Human rights group demand probe of abuses in Sri Lanka

GENEVA, Sept 22 (AFP) – International and Sri Lankan human rights campaigners on Friday called for a United Nations inquiry into abuses against civilians by Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces on the strife-torn island.They urged the UN Human Rights Council, the world body’s top watchdog forum, to launch a probe as soon as possible […]

British travellers warned after new Sri Lanka violence

LONDON, Sept 22, 2006 (AFP) – Britain’s foreign ministry tightened up its advice Friday to travellers in north and east Sri Lanka after at least six people were killed in the troubled area. In a review of its travel advice, the Foreign Office warned Britons not to travel to any part of the north or […]

Six civillian killed Northeast Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sept 22(AFP) – At least six civilians were killed in separate incidents across Sri lanka’s embattled northeast, the defence ministry here said Friday.Security forces found the bullet-riddled bodies of three men in the Jaffna peninsula where another man had been similarly shot dead by unidentified attackers on Thursday, the ministry said. It said a […]

Sri Lanka troops deployed at Muslim town after rioting

COLOMBO, Sept 21, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops were deployed at a Muslim town in the island’s east to quell rioting following the massacre of 10 residents, military officials said Thursday. Soldiers were deployed in the town of Pottuvil after residents clashed with local police, although an overnight curfew was eased early Thursday. “Soldiers […]

Advertisers take advantage of tighter Sri Lanka security

COLOMBO, Sept 20, 2006 (AFP) – The fear of bomb attacks in Sri Lanka following an upsurge in violence has spawned extra security checks, making daily life more difficult, but the hassle has also created unexpected marketing opportunities, according to advertising specialists. At road-blocks, for instance, prominent adverts for products such as the pain-killer “Panadol” […]

Three dead and curfew in Northeast Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sept 20, 2006 (AFP) – Three people were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in northeast Sri Lanka, police said Wednesday, and a curfew was put in place in a nearby town following an earlier massacre of 10 Muslim men.Tamil rebels have waged a drawn-out insurgency for a separate ethnic homeland in Sri Lanka, a […]

Tiger arms ship originated in Indonesia, more on the way: Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sept 19, 2006 (AFP) – A ship suspected of ferrying weapons to Tamil rebels that was sunk by the Sri Lankan military originated in Indonesia and more vessels may be on the way, a government minister said Tuesday. The ship was sunk Sunday off Sri Lanka’s east coast by naval ships and aircraft after […]

Sri Lanka civilian killings on the rise: rights group

NEW YORK, Sept 19, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government and Tamil Tiger rebels have stepped up killings of civilians in a surge of violence this year that has shattered gains made under a 2002 ceasefire, a leading rights group said Tuesday. More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka’s Tamil separatist conflict […]

Price Cushion

SINGAPORE, September 19, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka said Tuesday it was moving towards eliminating oil subsidies that are threatening to blow a hole in the nation’s budget and asked lenders for financial help to tide over oil shocks. Public Administration minister Sarath Amunugama said the government has responded appropriately to the sustained sharp rise […]

Muslims buried in Sri Lanka after being hacked to death

POTTUVIL, Sept 18 (AFP) – The bodies of 10 Muslim men found hacked to death were buried in the farming village of Pottuvil on Monday as the Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan forces blamed each other for the massacre.The victims, mostly between 20 and 27 years old, were brought to the Jumma Mosque in […]

War planes hit Tigers after Muslim massacre, reporters escape bombing

COLOMBO, Sept 19, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan jets bombed suspected Tamil Tiger targets in the island’s east Tuesday, officials said, while rebel mortars killed four soldiers escorting journalists in the embattled Jaffna peninsula. Israeli-made Kfir war planes bombed positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the district of Batticaloa, the government’s […]

Eleven Muslims killed in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sept 18, 2006 (AFP) – The bodies of 11 Muslim men hacked to death were found in eastern Sri Lanka Monday, police said as Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces blamed each other for the massacre. The victims were labourers working on an irrigation project in the eastern Ampara district and had been killed […]

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