Tag: lbo

Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement (FMM), a media rights watchdog, said Monday it was concerned over an alleged government move to ban reporting on arms purchases. “If such regulations are intended to be promulgated, FMM calls on the government to desist from such a regressive course of action forthwith.” The […]

COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sixteen people were killed and 39 others injured as security forces clashed with Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka’s embattled north and east, the two sides reported Tuesday.More than 60,000 people have died since the LTTE launched a military campaign for an independent state for minority Tamils in 1972.Four […]

Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) – Heavy fighting between security forces and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka has left at least 27 people dead, military officials said Monday. The LTTE lost at least 20 men in pre-dawn clashes Monday on the Jaffna peninsula, according to the defence ministry. Another three Tigers were killed in the […]

Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka offered Sunday to halt major military operations against Tamil separatists in exchange for peace talks following intense international censure. The military will not press ahead with a ground offensive if the Tigers agree to talk, Defence Ministry secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse told a newspaper. The country’s top defence official […]

Sept 23, 2007 (LBO) – Recent military victories over Tamil Tigers, especially in Sri Lanka’s east, offer a chance to end the conflict but only if minorities can be convinced of a bright future in the island, the US envoy has said. . “A solution to Sri Lanka’s conflict is in reach,” US Ambassador Robert […]

Sept 22, 2007 (AFP) – A powerful mine hit a civilian bus near Sri Lanka’s northeastern port of Trincomalee on Saturday, killing its driver and wounding two passengers, military officials said. They said troop reinforcements were rushed to the area following the bomb attack, which came six days after military in the area had celebrated […]

Sept 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s attorney-general’s department has rejected criticism of the island’s human rights record made by an independent, international panel, saying that the government was doing it best to probe abuses in an impartial manner. A statement from the AG’s Department said a report issued by the Independent Group of Eminent […]

Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed a Tamil Tigers’ ammunitions store in the north of the island Friday, causing heavy damage, the defence ministry said.The ammunitions cache was used by Imran-Pandiyan, an elite regiment of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the military said. “The air strikes taken were based […]

Sept 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s deputy finance minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya rejected charges that the government had misused funds in starting a new budget airline and a bank. He gave no further details in his speech. He also said the government has evidence of transfers of funds by previous governments from the Treasury to […]

COLOMBO, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) – A top international panel on Wednesday accused Sri Lanka of failing to honour promises to investigate grave human rights violations and accused the government of a virtual cover-up.The 11-member International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) said a government probe into 16 high-profile cases, including mass murder, had failed […]

COLOMBO, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse Wednesday appointed his younger brother as a member of parliament, officials said, in a move which tightens the family grip on power.Basil Rajapakse, senior adviser to the president, replaced a ruling party legislator who died last week, parliamentary officials said. Sri Lanka’s parliamentary system […]

COLOMBO, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s lengthy separatist conflict is compounding problems of malnutrition on the island, an international charity said Wednesday.“The prevailing conflict and the frequency of droughts, floods and landslides have further increased poverty and reduced people’s access to food,” Action Aid senior official Rohitha Rajindra said in a statement. Nearly […]