Tag: lankabusinessonline
” Tigers attack
BEIJING, Feb 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s foreign minister condemned an artillery attack Tuesday by Tamil Tiger rebels that wounded the German, Italian and US ambassadors, saying it was a deliberate strike against the diplomats.“The government of Sri Lanka condemns this attack by the LTTE in the strongest terms,” Rohitha Bogollagama, who is accompanying […]
Getting Steadier
February, 27 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, a unit of Indian Oil Corporation emerging from a subsidy and pricing battle with the Sri Lanka government, has turned an operating profit for the past quarter, but interest costs still kept the firm in the red. The firm posted operating profits of 185 million for the quarter ended […]
Sri Lanka leader brings elephant and jumbo delegation to China
BEIJING, Feb 26, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse began a week-long state visit to China on Monday — and showed up with an elephant as a gift as well as a large delegation, state media said.Rajapakse, in China to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties between the countries, will meet Chinese President […]
Last rites read over peace process in Sri Lanka
Feb 25, 2007 (AFP) – As thousands flee for their lives amid heavy weekend artillery fire in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, analysts say the government, Tamil rebels and Norway are clinging to a truce that is dead.The Oslo-backed peace process suffered yet another blow last week when the rebels vowed to resume their campaign […]
Sri Lanka troops take more rebel bases after fresh offensive
COLOMBO, Feb 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops seized at least four bases from Tamil Tiger strongholds in the northeast in the past week, the defence ministry said Sunday, in fighting that has forced thousands to flee.The LTTE has not commented on the military’s claim, but on Thursday night announced they were relaunching their […]
‘t be sent home if they face persecution
SYDNEY, Feb 24, 2007 (AFP) – Australia vowed Saturday not to send home a group of 85, mostly Sri Lankan boat people if it meant they would face persecution.The Australian government said the fate of the group, intercepted by a navy ship this week, was being discussed with both Jakarta and the tiny Pacific nation […]
Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers say truce dead, battle for statehood alive
COLOMBO, Feb 23, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka and the rebel Tamil Tigers marked the fifth anniversary of their truce on Friday, hours after the guerrillas said the deal was all but dead and that they will press ahead for full statehood.The party of nationalist Buddhist monks argued that there was no need for the […]
Killings continue in Sri Lanka ahead of failed truce anniversary
COLOMBO, Feb 22, 2007 (AFP) – Three civilians were found shot dead in northern Sri Lanka and a soldier was killed in the country’s east Thursday, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of a failed truce agreement, police said. The bullet-riddled bodies of the civilians were found in three locations in the town of […]
Rolling Stock
February 22 (LBO) – The government of Sri Lanka hopes to purchase 100 train carriages from China to develop the island’s dilapidated railway network, officials said Thursday. The carriages will be purchased from China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation, Anura Yapa, Sri Lanka’s information minister said. Sri Lanka’s railway network was built by British […]
Norway offers help to revive Sri Lanka peace bid
COLOMBO, Feb 22, 2007 (AFP) – Norway’s top peace broker in Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim, Thursday offered to go the extra mile to revive the stalled process on the eve of the fifth anniversary of a moribund truce.Solheim, who is also Norway’s international development minister, expressed the hope that Sri Lanka’s government and the Liberation […]
‘s national heritage again
February 22 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s sacked national heritage minister Anura Bandaranaike has been re-appointed to his former post Thursday, a spokesman from the presidential secretariat said. Bandaranaike was removed with former aviation minister Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi.
Nine killed in Sri Lanka boat attack: navy
Feb 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy sank two suspected Tamil Tiger boats off the island’s north-western coast Thursday, killing at least nine people, a military official said. Navy craft attacked the suspected rebel boats off the coast of Puttalam district, a navy spokesman said. “There were six men in one boat and three […]