Category: Politics

Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels who seized 22 teenagers in eastern Sri Lanka freed 15 girls but were holding seven boys for military training, local officials said Wednesday.The Sri Lankan government was also recently accused by the United Nations of colluding with the Karuna group to forcibly recruit child fighters, a charge […]

COLOMBO, Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels attacked an army camp in northwestern Sri Lanka, killing a soldier, the defence ministry said Wednesday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) raided an army camp in northwestern Mannar district on Tuesday night, the ministry said in a statement. The military retaliated, but it was […]

Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed inside rebel-held territory Wednesday as the militants mourned the death of their top peace negotiator Anton Balasingham, the guerrillas said in a statement. Israeli-built Kfir jets hit a civilian settlement in the district of Mullaitivu, but there were no casualties, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil […]

COLOMBO, Dec 19, 2006 (AFP) – At least three Tamil rebels were killed in a skirmish between rival factions in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, police said. Members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the breakaway “Karuna” group clashed in Vavuniya district. “Three people have been killed and we are trying to […]

COLOMBO, Dec 19, 2006 (AFP) – Floods have displaced at least 40,000 people in Sri Lanka as the country prepares to commemorate the second anniversary of the Asian tsunami disaster, an official said Tuesday. The districts of Hambantota and Ampara, two of the worst hit by the December 2004 tsunami, were under water, sadi National […]

Dec 19, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil guerrillas seized 23 students and two teachers and took them to a military training facility in eastern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Tuesday. The teenagers, who were attending a night tuition class in Ampara district were taken on Monday to a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) training […]

COLOMBO, Dec 19, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels kidnapped 23 teenagers and two of their teachers in eastern Sri Lanka, but later freed them and suspended the militants involved, the guerrillas said Tuesday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said members of their eastern units had taken the children away on Monday night […]

Dec 18, 2006 (AFP) – More than 2,200 more civilians have fled rebel-held territory in eastern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Monday amid fears of renewed fighting in the area.The LTTE is fighting for independence for the island’s minority 2.5 million Tamil community. The conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.The civilians […]

WASHINGTON, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – US President George W.Bush has freed 5.215 million dollars in aid to help cope with refugee flows resulting from conflicts in Somalia and Sri Lanka, the White House announced Friday. Bush directed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a memorandum dated Thursday to make the money available “for […]

COLOMBO, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – The senior negotiator for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels, who vociferously pleaded their cause around the world but never took up arms, has died of cancer in London, a close associate told AFP. “It is an unfortunate personal tragedy,” he said, but conceded that “when compared to the vast […]

COLOMBO, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger leader conferred Friday the rebels’ highest honour on his chief peace negotiator who died of cancer, saying it was an irreplaceable loss. Velupillai Prabhakaran, 52, said the death in London on Thursday came at a time when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) needed […]

COLOMBO, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s moribund peace process suffered another setback with the death of the top Tamil Tiger negotiator who was regarded as a moderate among hardliners, analysts said Friday. Anton Balasingham, 68, who had spearheaded the peace efforts of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), died of bile duct […]