Category: Defense

March 30, 2011 (AFP) – A Maldivian man arrested with the help of Interpol and initially linked to an alleged terror plot against the ongoing cricket World Cup has been cleared, an official said Wednesday. Iqbal Mohamed, 42, was arrested on March 10 at the Male International airport after arriving from Pakistan and was later […]

March 27, 2011 (AFP) – Maldives police said Sunday they had released a man suspected of plotting an attack on the cricket World Cup taking place in South Asia. Maldivian national Iqbal Mohamed, 42, was arrested on March 10 as he arrived at Male International airport from Pakistan following a tip-off from the international police […]

Mar 16, 2011 (LBO) – A Maldivian wanted for a 2007 terror bombing in Male was arrested there after his transit through Sri Lanka was detected by an INTERPOL team deployed for Cricket World Cup security support. INTERPOL said in a statement the Maldives national Iqbal Mohamed was arrested less than six hours after his […]

Mar 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s coast guard is to deploy it’s growing fleet of craft against Indian fishermen poaching in the island’s northern waters, an official said. The coast guard this week took delivery of a patrol boat built by the navy and is to get more craft, including four fast patrol boats […]

March 1, 2011 (AFP) – Two Sri Lankan fighter jets collided in mid-air during an aerobatics training exercise on Tuesday, killing one of the pilots. The pilots from both of the Israeli-built Kfir aircraft ejected, but one of them died while being taken to hospital, a government official said. The crash occurred as the aircraft […]

February 21, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka arrested 17 would-be illegal immigrants aboard a trawler allegedly heading to Australia, the navy said Monday. The boat was detected off the southern coast of Hambantota on Thursday and brought ashore for investigations, the navy said in a statement. Boats from Sri Lanka take up to three weeks […]

February 2, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military on Wednesday offered to discharge all its 50,000 deserters without disciplinary action to mark the country’s independence anniversary. Officers and enlisted men who have been absent without leave can report to their regiments and then be released from their duties, military spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala said. […]

Dec 25, 2010 (LBO) – A naval symposium to mark the Sri Lankan navy’s 60th anniversary has helped improve maritime security co-operation among navies to combat smuggling and poaching in the Indian Ocean, an official said. Samarasinghe said intelligence sharing among intelligence agencies and regional navies had also improved. Sri Lanka navy chief Vice Admiral […]

NEW DELHI, December 17, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government was complicit in the activities of paramilitary groups engaged in political killings, kidnappings, extortion and prostitution, a leaked US diplomatic cable suggested Friday. The 2007 cable, written by the then US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake, cited evidence provided by “trusted embassy contacts” that […]

WASHINGTON, December 6, 2010 (AFP) – US diplomats play a major role in trying to prevent arms from reaching world hotspots, but cables released to The New York Times show an uphill battle against the likes of Iran, Syria and North Korea. In one cable given to the paper by WikiLeaks, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad […]

MADRID, December 3, 2010 (AFP) – A judge in Spain Friday remanded in custody three of seven people arrested in an operation against a gang suspected of forging passports for Al-Qaeda-linked groups, court sources said. These included the 2004 Madrid bombings, when blasts on packed commuter trains in a city suburb killed 191 people and […]

MADRID, December 3, 2010 (AFP) – Spanish and Thai police investigating a gang that supplied forged passports to Al-Qaeda linked groups have found new evidence of links to Sri Lanka’s defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, Spanish authorities said Friday. Spanish and Thai police are analysing material seized late on Tuesday in a joint operation in which […]