Category: Politics

PARIS, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan embassy in Paris claimed Monday that Tamil Tiger rebels vandalised its flag ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama later this week.In a statement denouncing “intimidatory tactics” by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the embassy said “LTTE agents” destroyed its flag pole and […]

Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Sunday that troops have consolidated a hold on territory seized from Tamil rebels during intense weekend fighting that the guerrillas said killed nine civilians.Security forces seized territory that had been held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) just south of Mannar in the northwest of […]

Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Sunday that troops captured a Tamil Tiger naval base during a weekend advance into rebel-held territory the guerrillas said nine civilians died.The two sides have been locked in combat since 1972, with the Tigers fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils. The 35-year-old ethnic conflict has […]

August 31, 2007 (LBO) – The mistakes of Sri Lanka and other newly independent ‘failed states’ made Singapore go in a different direction, its founding prime minister told the International Herald Tribune (IHT) in an interview. Lee Kwan Yew, now minister mentor, said when Singapore broke off from the Malayan Federation it had a hostile […]

Aug 30, 2007 (AFP) – Dozens of Sri Lankan journalists took to the streets Thursday to condemn censorship and support a columnist who exposed alleged corruption in the purchase of second-hand supersonic jets.Reporters, cameramen and editors carried placards and chanted slogans outside the main railway station in Colombo, expressing solidarity with Iqbal Athas of the […]

Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Wednesday appointed a committee to probe allegations of child recruitment by a Tamil group allegedly linked to the government. The move came ahead of a crucial United Nations meeting next month on the human rights situation on the island. The committee will “inquire into allegations of abduction and […]

SINGAPORE, Aug 28, 2007 (AFP) – There is still time for peace talks between Sri Lanka’s government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels despite the virtual collapse of a truce, a former Norwegian peace broker said Tuesday.“It’s not too late. They can and should and must reopen real peace negotiations,” Jan Egeland told AFP. But he […]

Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) – At least nine Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and five government soldiers wounded in weekend battles in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Monday.The nine members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in northwestern Mannar district, the ministry said in a statement. Army troops also […]

Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka police Sunday defused a powerful bomb near the route of a major Buddhist festival in the sacred city of Kandy, officials said.Police removed the three-kilogramme (6.6 pound) bomb from an abandoned building near a path taken by the Kandy Perahera, or pageant which moves through the city’s streets, […]

Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) – A top Sri Lankan defence columnist stopped writing fearing for his life after he exposed alleged corruption in the purchase of second-hand supersonic jets, the Sunday Times weekly said.The “Situation Report” by Iqbal Athas was not being published Sunday after the government withdrew police body guards who had been assigned […]

Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) – A media rights group Friday urged Sri Lanka to ease emergency laws that curtail freedom of expression and warned of worsening conditions in one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists.Working conditions have deteriorated in the Tamil-populated northern district of Jaffna since fighting erupted there between government troops and […]