Tag: politics

Apr 27, 2013 (LBO) – Japan’s deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and senior Vice Minister of Finance Yuko Obuchi will be on a two day visit in Sri Lanka from May 01, the Japanese embassy in Colombo said. They will meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and visit the Port of Colombo, which has expanded over the […]

SYDNEY, April 27, 2013 (AFP) – Australia has vowed not to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka over allegations of human rights violations, despite mounting calls not to attend.Backed by India, the United States and European nations, the UN Human Rights Council last month called for an investigation into suspected […]

Apr 12, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lankans working or with relatives in South Korea, should not be “excessively anxious” about sabre rattling by the North as many soldiers are spring farming and not mobilizing for war yet, Seoul’s envoy to Colombo said.There were 25,000 Sri Lankans in Korea, among 230,000 foreign guest workers. Jongmoon Choi […]

Mar 29, 2013 (LBO) – A Muslim owned shop in a suburb of Sri Lanka’s capital was torched amid growing Buddhist nationalist attacks against minorities, while police said security has been tightened and they were searching for the perpetrators. “A special police team in investigating the incident,” police spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena said. “We will bring […]

Mar 22, 2013 (LBO) – A UN resolution on Sri Lanka brought by the US passed with 25 votes for 13 against and 8 abstentions with India also voting for after failing to move last minute changes, reports said. Argentina, Austria, Benin, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Guatemala, India, Ireland, […]

Mar 18, 2013 (LBO) – India has called off annual defence talks with Sri Lanka scheduled to have been held on March 25 amid protests from Tamil parties, a media report said.The Press Trust of India, a news agency, said no reason was given for cancelling the Secretary-level talks and no new dates have been […]

March 11, 2013 (AFP) – Islamic clerics announced the withdrawal of a halal labelling system for food in Sri Lanka on Monday “in the interests of peace” after protests from Buddhist hardliners on the Indian Ocean island.The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), Sri Lanka’s main body of Islamic clergy, said the halal certificate issued by […]

COLOMBO, March 8, 2013 (AFP) – An English politician Friday urged the Queen to boycott the Commonwealth summit in Colombo later this year to protest against Sri Lanka’s failure to prosecute the killers of a British tourist in 2011.International rights groups have said up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final offensive […]

Mar 08, 2013 (LBO) – Friday Forum, a Sri Lankan citizen’s group has asked the administration to take steps to stop rising fascist-nationalist actions directed at the island’s Muslim community.“The Friday Forum urges you to act immediately and decisively to counter the increasingly venomous and strident anti-Muslim hate campaign launched by a few extremist groups […]

RIYADH, Feb 20, 2013 (AFP) – Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Colombo in a tit-for-tat move amid tensions after a Sri Lankan nanny convicted of murder was beheaded in the kingdom, the official SPA news agency reported.“Based on the decision by the Sri Lankan government to withdraw its ambassador from the kingdom, the […]

Feb 19, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has established diplomatic relations with Saint Vincent and the Granadines, the foreign ministry said. Saint Vincent and the Granadines belong to the British West Indies and is a part of the Commonwealth of Nations. The foreign ministry said Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the United Nations of the […]

Feb 11, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should consider ending secrecy surrounding the proceedings of parliamentary committees, a member of the legislature’s committee on public accounts (COPA) has said.Before liberty properly developed in Britain, whose parliamentary traditions Sri Lanka sometimes claim to follow, all proceedings in the legislature were secret. Newspaper editors were punished and […]