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:: SRI LANKA |
Sri Lanka: Where journalists live dangerously
Sri Lankan journalists are going through a trying period. Government leaders are taking a hard line on media freedom, with even senior media persons facing death threats and murderous assaults.
India trying to stop Sri Lanka from defeating LTTE: JVP
Colombo, January 31: A radical Sri Lankan nationalist party leader has accused India of trying to stop the Sri Lankan Army from defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels militarily.
Army mine kills 17 civilians in Sri Lanka: Tamil rebels
Colombo, January 29: At least 11 school children were among 17 civilians killed and 17 wounded when an army unit triggered off a claymore mine explosion on a bus in a rebel controlled area in northwest Sri Lanka, a pro-rebel website said Tuesday.
Sri Lanka denies hand in blast, LTTE appeals to UN
Colombo, January 30 (IANS): Sri Lanka Wednesday denied responsibility for a bus blast in the island's rebel-held north that killed 18 civilians including 12 children. But the Tamil Tigers have told the UN that the army committed the outrage. "The blast took place in an area controlled by the LTTE terrorists. Our troops do not operate there," the government's defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said here.
Sri Lanka army destroys 20 LTTE bunkers in Jaffna
Colombo, January 30: The Sri Lankan army Wednesday smashed through the forward defence lines of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels over a wide area in the northern district of Jaffna.
India is among the largest investors in Sri Lanka
India has emerged as one of the largest foreign investors in Sri Lanka, with a commitment of over $200 million since 2000. There are signs $364 million will be added to this soon, if some prestigious projects fructify.
Indian tourists keep Sri Lankan tourist industry afloat
Colombo, January 29 (IANS): Tourist arrivals from India and Britain are keeping Sri Lanka's tourist industry afloat amid war and hostile travel advisories from several Western countries.
India pats devolution package to make Sri Lanka do more
New Delhi, January 27 (IANS): India's surprise decision to hail a truncated Sri Lankan devolution package is aimed at slowly pushing Colombo on to the path of power sharing to end decades of ethnic conflict.
At least 15 killed in Sri Lanka fighting
Colombo, January 28: At least 14 Tamil Tiger rebels and one soldier were killed in clashes between the government troops and the rebels in the northern Mannar district, Sri Lankan military said.
JVP questions Indian 'influence' on Rajapaksa
Colombo, January 28: A radical Sinhalese Marxist party wants India to clarify if it influenced the Sri Lankan government's move to finally implement a controversial constitutional amendment in a bid to resolve the ethnic conflict.
Sri Lankan Air Force retaliates LTTE's artillery fire
Colombo, January 28: The Sri Lankan Air Force Monday mounted an offensive on a Tamil Tigers base to retaliate the rebels' artillery fire in the northern Jaffna peninsula Monday morning, defence officials said here.
37 Tamil rebels killed in Sri Lanka
Colombo, January 27: At least 37 Tamil tiger rebels were killed in fierce fighting with the government soldiers since Saturday, a defence official said.
Jailed Karuna implicates Sri Lankan government
Colombo, January 26: The controversial breakaway Tamil Tiger leader "Colonel" Karuna, who has been found guilty of being in Britain on a false Sri Lankan diplomatic passport, has implicated the Sri Lankan government.
Lankan defence chief denies helping Karuna go to Britain
Colombo, January 27: Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has denied he helped breakaway Tamil Tiger leader "Colonel" Karuna get a forged diplomatic passport to go to Britain.
Prabhakaran in India to recuperate from wounds?
Chennai, January 25 (IANS): Rumours of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo V. Prabhakaran having crossed the Palk Straits to India to recuperate from wounds sent the Tamil Nadu police into a tizzy.
Rebel Tamil leader Karuna gets nine months' jail in London
Colombo, January 25: A British court Friday sentenced the controversial breakaway Tamil Tiger leader, 'Colonel' Karuna, to nine months in prison for travelling on a false Sri Lankan passport.
Opposition, Tamil groups slam Sri Lanka's devolution proposal
Colombo, January 25: Sri Lanka's main opposition and dominant Tamil party have denounced a proposal by a panel suggesting devolution of powers to provinces as a "deception" and a "farce".
1987 pact with India to be implemented: Sri Lanka
Colombo, January 24 (IANS): Sri Lanka said on Thursday that the recommendations of an all-party panel on devolution of power to the provinces reflected a collective resolve to fully implement the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987.
Sri Lanka devolution panel to suggest only administrative changes
Colombo, January 23 (IANS): The report of the Sri Lankan panel on devolution of powers, which is to be submitted to President Mahinda Rajapaksa Wednesday, will suggest only "administrative changes" and avoid recommending any "structural alterations" in the country's constitution.
All parties moot interim political council in north Sri Lanka
Colombo, January 24 (IANS): An all-party panel tasked to work out a devolution package for Sri Lanka has recommended the setting up of an "interim political council" in the war-affected and Tamil-speaking northern province, a Tamil cabinet minister said Thursday.
