Category: Politics
Sri Lanka frees 1,800 ex-Tamil Tigers
September 30, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka wrapped up its two-year rehabilitation of surrendered Tamil Tiger rebels with the re-uniting Friday of 1,800 men and women with their families. President Mahinda Rajapakse addressed the last of the 12,000 former members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to pass through the programme at […]
Sri Lanka detains asylum seekers expelled by Britain
September 29, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s police detained 50 failed asylum seekers flown back to the country Thursday after being expelled from Britain, police said. Eight women and 42 men — mostly ethnic minority Tamils– were deported by Britain’s Border Agency, which chartered an aircraft to return them home after they failed in a […]
Pressure needed to end child soldier use: France
UNITED NATIONS, September 26, 2011 (AFP) – States and armed groups that refuse to stop recruiting child soldiers must be subject to tougher pressure in the form of sanctions, France’s ambassador for human rights has said. Francois Zimeray will make that case on Monday at a meeting at the United Nations on the sidelines of […]
Sri Lanka war general ready to fight US court summons
September 26, 2011 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan general serving as a UN diplomat in New York is prepared to face a US court to deny charges his men committed war crimes during the island’s civil war, reports said Monday. A civil case has been filed in New York on behalf of two people whose […]
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UNITED NATIONS, September 24, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Friday condemned “tainted” international allegations of a military massacre of civilians during an assault to end a Tamil rebellion. Tamil community members earlier this year filed a lawsuit against Rajapakse when he paid a private visit to the United States. The Sri Lankan government […]
Sri Lanka, India navies in anti-piracy drill
Sept 23, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan and Indian navies ended a joint exercise off the island’s east coast Friday that included anti-piracy and interdiction operations, key concerns of both nations in protecting maritime commerce and coastlines. The High Commission of India said the ‘SLINEX 2011’ a joint exercise was held off the eastern port […]
Sri Lanka Tamil protesters ask for probe into war crimes allegations
GENEVA, September 19, 2011 (AFP) – Tamils from across Europe demonstrated at the UN’s European headquarters on Monday, calling for a probe into alleged war crimes committed by Sri Lanka at the end of the country’s 2009 civil war. According to local police, around 1,000 protesters gathered in Geneva’s iconic Place des Nations, to urge […]
US urges Sri Lanka to boost Tamil police
September 14, 2011 (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka to deploy more minority Tamils to police the island’s former northern conflict zone to help “heal the wounds of war”. Tamils in the formerly embattled region feel intimidated by the presence of predominantly Sinhalese-speaking government forces and police, US Assistant Secretary of […]
‘s former war zone
September 13, 2011 (AFP) – US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake toured Sri Lanka’s former war zone on Tuesday to meet students, community leaders and government officials two years after the island’s civil war ended. Blake, the top US diplomat for South and Central Asia, was in the northern Jaffna region to see development […]
OECD points to general slowing of main economies
PARIS, September 12, 2011 (AFP) – The main economies in the world are set for a general slowdown, the OECD said on Monday on the basis of its leading index of underlying signals in its member countries. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which already warned of potential pockets of recession last week, said […]
US envoy in Sri Lanka as UN rights meet starts
September 12, 2011 (AFP) – US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake arrived in Colombo Monday for talks that coincide with a UN meeting in Geneva that is set to discuss alleged war crimes during Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict. Blake, the top US diplomat for South and Central Asia, would raise the allegations with all […]
Sri Lanka against UN sending probe report to rights body
GENEVA, September 12, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday took issue with a planned UN move to forward a damning report on the country to the Human Rights Council, complaining that Colombo was not notified about the action. Sri Lanka Minister of Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasinghe claimed that at a briefing on September 9 […]