Category: Politics

OSLO, June 15, 2006 (AFP) – The main mediator in the conflict in Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim of Norway, on Thursday harshly condemned a powerful landmine attack in Sri Lanka that killed 64 people on a packed bus and which the Colombo government blamed on rebels.“This is the most horrific act that has been (carried […]

KEBITIGOLLEWA, Sri Lanka, June 15, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels blew up a packed bus Thursday, killing 64 passengers, including 15 children, in the deadliest attack on civilians in Sri Lanka for 10 years, the military said.Sri Lanka’s key foreign backers condemned the bombing and blamed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]

KEBITIGOLLEWA, Sri Lanka, June 15, 2006 (AFP) – The crowded bus was ferrying mothers and children to a free medical clinic in central Sri Lanka, but many ended up in a make-shift morgue after a landmine blast by suspected Tamil rebels.The yellow and green bus, meant to carry only 60 passengers, was already loaded with […]

OSLO, June 15, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday said Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran should be tried for war crimes, Norwegian news agency NTB reported. “There is a great obstacle to peace in Sri Lanka, and it’s not the (rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) LTTE, it’s the […]

June 14, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tigers clashed with Sri Lankan soldiers who were laying mines deep within rebel territory, killing at least one trooper but losing two of their own, a pro-rebel website said Wednesday. A unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday confronted the military personnel who had infiltrated guerrilla-held […]

June 13, 2006 (AFP) – Traffic was held up along a highway in Sri Lanka’s main city of Colombo Tuesday following a bomb hoax, police said. An anonymous caller had warned of a bomb at a state bank building in the city but a search turned up nothing, a police official here said. Last month, […]

June 12, 2006 (AFP) – One soldier was killed and five civilians wounded Monday in two mine blasts in northern Sri Lanka as troops exchanged fire with Tamil Tiger rebels, the military said.More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka’s drawn out Tamil separatist conflict in the past three decades.The soldier was killed […]

June 12, 2006 (AFP) – Air Vice Marshal Roshan Goonetileke took command of Sri Lanka’s air force Monday, 25 years after his father retired from the post.Goonetileke, 50, inspected an honour guard before being handed the command at a ceremony in Colombo. Among those attending was Goonetileke’s father, retired air vice marshal Harry Goonetileke, 76, […]

OSLO, June 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Monday accused the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of intransigence after the recent breakdown in talks between the two sides.The rebels on Thursday aborted a two-day meeting in Oslo with Colombo representatives arranged by Norway to discuss the safety of […]

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 […]