Tag: lbo

Jan 3, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka announced Thursday it had given the mandatory two weeks’ notice to peace broker Norway to formally quit a ceasefire with Tamil rebels on January 16. The foreign ministry in a statement said the February 2002 ceasefire arranged by Oslo would end in two weeks, after the government on […]

Jan 03, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government is still willing to have peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels despite its decision to withdraw from a moribund ceasefire agreement, media minister Anura Yapa said Thursday. . The government is not against peace talks to end the ethnic war but believes it is useless to […]

Jan 3, 2008 (AFP) – A prominent Sri Lankan Tamil opposition MP who was murdered earlier this week was cremated here Thursday amid tight security and allegations that the island’s government was behind the killing.The cremation took place amid heavy fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka, hours after the […]

Jan 2, 2008 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government Wednesday announced it was formally withdrawing from the Norwegian-arranged ceasefire agreement with Tamil Tiger rebels, presidential spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage told AFP.The move also followed a call by the United States to revive stalled peace talks between the government and the Tamil Tigers. “The cabinet of ministers […]

Jan 2, 2008 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a powerful roadside bomb in the Sri Lankan capital Wednesday, killing at least five people and wounding another 28, police said.The powerful fragmentation mine targeted an army bus transporting wounded soldiers, although hospital officials said most of the victims were civilians. A police official […]

Jan 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition party Wednesday called for impartial investigations with foreign support into the killings of Tamil parliamentarians and accused the government of operating goon squads. . The United National Party (UNP) demanded the government prosecute those responsible for the killings of Tamil parliamentarians and called for more security […]

Jan 02, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal to pull out of a ceasefire agreement with the Tamil Tigers, state television reported Wednesday. . The proposal was submitted by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wikremenayake and it was unanimously approved the state-owned Independent Television Network (ITN) said. Either party could pull […]

Jan 01, 2007 (LBO) – Gunshots were heard inside a Hindu temple in the Kotahena area of the Sri Lanka capital Colombo, eyewitnesses said. A witness at the scene said he had heard half a dozen gunshots sending devotees stampeding for cover. .. For updates on this story go to the news front page at […]

Jan 01, 2008 (LBO) – Gunmen shot a Tamil parliamentarian inside a Hindu temple in the Sri Lankan capital Tuesday morning, eyewitnesses and police said. T. Maheshwaran was rushed to hospital, police said. He had previously survived an assassination attempt by the Tamil Tigers when he represented the United National Party, now in the opposition. […]

Jan 01, 2008 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan Tamil parliamentarian has died after being shot inside a Hindu temple in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo Tuesday morning, police and hospital officials said. T. Maheshwaran was rushed to hospital in a critical condition but succumbed to his injuries soon after, Colombo hospital director Hector Weerasinghe told […]

Jan 01, 2008 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan Tamil parliamentarian who was assassinated Tuesday morning had not asked for additional protection, the island’s top defence bureaucrat has said. T. Maheshwaran, an opposition United National Party (UNP) lawmaker, was gunned down by unknown gunmen at a Hindu temple in a suburb north of the capital Colombo. […]

Jan 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan police have arrested a suspected gunman alleged to have shot dead a Tamil parliamentarian at a Hindu temple in the capital Colombo Tuesday, the defence ministry said. The suspected gunman had been wounded when a bodyguard of assassinated lawmaker T Maheshwaran returned fire during the attack, the ministry […]