Category: Politics

May 01, 2007 (LBO) – The murder of a reporter working for a Tamil newspaper in Sri Lanka has been condemned by the international media rights organization, Reporters without Borders. Selvarajah Rajivarnam, a reporter working for the Uthayan newspaper, was gunned down on his bicycle near the newspapers office in the northern Jaffna peninsular. He […]

May 1, 2007 (AFP) – The new capability of the Tamil Tigers to carry out airborne attacks has not only made them a rarity among the world’s guerrilla outfits but has also badly shaken an entire country. Sri Lanka’s defence ministry has acknowledged that the Tigers may be operating at least five light aircraft, used […]

MELBOURNE, May 1, 2007 (AFP) – Two suspected members of Sri Lanka’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebel group were Tuesday arrested in Australia and charged with funnelling money to a terrorist organisation, police said.The Tamil Tigers have waged a 35-year battle for independence that has claimed more than 60,000 lives in Sri Lanka. The men, 32 […]

April 30, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police stepped up security in the capital Monday as political parties prepared to stage May Day rallies a day ahead of the rest of the world, officials said. Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels launched a suicide bomb attack in 1993 during a ruling party May Day rally and assassinated […]

COLOMBO, April 29, 2007 (AFP) – Emirates Airlines and Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific on Sunday suspended flights to Sri Lanka following a rebel air strike around the troubled island’s capital. “For Emirates, the safety of its passengers is of paramount importance,” a spokesman for the Dubai-based carrier said, adding that the situation would […]

April 29, 2007 (LBO) – Fire engines were called to put out a fire in a gas terminal complex north of Colombo following a suspected Tamil Tiger aircraft air raid, officials said. . Updated Shell Gas’s media manager, Chamani Herath Pathirage told AFP that there had been an explosion in their facilities and buildings had […]

April 29, 2007 (AFP) – A Shell building in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo caught fire early Sunday following a suspected aeriel attack by Tamil Tigers, an official with the energy group said.Shell, which acquired a 51 percent stake in the state-owned Colombo Gas Company when it was privatised in 1995 for 37 million dollars, […]

April 29, 2007 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels used light aircraft to bomb key installations in and around Sri Lanka’s capital Sunday, forcing cricket fans to flee from parks as the World Cup final was being shown.There has been a surge in fighting since December 2005 leaving more than 4,000 people killed despite a truce […]

April 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police and security forces sealed off the capital on Saturday, searching every vehicle entering and leaving the city amid fears of a Tamil Tiger attack, officials said. Huge traffic jams were reported at every entry point to Colombo with motorists spending several hours before they could be allowed […]

April 28, 2007 (AFP) – A pro-government Tamil militant group is holding at least 194 child soldiers despite promises it would free underage combatants, UNICEF said Saturday. The UN agency for children said the Tamil Tiger faction known as the “Karuna group” was failing to honour its public promises not to recruit child soldiers. Out […]

April 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops fearing a rebel attack fired anti-aircraft weapons and evacuated passengers from the international airport here late Thursday, an official said. Go to our front page www.lbo.lk for updates on this event. Latest – Katunayake civillian airport re-opens Sri Lankan troops fired anti-aircraft weapons, evacuated passengers and briefly […]

COLOMBO, April 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka was on high alert Friday over the threat of another Tamil Tiger air attack, the morning after a suspicious aircraft forced the closure of the island’s only international airport. “We are on alert. In fact, every day we are on alert now and we have beefed up […]