Category: Politics

July 22, 2007 (AFP) – A powerful bomb was found at a market along a road leading to a conference venue where Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse addressed workers from his Freedom Party Sunday, police said.The bomb weighing about eight kilograms (17.5 pounds) was hidden in a bag at the roadside market in the Colombo […]

July 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has ruled out a snap parliamentary election to increase his slender majority, after battlefield success against the Tamil Tiger rebels boosted his government. President Mahinda Rajapakse said he was keen that the current parliament serve its full six-year term.It was elected in April 2004, while the president […]

July 21, 2007 (AFP) – Eleven people were killed and three wounded in battles between security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels across Sri Lanka’s north and eastern regions, the defence ministry said on Saturday.Suspected rebels clashed with police commandos in the eastern town of Ampara Saturday, with troops killing six rebels, the ministry said, adding […]

July 20, 2007 (AFP) – Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in heavy combat in northwest Sri Lanka on Friday, leaving at least 12 people killed on both sides, the defence ministry said.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched the pre-dawn attack on army defences in Mannar district, the ministry said […]

July 19, 2007 (AFP) – The Tamil Tigers must decide between war and peace, Sri Lanka’s president said Thursday as the government marked the capture of the rebels’ final bastion. Mahinda Rajapakse said he was leaving the door open for resuming negotiations with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which collapsed in October […]

July 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to establish a consulate in Madagascar mainly to encourage trade in gems and improve economic ties with the big island nation off the east coast of Africa. Out of the 52 countries in the African continent, Sri Lanka has resident missions in only Egypt, South Africa and […]

MELBOURNE, July 17, 2007 (AFP) – Australia indicated on Tuesday that it may appeal a court ruling which granted bail to two men charged with supplying funds to Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels. It follows the government’s decision on Monday to revoke the visa of an Indian doctor charged in connection with the British car […]

July 17, 2007 (AFP) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead a top civil servant in north-eastern Sri Lanka Monday as the government moved to celebrate the dismantling of a key Tamil rebel base in the region, officials said. Gunmen killed Harry Abeyweera, the top civil administrator in the district of Trincomalee, as he worked at his […]

July 15, 2007 (AFP) – Four civilians were bound and shot dead execution-style in northern Sri Lanka near the scene of heavy battles between troops and Tamil rebels, a police official said Sunday.The bodies of the four were discovered Sunday shot in the head and with their hands tied behind their backs in Vavuniya district, […]

July 14, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops used war planes and long-range weapons to attack suspected Tamil Tiger positions as fresh fighting broke out early Saturday, the defence ministry said.Fighter jets pounded suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) locations in the north of the island, where heavy artillery duels killed at least one […]

July 13 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan businessman who has just been elected president of the International Lions Organization says he hopes to help take forward the Sri Lankan peace process as an internal facilitator. Sri Lankan ‘Lion’ Mahendra Amarasuriya was recently elected as the president of the International Lions organization in Chicago. He says […]

July 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Wednesday paid tribute to his security forces for capturing what he called the “last stronghold” of the Tamil Tiger rebels in the island’s restive east. President Mahinda Rajapakse in a statement welcomed the capture of the area known as Thoppigala, where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]