Sri Lankan president ready for peace talks amid fighting

June 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president is ready to resume peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels even as security forces are locked in combat with the guerrillas, a presidential spokesman said Friday.President Mahinda Rajapakse would enter negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) if the guerrillas agreed to resume where they […]

” Tamils from capital

COLOMBO, June 1, 2007 (AFP) – Hundreds of minority Tamils have been asked to leave Sri Lanka’s capital and return to their villages, some in conflict areas, because they are a “threat to national security,” police said Friday. Police Inspector-General Victor Perera said Tamils from the embattled northern and eastern provinces were spending long periods […]

Sri Lanka troops push on with offensives against rebels

May 31, 2007 (AFP) – Government forces kept up two offensives against Tamil Tiger rebels in the island’s northern and eastern regions Thursday with casualties reported on both sides, officials said. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Troops backed by artillery combed the jungles of Thoppigala in the district of Batticaloa, […]

Change Please

May 30, 2007 (LBO) – India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) which is hoping to build a coal plant with Sri Lanka’s power utility has asked for Indian government help to change its proposed location, reports said. Eastern Sri Lanka has seen heavy fighting in the past year as government troops systematically took back areas […]

Investors jittery as Sri Lanka fighting escalates

May 30, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s investors, international donors and lenders are watching with alarm as government fighting against Tamil Tiger rebels escalates and key economic targets come under attack, analysts say.There appears little space to manoeuvre unless the separatist conflict subsides.Roadside blasts Monday and last Thursday around Colombo killed 11 people and wounded […]

Deal Flow

May 29, 2007 (LBO) – Globeleq, a unit of CDC investment group which is raising a billion dollars by selling power sector assets in Sri Lanka and other countries, says it is looking for new projects. “This is excellent news for emerging markets. Greater access to reliable energy continues to be a high priority for […]

Sri Lankan capital on alert after bomb kills seven civillians

May 29, 2007 (AFP) – Security forces and police stepped up security in the Sri Lankan capital on Tuesday after suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a roadside bomb killing seven civilians, officials said. All vehicles entering Colombo were subjected to individual searches by heavily armed troops and police, a police spokesman said. The move, […]

Sri Lanka aid donors get security guarantees for workers

May 29, 2007 (AFP) – Key Sri Lankan aid donors Tuesday announced the government had offered security guarantees for their workers who have been accused by state media and ministers of supporting Tamil Tiger rebels.The 10-point “guiding principles” for security followed talks with the government after the killing of 17 workers from a French aid […]

Power Foothold

May 28, 2007 (LBO) – The Malaysian firm Tanjong, controlled by billionaire Ananda Krishnan, has taken a foothold in Sri Lanka’s power sector by acquiring an international energy firm with investments in the country, the company said Monday. In a filing at the Kuala Lampur stock exchange Tanjong said it had taken over Globeleq, a […]

Roadside bomb kills seven near Sri Lanka military base

May 28, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a roadside blast near an air force base just outside Sri Lanka’s capital Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding 39, police and doctors said.More than 5,000 people have been killed in a new wave of fighting since December 2005 despite a truce […]

Sri Lanka conflict to continue in the months ahead: analysts

May 27, 2007 (AFP) – A new wave of air and naval combat is likely in Sri Lanka as government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels step up battles that have killed more than 5,000 people since peace talks collapsed, analysts say. British High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott said: “The only solution to this massive disruption of […]

Fresh Sri Lanka violence kills nine

May 27, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a road side bomb in eastern Sri Lanka Sunday, killing three civilians as six more people were killed in separate clashes, police said.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blast blew up a truck, killing the three people at Thirukkovil, a police official […]

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