Category: Defense

December 21, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military said Monday it had seized a cargo ship suspected of being an arms smuggling vessel used by the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels at an undisclosed foreign port.Navy spokesman Captain Athula Senarath said the 90-metre (300-feet) long Princess Christina had been captured at a foreign port but refused […]

December 21, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to explain allegations by a former army general that surrendering Tamil rebel leaders were killed in cold blood in mid-May, the government said on Monday. The presidency in Colombo said the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, sought […]

BANGKOK, December 13, 2009 (AFP) – Thai authorities will bring charges against five men from eastern Europe detained in Bangkok with a plane full of North Korean weapons, premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday. “They committed two crimes, firstly they gave false information about their cargo, and secondly that cargo was found to be weapons,” he […]

December 13, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops shot dead surrendering Tamil Tiger leaders on the orders of the defence secretary, the former army chief who is now running for president said on Sunday.General Sarath Fonseka said Gotabhaya Rajapakse — the brother of the current president — instructed field commanders not to take prisoners in […]

December 7, 2009 (AFP) – A top United Nations envoy for children held talks with senior Sri Lankan officials on Monday after meeting former child soldiers, an official said.Major General Daya Ratnayake, Sri Lanka’s commissioner general of rehabilitation, said around 11,000 former rebel fighters, including children, were undergoing vocational training at state-run centres.Retired Major General […]

November 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy on Tuesday seized four fishing trawlers carrying 142 illegal migrants heading for Australia, a spokesman said.The boats were detected off the island’s southern coast while they were moving eastward in the direction of Australia, navy spokesman Athula Senarath said. “The passengers had paid large sums of money […]

November 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former top army general Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to restore his security contingent which has been drastically scaled down following a spat with the president, officials said.General Sarath Fonseka petitioned the country’s highest court seeking the restoration of his 600-member strong bodyguard unit which has been slashed […]

November 16, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Monday promoted his air force commander to be the country’s top military officer to replace General Sarath Fonseka who quit following a rift with the government, an official said.Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke, 53, was made the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) from Monday in […]

November 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has announced an immediate salary increase for all members of the country’s armed forces amid plans to boost the strength of the security services.President Mahinda Rajapakse granted the unspecified salary increase during a visit Wednesday to the island’s northern regions, which were recently wrested from Tamil rebel […]

November 4, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military commander left the United States ahead of possible questioning over alleged war crimes committed during the defeat of the island’s Tamil rebels, a legislator said Wednesday.General Sarath Fonseka headed back to Sri Lanka without facing questioning by the Department of Homeland Security later in the day, Samantha […]

WASHINGTON, November 2, 2009 (AFP) – The United States was tightlipped Monday about Sri Lanka’s visiting top military commander, after the island said US authorities planned to grill him over alleged war crimes.Sri Lanka summoned the US ambassador to demand the Department of Homeland Security drop with what the island’s government said were plans to […]

SINGAPORE, November 3, 2009 (AFP) – A Singaporean opposition party member will be extradited to the United States and tried for allegedly trying to supply arms to Sri Lanka’s defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, officials here said Tuesday.Businessman Balldev Naidu, 47, is facing six charges including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation […]