Tag: lbo

Jan 13, 2008 (AFP) – Japan’s peace envoy opened talks in Sri Lanka on Sunday, hinting international donors may hold back much-needed foreign aid if the island’s decades-long ethnic conflict escalates, officials said. Yasushi Akashi, who arrived in Sri Lanka for three days of crucial talks on Sunday, met the Marxist JVP, the main left […]

Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – Intense fighting across Sri Lanka’s embattled northern district have left at least 39 rebels and soldiers dead, the military said Saturday, ahead of a planned visit by a Japanese peace envoy.Japan, the island’s biggest aid donor, has voiced deep concern about the Colombo government’s decision last week to end its […]

Jan 12, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka does not have enough policemen to fully secure Colombo and public help is needed to fill the manpower gap in the capital, the island’s police chief said.“At moment Colombo has been given more policemen than other areas.But that is not enough, Inspector General Victor Perera told journalists. “They […]

Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main financial backers Saturday voiced concern over the mounting bloodshed and called for a United Nations presence in the island. Japan, the United States, the European Union and Norway — the quartet known as the co-chairs — also expressed “deep concern” about rights abuses and called on Sri […]

Jan 11, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes carried out fresh raids Friday on rebel-held territory in the north, the defence ministry said, reporting 30 more guerrillas killed in ground fighting.Jets hit a naval base of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Alampil, the ministry said, adding that the facility was destroyed. […]

Jan 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top business chamber came out in support for state television workers who broadcast live a government minister’s attempt to intimidate its news chief and called for better governance from law makers. It also called on government law enforcement agencies to act speedily on complaints of threats to the […]

Jan 11, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government said Friday it was pressing ahead with efforts to defeat the Tamil Tigers and dismissed rebel talk of restoring a ceasefire.Presidential spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage said the rebels had made no formal offer to revive a truce, playing down a statement from the Tigers the previous day that […]

Jan 9, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has increased its already tight security arrangements for members of parliament following the death of a cabinet minister in a suspected Tamil Tiger bomb attack, officials said Wednesday.The number of bodyguards and security vehicles assigned to lawmakers was stepped up after Tuesday’s roadside bombing just outside the capital […]

Jan 08, 2008 (LBO) – The European Union (EU) has stepped up pressure on Sri Lanka after the government withdrew from the truce with the Tamil Tigers, with its external relations chief calling for a peace deal that goes beyond previous “failed” offers. The EU’s Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner […]

A powerful roadside bomb exploded Tuesday outside Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo that hit a convoy carrying a government minister, police said.Police said there were no immediate reports of casualties from the explosion which targeted the convoy of Building Minister D.M. Dassanayake, about halfway between Colombo and the international airport..

Jan 8, 2008 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan government minister and six other people were wounded on Tuesday in a powerful roadside bomb attack between the capital Colombo and the island’s international airport, officials said.“Minister of Nation Building, D.M. Dassanayake, was injured in the attack,” military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told AFP by telephone. Police […]

Jan 8, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government minister D.M. Dassanayake died in hospital Tuesday after his convoy was hit by a powerful roadside bomb near the capital, doctors said.The minister for nation building suffered severe head injuries in the attack and died while undergoing surgery, doctor Lalini Gunasekera said. Police said a fragmentation mine […]