Category: Politics

Feb 4, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka was set to mark independence day on Sunday amid heightened security and calls from the president for fresh peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels to end more than three decades of bloodshed.As the island prepared to celebrate its national day, police discovered a powerful bomb in the capital […]

February 04 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s president invited the largest political party representing north-eastern Tamils to work with the government in his Independance Day speech and promised democratic rule to territory recently wrested back from Tamil Tiger control. . President Mahinda Rajapakse said the Tamil National Alliance, widely considered to be Tiger proxies, had so […]

Feb 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police Saturday found a powerful bomb hidden in a taxi in capital Colombo — a day ahead of independence day celebrations, police said.The bomb, weighing 2.5 kilos (5.5 pounds) was found in a three-wheeler taxi parked in a garage near the Khettarama Cricket Stadium, where troops who will […]

VAKARAI, Sri Lanka, Feb 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapkse offered fresh peace talks on Saturday and asked Tiger rebels to lay down weapons as he visited this former guerrilla-held town.The president said he was ready to offer a political package to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to end the […]

Feb 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested 266 people on the eve of independence day celebrations in a security roundup after finding a powerful bomb in the capital. Mass arrests in Sri Lanka after Colombo bomb find ATTENTION – UPDATES with arrests /// The 2.5-kilo (5.5-pound) was found in a three-wheeler […]

Feb 02, 2007 (LBO) – Seven media workers were killed in Sri Lanka in the past year, with Tamil journalists bearing the brunt of the oppression, an international media rights group has said. “No suspects have so far been arrested,” the Paris based Reporters without Borders, (RSF) said in a report. “There is total impunity […]

COLOMBO, Feb 2, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka stepped up already tight security in the capital Colombo on Friday amid fears of Tamil rebel attacks ahead of independence day celebrations, officials said. Security forces armed with tough anti-terror laws increased road blocks and random checks within the city of 600,000 people and carried out searches […]

COLOMBO, Feb 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Thursday swore in another minister increasing the cabinet to a historic high of 54 members. President Mahinda Rajapakse inducted a 52-member cabinet on Sunday morning and added another member by the evening. On Thursday, he named a layman belonging to the Buddhist monks’ party, the National […]

NEW DELHI, Feb 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s new foreign minister said Wednesday there would be no let-up in military operations against the separatist Tamil Tigers rebels as he urged them to return to the negotiating table.“We want the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to become a stake-holder in the peace process” launched […]

COLOMBO, Feb 1, 2007 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels set off a roadside bomb in Sri Lanka’s troubled north Thursday, killing a soldier as police carried out mass arrests after a similar blast killed 11 people, officials said.The latest Claymore mine attack was in the district of Vavuniya where soldiers were on routine operations sweeping […]

Jan 31, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s newly inducted 53-member cabinet has put off its first meeting for want of a venue and other logistical problems, press reports here said Wednesday.The delay came as Sri Lanka’s party of Buddhist monks announced they were also joining the government, a move that would further increase the massive […]

Jan 31, 2007 (AFP) – Six policemen were killed and several more wounded Wednesday in a roadside bomb attack carried out by Tamil Tiger rebels, the defence ministry said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set off a powerful Claymore mine against a bus transporting constables travelling home on leave, a ministry spokesman […]