Tag: lankabusinessonline
Green Business
December 19, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lankan businesses are cashing in on a booming market for carbon finance, selling carbon credits at increasing prices to developed countries struggling to meet climate change commitments. Developed countries who are signatories to the Kyoto protocol have agreed to cut carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, to […]
Thousands flee Tiger territory amid fears of fighting
Dec 18, 2006 (AFP) – More than 2,200 more civilians have fled rebel-held territory in eastern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Monday amid fears of renewed fighting in the area.The LTTE is fighting for independence for the island’s minority 2.5 million Tamil community. The conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.The civilians […]
Oil Buddies
December 18, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is scouting for international experts to help the island hedge part of its hefty oil bill next year, Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said Monday. A net oil importer, Sri Lanka’s retail fuel market is dominated by state oil giant Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), while Indian fuel […]
Bush frees refugee funds for Somalia, Sri Lanka
WASHINGTON, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – US President George W.Bush has freed 5.215 million dollars in aid to help cope with refugee flows resulting from conflicts in Somalia and Sri Lanka, the White House announced Friday. Bush directed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a memorandum dated Thursday to make the money available “for […]
Tamil Tiger chief mourns loss of “irreplaceable” aide
COLOMBO, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger leader conferred Friday the rebels’ highest honour on his chief peace negotiator who died of cancer, saying it was an irreplaceable loss. Velupillai Prabhakaran, 52, said the death in London on Thursday came at a time when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) needed […]
Death of voice of Tamil struggle a new blow to peace in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s moribund peace process suffered another setback with the death of the top Tamil Tiger negotiator who was regarded as a moderate among hardliners, analysts said Friday. Anton Balasingham, 68, who had spearheaded the peace efforts of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), died of bile duct […]
Tiger chief peace negotiator dies of cancer
COLOMBO, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – The senior negotiator for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels, who vociferously pleaded their cause around the world but never took up arms, has died of cancer in London, a close associate told AFP. “It is an unfortunate personal tragedy,” he said, but conceded that “when compared to the vast […]
Energy Link
December 14, 2006 (LBO) – India and Sri Lanka are due to ink a million dollar agreement as early as next year to set up a mega transmission power line between both nations, an official said Thursday. Linked between India’s city of Madurai and Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura, the project aims to supply up to 1000 […]
Troops kill six Tiger rebels in east Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Dec 14, 2006 (AFP) – Security forces shot dead at least six Tamil Tiger rebels during a confrontation in Sri Lanka’s restive eastern province, officials said Thursday. The troops and a group of fighters from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) clashed near Poonani on Wednesday night and security forces recovered the bodies […]
Sri Lanka vows to flush out Tigers, civilians flee fighting
COLOMBO, Dec 13, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief vowed to drive out Tiger guerrillas from the island’s restive east as dozens of civilians fled their shelters Wednesday amid a lull in shelling. The commander of the army, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, said the military had captured two guerrilla defence lines inside their Vakarai […]
Sri Lanka parties urged to hold fire amid heavy civilian losses
COLOMBO, Dec 12, 2006 (AFP) – The United Nations and Nordic truce monitors on Tuesday voiced grave concern for 35,000 “desperate civilians” caught in the crossfire between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels. The Tamil Tigers are fighting for independence for the island’s minority 2.5 million Tamil community in the majority-Sinhalese nation of 19.5 […]
Sporadic shelling in Sri Lanka, Tigers return dead bodies
COLOMBO, Dec 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sporadic shelling was reported across de facto front lines in Sri Lanka’s embattled northeast Monday after heavy artillery attacks over the weekend left scores dead. More than 3,500 people have been killed in Sri Lanka in the past year.The bitter ethnic conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives since […]