Category: Politics

December 8, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former military chief who led troops to victory over Tamil separatists in May said he fears fugitive rebels will try to assassinate him during his presidential election campaign.Sarath Fonseka, who is trying to unseat President Mahinda Rajapakse in the January 26 elections, told AFP that about 1,000 Tamil […]

WASHINGTON, December 7, 2009 (AFP) – A US Senate report warned Monday that Washington risked “losing” Sri Lanka as it recovers from war and called for more active engagement to stop the island drifting from the West.The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a bipartisan study, said the United States should be firm on human rights […]

December 4, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has maintained its ban on journalists reporting the plight of war-displaced civilians who have been allowed out of their internment camps, officials said Friday.Foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama declared in a BBC interview Tuesday that the media now had full access, prompting a flood of requests from reporters to […]

WASHINGTON, December 4, 2009 (AFP) – A senior US envoy will head to Sri Lanka next week to encourage post-war reconciliation, days after the island nation allowed Tamil civilians to leave detention camps, officials said Friday.Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia, will visit Sri Lanka on Monday and Tuesday in the […]

December 2, 2009 (AFP) – Amnesty International on Wednesday pushed Sri Lanka to grant full freedom to 130,000 Tamil civilians who have been allowed out of camps where they were detained following the island’s ethnic conflict.The government said the camp inmates, who were displaced in the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels, were now free […]

VAVUNIYA, December 1, 2009 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of Sri Lankan civilians held in state-run camps following the island’s ethnic conflict were allowed to walk free Tuesday, ending their internationally-condemned detention.Men, women and children were given their first opportunity to leave the northern Manik Farm complex since their incarceration over seven months ago. But […]

November 30, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will Tuesday allow thousands of civilians to leave state-run camps where they have been detained since the military’s victory over Tamil Tiger separatist rebels, a senior official said.About 128,000 men, women and children who were displaced during the final stages of the conflict remain in heavily guarded military […]

SYDNEY, November 30, 2009 (AFP) – Australia unveiled Perth on Monday as the venue for the next Commonwealth summit in 2011, as the international club’s latest gathering ended in Trinidad and Tobago.Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said it was a “tremendous opportunity” for the west-coast city, which is at the heart of the country’s commodities boom. […]

November 29, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan general who led troops to victory over Tamil separatists after decades of war formally announced on Sunday that he would try to unseat the president in January elections.Sarath Fonseka declared he would stand against President Mahinda Rajapakse, who claims credit for the defeat of Tamil Tigers in […]

November 28, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ex-military chief has said he plans to run for the presidency in January elections in a bid to unseat his former boss Mahinda Rajapakse.Meanwhile, a group of opposition parties met elections commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake late Friday after he formally announced the date of the presidential poll, an opposition […]

Nov 27, 2009 (LBO) – Achala Jagoda, a parliamentarian representing the National Freedom Front, an ally of the ruling coalition has been appointed the island’s new tourism minister, the government’s information office said.Nandana Gunatileke, the former minister left the NFF, which is a breakaway faction of Sri Lanka Marxist Nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. Gunatileke has […]

November 27, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s electoral office said Friday that presidential elections would be held on January 26, with President Mahinda Rajapakse expected to face his former military chief Sarath Fonseka.“Elections will be held on the 26th of January,” Dayananda Dissanayake, the commissioner of elections, told AFP by telephone. Rajapakse, 64, called the […]