Category: Politics

July 8, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police have launched an investigation into the death of a man who was allegedly beaten up in prison after being falsely accused of a school bomb hoax, officials said Saturday.The death of the 55-year-old man, Sunil Perera, has sparked widespread public outrage in the tropical island nation. Police […]

MALLAVI, Sri Lanka, July 6, 2006 (AFP) – Former vegetable vendor Dharmaselan lost his leg and arm in an aerial bombing over strife-torn northern Sri Lanka several years ago.But he says government soldiers did not believe him when they began harassing him again earlier this year as violence escalated in the region. “The army kept […]

July 6, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s elusive Tamil Tiger supremo has paid tribute to 273 suicide bombers known as Black Tigers who have carried out devastating attacks in the past 19 years, the guerrillas said Thursday. Six photographs were released of Velupillai Prabhakaran, 51, meeting with his current band of suicide bombers and lighting […]

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, July 5, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels run a de facto state in this northern town, but face increasing isolation and deadly battles with the Sri Lankan government which they contend is preparing for war.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been stung by a ban slapped on them by […]

July 5, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a mine in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing a soldier, the defence ministry said.The victim was on a routine patrol along a main road in the district of Vavuniya when he was hit by a Claymore mine, defence ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said.The […]

Reporters Without Borders condemned the fourth murder of a media professional in Sri Lanka since the start of 2006 after freelance journalist Lakmal Silva, who specialised in defence questions was killed in a southern Colombo suburb.Reporters Without Borders voiced its fears on the subject, in June 2006, after pro-government media made threats against five Sri […]

July 5, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday marked “Black Tiger Day” to honour 261 suicide bombers, as security was stepped up across Sri Lanka amid fears of more bombings, witnesses and officials said.The already tight security in the capital Colombo was bolstered with the closure of several roads in front of key military […]

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, July 5, 2006 (AFP) – A tangle of fairy lights — reds, blues and greens — blink merrily around the photos of stern-faced Tamil Tiger cadre, staring grimly out into the world. These are the Tigers’ “martyrs”, young men and women, some of whom have blown themselves up, starved to death in […]

July 5, 2006 (AFP) – There is no military solution to Sri Lanka’s separatist conflict, outgoing US Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead said, as daily bloodshed has raised fears of renewed war.Lunstead, who is leaving the country after three years, also said in a statement released Wednesday that a solution to Sri Lanka’s civil strife would require […]

July 4, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka stepped up already tight security Tuesday as Tamil Tiger rebels prepared to celebrate “Black Tiger Day” honouring the 261 men and women who have staged suicide bombings, officials said.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) arranged Hindu religious services across the territory under their control to mark Wednesday’s […]

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, July 3, 2006 (AFP) – Truce monitors from Denmark, Finland and Sweden must quit Sri Lanka by September 1, a Tamil rebel leader said Monday, as fresh violence on the island nation left eight more dead.Monitors from the three Nordic and European Union member countries must leave as they cannot be considered […]

July 3, 2006 (AFP) – At least eight people were killed and dozens injured Monday in three mine attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern regions, the defence ministry said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) used a remote-controlled device to detonate a bomb hidden inside a three-wheel taxi […]