Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka says eight rebels killed in fresh violence
COLOMBO, May 14, 2007 (AFP) – Eight Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in fresh clashes in Sri Lanka’s embattled northern and eastern regions, the defence ministry said Monday.Security forces killed seven rebels in the northern district of Vavuniya late Sunday in a gunbattle along their defence lines, the ministry said. In a separate confrontation […]
Foreign aid cut fear as Sri Lanka fails on human rights
May 13, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s failure to share power with minority Tamils and put an end to extra-judicial killings have raised prospects of more aid cuts to the embattled island, officials and diplomats say. A top US envoy left Colombo on Thursday after castigating the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse for not delivering […]
Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, five rebels killed
May 13, 2007 (AFP) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Buddhist monk in eastern Sri Lanka Sunday as security forces killed five Tamil Tiger rebels elsewhere, officials said. Monk Sandungamuwe Nandaratana was shot dead at a temple about 260 kilometres (162 miles) northeast of Colombo, military officials said, adding that the attackers had escaped. The […]
Sri Lanka Tiger attack costs Shell 700,000 dollars
May 12, 2007 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan unit of Royal Dutch Shell suffered damages of at least 700,000 dollars in an air attack by Tamil Tiger rebels last month, the company said on Saturday. Two bombs exploded at the Anglo-Dutch company’s storage facility on the outskirts of Colombo, damaging one of its four storage […]
Flight of Fancy
May 11, 2007 (LBO) — Sri Lanka plans to double the price of lottery tickets and use the extra cash to build a second international airport in Weerawila, the National Lotteries Board has said.From Thursday, the Bandaranaike International Airport, which shares a runway with an adjoining military base, will close between 10:30 pm (1700 GMT) […]
Sri Lankan pleads guilty in Tamil Tigers arms plot
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2007 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan national pleaded guilty in a Maryland court Thursday to charges he tried to smuggle US weapons to Tamil Tiger rebels, the US Justice Department announced.Thirunavukarasu Varatharasa, 37, pleaded guilty to attempted export of arms and munitions and to conspiracy to support the Tamil Tigers, a group […]
Sri Lankan construction firms eye overseas contracts
May 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry is seeking to export professional services and eyeing opportunities in the building boom in the Middle East and south Asia, a senior official said. “We want to support the bigger players to go out of the country and do projects abroad – in the Middle East […]
Rights group calls for Sri Lanka monitors
May 11, 2007 (AFP) – Human Rights Watch on Friday renewed a call for independent foreign monitoring of human rights in Sri Lanka, where hundreds of people have been killed by unidentified gunmen.The New York-based watchdog said international monitors should be able to report publicly on the abuses by Tamil Tiger guerrillas, a breakaway faction […]
Total Failure
May 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s national power utility has started to restore power to the capital Colombo following an island-wide power failure, officials said. A failure in the transmission line from the Kelanitissa power generation complex to Biyagama, in the outskirts of Colombo, is believed to have set off a chain reaction, causing […]
Former Sri Lanka leader protests security
May 10, 2007 (AFP) – Former Sri Lanka president Chandrika Kumaratunga has protested the withdrawal of commandos assigned to protect her, saying she was still a target for assassination.She retained a staff of 198 and used 36 vehicles after stepping down. The constitution allows a former president to use two cars and a staff of […]
New mobile operator enters booming Bangladesh market
DHAKA, May 10, 2007 (AFP) – Bangladesh’s sixth mobile phone operator, Warid Telecom, launched operations Thursday aiming to grab a slice of one of the world’s fastest growing markets, an official said. Owned by the Gulf-based Abu Dhabi Group, Warid Telecom, is counting on five million subscribers in the first year of its operation, company […]
‘s promise to stem bloodshed broken: US
COLOMBO, May 10, 2007 (AFP) – The United States Thursday accused Sri Lanka of going back on promises to protect human rights and said the situation in the embattled island had “deteriorated” in the past year.Visiting US diplomat Richard Boucher said there was more bloodshed and that the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse had failed […]