Category: Politics

June 11, 2006 (AFP) – At least five people were shot dead in Sri Lanka’s restive northeast port district of Trincomalee and the main city of Colombo at the weekend, military officials said Sunday.In the northeast, two wood-cutters were shot dead at Manirasakulam while two people, including a student, were gunned down in nearby Muttur […]

June 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Sunday accused international rights watchdogs of remaining silent over the killings of 24 children allegedly by government forces. More than 680 people have died over the past six months despite a four-year truce between government forces and the LTTE in an ethnic conflict that has […]

June 11, 2006 (AFP) – Hopes for peace in Sri Lanka have all but vanished after peace broker Norway’s failure to bring the opposing parties to the table, diplomats say.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) refused to negotiate with Sri Lanka’s government last week after travelling to Oslo. Diplomatic sources say Norway is now […]

STOCKHOLM, June 10, 2006 (AFP) – Norway said Saturday it would continue to act as peace broker between Sri Lanka and Tamil Tiger rebels despite the recent breakdown in talks between the two sides, which had thrown its role into doubt. The rebels on Thursday aborted a two-day meeting in Oslo with Colombo representatives arranged […]

OSLO, June 8, 2006 (AFP) – Norway on Thursday officially declared talks between Sri Lanka and Tamil Tigers to improve the security of foreign ceasefire observers a failure, blaming the rebels for the breakdown.The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lankan representatives were to hold direct talks for the first time since […]

June 9, 2006 (AFP) – Norway was reconsidering its peacebroker role Friday as Tiger rebels aborted talks and demanded the removal of ceasefire monitors from European Union member states.On Thursday, at least 19 people were reported killed across the troubled northern and eastern regions, pushing the death toll since December to more than 680. The […]

OSLO, June 9, 2006 (AFP) – Norway on Friday blamed the European Union for contributing to a breakdown in talks between Sri Lanka and Tamil Tigers which has thrown the question of further Norwegian mediation wide open.The rebels on Thursday aborted a two-day meeting in Oslo with Colombo representatives arranged by Norway to discuss the […]

June 9, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government, under pressure for allegedly backing a breakaway Tamil rebel faction, on Friday accused Scandinavian truce monitors of partiality and said they lacked professionalism.The government in a four-page statement lambasted the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and also accused its chief, Swedish army Major General Ulf Henricsson, of […]

LONDON, June 8, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is looking to Pakistan for help to bolster its military capabilities as the ceasefire between the government and rebels appears increasingly fragile, specialist publication Jane’s Defence Weekly said Thursday. Sri Lanka has asked Pakistan to facilitate the purchase of military equipment worth around 60 million dollars (47 […]

OSLO, June 8, 2006 (AFP) – Norwegian officials meeting Sri Lanka government representatives and Tamil Tigers rebels said on Thursday the talks broke down when they failed to orchestrate a face-to-face encounter between the two sides.Peacebroker Norway called the two-day talks amid fears for the safety of the 60-member Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which […]