Tag: lbo

WASHINGTON, January 18, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s upcoming election is raising hopes in the United States for better relations after a chilly spell if the island turns the page on a bloody war that brought international opprobrium. The January 26 election comes months after troops killed the top leadership of the Tamil Tigers, ending […]

JAFFNA, January 17, 2010 (AFP) – Scarred by decades of war and official indifference, Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils are now being courted as political kingmakers — a shift that many of them view with bitter scepticism. With a presidential election just two weeks away, the two main candidates have been desperately wooing Tamil voters, offering […]

January 17, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president ordered police to step up security ahead of presidential elections after a second political activist was shot dead this month, an official said Sunday. The ruling party supporter was killed on Saturday in the north-western Puttalam district where several others were injured when they clashed with opposition […]

January 15, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s opposition Friday accused the government of misleading the UN over the use of heavy weapons during the final stages of fighting against Tamil rebels last year. Sri Lanka’s Tamil community, numbering 12.5 percent of the population, has close cultural and religious links with India’s Tamil Nadu state, which […]

January 16, 2010 (AFP) – The United States and Norway on Saturday denied funding Sri Lanka’s main opposition to defeat President Mahinda Rajapakse’s re-election bid later this month. Norway, which was the peace broker until the Rajapakse administration withdrew from a faltering truce and escalated a military campaign against the Tigers early last year, denied […]

Jan 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s opposition presidential hopeful retired general Sarath Fonseka has said he may have to play referee between pro free market United National Party and Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. JVP is credited with key initiatives of the post-2004 economic program which proposed expanding state employment, subsidizing fuel and pushing state […]

January 12, 2010 (AFP) – Gunmen in Sri Lanka on Tuesday opened fire on a bus carrying supporters of the main opposition presidential candidate, killing one political activist, police said. Several other people were wounded when unidentified attackers sprayed bullets into the vehicle of campaigners backing Sarath Fonseka, who was not in the area at […]

Jan 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s post independence constitutions of 1972 and 1978 and the scrapping of the institution of permanent secretaries has usurped the rule of law and destroyed the impartiality of the public service, a rights body has said. Above the Law Fernando says the 1978 constitution where the president was placed […]

January 13, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police Wednesday broke up clashes between political activists as violence linked to looming presidential polls escalated after gunmen shot dead an opposition party worker. Tear-gas was fired to disperse thousands of party workers in the eastern town of Polonnaruwa, local officials said by telephone. About 3,000 opposition supporters […]

Jan 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa said he wanted to make Sri Lanka ‘Asia’s miracle’ if elected to a second term and also vowed to combat corruption, a key battle cry of the island’s opposition. “We want to change people leaving the country and make it an attraction for people,” Rajapaksa […]

January 12, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Tuesday offered concessions to ethnic Tamil demands for greater autonomy ahead of elections in which the minority community could play a decisive role. But as the architect of the military victory, Fonseka can also lay claim to credit for ending the conflict. Fonseka has offered to […]

January 11, 2010 (AFP) – For decades, Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels fought for an independent ethnic homeland. In May they were defeated, but observers say Tamil voters could now be key to who becomes the next president. The two main candidates — incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse and former army chief Sarath Fonseka — both claim […]