Category:
Desperation greets refugees in Sri Lanka camps
KANTALAI, Sri Lanka, Aug 6, 2006 (AFP) – B.M. Aliar stared helplessly at a mob of hungry refugees jostling for handouts as the first supplies trickled into a relief shelter on the edge of Sri Lanka’s strife-torn northeast. Aliar, a 50-year-old labourer, is among an estimated 20,000 Muslims who fled the town of Muttur near […]
Sri Lanka bloodbath over water ends as Norway clinches peace deal
Aug 6, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Sunday rejected peace broker Norway’s deal with Tamil Tiger rebels to lift a water blockade at the root of the latest bloodshed that has claimed over 425 lives by official count.Troops began shelling suspected Tiger positions around Maavilaru in the northeastern district of Trincomalee where the guerrillas blocked […]
Sri Lanka rebels say deal reached on water
Aug 6, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels said Sunday they had agreed to lift a water blockade behind weeks of fighting that has killed hundreds, but warned new strikes by the Sri Lankan military would lead to full-scale war. A Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman said the group had told peace-broker Norway […]
Sri Lanka rebels warn full-scale war if strikes resume
Aug 6, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels who agreed to end a bitter water dispute Sunday warned peace broker Norway that they would resort to full-scale war if Sri Lanka resumes air strikes, a spokesman told AFP.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) told Oslo’s top envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer that they were lifting a […]
Sri Lanka says Tigers killed 100 civilians as fighting subsides
Aug 5, 2006 (AFP) – Tiger rebels massacred at least 100 refugees in Sri Lanka, raising to 426 the number of people killed in 11 days of violence, the defence ministry said Saturday, amid fresh moves to end the bloodshed.The ministry said rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blocked civilians, mainly Muslims, fleeing the […]
700 Filipinos and Sri Lankans evacuated from Lebanon
DAMASCUS, Aug 5, 2006 (AFP) – More than 700 Filipinos and Sri Lankans were evacuated from Lebanon Saturday after being trapped when Israeli air raids destroyed the road they were hoping to take into Syria, officials said.“We have evacuated 761 people from Sri Lanka and the Philippines aboard 22 buses, which made it to (the […]
Norway bids to save Sri Lanka from war, toll hits 326
Aug 5, 2006 (AFP) – Peacebroker Norway headed for crucial talks with Tamil Tiger rebels Saturday in a bid to stop bloody fighting that has claimed 326 lives by official count and displaced thousands. Oslo’s special envoy, Jon Hanssen-Bauer, travelled to the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi for what diplomats said were desperate talks to save […]
Tighter security for Sri Lanka refugees after massacre report
KANTALAI, Sri Lanka, Aug 5, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops tightened security Saturday in the island’s northeast for 20,000 Muslim refugee families fleeing fighting after the government said at least 100 Muslim men were killed by Tiger rebels.Half of the men, women and children refugees were housed in schools and other buildings while the […]
Sri Lanka says 152 Tiger rebels killed in clashes
Aug 5, 2006 (AFP) – At least 152 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in northeastern Sri Lanka as security forces established full control over a Muslim coastal town, the defence ministry said Saturday. Troops using artillery and air attacks inflicted the losses on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Friday afternoon in and […]
Sri Lanka’s Jan-June trade deficit widens sharply on oil
August 4, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade deficit expanded 48.0 percent to 1,793 million dollars for the six months to June, compared with the same period 2005, the central bank said Friday, as the island spent more to import fuel. From January-June, the island imported 4,955 million dollars worth of goods, up 20.3 percent […]
Singer (Sri Lanka) Ltd takes up an extra Rs. 200 mn in debt
August 4, 2006 (LBO) – Singer (Sri Lanka) Ltd has opted to accept up to 800 million rupees in debt after its initial 600 million rupee debenture issue was oversubscribed. Fitch Ratings Lanka, which gave the initial four-year issue a A+(lka) rating said Friday that they were extending the same scale to the extra 200 […]
Recovery Time
August 04, 2006 (LBO) – Feeder vessels operating in Colombo said they would remove a cost recovery surcharge imposed on ships calling on the island, from August 10. Following a recent strike at the Colombo port that crippled work for eleven days, feeder vessels slapped a 40 dollar levy per Twenty foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) […]