Tag: politics

SINGAPORE, March 18, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has ruled out an early pardon for his election rival Sarath Fonseka and dismissed the former army chief as a “fool” who was unprepared for politics. In an interview with Singapore’s Straits Times published Thursday, Rajapakse also spelled out his economic ambitions for post-war […]

March 17, 2010 (AFP) – The court martial of Sri Lanka’s former army chief was adjourned on Wednesday after judges said they could not hear both of the separate sets of charges against him, officials said. Sarath Fonseka, who led the military to victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels last year, fell out with President […]

March 16, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former army chief, now a sworn political enemy of President Mahinda Rajapakse, faced a military court Tuesday on controversial charges that could see him jailed for up to five years. Fonseka, a war hero last year after helping end the Indian Ocean nation’s 37-year civil war, stepped down […]

NEW DELHI, March 15, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former chief justice slammed the arrest of ex-army chief and opposition leader Sarath Fonseka on Monday on the eve of his court martial, saying there was “no democracy” in the country. Retired chief justice Sarath Silva criticised the treatment of Fonseka, who challenged President Mahinda Rajapakse […]

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka violated human rights last year as it dealt a final blow to Tamil Tiger insurgents and clamped down on media freedom, the US State Department said Thursday. But the State Department also reported some improvements. It said that the number of disappearances went down with the end […]

March 11, 2010 (AFP) – Six weeks ago Sri Lankan political writer and cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda went missing, and his fate has raised further concerns about the island’s culture of violence against the media. Eknaligoda, who contributed to the pro-opposition Lankaenews. com website, did not return home after work on January 24, two days before […]

March 11, 2010 (AFP) – Former Sri Lankan army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka will face three charges in a military court, including “conduct unbecoming an officer,” a source said Thursday. “There will be three charges against him,” said the military source, who declined to be named. In addition to the “conduct unbecoming” […]

March 8, 2010 (AFP) – Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao urged Sri Lanka’s leaders to open a new era of stability after the island’s civil war by bringing minority Tamils into mainstream society, officials said Monday. Rao, on a visit to Colombo, told President Mahinda Rajapakse that the defeat of Tamil Tiger separatist rebels last […]

March 9, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s outgoing parliament Tuesday approved the extension of a state of emergency until after next month’s legislative elections, giving sweeping powers to police and troops. Parliament voted strongly to extend the laws enacted by President Mahinda Rajapakse earlier this month to deal with anti-government elements after the crushing of […]

March 8, 2010 (AFP) – India’s external intelligence agency tried to undermine Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse at polls in January and wanted him defeated, a minister said in an interview published Monday. Nandana Goonathilake, minister of postal services, said the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence service, had worked against Rajapakse at […]

March 7, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka has threatened to go on a hunger strike to protest against his detention, his wife said Sunday. However, he later fell out with Rajapakse and mounted a failed bid to unseat the president in elections. Fonseka will begin his […]

March 6, 2010 (AFP) – India’s foreign secretary Nirupama Rao will hold talks with Sri Lanka’s president on resolving the grievances of the island’s Tamil minority this weekend, an official source said Saturday. India sent troops to supervise a 1987 Indo-Lanka peace pact and ended up fighting separatist Tamil rebels. After its troop withdrawal in […]