Category: Politics

COLOMBO, November 17, 2013 (AFP) – Commonwealth leaders agreed Sunday on steps to tackle high debt and poverty as they staged a show of unity after a summit in Sri Lanka dominated by a bitter dispute over war crimes.Following a three-day meeting in Colombo, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse announced that a communique had been […]

Nov 17, 2013 (LBO) – Leaders of Commonwealth nations have issued a declaration after meeting in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo calling for ‘equitable’ growth, better education and inclusivity for women, youth and the disabled.The full statement is reproduced below:- Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 15-17 November, 2013 Colombo Declaration on Sustainable, Inclusive and Equitable […]

PORT LOUIS, November 15, 2013 (AFP) – The prime minister of Mauritius said Friday his country was withdrawing as host of the next Commonwealth summit as a result of his decision to boycott this year’s meeting in Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka has been accused of widespread human rights abuses against its Tamil minority as well as […]

COLOMBO, November 16, 2013 (AFP) – Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron urged Sri Lanka Saturday to move “further and faster” to address allegations of war crimes, saying the issue would remain high on the international agenda. “The Sri Lankan government needs to go further and faster on human rights and reconciliation,” Cameron told a press […]

COLOMBO, November 16, 2013 (AFP) – A top minister rejected pressure Saturday for an international probe into alleged war crimes at the end of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, saying the government would “definitely” not allow one.“Why should we have an international inquiry?We will object to it … Definitely, we are not going to allow it,” […]

COLOMBO, November 15, 2013 (AFP) – Mahinda Rajapakse may be a pariah for some of his Commonwealth peers, but for many of his fellow Sri Lankans he is a national hero who ended four decades of bloodshed.The combative Sri Lankan president has long battled allegations that his troops killed some 40,000 civilians in the closing […]

Nov 15, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the Commonwealth should not be a judgmental or punitive body at a meeting of heads of governments of member countries in Colombo.The Commonwealth meet had been clouded over war crimes allegations against Colombo over the last stages of a civil war which ended in […]

COLOMBO, November 15, 2013 (AFP) – Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron made an historic visit Friday to Sri Lanka’s former warzone, stealing the spotlight from a Commonwealth summit after the host, President Mahinda Rajapakse, warned against passing judgement on his country’s past. Only hours after the summit opened in Colombo, Cameron flew into the northern […]

COLOMBO, November 13, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military stopped scores of ethnic Tamils protesters from entering the capital Wednesday ahead of a Commonwealth summit as a British TV crew was barred from a former warzone.A UN panel in 2011 found as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final months of […]

PORT LOUIS, November 12, 2013 (AFP) – The prime minister of Mauritius announced Tuesday he will stay away from this week’s Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka because of the host’s poor human rights record.Mauritius joins India and Canada in refusing to send a premier to Sri Lanka, which is accused of widespread human rights abuses […]

LONDON, November 11, 2013 (AFP) – Britain’s heir to the throne Prince Charles can draw his state pension from Thursday when he turns 65 — despite having yet to start the job he has eyed for a lifetime.But when most Britons his age will be settling into their retirement, Charles can be expected to take […]

COLOMBO, November 11, 2013 (AFP) – Pro-government activists demonstrated outside Sri Lanka’s main international airport Monday denouncing a visit by Britain’s Channel 4 which produced an award-winning documentary on alleged war crimes during the island’s ethnic war.Activists shouted slogans against a crew from the network as they arrived to cover a meeting of Commonwealth countries […]