Category: Politics
” for Australian ship to stay
JAKARTA, November 11, 2009 (AFP) – Indonesia has “no problems” with extending permission for an Australian customs ship loaded with 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to stay in the country, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.Indonesia will look at any request by Australia to extend the stay of the Oceanic Viking, which is anchored off Bintan […]
Myanmar dissidents condemn S.Lanka over junta visit
November 11, 2009 (AFP) – Dissident Myanmar monks living in Colombo on Wednesday criticised the Sri Lankan government for inviting junta leader General Than Shwe for a state visit. The monks said Sri Lanka’s increasingly close relations with Myanmar’s military regime would further raise international concern over the island’s human rights record. They said President […]
Sri Lanka vows to help Australia on illegal migrants
November 9, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka pledged in talks with Australia Monday to step up intelligence sharing and arrest people traffickers, President Mahinda Rajapakse’s office said.Seventy-eight Sri Lankans were rescued from a sinking boat in Indonesian waters last month.They have insisted on remaining on the Australian customs ship that picked them up, refusing to […]
‘s stay
JAKARTA, November 6, 2009 (AFP) – Indonesia extended by a week on Friday a deadline for an Australian customs ship loaded with 78 protesting Sri Lankan asylum seekers to leave its territory.The extension would allow the Oceanic Viking, which has been moored on Bintan island since last month, to stay while a solution is found […]
90,000 displaced in Sri Lanka conflict return home: UN
GENEVA, November 6, 2009 (AFP) – About a third of those displaced during the conflict between Sri Lanka government and the Tamil Tigers have returned home over the past three months, the UN refugee agency said Friday.“Some 90,000 internally displaced people have returned to their villages in Sri Lanka’s north and east over the past […]
Sri Lanka boat people leader a known trafficker: Colombo
November 6, 2009 (AFP) – The leader of a boat of Sri Lankan asylum seekers held in Indonesia is a known people smuggler previously deported from Canada, the government said Friday, a charge he has strongly denied.Alex, who emerged as the spokesman for the 255 Sri Lankans whose boat was detained last month en route […]
US House of representatives pressures Sri Lanka on refugee camps
WASHINGTON, November 4, 2009 (AFP) – The US House of Representatives urged Sri Lanka’s government Wednesday to guarantee the safety and quick release of some 300,000 Tamils and other war-displaced people currently held in camps.By an overwhelming 421-1 vote, lawmakers approved a non-binding resolution that calls on the authorities in Colombo to help the populations […]
Sri Lanka president announces wage hike for troops
November 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has announced an immediate salary increase for all members of the country’s armed forces amid plans to boost the strength of the security services.President Mahinda Rajapakse granted the unspecified salary increase during a visit Wednesday to the island’s northern regions, which were recently wrested from Tamil rebel […]
Sri Lanka military chief skips US war crimes quiz: MP
November 4, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military commander left the United States ahead of possible questioning over alleged war crimes committed during the defeat of the island’s Tamil rebels, a legislator said Wednesday.General Sarath Fonseka headed back to Sri Lanka without facing questioning by the Department of Homeland Security later in the day, Samantha […]
US tightlipped on Sri Lanka army chief
WASHINGTON, November 2, 2009 (AFP) – The United States was tightlipped Monday about Sri Lanka’s visiting top military commander, after the island said US authorities planned to grill him over alleged war crimes.Sri Lanka summoned the US ambassador to demand the Department of Homeland Security drop with what the island’s government said were plans to […]
Singaporean faces US trial over Tamil Tigers arms case
SINGAPORE, November 3, 2009 (AFP) – A Singaporean opposition party member will be extradited to the United States and tried for allegedly trying to supply arms to Sri Lanka’s defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, officials here said Tuesday.Businessman Balldev Naidu, 47, is facing six charges including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation […]
‘s opposition unites to face snap polls
November 3, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition on Tuesday formed an alliance with minority Tamil and Muslim parties and a breakaway faction of the ruling coalition to contest possible snap elections.The next presidential poll, which was due by November 2011, will now be held before April 2010, according to the government. Opposition leader […]