Category: Politics

COLOMBO, April 8, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan stepped up security Sunday over fears of bomb attacks ahead of the traditional New Year festivities this week while the military said six rebels and a soldier were killed in fresh fighting. A government soldier was killed in a confrontation with Tamil Tiger rebels in the north […]

by Mel Gunasekera COLOMBO, April 7, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a roadside bomb on Saturday, killing eight passengers on a bus and wounding 25, the Sri Lankan government said, marking the latest violence on the island. Security has also been intensified across the island’s northern and eastern regions in a bid […]

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2007 (AFP) – US authorities said Thursday they had busted an arms-trafficking gang, arresting six Asians who had been trying to smuggle weapons from the United States to Tamil Tiger rebels.Singapore man Haniffa Bin Osman, 55, was the latest person to plead guilty in the investigation which saw undercover agents track the […]

COLOMBO, April 6, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy and Tamil Tiger rebels fought a sea battle off the island’s northwestern coast on Friday with both claiming heavy losses for the other side.Naval patrol craft engaged five boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) off the coastal district of Puttalam and one was […]

April 5, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces on Thursday found a powerful landmine in a shop along the main road to the island’s only international airport, police said.Over 60,000 people have since been killed in the Tamil separatist conflict and diplomatic attempts to bring the warring factions to the negotiating table have ended […]

COLOMBO, April 5, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead four civilians in eastern Sri Lanka on Thursday, the defence ministry said, as the military reported killing three guerrillas. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) gunmen opened fire on farmers in Polonnaruwa district as they travelled to sell their rice crops, the ministry […]

COLOMBO, April 4, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have shot dead six Tamil Tiger rebels in clashes in the island’s embattled northern and eastern regions, the defence ministry said Wednesday. More than 4,000 people have been killed in the latest upsurge of fighting that began in December 2005 despite a truce arranged in 2002. […]

COLOMBO, April 4, 2007 (AFP) – A court sentenced Sri Lanka’s former cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala to two years in jail Wednesday for breaking the island’s immigration laws, officials said. Sumathipala was charged with taking an alleged underworld leader named Dhammika Amarasinghe to England on forged travel documents to watch the 1999 cricket world cup. […]

April 4, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Parliament Wednesday witnessed an uproar over President Mahinda Rajapakse’s proposal for a single currency for SAARC nations. However, amidst differences over trade, the region continues to clock an average of eight percent economic growth. Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe demanded a Parliamentary debate over Rajapakse’s statement at the SAARC […]

April 04, 2007 (LBO) – A rebel parliamentarian who re-joined Sri Lanka’s opposition after a brief stint as a deputy minister, told parliament Wednesday that he was receiving death threats, while his former fellow rebels labeled the move as childish. œIf he joined the government only for the glory of a position and the attached […]

COLOMBO, April 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops killed at least 12 Tamil Tiger rebels in clashes in the northwestern district of Mannar, the defence ministry said Tuesday.More than 4,000 people have been killed in the latest upsurge of fighting that began in December 2005 despite a truce arranged in 2002.The clashes erupted near […]

April 03, 2007 (LBO) – Former United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Edward Gunasekera, who crossed over to the government and became deputy minister of railways, crossed back to the opposition UNP Tuesday. His move created an uproar that caused the Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara to adjourn parliament. Gunasekera tried to make a statement in the House […]