Tag: lankabusinessonline

April 24, 2007 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels used aircraft to target Sri Lanka’s main military complex in the Jaffna peninsula Tuesday but were beaten back by ground fire, the army chief said on national television. Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said they used ground fire to attack the rebel aircraft which changed course and bombed […]

April 24, 2007 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels flying light aircraft bombed Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula Tuesday and launched an artillery attack, killing at least six soldiers, officials and the rebels said.In their second air strike in as many months, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said two light aircraft were […]

April 24, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels are to take a brief break from battle later Tuesday to watch the national cricket team play New Zealand in the World Cup semi-finals. “There may not be any attacks tonight because we are also watching the match,” Tiger spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan told AFP by […]

COLOMBO, April 23, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka asked peace broker Norway to suspend a planned visit Monday to Tamil rebel-held territory in the island’s north, diplomatic sources said.The Sri Lankan government told Norway’s top envoy here, Hans Brattskar, not to proceed with his visit to the town of Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (206 miles) north […]

LUXEMBOURG, April 23, 2007 (AFP) – EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to tell groups and individuals on its terror register why they are listed.The EU has already written to OMPI, recalling “the organisation’s past, notably the attacks that it has been responsible for”, an EU diplomat said. The decision was made in the wake […]

COLOMBO, April 22, 2007 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces fought two gunbattles in Sri Lanka’s restive north and east leaving at least six rebels killed, the defence ministry said Sunday.Gunmen of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) clashed with troops at Vavuniya, 260 kilometres (160 miles) north of Colombo, on Saturday […]

April 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankans treat cricket as a religion, but the sport has failed to heal wounds of this deeply divided nation despite its ethnically-mixed World Cup squad displaying strong unity. “Any hope that cricket will unite (all commmunities) is a fallacy.” The success of Sri Lanka’s multi-ethnic team at the ongoing […]

COLOMBO, April 22, 2007 (AFP) – An independent autopsy found no signs of torture on a Maldives dissident who died shortly after being released from custody, officials here said Sunday.The body of Hussein Salah was flown to Sri Lanka on Friday for a medical examination following allegations that he had been killed while in police […]

COLOMBO, April 20, 2007 (AFP) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Tamil journalist in northern Sri Lanka in the latest in a string of attacks against media personnel, a rights group said Friday.Subash Chandraboas, 32, editor of the Tamil monthly Nilam, was gunned down late Monday at his residence in Vavuniya, 260 kilometres (162 miles) […]

April 19, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s top defence official summoned Britain’s envoy Thursday after he expressed solidarity with an editor facing death threats, diplomats said.Although there is no formal censorship imposed, Sri Lankan authorities prevent journalists from travelling to areas held by the rebels, who are waging a separatist conflict that has killed more […]