Category: Politics
Sri Lanka grilling new Tiger leader: reports
August 7, 2009 (AFP) – The new head of the defeated Tamil Tiger separatist group was being interrogated in Sri Lanka Thursday, having been flown here following his capture in Thailand, reports said. Selvarasa Pathmanathan, better known as K.P., was brought back to Sri Lanka on Thursday and was being questioned at an undisclosed location, […]
Sri Lanka slammed by media watchdog over polls media blackout
August 6, 2009 (AFP) – Global press freedom group Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage Thursday over Sri Lanka’s ban on independent media covering local polls just outside the island’s former war zone.The government claimed victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels in May after killing the top leadership of the separatist movement which had been fighting […]
Sri Lanka arrests 32 migrants heading for New Zealand
August 6, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police arrested 32 men who were illegally trying to leave for New Zealand by boat, an official said Thursday.The men were taken into custody late Wednesday on the island’s western coast of Seeduwa from where they planned to set off for New Zealand in a fishing trawler, senior […]
‘ deaths
August 4, 2009 (AFP) – The New York-based group Human Rights Watch on Tuesday pressed for an international probe into the killings in Sri Lanka of 17 local employees of a French charity three years ago.HRW marked the anniversary of the execution-style murders of the Action Against Hunger (ACF) workers in Sri Lanka’s northeastern town […]
Sri Lanka film in Venice festival line-up
July 30, 2009 (LBO) – “Ahasin Wetei” (Between two worlds), a film by Sri Lankan film maker Vimukthi Jayasundara will be among those competing for the Golden Lion award at this year’s Venice film festival, AFP quoted organisers as saying Thursday.Among the competitors is Michael Moore’s film on the financial crisis and the directorial debut […]
Sri Lanka govt plans training for former combatants
July 30, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to offer education and vocational training for about 20,000 former Tamil Tiger rebels, including child soldiers and operatives trained as suicide bombers, an official said Thursday.Nearly 300,000 people who were displaced by the ethnic conflict are still held in camps under military guard. The government insists that […]
” over Sri Lankan camps: envoy
July 27, 2009 (AFP) – The United States was “deeply concerned” that tens of thousands of displaced people were still locked inside camps two months after Sri Lanka’s decades-long ethnic war had ended, a US envoy said Monday.Around 300,000 people displaced during the final stages of the war continue to live in temporary shelters run […]
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GENEVA, July 23, 2009 (AFP) – Fifty-nine journalists have been killed around the world so far this year, in an alarming rise from 2008 that has become a “bloodbath” of the media, a watchdog said Thursday. Abdel Nabi said the UN Human Rights Council was “impotent” in protecting journalists. The PEC expressed concern about election […]
Sri Lanka IMF loan slammed by rights body
July 23, 2009 (AFP) – Human rights campaigners on Thursday described a 2.5 billion dollar loan to Sri Lanka by the International Monetary Fund as “a reward for bad behavior”.Human Rights Watch said the IMF should have set conditions on the loan, including demands that the Sri Lankan government help re-settle nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians […]
ICRC cuts back Sri Lanka operations after government order
July 20, 2009 (AFP) – The Red Cross on Monday announced the closure of four offices in Sri Lanka following a government order to foreign aid agencies to scale down operations.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its four offices in the embattled eastern province were closed at the weekend. “The ICRC reaffirms […]
Sri Lanka troops find Tiger submarine: military
July 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have recovered a submarine-type craft built by Tamil Tiger guerrillas in an area where they fought their final battle two months ago, the military said Sunday.The craft was found on Saturday submerged about 500 metres (yards) off the coast of Vellamullivaikal in the district of Mullaittivu, the […]
Sri Lanka navy seeks to expand fleet
July 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new navy commander said he wants to expand the fleet and increase troop strength to better protect the island from maritime threats and ensure the Tamil Tiger insurgency does not recur.Thisara Samarasinghe said that although the Tigers were defeated in May, winning the war did not mean the […]