Tag: news
Sri Lanka navy sinks suspected rebel gun-running ships
Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy sank at least three suspected Tamil Tiger gun-running vessels off the island’s southeastern sea board, navy officials said Tuesday.Clashes between suspected Tamil Tiger ships and the Sri Lankan navy have escalated in recent months amid heavy fighting in the island’s northern and eastern regions.Naval craft intercepted the […]
Sri Lanka navy claims major success against Tamil Tigers
COLOMBO, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy on Tuesday claimed its biggest success against the Tamil Tiger rebels, saying it had virtually wiped out the separatist group’s ability to smuggle arms into the country. More than 5,400 people have been killed in a new wave of fighting since December 2005 when a Norwegian-brokered […]
Hedging Game
Sept 11, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, the Sri Lanka unit of the Indian Oil Corporation, has started to hedge oil imports with positive initial results, an official said. LIOC expects oil prices to ease towards the latter part of the year. “We have started to hedge imports in a cautious manner,” Lanka IOC managing […]
Fresh Sri Lanka violence kills 15
Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) – At least 15 people were killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka’s embattled northern and eastern regions, military officials said Saturday.Three soldiers and five Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a gun battle in the northern Vavuniya region late Friday, the officials said. They said two more rebels were killed […]
Sri Lanka presses France to clamp down on Tamil Tigers
PARIS, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s foreign minister said Thursday he had won assurances from French authorities that they will take action to curb the activities of Tamil rebel supporters in France.Sri Lankan government troops have been fighting Tamil separatist rebels since 1972 and the conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives. Foreign […]
Top spies from Sri Lanka, Asia Pacific meet to combat security threats
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) – Top military intelligence chiefs from 19 nations gathered here Wednesday for the first time to discuss terrorism, maritime security and disaster relief. “This is an opportunity for the intelligence chiefs from all these countries to get together to talk about areas of mutual cooperation and how we can […]
Rights group says 43 aid workers killed in Sri Lanka
Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) – At least 43 aid workers have been killed in Sri Lanka since early last year amid an escalation of fighting between troops and Tamil separatists, the Asian Human Rights Commission said on Thursday. The AHRC said that another 14 people had gone missing since January 2006 as the government and […]
Kero Hurdle
Sept 6, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka would make a fixed payment to poor households on income support from this month but limit a promised subsidy to fishermen to one month, a senior minister said. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation would make a 4,000 rupee one-off payment to 16,036 fishermen for the month of August at a […]
Seismic Eye
Sept 05, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will shortly tender for two-dimensional seismic surveys off the southern tip of the island to look for new oil deposits, officials said. “Then we can get better terms for the remaining blocks,” Fowzie said. Three out of eight off-shore oil exploration blocks in the Northwestern Mannar basin which […]
Sri Lanka welcomes Indian Ocean naval drill
PORT BLAIR, India, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) – A massive naval drill opens in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday with warships from the United States and four other nations flexing their muscle in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Twenty-seven ships and submarines from the United States, Australia, Japan and Singapore will join seven […]
EU pressures Sri Lanka on rights abuses, Govt says only reacting to terror
Sept 04, 2007 (LBO) – The European Union has told Sri Lanka to ensure there are no more human rights abuses while the government has said its recent military actions were only to defend against Tamil Tiger terrorism. EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner has told Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama […]
Sri Lanka blocks Tamil Tiger supply route
Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) – Troops in Sri Lanka have blocked a key supply route used by the Tamil Tigers in possible preparation for a delayed major assault on the rebels’ northern heartland, military experts said Monday. The military has been trying to break into the stronghold, the Wanni, for weeks but took some nearby […]