Category: Politics

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2011 (AFP) – “Terrorist” US lawmakers; Tea Party conservatives holding the nation “hostage;” Republicans “hijacking” the debt deal. Is this any way to conduct a political debate? The Politico news website said Vice President Joe Biden, who attended the meeting, used the term, although he and the White House denied it. Doyle […]

July 30, 2011 (AFP) – An ethnic Tamil journalist in Sri Lanka’s formerly embattled north was brutally attacked with iron bars, police said on Saturday, the latest in a string of assaults on the nation’s media. UN records show 5,653 outstanding “enforced and involuntary disappearances” in Sri Lanka. Among those missing is freelance journalist and […]

July 28, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military Thursday rejected new allegations that its political bosses ordered the execution of surrendering Tamil rebels during the final days of the island’s separatist war. Reacting to a new broadcast from Britain’s Channel 4 that accused defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse of ordering executions, military spokesman Ubaya Medawela dismissed […]

July 25, 2011 (LBO) – A Tamil minority party has swept the polls in Sri Lanka’s former war torn northern areas while the ruling coalition consolidated its gains elsewhere in a local government body poll. Out of 65 local bodies where elections were held over the weekend, the ruling United National People’s Alliance won 54 […]

July 25, 2011 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan lawmaker has challenged a government minister to a television debate over the sale of state land to a Chinese firm. Harsha de Silva, a lawmaker representing Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party, referred to a statement attributed to deputy economic development minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene by […]

NEW DELHI, July 15, 2011 (AFP) – India on Friday urged Sri Lanka to examine claims made in a British documentary that said it targeted civilians while crushing Tamil Tiger rebels two years ago. The Channel 4 documentary, “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” aired last month on British television contained footage of what it said were […]

GENEVA, June 30, 2011 (AFP) – The UN’s human rights chief Thursday warned Sri Lanka not to take too long in probing war crimes allegations, saying failure to carry out a credible inquiry could lead to international action. Colombo has questioned the authenticity of the Channel 4 footage but said that a local panel, known […]

June 21, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party used its parliamentary majority Tuesday to defeat an opposition-initiated bill to grant greater media freedom, a parliamentary official said. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance, which enjoys a two-thirds majority in the 225-member assembly, shot down the Freedom of Information Bill presented by an opposition […]

OTTAWA, June 16, 2011 (AFP) – A Canadian minister on Thursday unveiled measures to curb human smuggling, calling it a “despicable crime” that abused country’s “generosity” towards immigrants and refugees. The proposed law is in response to a wave of arrivals in Canada aboard rickety cargo ships that has weakened public support for the country’s […]

June 17, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main minority Tamil political group on Friday accused army troops of assaulting its lawmakers and breaking up a party meeting on the northern peninsula of Jaffna. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said troops stormed their venue on Thursday evening and attacked members of parliament and party supporters who […]

June 11, 2011 (AFP) – India on Saturday asked Sri Lanka to address the grievances of the island’s Tamil minority two years after the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels were finally defeated, reports said. Three top Indian officials held closed-door talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse during an overnight visit to Sri Lanka and urged a renewed […]

June 07, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition which contributed to the systematic breakdown of rule of law and limiting the freedoms of the people, has spoken out against the growing lawlessness and attacks on unarmed sections of the population. But small civil society organizations such as Friday Forum, Citizens Movement for Good Governance, […]