Tag: lankabusinessonline
Sri Lanka says 60 killed in heavy weekend battles
March 9, 2008 (AFP) – At least 56 Tamil Tiger rebels and four government troops have been killed in heavy fighting across Sri Lanka’s embattled north over the weekend, the defence ministry said Sunday. Helicopter gunships were deployed against suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) strongholds in the coastal district of Mannar on Saturday, […]
Sri Lanka Tamil journalist arrested: rights group
March 7, 2008 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan Tamil columnist was detained by police Friday while the authorities were also trying to arrest another media activist, a rights group said.J. S. Tissanayagam, columnist of the Sunday Times newspaper here, was taken in for questioning by police Friday after the arrest of two more journalists on […]
Sri Lanka roadside blast kills soldier: police
March 8, 2008 (AFP) – At least one soldier was killed and two others critically wounded in southern Sri Lanka Saturday when their vehicle was hit by a roadside blast, police said.The victims were being transported to hospital in the Moneragala district where several similar attacks have been reported in recent weeks, police said. There […]
Sri Lanka says 47 combatants killed in fresh fighting
COLOMBO, March 7, 2008 (AFP) – At least 42 Tiger rebels and five government troops were killed in fresh fighting across Sri Lanka’s embattled north, where a lawmaker was also killed in a blast, the defence ministry said on Friday.Sri Lanka has in the past accused international diplomats raising rights concerns as “terrorists” and supporters […]
Fuel Pricing
March 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned petroleum utility aims to hold retail fuel prices at current levels for the time being despite crude oil prices hitting record highs, its chairman Ashantha de Mel said. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is hoping income from oil futures hedging and its refinery resuming production after a shut […]
Grease Pal
March 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is looking for a joint venture partner to start a lubricant retailing business, a senior government minister said. Information minister Anura Yapa said the ministry of petroleum has told Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers that lubricants would be sold under the brand Ceypetco. […]
Sri Lanka troops enter northeastern township: military
Mar 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan troops have captured a Tamil Tiger held town in the northwestern Mannar area of the island as part of a bid to cut off a supply route to the guerilla stronghold from the coast, the military said. Parappakandal, around 20 kilometres to the east of Mannar town, is […]
Roadside bomb kills Sri Lankan Tamil MP: party
March 6, 2008 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan Tamil lawmaker and his driver were killed Thursday in a roadside bomb attack that his party and Tamil Tiger rebels said was carried out by government forces. The vehicle of K. Sivanesan, a member of parliament for the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance (TNA), was hit by a […]
Sri Lanka says war losses higher
March 5, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Wednesday that 100 of its soldiers were killed and a further 800 wounded fighting the Tamil Tigers last month, showing the escalating conflict is bloodier than previously announced.The casualty figures were given in a statement to the national parliament by Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, and […]
”: rights group
COLOMBO, March 6, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is one of the world’s worst perpetrators of “disappearances” and abductions, Human Rights Watch said Thursday, calling for a UN mission to monitor rights abuses on the island. At least 1,500 people “disappeared” in 2006 and 2007, mostly in the island’s restive north and east, with the […]
International rights panel quits Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, March 6, 2008 (AFP) – A top foreign panel invited by Sri Lanka to observe investigations into human rights abuses announced Thursday it was quitting the island and accused Colombo of failing to tackle the issue. The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), headed by India’s former chief justice P. N. Bhagwati, said […]
Sri Lanka intimidation of journalists condemned by rights group
March 05, 2008 (LBO) – Media rights group Reporters Without Borders has condemned attacks against Sri Lankan journalists who exposed by live broadcast an assault by a junior cabinet minister on a state TV station news director. It said in a statement that the authorities appeared more concerned with probing journalists who resisted the assault […]