Category: Politics
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 […]
‘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) […]
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 […]
British police arrest fourth Sri Lanka Tiger activist
LONDON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – British police said they arrested a man under anti-terror laws Tuesday as part of their long-running probe into the Tamil Tiger guerrillas in Sri Lanka. The 51-year-old was arrested in the Swindon area of south-west England under the Terrorism Act and is in custody. Three others are being held […]
‘s defence chief urges censorship
COLOMBO, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main media rights group on Monday voiced alarm after the island’s hawkish defence chief reportedly branded some journalists “traitors” and called for sweeping censorship. The Free Media Movement said Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who has long demanded strict controls on how news organisations are allowed to cover the war […]
Sri Lanka clashes claim 19: military
May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Heavy fighting in northern Sri Lanka killed at least 18 Tiger rebels and one soldier, the defence ministry said Sunday.Government troops battled the rebels in the Mannar district on Saturday and claimed to have killed 18 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres and wounded 10 guerrillas, the statement said. […]
Sri Lanka clashes claim 43: military
May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka bombed a rebel storage facility on Sunday, while heavy fighting in the island’s north claimed the lives of at least 35 Tiger rebels and eight soldiers, the defence ministry said.Air force fighter jets dropped bombs over a rebel supply and storage facility in the guerrilla-controlled northern district of […]
Sri Lanka media watchdog slams govt, Tamil Tigers
May 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement (FMM) has said media freedom in the island remains under threat by both parties to the internal conflict, the government and the Tamil Tigers. In a World Press freedom day statement, the media watchdog urged an immediately halt to all threats, harassment, abductions and attacks […]