Category: Politics

Dec 28, 2007 (AFP) – At least 25 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in fresh military attacks along the de-facto border of territory held by the guerrillas, the defence ministry said Friday. The members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in four separate attacks in Vavuniya district on Thursday, the ministry […]

Dec 28, 2007 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan judge reprimanded police Friday for failing to thoroughly investigate a minister who sparked a riot at the state-run television channel after allegedly assaulting a journalist.Colombo Chief Magistrate Mohamed Macky said he was not happy with a police report into Thursday’s alleged assault by Labour Minister Mervin Silva […]

Dec 27, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan junior government minister stormed into the state-owned Rupavahini television station with armed thugs and assaulted its news director a short while ago, journalists said Thursday. International media rights organization have described Sri Lanka as the third most dangerous place for journalists in the world after Iraq and […]

Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka sent a crack commando unit into the state-run television station Thursday to rescue a government minister kidnapped by journalists for allegedly assaulting a colleague, officials told AFP.An anti-hijacking and hostage rescue squad of army commandos was already at the Rupavahini state television network to free Labour Minister Mervin […]

Dec 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military announced air strikes inside rebel-held territory on Thursday, a day after a sea battle left a large number of combatants dead, according to both sides.He said security forces had already scored major victories against the guerrillas in the past year and hoped to build on them. War […]

Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka detained two foreign television journalists and 11 locals from a Tamil family they were filming in the island’s south, police said Tuesday. The two-member crew of France 24 were detained overnight at Ratgama, 105 kilometres (65 miles) south of the capital, after they were taken into custody by […]

Dec 26, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s navy is investigating a ship off the island’s east coast on suspicion that it could be a Tamil Tiger arms smuggling vessel, navy officials said Wednesday The suspicious vessel was detected some 90 nautical miles east of Arugam Bay, a small coastal resort town in eastern Sri Lanka. […]

COLOMBO, Dec 26, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy Wednesday clashed with suspected Tamil Tiger vessels off the island’s northern coast of Jaffna, leaving at least 40 rebels dead, the defence ministry said. Twelve naval fast attack craft, backed by an Mi-24 helicopter gunship, confronted a flotilla of 16 rebel boats off the southern seas […]

Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – At least 13 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed on Christmas Eve in heavy clashes with Sri Lankan security forces in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Tuesday.Six members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in a confrontation in the district of Mannar on Monday while […]

VATICAN CITY, Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday lamented the “grim sound of arms” in the world’s conflict zones, from Sudan to Sri Lanka and especially the volatile Middle East, in his Christmas message.“On this day of peace, my thoughts turn especially to those places where the grim sound of arms […]

Dec 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement said it was “appalled” by an attempt to define journalists as people who hold a card issued by the Sri Lanka government, after an international rights body named Sri Lanka as the third most dangerous place for media workers in the world. “The Free Media […]

Dec 24, 2007 (AFP) – Torrential rains have driven more than 175,000 people from their homes in Sri Lanka, authorities said on Monday.Heavy monsoon rains over the weekend made some roads impassable while nearly 2,300 houses had been damaged, the national disaster management centre said. Worst hit was the eastern district of Batticaloa where close […]