Category: Politics

June 12, 2007 (LBO) – Britain’s minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Kim Howells says his country will not lift the ban on the Tamil Tigers, and has called on both sides to the conflict to respect human rights. Dr Kim Howells MP Minister of State Foreign and Commonwealth Office June 12 2007 Howells […]

June 12, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has called for “careful study” of a critical report that said the island is failing to investigate grave human rights abuses, a spokesman said Tuesday. President Mahinda Rajapakse was speaking after an international panel said a commission appointed to investigate 16 high profile cases, involving murder and […]

June 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka was Monday accused of dragging its feet despite a promise to tackle major human rights violations, as Western diplomats warned they will deny visas to security personnel linked to abuses.An 11-member panel of international experts said a presidential commission of inquiry into cases including the massacre of aid […]

June 11, 2007 (AFP) – Britain Monday asked its former colony Sri Lanka to end its military campaign and resume peace talks with separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas.“The situation in Sri Lanka looks darker now than my last visit in February, where there were many hopes of an all-party political solution that would create a basis […]

June 10, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s prime minister on Sunday apologised to ethnic minority Tamils for evicting them from the capital, promising there would be no repeat of the controversial operation.“That is why I am expressing regret and apologising on behalf of the government.” “It was a big mistake,” Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told reporters here, […]

June 10, 2007 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels have rigged up a truck with over a tonne of explosives that could blow up half of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake claimed Sunday.The authorities received information about the truck bomb following the discovery last week of over 1,000 kilogrammes (2,200 pounds) of plastic explosives […]

COLOMBO, June 8, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Friday promised an investigation into police action that forced hundreds of ethnic Tamils from the capital at gunpoint in early morning raids condemned around the World. President Mahinda Rajapakse invited evicted people back to Colombo and ordered a disciplinary probe against the police chief responsible. Officers […]

June 9, 2007 (AFP) – Japan’s special envoy to Sri Lanka ended a four-day visit Saturday saying he was still hopeful that the island’s tattered peace process could be salvaged.The LTTE has been fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in a 35-year old ethnic conflict that has claimed over 60,000 lives. Yasushi Akashi, […]

June 9, 2007 (AFP) – At least 30 Tamil Tiger rebels and one soldier were killed when Sri Lankan troops overran four guerrilla jungle bases, the defence ministry said Saturday.Soldiers captured the bases of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during an offensive late Friday and early Saturday in the eastern Batticaloa district, the […]

GENEVA, June 7, 2007 (AFP) – The murder of two Red Cross workers in Sri Lanka appears to be part of a trend in which aid workers are deliberately targeted, two United Nations human rights experts said Thursday. Sri Lankan Red Cross workers Sinnarasa Shanmugalingam and Karthekesu Chandramohan were abducted in the capital Colombo last […]

June 8, 2007 (LBO) – The United States Friday condemned the eviction of ethnic Tamils without jobs from Colombo, and asked the government to reveal where they were taken. Sri Lanka’s police say the move was aimed at blocking Tamil Tiger guerillas from infiltrating the capital, setting off explosions and engaging in other subversive activities. […]

June 8, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Friday criticised his police chief for evicting hundreds of minority Tamils from the capital and ordered them to be brought back immediately, an official said.Sri Lanka’s main opposition said the move was similar to what Hitler did to the Jews in the early days in Germany.President Mahinda […]