Category: Politics

May 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has vowed tough action to stem a wave of killings following the latest Japanese bid to save faltering peace efforts, diplomats and government officials said Thursday.The Sri Lankan government assured Japan’s special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi that it will halt excesses and end the “culture of impunity,” a […]

May 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels sank two navy gunboats in separate incidents and were firing at a ferry transporting some 700 troops, a spokesman for the Scandinavian truce monitors told AFP.“They are now attacking Pearl Cruiser and are putting the lives of our monitors in danger,” Olafsdottir said, adding that […]

COLOMBO, May 10, 2006 (AFP) – A top Japanese envoy Wednesday warned that the international community cannot restore Sri Lanka’s faltering ceasefire and urged the government and Tamil rebels to decide for themselves on war or peace.Peace emissary Yasushi Akashi ended his four-day visit calling on both Colombo and the Tiger rebels to scale down […]

May 10, 2006 (AFP) – Investigators have yet to find any evidence that a woman suicide bomber who tried to assassinate Sri Lanka’s army chief was really pregnant as some local media reports had claimed, police said Wednesday.Logs at the army headquarters showed the bomber entered the military compound and staged the attack last month […]

May 9, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s parliament Tuesday extended by a further month the state of emergency it declared nine months ago despite protests by minority Tamil legislators.The parliament unanimously approved the extension, officials said. Legislators from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) protested the emergency and boycotted the debate on the tough laws. The […]

May 9, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops recovered Tuesday seven Claymore mines, guns and a large quantity of ammunition belonging to Tamil Tiger guerrillas, the defence ministry said.The mines weighing 70 kilos (154 pounds) were found in the northern Jaffna peninsula together with two automatic assault rifles, hand grenades and remote-controlled detonating devices, the […]

SAMPUR, Sri Lanka, May 9 (AFP) – A smiling Sri Lankan army soldier lifts a thin metal barrier and you head toward Tamil Tiger rebel territory.Troops from the two sides are surprisingly close, about the length of a football pitch, on this edgy ceasefire line in northeastern Sri Lanka. Violence between government and rebel forces […]

COLOMBO, May 9, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Tuesday sought foreign help to halt alleged military attacks against them and warned that the island could face “doom” if they decided to retaliate.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) appealed to Japanese envoy Yasushi Akashi to persuade the Sri Lankan government to […]