Category: Defense

June 27, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan peace broker Norway goes into crisis talks Thursday to try to salvage the island’s faltering ceasefire, as the assassination of a top army general underscored the threat of renewed war. “It is a case where they want to score something and then say, ‘Let’s talk’,” said retired army […]

June 27, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Tuesday deployed more troops and threw up roadblocks in Colombo as the government tightened security following the assassination of a top army general.Heavily armed soldiers took up positions around the capital while police stepped up random vehicle searches, a senior police officer told AFP. “There is a […]

NEW DELHI, June 28, 2006 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebel leader expressed regret Tuesday over the 1991 assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, in an interview aired on Indian television.“I would say it is a great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy for which we deeply regret and we call upon […]

June 26, 2006 (AFP) – The assassination of a top army general Monday was aimed at sabotaging Sri Lanka’s peace process, President Mahinda Rajapakse said.Police have blamed the suicide bomb attack that killed Major General Parami Kulatunga and four other people, including the bomber, on the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Rajapakse said […]

June 26, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main hospital here received an anonymous warning phone call shortly before the assassination of a top army general Monday, a spokeswoman said. The caller, who spoke in halting Sinhalese, said hospital staff would carry out a “superior job” and that the hospital would have “more work than usual,” […]

June 26, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger guerrillas Monday warned that Sri Lanka would descend into full-scale war if peace broker Norway quit, as the killing of a top army general ended a week-long lull in violence. Tiger political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan told the tamilnet.com website that war would be “unavoidable” if Norway […]

June 26, 2006 (AFP) – The Roman Catholic church opened a meeting here Monday, calling for peace in embattled Sri Lanka hours after a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber killed himself and four others, including a top army general.Caritas, the social development arm of the church, urged the government and Tiger rebels to honor their […]

OSLO, June 26, 2006 (AFP) – Norway is determined to continue its mediation efforts in Sri Lanka despite a flare-up in violence on the island and uncertainty about the role of Nordic peace observers, Norwegian officials said on Monday. “Norway remains committed to Sri Lanka, in good times and bad times,” Norway’s special envoy to […]

June 26, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military Monday announced it will bring back tighter security measures across the country following the assassination of a top army general by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber. Security forces will re-activate all measures that were in place before the February 2002 ceasefire between the government and the […]

June 26, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels deployed a motorcycle riding suicide bomber to kill Sri Lanka’s number three army officer, Major General Parami Kulatunga, in a suburb of Colombo Monday.June 15, 2006: Blast rips through bus full of civilians, killing 64 and wounding 80. Tigers deny involvement. The Sri Lanka military responds […]