Category: Politics
‘ trust
June 7, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse urged Tamil leaders on Monday to trust him and help resolve outstanding problems following the country’s civil war, warning he would not bow to terrorism. Rajapakse told the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party, formerly a front for the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, that he was […]
Sri Lanka says could hang former army chief
June 7, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s top defence official has threatened to hang the country’s former army chief if he cooperates with any investigation into war crimes during the civil war that ended one year ago. Rajapakse repeated a promise by the president that the authorities would not allow any international investigation into the […]
Oberoi urges film world not to skip Sri Lanka Bollywood Oscars
June 1, 2010 (AFP) – Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi on Tuesday urged the Indian film fraternity to attend the annual awards festival in Sri Lanka despite protests from pro-Tamil rebel lobbies. “Come to Colombo. I don’t believe in boycotting the awards. Bollywood films are about building bridges, not putting up walls against people,” Oberoi told […]
Tamils protest as Bollywood goes to Sri Lanka
MUMBAI, June 1, 2010 (AFP) – Bollywood goes to Sri Lanka later this week for its glitzy annual awards ceremony, but the decision to hold the event in the capital Colombo has sparked a backlash from minority Tamils in India. The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), which has been held overseas every year since 2000, […]
Sri Lanka needs international probe: UN rights chief
GENEVA, May 31, 2010 (AFP) – The United Nations human rights chief maintained Monday that Sri Lanka needed an international probe into the government’s final offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels last year. Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that the Sri Lanka government had created a post-war reconciliation commission to look […]
” Clinton
WASHINGTON, May 28, 2010 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday the Sri Lankan postwar reconciliation panel “holds promise” as she pressed for it to have enough powers to pursue claims of wartime atrocities. “I think this commission holds promise and we hope and expect that it will fulfill that promise,” Clinton […]
Sri Lanka president rejects foreign war crimes probe
May 28, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse has rejected international calls for a war crimes probe into the final offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels last year. Sri Lanka has been under pressure to submit to an international investigation after the United Nations reported that at least 7,000 civilians perished in the final […]
Sri Lanka urges US to tackle business, not just human rights
WASHINGTON, May 26, 2010 (AFP) – New Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris on Tuesday urged Washington to seize business and other opportunities in post-war Sri Lanka rather than focus only on alleged human rights abuses there. Visiting Washington after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s party won parliamentary elections last month, Peiris parried criticism […]
Sri Lanka shuts rehab camp for rebel child soldiers
May 25, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Tuesday closed a camp holding former Tamil Tiger child soldiers, but 52 of the youths will stay in government care to complete their education, an official said. More than 500 child soldiers were picked up after security forces defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in a bloody final battle […]
US to increase non-immigrant visa fees
May 24, 2010 (LBO) – Application fees for US non-immigrant visas will increase on June 4, 2010, the US embassy in Colombo said in a statement. Application fees for the business (B1), tourist (B2), student (F), and exchange visitor (J) visas, those most often applied for by travelers, will have a “modest increase” to 140 […]
Rights group offers new evidence of Sri Lanka war crimes
May 21, 2010 (AFP) – A global human rights monitor said Friday it had fresh evidence of possible war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the final phase of the government’s war against Tamil Tiger rebels. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had examined over 200 photos taken on the front lines […]
Sri Lanka vows to prevent Tiger revival, one year after defeat
May 20, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka must strengthen its intelligence-gathering to stop Tamil Tiger rebels regrouping abroad a year after they were defeated, a top defence official said Thursday. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is President Mahinda Rajapakse’s younger brother, said Tiger sympathisers outside the country were trying to revive the Tamil separatist movement. […]