Category: Politics

WASHINGTON, February 2, 2011 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced hope for a “just and democratic” Sri Lanka as she offered congratulations ahead of the war-torn island’s Independence Day on Friday. Clinton said in a statement Wednesday that the United States and Sri Lanka have historically enjoyed “a strong relationship based on […]

Feb 01, 2011 (AFP) – Dozens of Sri Lankan journalists took to the capital’s streets Tuesday to condemn an arson attack on a popular independent website and protest against assaults on press freedom in the country. Reporters, photographers and employees of privately-run media joined a demonstration in central Colombo a day after the arson attack […]

January 31, 2011 (AFP) – Unidentified attackers in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo set ablaze the offices of an anti-establishment news website on Monday. The lankaenews.com premises were torched in a pre-dawn attack but there were no reports of casualties, a police officer at the scene told AFP. Monday’s attack appeared similar to the July […]

GALLE, January 28, 2011 (AFP) – Does it make sense to defend freedom of speech by calling on writers not to speak at a literary festival? South African novelist Damon Galgut pulled out explicitly because of the campaign, while Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and fellow writer Kiran Desai withdrew last week for reasons which […]

January 25, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s jailed former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who tried to unseat the president in elections, on Tuesday lost an appeal to retain his parliamentary seat. The Supreme Court ruled that a court martial verdict in September finding him guilty of arms procurement offences meant that he was no longer […]

January 23, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka rejected Sunday suggestions that the novelist and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk had decided to boycott a literary festival on the island because of human rights concerns. Any attempt to link Pamuk’s non-participation at the Galle Literary Festival to “an alleged situation about freedom of expression in Sri Lanka […]

PARIS, January 20, 2011 (AFP) – Leading media freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday accused Nobel-winning author Orhan Pamuk and other writers of legitimising repression in Sri Lanka by attending a literary festival there. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was “disturbing” that Sri Lanka should celebrate literature while suppressing freedom of expression […]

January 5, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday postponed council elections near three cricket World Cup venues as the nation seeks to put on a flawless show as co-hosts of the prestigious event. The Colombo Municipal Council will not go to the polls as scheduled in March while four other councils in the central […]

January 3, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Monday it was considering banning mini-skirts following complaints about women wearing skimpy clothing in the conservative island nation. Last year, US singer Akon was denied a visa to perform in Sri Lanka after Buddhist monks took offence at one of his videos that featured women in bikinis […]

January 1, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will hold its first nationwide local elections since the crushing of Tamil Tiger rebels, a minister said, with the mid-March vote seen as a key test for the ruling party. Political sources said the local election would be a key test of the government’s popularity as the country […]

Dec 31, 2010 (LBO) – The United States has given Sri Lanka 5.5 million US dollars worth of emergency food aid to support the return of refugees displaced by the ethnic war in the north, a statement said. USAID, the development agency of the US government, has provided over 75 million dollars (8. 32 billion […]