Tag: news

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 (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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) – The Asian Human Rights Commission asked the United Nations Tuesday to intervene to end extra-judicial killings in Sri Lanka, where it said at least 50 people were killed in the last month alone.It accused the Sri Lankan government of failing to prevent a wave of killings allegedly carried out by […]

COLOMBO, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) – Navy chiefs in Sri Lanka organised a party Monday to welcome back teams involved in what they claim was the government’s biggest success to date against Tamil separatists. The six patrol craft and their supply ships were reported last week to have sunk three Tamil Tiger gun-running ships in […]

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) – A top Sri Lankan official said Monday that Tamil Tiger rebels need to be defeated, an apparent shift in the government’s previously stated intention to negotiate.Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is the brother of the island’s president, argued that unless this were achieved, any political solution to […]

Sept 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top business chamber wants to create a lobby group to push for peace but at the same times has acknowledged the necessity for a limited military campaign against Tamil Tigers. Mahen Dayananda, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce chairman, said its leaders had recognized it was almost impossible to separate […]