Category: Politics

NEW DELHI, April 3, 2007 (AFP) – South Asian nations must “root out terrorism” to turn around the fortunes of their underperforming trading bloc, the countries’ leaders told a regional summit here on Tuesday. Economic progress in the troubled region, home to nearly 1.5 billion people or one-fifth of humanity, is impossible without overcoming security […]

April 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces have killed at least 23 Tamil Tiger rebels in fresh fighting in the island’s east following a deadly bus bombing, the defence ministry said Tuesday.“In the limited humanitarian operation on the west and south of Batticaloa, we have found 10 bodies of the LTTE cadres,” spokesman […]

GENEVA, April 3, 2007 (AFP) – The international Red Cross on Tuesday condemned a bus bombing on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast which left 16 people dead, including three children, and injured 25 others. “The International Committee of the Red Cross deplores the civilian casualties caused by an attack yesterday on a civilian bus in Ambalangoda, […]

COLOMBO, April 2, 2007 (AFP) – At least 15 people, including a child, were killed and 25 wounded when a bomb ripped through a crowded bus in eastern Sri Lanka Monday, officials said. The defence ministry immediately accused Tamil Tiger rebels of setting off the bomb, while the rebels denied they were responsible. Passengers were […]

April 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka protested Sunday against an Amnesty International campaign at the cricket World Cup drawing attention to human rights abuses on the island. The London-based rights group has been calling for Sri Lanka to ‘Play by the Rules’ in its conflict with Tamil rebels by persuading thousands of fans to […]

PARIS, April 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sixteen suspected members of the Tamil Tigers rebel group were detained Sunday in Paris during an investigation into terrorist financing activities, sources close to the case said.Police made the arrests under the direction of anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the sources said. The suspects are alleged to be involved in […]

April 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to hold a referendum on whether to maintain a fragile five-year-old ceasefire between government troops and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, a state-run newspaper said Sunday.The truce allows either party to opt out by giving two weeks’ notice to Norway. The government of President Mahinda Rajapakse hopes to […]

NEW DELHI, March 31, 2007 (AFP) – South Asian foreign ministry officials began laying the groundwork on Saturday for a regional summit to be dominated by trade talk amid warming ties between rivals India and Pakistan. The meeting of foreign secretaries will review the progress of panels formed under the South Asian Association for Regional […]

March 30, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed suspected Tamil Tiger positions Friday after the rebels blew up five soldiers and allegedly killed eight civilians in shelling, officials said. Supersonic jets bombed rebel-held territory after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set off a road side bomb and ambushed a military vehicle, […]

March 30, 2007 (AFP) – At least eight civilians were killed and several others wounded in eastern Sri Lanka Friday as government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged artillery and mortar fire, officials said. Four men and four women were killed when they were hit by shells, a military official in Batticaloa, 303 kilometres (189 […]

CHENNAI, India, March 29, 2007 (AFP) – India has boosted military security along its southern coast after Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels staged their first air attack on a Colombo military base, officials said.The measures include increased navy patrols in the narrow strip of sea dividing India and Sri Lanka and the installation of radar […]

UNITED NATIONS, March 27, 2007 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon is “disturbed” by the extensive violations of the ceasefire in Sri Lanka and urges the rival sides to resume negotiations without preconditions, his press office said Tuesday. “The secretary general is disturbed by the extensive and escalating violations of the ceasefire,” his office said […]