Tag: lbo

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2008 (AFP) – The United States has poured nearly 40 billion dollars in aid to South Asia since the September 11 attacks but the terror threat from the region remains a top problem, a congressional hearing was told Wednesday. “South Asia is arguably the place from which America faces the greatest terrorist […]

May 14, 2008 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government may be celebrating a key election victory in the ethnically-mixed east but it is still a long way from winning over the island’s Tamil minority, analysts and observers say.The polls on Saturday saw voters in the east give President Mahinda Rajapakse’s ruling coalition control over a […]

May 12, 2008 (LBO) – A breakaway faction of Sri Lanka’s Marxist-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP- People’s Liberation Front) said Monday that they had formed a new political party. Lead by controversial lawmaker Wimal Weerawansa, the breakaway group, known as the ‘Wimal faction’, claims the support of at least nine of the 38 members of […]

May 12, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s opposition said Monday it planned to mount a legal challenge to the government’s weekend win in key local elections in the east of the island.The opposition said President Mahinda Rajapakse’s party and his allies — including Tamil Tiger rebel defectors — used “terror” tactics to bully voters and […]

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, May 11, 2008 (AFP) – Vote counting was underway in eastern Sri Lanka Sunday after an election marred by Tamil Tiger attacks and allegations of intimidation by allies of the island’s hawkish government. . The elections for a provincial council in the tense eastern coastal area, which was until last year partly […]

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, May 11, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government Sunday claimed victory in key provincial elections in the ethnically-mixed east of the island, saying the win is a major boost for its war against the Tamil Tigers.Election officials confirmed the government and its allies were on track to win control over a 35-member […]

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, May 11, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition was Sunday declared the winner of key elections in the east of the island, and hailed its victory as a major boost for the war against Tamil rebels.Election officials confirmed the governing United People’s Freedom Alliance party (UPFA) and its allies had won […]

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, May 9, 2008 (AFP) – A heavy security blanket was thrown over eastern Sri Lanka ahead of Saturday’s local polls, seen as a key test for the hawkish government as it escalates the war against Tamil rebels. President Mahinda Rajapakse is hoping the east’s first provincial council elections in 20 years will […]

May 9, 2008 (AFP) – A former leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebel splinter group, jailed in Britain since January, has been released and transferred to an immigration detention centre, officials said Friday.Vinayagmoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Colonel Karuna, was released Thursday following his imprisonment for possessing false documents, the British High Commission (embassy) […]