Category: Politics

LONDON, April 7, 2009 (AFP) – British police moved in Tuesday to end an overnight protest by Tamils over alleged rights abuses in Sri Lanka, triggering brief scuffles, an AFP reporter said. Four lifeboats were scrambled after some of the protestors reportedly threatened to throw themselves into the nearby River Thames. One person did enter […]

March 18, 2009 (AFP) – A media rights group on Wednesday urged the United Nations to intervene on behalf of two Sri Lankan journalists being held on charges related to the war against the separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said J.S. Tissainayagam has been held under an anti-terrorism law for […]

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2009 (AFP) – A rights group on Friday urged Sri Lanka to thoroughly investigate recent attacks against the media, saying it was disappointed with the government’s stance.Board members of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) met in Washington on Thursday with the Sri Lankan ambassador, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, to lodge their […]

OTTAWA, March 5, 2009 (AFP) – The 37-year conflict raging in Sri Lanka was borne out of “repressive” governments in Colombo, Canadian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said Thursday.“I am sure all Canadians share the government’s revulsion at the continuing humanitarian catastrophe in Sri Lanka, a civil conflict born of a succession of repressive […]

WASHINGTON, February 25, 2009 (AFP) – Human rights are on the decline in Sri Lanka with the government and Tamil Tiger rebels both committing violations as the three-decade war intensifies, the US State Department said Wednesday. In an annual global report, the State Department also said that media freedom was deteriorating on the island with […]

February 26, 2009 (AFP) – A Tamil newspaper editor was arrested in Sri Lanka’s capital Thursday, police said, after colleagues and family members complained that he had been abducted while attending a funeral.Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Ranjith Gunasekara said N. Vidyatharan was taken in for questioning by the police crime division in connection with activities […]

UNITED NATIONS, February 18, 2009 (AFP) – UN humanitarian chief John Holmes is to pay a three-day visit to strife-torn Sri Lanka later this week to review the humanitarian situation, the world body said Wednesday. During his previous visit to Sri Lanka in August 2007, Holmes described the island as one of the world’s most […]

February 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops face another 18 months of fighting even after they have all Tamil Tiger territory under their control, a former rebel has warned.The man known as “Colonel Karuna,” who led an unprecedented split in the movement in 2004, says the Tigers will revert to guerrilla warfare after they […]

NEW DELHI, February 18, 2009 (AFP) – India said Wednesday it was ready to help evacuate tens of thousands of Tamil civilians caught in the crossfire between Sri Lankan troops and Tiger rebels in the northeast of the island.Indian troops, sent in by ex-Congress premier Rajiv Gandhi to enforce a peace deal on the island, […]

LONDON, February 16, 2009 (AFP) – British police have charged a man with arson and affray after he reportedly tried to set himself on fire outside Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Downing Street offices, they said Sunday. Sivsubarmazam Loges-Waran, 41, of Gloucestershire in western England, is due in court on Monday “charged with arson with intent […]

February 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party headed for a landslide victory in local elections seen as a referendum on the government’s military campaign against Tamil rebels, official results showed Sunday. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s Freedom Alliance won 36 seats out of 58 in the Central Provincial council. The alliance also had collected nearly […]

LONDON, February 13, 2009 (AFP) – Former colonial power Britain fought off Friday angry objections from Sri Lanka over London’s appointment of a special envoy to address the humanitarian needs of the war-torn country. Britain’s Foreign Office said Thursday’s appointment of former defence secretary Des Browne was not made unilaterally and insisted discussions with the […]