Category: Politics
Tamil Tigers decimated, Sri Lanka president to give victory speech
May 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse is to deliver a victory speech to parliament Tuesday following the bloody defeat of the Tamil Tigers and their decades-old war for an independent ethnic homeland. Government commandos on Monday stormed into the last tiny patch of jungle held by the guerrillas, killing Tamil Tiger […]
Sri Lanka detains war zone doctors
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has detained four doctors who worked inside Tamil Tiger territory, treating wounded civilians and providing reports on heavy civilian casualties that contradicted government accounts, an official said Monday.Doctors Thurairaja Varatharajah, Thangamuttu Sathyamurthi and V.Shanmugarajah were arrested when they crossed over to government territory on Sunday. Another doctor and […]
Sri Lankan student in coma after Australia acid attack
SYDNEY, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan student in Sydney had acid thrown in his face and was in an induced coma after a home invasion early Monday sparked by the conflict in his troubled homeland, police said.Police appealed for calm among the Sinhalese and Tamil communities in Australia’s largest city following the […]
‘s son, three top leaders killed: military
May 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Army special forces soldiers have found a body suspected to be of Charles Anthony, the elder son of Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran Monday morning, the defence ministry said in a statement. The body was found in the Karayamullavaikkal area, on a small coastal strip in the island’s […]
”
NEW DELHI, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – India asked Sri Lanka on Monday to “address the root causes of the conflict” with ethnic Tamils and to provide aid to tens of thousands of civilians displaced in the last months of the war. India is home to millions of Tamils in the southern state of Tamil […]
‘s death
NEW DELHI, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – India is to ask Sri Lanka for scientific confirmation of the death of the Tamil Tigers leader so it can close a case connected to the murder of former premier Rajiv Gandhi, police said Monday. Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, his intelligence chief Pottu Amman and rebel women’s […]
”: former mediator
OSLO, May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Peace is far from being won in Sri Lanka, despite the government’s claims to have scored a crushing military victory against Tamil Tiger rebels, the former negotiator in the conflict said Sunday. “Peace is long from being won,” said Minister of Environment and International Development Erik Solheim. “The Sri […]
Sri Lanka military says Tamil Tiger leader alive, surrounded
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – The leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels is alive but totally surrounded by government troops in a small jungle area, a military spokesman said Monday. Military sources said about 200 Tiger fighters were believed killed on Monday, but the military has not yet released photographs of the bodies.Brigadier Udaya […]
Tamil Tiger leader killed by Sri Lanka troops
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – The leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was shot dead Monday while trying to flee advancing troops, defence officials told AFP.Prabhakaran was in a small convoy of a van and ambulance along with several close aides which tried to drive out of the battle zone, but was attacked […]
Tamil Tiger deputies dead, island under govt control: military
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Monday killed the two deputies of the leader of the Tamil Tigers, the military said, declaring the entire island to be under government control for the first time in decades.“The Tigers had only an area of 100 metres by 100 metres, and that has now been […]
All combat over, Tiger rebels defeated: Sri Lanka army chief
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief announced Monday that all combat operations against the Tamil Tigers have ended with the last rebels defeated and all territory captured. “Now the entire country is declared rid of terrorism and over 250 dead bodies of terrorists are scattered over the last ditch,” he said. “All […]
EU calls for independent enquiry into Sri Lanka conflict
BRUSSELS, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – The European Union on Monday called for an independent enquiry into alleged human rights violations during the conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka.EU foreign ministers, in an agreed statement, said the European Union was “appalled by the loss of innocent civilian lives as […]