Category: Politics
Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers attack as govt holds key local polls
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, May 10, 2008 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels sank a naval cargo ship moored in the northeast of Sri Lanka on Saturday, in an attack coinciding with key provincial elections in the east of the island.The guerrillas said their Sea Tiger commandos managed to infiltrate the tightly-guarded port of Trincomalee in the […]
Sri Lanka Navy supply ship sunk by Tamil Tigers
May 10, 2008 (LBO) – Tamil Tiger guerillas have sunk a Sri Lanka Navy supply ship in the Northeastern Trincomalee port, in the early hours of Saturday, the military said. The defence ministry said an underwater explosion at 2.15 am had damaged the auxiliary vessel A-520 when it was moored at the Ashroff jetty. The […]
‘s east coast holds key polls
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, May 9, 2008 (AFP) – A heavy security blanket was thrown over eastern Sri Lanka ahead of Saturday’s local polls, seen as a key test for the hawkish government as it escalates the war against Tamil rebels. President Mahinda Rajapakse is hoping the east’s first provincial council elections in 20 years will […]
”Karuna released into immigration detention
May 9, 2008 (AFP) – A former leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebel splinter group, jailed in Britain since January, has been released and transferred to an immigration detention centre, officials said Friday.Vinayagmoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Colonel Karuna, was released Thursday following his imprisonment for possessing false documents, the British High Commission (embassy) […]
Sri Lankan troops capture key rebel town: defence ministry
May 9, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government forces captured Friday a key guerrilla town in the north of the island killing 15 Tamil rebels, the defence ministry said. Two soldiers also died in the fierce fighting as government troops took Adampan town in Mannar district, the ministry said. There was no immediate comment from […]
Sri Lanka attack helicopters support army offensive
May 9, 2008 (AFP) – Helicopter gunships provided air cover Friday for ground troops advancing into rebel areas of northern Sri Lanka where at least 30 rebel guerrillas were killed, the defence ministry said.Airforce Mi-24 helicopters flew support as soldiers moved on Alankulam, in Mannar district, killing 15 rebels and injuring 20, a ministry statement […]
Thai police seize nearly 21,000 fake passports
BANGKOK, May 9, 2008 (AFP) – Thai police Friday seized nearly 21,000 fake passports and arrested 12 people in what they described as their biggest-ever bust of a counterfeiting ring, a senior official said.Most of the 20,904 documents seized were fake passports that not yet been completed, Lieutenant General Chatchawal Suksomjit, commander of Immigration police […]
Sri Lanka bomb kills eight in east: military
May 9, 2008 (AFP) – At least eight people were killed and many more wounded when a powerful bomb exploded late Friday in eastern Sri Lanka a day before local elections in the area, military spokesman said.The blast occurred inside a crowded cafe in Amapara town, a defence ministry statement said, adding that the target […]
Iraq, Sri Lanka, Pakistan on journo killer list: rights body
VIENNA, May 8, 2008 (AFP) – Ninety-three journalists were killed in 2007, almost half of them in Iraq, the International Press Institute media watchdog said in its annual press freedom review published Thursday.The figure was the second highest in a decade after 2006, which saw 100 journalists’ deaths, according to IPI figures. Forty-two journalists died […]
Britain charges four with helping Sri Lanka Tigers
LONDON, May 8, 2008 (AFP) – British police have charged four men with conspiring to support Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels, Scotland Yard said Thursday. The four were arrested under anti-terror laws and are accused of owning computers, radio equipment and high-power magnets for terrorist purposes. They were to appear in court in London later […]
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, unfit for Human Rights Council: rights bodies
UNITED NATIONS , May 6, 2008 (AFP) – Gabon, Bahrain, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zambia do not deserve a seat on the Human Rights Council, the United Nations’ top rights body, two non-governmental organizations said Tuesday.In a joint report, UN Watch and Freedom House, which champion human rights worldwide, lamented that Gabon and Zambia were […]
Sri Lanka plans medical help to Myanmar
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to send a team of medical doctors and nurses to Myanmar, the foreign ministry said. Media reports said around 22,000 people are believed to have been killed by a cyclone that raged through the country last week. The government was also making a donation of 25,000 […]