Tag: Sri Lanka
Australian warship intercepts boatload of Sri Lankans
SYDNEY, Feb 22, 2007 (AFP) – An Australian warship has intercepted a boat carrying 85 Sri Lankans towards a Canberra-controlled island in the Indian Ocean, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Thursday.Andrews said the unseaworthy vessel was intercepted about 50 nautical miles off Christmas Island on Tuesday, after being spotted a day earlier. He said the […]
‘s national heritage again
February 22 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s sacked national heritage minister Anura Bandaranaike has been re-appointed to his former post Thursday, a spokesman from the presidential secretariat said. Bandaranaike was removed with former aviation minister Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi.
Sri Lanka to revamp consumer price index as inflation soars
Feb 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Thursday it plans to rejig its consumer price index basket to reflect changed food and lifestyle trends as inflation based on a decades-old range of items crossed 20 percent in January.The Colombo Consumer Price Index has attracted widespread criticism because it is based on a formula better […]
Nine killed in Sri Lanka boat attack: navy
Feb 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy sank two suspected Tamil Tiger boats off the island’s north-western coast Thursday, killing at least nine people, a military official said. Navy craft attacked the suspected rebel boats off the coast of Puttalam district, a navy spokesman said. “There were six men in one boat and three […]
Sri Lanka marks truce anniversary, conflict rages on
COLOMBO, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels mark the fifth anniversary of their Norwegian-brokered truce this week but the fighting rages on, with nearly 4,000 people killed in the past year.The ceasefire, signed separately by the Tamil Tiger chieftain and Sri Lanka’s then premier, came into effect on […]
Sri Lanka asks India to crack down on cross border gun-running
COLOMBO, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday asked neighbouring India to intensify a crackdown on suspected Tamil rebel gun-running across the narrow strip of sea dividing the two South Asian countries.Sri Lanka’s defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the interception last week by the Indian coastguard of a boat loaded with weapons indicated […]
Mine blast kills three people in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – At least three people, including a policeman, were killed and 16 wounded Wednesday in a mine attack in eastern Sri Lanka, police said.The road side blast targeting a police vehicle was caused by a Claymore-type bomb at Ottamawadi in the district of Batticaloa, a police official said by telephone. […]
Norway calls for fresh commitment to Sri Lankan truce
COLOMBO, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – Norway Wednesday called for a fresh commitment from Sri Lanka’s warring parties to maintain its peace brokering efforts on the eve of the fifth anniversary of a truce that now holds only on paper. His remarks came amid calls by the government’s former Marxist ally, the JVP — or […]
Fewer Sri Lankans work abroad due to war, better pay at home
Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – War in the Middle East and equal paying jobs at home led to a sharp drop in Sri Lankans working abroad in 2006 as maids, clerks and professionals opted to stay put, an official said Wednesday.To make it more attractive, the government now planned to raise the minimum wage to […]
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COLOMBO, Feb 20, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Tuesday condemned as an “abominable act of terrorism” the firebombing of a train from India to Pakistan that killed 68 people. Sri Lanka, which is battling a separatist campaign by Tamil rebels, said terrorism was a scourge that affected many nations and that the international community “must […]
Sri Lanka war planes in action as reported death toll rises
COLOMBO, Feb 20, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan military aircraft bombed rebel-held territory on Tuesday, killing at least two villagers, the Tamil Tiger guerrillas said, as the military reported four more deaths. Sri Lanka’s separatist conflict, led by the Tamil Tigers, has claimed over 60,000 lives. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said Israeli-built […]
Upside Protection
February, 20 (LBO) – Ceylon Petroleum Corporation wants to hedge 300,000 barrels of diesel before the end of the month, but is looking for better upside protection, an official said. Firms like Sri Lankan airlines hedges more than 70 percent of its oil though it is done by Emirates in Dubai. Last week it bought […]