Tag: politics

NUSA DUA, October 7, 2013 (AFP) – Australia’s new prime minister said Monday he would attend a Commonwealth summit next month despite calls for a boycott over the human rights record of host Sri Lanka.The Gambian government announced last week that the former British colony was pulling out of the Commonwealth with immediate effect, saying […]

Sept 27, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa had met representatives of the Business Council of International Understanding, a US-based organization that promotes links between political leaders and business. President Rajapaksa visited New York to attend the general assembly of the United Nations. At a breakfast meeting with BCIU, which was represented by […]

Sept 24, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa will answer questions posed on Twitter, a micro blogging site, after addressing a United Nations assembly in New York, his media office said. The half hour Q&A will take place on Sept 25, at 9.00 am New York time which is 6.30 pm Sri Lanka […]

JAFFNA, September 21, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party was Sunday headed for victory in the first regional elections to a semi-autonomous council in the island’s north after decades of ethnic war.The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) swept three of the five districts declared so far following Saturday’s Northern Provincial Council elections, official results […]

JAFFNA, September 22, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party won a landslide victory Sunday in landmark elections in the battle-scarred north, raising hopes of some degree of self-rule for the ethnic minority after decades of war. The election comes ahead of a Commonwealth heads of government summit due to take place in Colombo […]

JAFFNA, September 21, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils began voting Saturday to elect what they hope will give them a shot at self-rule after decades of ethnic bloodshed that claimed over 100,000 lives.Tamils in the country’s battle-scarred northern province are voting for the first time to elect a semi-autonomous council, in an election […]

UDAPPUWA, September 20, 2013 (AFP) – As Australia’s new government launches tough measures to halt asylum seekers arriving on boats, some dirt-poor fishermen and their families half a world away in Sri Lanka seem undeterred. Although Armugasamy did not fullfil his dream of resettling in Australia, he still hopes the journey was worth it. The […]

JAFFNA, September 18, 2013 (AFP) – Foreign observers held talks with officials and candidates in Sri Lanka’s former war zone Wednesday to ensure the region’s first elections to choose a semi-autonomous council pass off peacefully, officials said. Some 906 candidates are contesting the 36 seats in the Northern council which is going to the polls […]

COLOMBO, September 12, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Thursday released 736 convicts after they were given a presidential pardon to mark the country’s prisoner day, officials said. Convicts serving time for minor offences were granted the amnesty and walked free from 22 jails across the country, prisons department spokesman Gamini Kulatunga said. “The president […]

GENEVA, September 9, 2013 (AFP) – The UN rights chief Monday raised fresh concerns for the safety of Sri Lankan journalists and activists she said had been harassed by the authorities for meeting with her. Navi Pillay told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva she was worried about those she met during her week-long […]

COLOMBO, September 6, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main Muslim political leader, who is also the justice minister, criticised his own government Friday for blaming religious tensions in the mainly Buddhist nation on Islamic fundamentalism.Rauf Hakeem said he had been “disturbed” by recent comments from the country’s defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse which warned of efforts […]

COLOMBO, September 2, 2013 (AFP) – A Catholic-run human rights group working in northeastern Sri Lanka said Monday it had been harassed by security personnel after meeting UN rights chief Navi Pillay last week.Pillay ended her first trip to the formerly war-ravaged country at the weekend with a stinging press conference in which she accused […]