Category: Politics

HELSINKI, Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – Finland, Denmark and Sweden will pull out all their ceasefire monitors from Sri Lanka by the end of the month in response to a deadline set by rebels, officials said on Tuesday.In Helsinki the government said that the 10 monitors return home by Wednesday. Most of the Swedish observers […]

Aug 30 (LBO) – The media rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has voiced deep concern about the rapidly deteriorating media freedom in Sri Lanka.The statement came after the abduction of the news director of a Tamil language radio station in Colombo. Nadarajah Guruparan, the news director Sooriyan FM, a part of the ABC radio […]

Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – An abducted Sri Lankan radio journalist held overnight was freed Wednesday by unidentified men after appeals for his safe return. Nadaraja Guruparan, a member of the minority Tamil community, said he was forced out of his car Tuesday as he drove to his radio station, Surayan FM, but treated well […]

30, 2006 (AFP) – A battle between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels over a key eastern naval port continued Wednesday with sporadic artillery duels as both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy losses. Sri Lankan defence officials and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said shelling continued in a government offensive […]

Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops killed 17 French charity workers and waged a bombing campaign against Tamil rebels, truce monitors said Wednesday, amid fears the nation was headed for full-scale war.As of Thursday, the SLMM will have to carry out its duties with just 30 members instead of 57.The Swedish-led Sri Lanka […]

LONDON, Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka rejected as “outrageous” Wednesday a ruling by independent ceasefire monitors that government forces were responsible for the massacre of 17 employees of a French charity. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who was visiting London, told the BBC that the Swedish-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) had […]

Aug 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops facing heavy resistance halted an advance Tuesday into territory held by the rebel Tamil Tigers, as the death toll from recent fighting hit 119, officials and guerrillas said.More than 60,000 people have been killed in the Sri Lankan conflict.Political talks on ending the violence stalled in April […]

Aug 29, 2006 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan radio journalist was kidnapped near the capital Colombo on Tuesday, police said, prompting appeals by colleagues for his safe return.Nadaraja Guruparan, a member of the minority Tamil community, was forced out of his car by at least two people and taken away as he drove to his […]

Aug 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse left here Tuesday on a sudden visit to London for talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair, official sources said.Rajapakse and Blair were expected to discuss Sri Lanka’s collapsing ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels, officials here said. The trip comes amid international efforts to salvage the […]

Aug 28, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police said Monday they were hunting alleged fugitive executive Jacob “Kobi” Alexander after reports he fled fraud charges in the US for a fishing village hideaway in the island nation.Detectives were investigating a claimed sighting of the 54-year-old after he failed to appear in court in the United […]

Aug 28, 2006 (AFP) – At least four Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and 41 wounded as security forces launched a ground offensive Monday to push back guerrilla artillery threatening a strategic naval port, officials said.More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka’s drawn out Tamil separatist conflict and political talks on ending […]

Aug 27, 2006 (AFP) – The Red Cross ferried 150 foreign nationals to safety from the embattled Jaffna peninsula Sunday as the Sri Lankan military claimed fresh fighting left 12 Tamil Tiger rebels dead.Aid agencies complained they have been unable to reach many of the 200,000 who have fled fighting from across the island’s northeast […]