2006 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines said Wednesday group net profit in the year to March rose nearly 50 percent annually to 2.04 billion rupees over 62.49 billion rupees in revenues, amidst soaring fuel costs and stiff competition. For the financial year ended March, the carrier’s net profits rose to 797.93 million rupees over […]

Sri Lanka truce monitors hold crisis talks amid rising war fears

June 27, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan peace broker Norway goes into crisis talks Thursday to try to salvage the island’s faltering ceasefire, as the assassination of a top army general underscored the threat of renewed war. “It is a case where they want to score something and then say, ‘Let’s talk’,” said retired army […]

Troops, roadblocks as Sri Lanka ups security after suicide bombing

June 27, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Tuesday deployed more troops and threw up roadblocks in Colombo as the government tightened security following the assassination of a top army general.Heavily armed soldiers took up positions around the capital while police stepped up random vehicle searches, a senior police officer told AFP. “There is a […]

Senior Tamil Tiger leader regrets 1991 Gandhi slaying

NEW DELHI, June 28, 2006 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebel leader expressed regret Tuesday over the 1991 assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, in an interview aired on Indian television.“I would say it is a great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy for which we deeply regret and we call upon […]

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