Tag: news
Persian Present
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will flag off a billion dollar oil refinery in Sri Lanka, as part of his state visit to the island later this month, officials said. . Sri Lanka’s petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said President Ahmadinejad would lay the foundation stone for the refinery on […]
Sri Lanka told to clean up human rights record
April 15, 2008 (AFP) – A team of top legal luminaries told Sri Lanka’s government on Tuesday to clean up its human rights record, saying an escalating war against Tamil Tiger rebels had brought with it grave abuses. Updated The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), comprising experts from several countries, the European Union […]
Offshore Riches
April 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has called for the setting up of a high-powered decision-making body, possibly headed by the president, to handle oil exploration. A well-structured institutional arrangement should exist for policy formulation, management, regulation, and supervision of oil exploration, development and production, it said in its newly released 2007 […]
Hedging Profits
April 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said it had earned profits of 7 million US dollars in March reducing losses from retailing petroleum below-cost in that month. . “In March we lost 3,769 million rupees retailing fuel, but a hedging contract with Citibank earned us about 580 million rupees,” […]
Singleton
April 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will only award one out of three offshore oil blocks in the north west of the island for which international oil companies gave bids, petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said. . “We are only evaluating the block for which we received three bids,” Fowzie told reporters Tuesday. […]
Sri Lankan president urges unity as 10 more deaths reported
April 12, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse called for national unity Saturday in his traditional New Year message as 10 more deaths were reported in the conflict-racked nation.“It is my conviction that we would be strengthened by engaging in New Year traditions and customs as one nation,” Rajapakse said in a message […]
Sri Lanka JVP lawmaker arrested in latest twist in split drama
April 11, 2008 (LBO) – A lawmaker of Sri Lanka’s Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party was arrested Friday for stealing tax-free vehicles bought by rebel members of the party in the latest twist in an unfolding political drama following a major split in the party. Parliamentarian Jayantha Weerasekera was remanded till April 17 after he […]
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April 10, 2008 (LBO) – A host of media rights groups from around the world have written to Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse urging him to ‘stop the war on journalists’ and probe a spate of recent attacks on the island’s media. “The international press freedom and human rights community is extremely concerned that journalists […]
Sri Lanka says 93 troops killed in March
April 9, 2008 (AFP) – At least 93 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and another 686 injured during clashes with Tamil Tiger rebels last month, the prime minister told parliament Wednesday. Premier Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, in a statement to the 225-member national legislature, said 38 civilians were killed and another 21 wounded in March. “The number […]
Sri Lanka leftwing politician confirms move to oust him
April 08, 2008 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan Marxist-nationalist politician Tuesday said his party had decided to expel him, confirming reports of a split in the party. Wimal Weerawansa, firebrand spokesman of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) told parliament that he had not been officially informed of the move to cancel his party membership. He […]
Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers ask Norway help to stop Mannar offensive
COLOMBO, April 8, 2008 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels asked peace-broker Norway on Tuesday to pressure Sri Lanka’s government to stop a military offensive in the island’s north, saying a venerated Catholic church was at risk.Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Sri Lanka’s separatist conflict. The Tigers have been fighting for an […]
Sri Lanka JVP split widens with more support for Weerawansa
April 08, 2008 (LBO) – Differences within Sri Lanka’s Marxist-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) exploded dramatically Tuesday with controversial lawmaker Wimal Weerawansa speaking out publicly and gaining the support of nine others. Charismatic speaker and propaganda secretary Wimal Weerawansa fell out with the party hierarchy ostensibly over his public support for saying that a breakaway […]