Category: Politics

Jan 30, 2008 (LBO) – A veteran Sri Lankan trade unionist says the voice of the working class is now muted and people are battling to survive as prices are rising and terrorism is spreading to all corners of the land. “This is a great misfortune to the country. If there is no voice for […]

Jan 30, 2008 (AFP) – Heavy fighting gripped Sri Lanka’s Jaffna peninsula Wednesday with both Tiger rebels and government forces claiming they had the upper hand after smashing each other’s fortifications.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they resisted a pre-dawn three-pronged assault in the area, one of several points from where government […]

Jan 29, 2008 (LBO) – The news chief of Sri Lanka’s state television station, who was assaulted by a government minister who stormed the newsroom in the company of thugs last month, has been replaced. “There have been repeated threats and after the incident it was difficult for me to carry out my duties,” former […]

Jan 28, 2008 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan judge Monday ordered the state to carry out dignified burials for 16 people who had been killed execution-style and dumped in shallow graves within a government-controlled part of the island. A magistrate in the area where the bodies were found asked the top district administrator and the […]

Jan 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is installing a hi-tech radar capable of detecting small boats of the type used by the Sea Tiger rebels as well as small aircraft, a media report said. The high-frequency (HF) surface wave radar, developed at a cost of 39 million Canadian dollars by Ottawa defence scientists and […]

Jan 29, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government said Tuesday its soldiers had advanced into territory held by the Tamil Tigers in the north of the island, with the death toll from two days of fighting at 69.Troops smashed 16 guerrilla bunkers in the district of Mannar on Tuesday after killing at least 22 rebels, […]

Jan 26, 2008 (AFP) – The bullet-riddled bodies of 16 men found dumped in shallow graves in a government-controlled area in Sri Lanka were hard to identify because they were badly decomposed, a hospital official said. A separate government probe found 430 civilians had been killed during a five-month period up to February 2007, though […]

WASHINGTON, Jan 25, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Friday it could not return to the negotiating table with the Tamil Tigers unless there was a guarantee from the rebels that they would not walk away from the talks. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must also be prepared to compromise on its demand […]

LONDON, Jan 25, 2008 (AFP) – A former Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla leader was jailed for nine months in Britain Friday after being found guilty of having false documents, the Home Office said.Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, also known as Colonel Karuna, was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court in London after admitting the charge at a lower court […]

Jan 26, 2008 (LBO) – Media rights bodies have expressed outrage after a journalist attached to a state-run television channel was ambushed on his way home and knifed by two attackers. Lal Mawalage of the Rupavahini television channel had spoken live on behalf of employees when labour minister Mervyn de Silva stormed the newsroom with […]

Jan 26, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s defence secretary has called for a ban on the Tamil Tigers and said the ongoing military campaign was aimed at destroying the rebels’ top leaders, a report said Saturday.Rajapakse, who is President Mahinda Rajapakse’s younger brother, said the military had started a campaign to capture rebel-held areas in […]

Jan 25, 2008 (LBO) –Sri Lanka’s elections department announced Friday plans to hold local council polls in the island’s eastern region on March 10, the first time in 14 years that voters in the troubled area will be able to vote. Submission of nominations for municipal and urban council polls in the eastern province was […]