Category: Politics

Dec 7, 2006 (AFP) – At least seven civilians and two soldiers were killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka hours after the government announced tough anti-terror laws to battle Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said.Three civilians were killed and 10 students were wounded when Tamil Tiger rebels shelled a school in the northeastern district of […]

COLOMBO, Dec 6, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Wednesday invoked tough anti-terror laws targeting the Tamil Tigers, but said it was not banning the rebels and asked peacebroker Norway to help bring them back to the negotiating table. The new regulations declared by President Mahinda Rajapakse did not directly name the Tamil Tigers and left […]

COLOMBO, Dec 5, 2006 (AFP) – At least 19 people have been killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka as peace broker Norway cancelled a meeting with Tamil Tiger rebels, defence officials said Tuesday.Two soldiers and 15 guerrillas were killed in a confrontation in the eastern district of Batticaloa on Monday while 19 troopers were […]

Dec 05 (LBO) – Relief Agency the American Red Cross said Tuesday that it will give ten million dollars in cash grants to over 3000 Sri Lankan families to rebuild their homes destroyed in the tsunami two years ago. The tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004 extensively damaged or destroyed about 100,000 homes and […]

COLOMBO, Sept 6, 2006 (AFP) – A French charity Tuesday announced it is resuming its operations in Sri lankan, four months after 17 of its local employees were gunned down, allegedly by security forces. The Action Against Hunger (Action contre la Faim, or ACF) had in September reduced its number of staff by 60-70 percent […]

COLOMBO, Dec 3, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government asked peace broker Norway to suspend contacts with the Tamil Tiger rebels as it came under intense pressure Sunday to ban the guerrillas and end an Oslo-backed peace initiative. Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer was told that his planned visit to the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi […]

Dec 2, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police detained two people over an attempt to assassinate the president’s brother, officials said, as 11 people were killed in fresh fighting.The Police Criminal Investigations Department took into custody two men who owned the auto-rickshaw used in Friday’s suicide bombing targeting Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse’s heavily armed convoy […]

December 01, (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s defence secretary has escaped a suicide assassination bid, the centre for national security said.Lakshaman Hulugalle, head of the national centre for media told the state television that the convoy of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the brother of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse had been targetted. At least one security […]

December 31, (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the brother of the country’s president had escaped a suicide assassination attempt, officials said.The blast had killed at least one person and injured 14 others, police said.The convoy of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse had been targetted in the morning blast near the Citi Bank branch […]

COLOMBO, Dec 1, 2006 (AFP) – The brother of Sri Lanka’s president narrowly escaped Friday when a suspected Tamil rebel suicide bomber blew himself up in the heart of Colombo, killing at least one soldier, police said.In all, more than 60,000 people have been killed in the island’s separatist campaign since 1972. Updated Gotabaye Rajapakse, […]

Nov 30, 2006 (AFP) – Two soldiers and three policemen were killed Thursday when their pick-up truck was hit by a commuter train at an unprotected level crossing near the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, police said.Sri Lanka has stepped up security across the country after Tamil Tiger rebels announced Monday that they had no option […]

Nov 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s peace initiative was flawed from the start and the island now faces an immediate prospect of more violence, the International Crisis Group (ICG) warns.The conflict resolution experts note however in a new study received here Thursday that neither government forces nor the Tamil rebels appear able to defeat […]