Category: Politics

Apr 29, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka issued a stamp commemorating Ho Chi Minh, a revolutionary communist leader that led the country to independence from the French who is reputed to have visited the island several times. He had also travelled to Britain the US in the early 1900s and lived and worked in those […]

Apr 26, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should improve rights of citizens while resisting an international inquiry planned into alleged war crimes by UN’s Human Rights Council and also strengthen relations with India, a political analyst said.“The international inquiry has to be resisted because it has no precedent,” Dayan Jayatillaka, former diplomat and political analyst, […]

Apr 20, 2014 (LBO) – Operating profits at Sri Lanka’s Ports Authority fell 53.4 percent to 2.4 billion rupees in 2013 with revenues also down 2.3 percent to 37.2 billion rupees, despite an increase in container volumes at Colombo, official data showed. Expenditure had increased 5.8 percent to 34.8 billion rupees. Containers handled in Colombo […]

Apr 18, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has sent condolences to South Korea over a ferry disaster which has killed an unknown number of persons.In a message to his counterpart President Park Geun-hye, President conveyed profound condolence on behalf of the people and government of Sri Lanka to Korea and the affected […]

COLOMBO, April 16, 2014 (AFP) – Four macaws belonging to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse have escaped his tightly-guarded official residence in Colombo, his office said Wednesday as it appealed for help to trace the colourful long-tailed birds.Macaws — a species of parrot — are not indigenous to Sri Lanka, but several pet stores import […]

OTTAWA, April 14, 2014 (AFP) – Canada’s government announced Monday the suspension of funding to the Commonwealth over rotating chair Sri Lanka’s alleged rights abuses.While Sri Lanka remains chair of the 53-member bloc, Canada’s Can$10 million (US$9 million) annual contribution to the Commonwealth Secretariat will instead go for two years toward combatting the practice of […]

COLOMBO, April 15, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Tuesday accused Canada of undermining the Commonwealth to score political points after it announced a suspension of funding while the island nation chairs the group.Colombo has denied the accusations, but the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution in March to set up an investigation into […]

COLOMBO, April 7, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday rejected calls for cooperation with a UN investigation into war crimes and vowed it will not subject itself to the jurisdiction of the world’s highest rights body.Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said Sri Lanka will not allow United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi […]

COLOMBO, April 4, 2014 (AFP) – India has asked Sri Lanka to grant limited autonomy to its ethnic Tamil minority and ensure “genuine reconciliation” five years after crushing Tamil guerrillas, New Delhi’s top envoy said Friday.Indian High Commissioner (ambassador) Y.K. Sinha said New Delhi had also urged Colombo to probe allegations that its troops killed […]

Apr 04, 2014 (LBO) – The US wants to see progress on human rights, rule of law and attacks on religious minorities and was for closer economic ties at this point, rather than economic sanctions, its envoy to Colombo said. She said on March 09, a pastor in a Church in Badulla district was assaulted […]