Category: Politics
Sri Lanka warns of Tamil Tiger separatist revival
Jan 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is maintaining high defence spending and sizeable military to guard against any possible resumption of violence by Tamil Tiger separatists who are trying to regroup, a senior defence official said. The island’s intelligence services had picked up evidence of attempts to reactivate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]
Sri Lanka must restore rule of law, says human rights body
Dec 30, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs to restore the rule of law and change its constitution that concentres too much power in the executive president who wields too much control over its citizens, the Asian Human Rights Commission said. “All Sri Lankans will wish that the coming year will not be like the […]
Sri Lanka to do health checks for resident visa
Dec 15, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has decided to do health checks on applicants for resident visas to the island, media minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. The cabinet of ministers has decided to conduct a health assessment for the resident visa applicants to Sri Lanka, he told a news conference. A statement said a large […]
Sri Lanka reconciliation must ensure sustainable peace: Australia lawmakers
Dec 14, 2011 (LBO) – A visiting Australian parliamentary delegation has said Sri Lanka’s reconciliation efforts after the end of its 30-year ethnic war must ensure sustainable peace and progress. Five Australian-members of parliament have gained a “first-hand insight” into Sri Lanka’s current political, economic and social situation during a week-long visit to the country,” […]
Sri Lanka carrier plans Nepal, Bangladesh flights, Indian frequencies up
Dec 07, 2011 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lankan Airlines is planning flights to Nepal and Bangladesh in 2012 and is increasing frequencies to India from December 23, the carrier said in a statement. Flights to Chennai will increase to four frequencies a day or 28 a week, from December 23. “We are developing Colombo into […]
Sri Lanka air force gets more Bell helicopters
Dec 02, 2011 (LBO) – Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company said it has delivered two Bell 412 helicopters to the Sri Lanka Air Force at its facility in Piney Flats, Tennessee in the United States. The two new helicopters from Bell, which had previously supplied a fleet of transport helicopters to the air force […]
Sri Lanka child care project gets Japanese support
Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – The Japanese government has provided almost 60 million rupees worth of aid for an early childhood care and development project in the eastern Trincomalee district, part of the former war zone. “It is expected that more than 1,000 families and their community members will benefit from the project,” the statement […]
Sri Lanka urged by Japan envoy to probe war crimes charges
Nov 30, 2011 (LBO) – A Japanese ‘peace envoy’ to Sri Lanka has pressed the island to probe allegations of human rights abuses that led to the loss of duty free market access to Europe. Yasushi Akashi, who served as a special envoy of the Japanese government during the island’s ethnic war, said a national […]
Sri Lanka ex-army chief jailed for three years
November 18, 2011 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan High Court sentenced former army chief Sarath Fonseka to three years in jail on Friday after finding him guilty of making a false allegation against the president’s brother. Fonseka, who ran against President Mahinda Rajapakse in 2010 elections, is already serving a 30-month prison term after a […]
EU concerned over Sri Lanka net censorship
Nov 08, 2011 (LBO) – The European Union has expressed concern over the blocking of several dissident websites in Sri Lanka, which the island’s information ministry said was damaging image of politicians and senior state officials. “The EU considers that freedom of press forms an integral part of any democratic system,” European Union heads of […]
Sri Lanka minefields below estimates, most cleared
November 4, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s war-time minefields were two-thirds smaller than initially estimated and most have been cleared since the country’s ethnic conflict ended in 2009, the military said on Friday. The army said it had originally estimated mine-infested areas totalled some 6,215 square kilometres (2,399 square miles) in the island’s embattled northeast. […]
Sri Lanka targets dissident websites
November 5, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Saturday warned websites to register with the authorities after the United States expressed deep concern over Colombo’s blocking of a popular Internet-based dissident publication. The Ministry of Mass Media and Information said many reports posted on dissident websites amounted to character assassination of President Mahinda Rajapakse, his ministers […]