Oil Deposit

February 07, 2007 (LBO) — Sri Lanka has asked governments of India and China to make a 100 million dollar deposit each, for securing a block to explore oil off the shores of the island, a top official said.“Out of the eight identified oil blocks we have given one each to India and China on […]

Post Men

Feb 06, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is boosting is postal service with thousands of new postmen, the country’s outgoing posts minister said. Former posts and telecommunications minister D M Jayaratne, who was replaced in a recent cabinet re-shuffle, said Sri Lanka post had received state approval to recruit 5,000 postmen and 4,000 substitutes. The […]

Blast injured count climbs to 17

COLOMBO, Feb 6, 2007 (AFP) – At least 17 people were hurt Tuesday when a grenade was accidentally detonated during a demonstration by a police officer at an exhibition in the capital marking Sri Lanka’s independence, police said.. Headline corrected “We have ruled out anyone hurling a grenade at the stall of the STF (Special […]

Option Collar

February 6 (LBO) – The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation will hedge up to a quarter of its diesel imports using options, with the first contract to be signed in a matter of days, officials said Tuesday.. Ceypetco wanted to cap the diesel import price at around 70 dollars a barrel, but the price had already moved […]

US congressmen ask Bush to appoint peace envoy for Sri Lanka

WASHINGTON, Feb 5, 2007 (AFP) – A group of 38 US lawmakers have asked President George W.Bush to appoint a special envoy to help bring about peace in conflict-ridden Sri Lanka. The legislators from the House of Representatives said in a letter to Bush that they were troubled by renewed violence and a rising number […]

Gas Change

February 06, (LBO) – Ceylon Petroleum Corporation would call open tenders to sell the liquid petroleum gas produced at its refinery, Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said. Laugfs Gas, the company which had a 5-year contract to buy the LP Gas from Ceypetco had been given a 3-month extension until April 21. Laugfs now […]

British Tamils pressured into donating money to Tigers: report

LONDON, Feb 4, 2007 (AFP) – Ethnic Tamils living in Britain are being pressured into donating money to support Tiger rebels in their native Sri Lanka, facing harassment if they refuse, The Times reported in an early edition of its Monday newspaper. According to the newspaper, which interviewed a number of Sri Lankan Tamils living […]

Two killed in Vavuniya after peace call in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Feb 5, 2007 (AFP) – Two people were killed and five others injured in ethnic violence in Sri Lanka, a day after the president invited Tiger rebel proxies to join his government, the defence ministry said Monday.Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels hit an army camp in the island’s restive northern town of Vavuniya, killing a […]

Sri Lanka marks national day amid tight security

Feb 4, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka was set to mark independence day on Sunday amid heightened security and calls from the president for fresh peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels to end more than three decades of bloodshed.As the island prepared to celebrate its national day, police discovered a powerful bomb in the capital […]

Sri Lanka president invites TNA to work with govt; democracy to areas re-taken from Tigers

February 04 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s president invited the largest political party representing north-eastern Tamils to work with the government in his Independance Day speech and promised democratic rule to territory recently wrested back from Tamil Tiger control. . President Mahinda Rajapakse said the Tamil National Alliance, widely considered to be Tiger proxies, had so […]

Sri Lanka police find bomb in Colombo

Feb 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police Saturday found a powerful bomb hidden in a taxi in capital Colombo — a day ahead of independence day celebrations, police said.The bomb, weighing 2.5 kilos (5.5 pounds) was found in a three-wheeler taxi parked in a garage near the Khettarama Cricket Stadium, where troops who will […]

Sri Lanka president offers talks from former Tiger town

VAKARAI, Sri Lanka, Feb 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapkse offered fresh peace talks on Saturday and asked Tiger rebels to lay down weapons as he visited this former guerrilla-held town.The president said he was ready to offer a political package to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to end the […]

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