Tamil Tigers deny air force bombing claim
Colombo, January 24: Tamil rebels have denied a claim by the Sri Lanka air force that they bombed a key rebel base in the northern part of the country regularly visited by Tamil leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Sri Lankan Air Force bombs LTTE leader's hideout
Colombo, January 23: The Sri Lankan military said its air force bombed a hideout of Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran in the north Wednesday and it believed he was there when the bombing took place
US voices doubts about free polls in eastern Sri Lanka
Colombo, January 23: US ambassador Robert O. Blake on Wednesday expressed doubts if the upcoming local elections in Sri Lanka's eastern Tamil-speaking district of Batticaloa would be free and fair.
LTTE man's arrest for abduction plan first since 1991
New Delhi, January 18: The arrest of a Tamil Tiger operative on charges of planning the abduction from India of a prominent Sri Lankan Tamil politician is the first time the rebels have gone this far since the 1991 killing of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Tamil Tigers strike terror in Sinhalese heartland
Colombo, January 18 (IANS): In the new phase of the Sri Lankan war following the abrogation of the ceasefire agreement, Tamil Tiger rebels are systematically terrorising villagers in the deep south of the country, the heartland of the majority Sinhalese community.
Rajapaksa restricts devolution panel's mandate
Colombo, January 20 (IANS): An all-party panel in Sri Lanka is set to reject the Tamil minority's demand for a federal constitution while suggesting improvements in the present unitary system to make it more democratic.
Global concern over maritime security cripples LTTE
Colombo, January 21 (IANS): Heightened global and regional cooperation to increase maritime security is adversely affecting the fighting capabilities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on sea and land, military experts say.
Six civilians killed by suspected Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka
Colombo, January 18: Six civilians were killed and a paramilitary guard was injured in an ambush by suspected Tamil rebels in a remote village in south-eastern Sri Lanka which had been infiltrated by the rebels, military sources said Friday.
Japan gives veiled warning to warring Sri Lanka
Japan has given Sri Lanka a veiled warning that it may review relations if Colombo merely continues the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels without trying hard to find a political solution to the ethnic problem through negotiations with all stakeholders.
No ban on LTTE now, Sri Lanka tells Japan
Reacting to the veiled warning from Tokyo, the Sri Lankan government told the Japanese envoy that it does not contemplate banning the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at present, though the ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the rebel group is set to formally end Wednesday.
LTTE will be defeated by year-end: Sri Lanka Army chief
The Sri Lankan Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, has said that the Tamil Tiger rebels will be militarily defeated before he retires from service at the end of this year. "I do not want to leave this problem to the next army commander," the general, who would be retiring in December, told newspersons in Colombo on January 11th.
'Ruthless' LTTE inspired Al Qaeda in Iraq, says FBI
The "ruthless tactics" of the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers have inspired terrorist networks worldwide, including the Al Qaeda in Iraq, says the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Colombo should accommodate India's security concerns: JVP
Colombo, January 13 (IANS): India should avoid the mistakes of the past while Sri Lanka should accommodate New Delhi's security concerns in the spirit of "true friendship" between the two neighbours, the leader of Sri Lanka's radical Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has said.
Rajapaksa says India-Sri Lanka accord can solve ethnic issue
Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has said the India-Sri Lanka accord of 1987 offers the best solution for the ethnic problem in his country.
Sri Lankan military says 66 rebels killed in north
Colombo, January 13 (Xinhua): At least 66 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in Sri Lanka's northern districts as heavy fighting between the government troops and rebels continued, the military has said.
Sri Lanka says it's committed to resolving ethnic crisis
Colombo, January 13 (Xinhua): The Sri Lankan government has reiterated its commitment to a political solution amid Western concerns over its announcement of withdrawal from a troubled ceasefire agreement with the Tamil Tigers.
Continue with Norway's help for peace, donors tell Sri Lanka
Colombo, January 13 (IANS): Disturbed by Sri Lanka's rapid slide into a full-scale war, international donors have asked the government to continue with Norwegian facilitation and accept monitoring of human rights abuses by the United Nations.
LTTE military intelligence chief killed by Sri Lankan commandos
Colombo, January 6: The Tamil Tiger rebels suffered yet another major blow on Saturday, when the chief of their military intelligence, Shanmuganathan Ravishankar alias Col. Charles, and three of his lieutenants, were killed in a Sri Lankan army ambush in Mannar in northwest Sri Lanka, the defence ministry announced Sunday. Confirming the death of Charles, the pro-Tiger website Tamilnet said that a Deep Penetration Unit of the army had set off a claymore mine between Iluppaikadavai and Paalamadu on seeing the foursome travelling in a van.
Rajapaksa's foreign policy advisor quits
Colombo, January 6: Jayantha Dhanapala, senior advisor to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on foreign affairs, resigned Sunday, citing "personal reasons". There was much speculation in Colombo about why the veteran diplomat resigned at this juncture. Dhanapala himself was not in the country to answer queries, but his former colleagues at the government peace secretariat told IANS that he was pressed for time.
Ceasefire abrogation to benefit LTTE: Ranil
Colombo, January 7: Sri Lankan opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has said the only beneficiaries of the government's abrogation of the 2002 ceasefire agreement would be the Tamil Tigers.
Sri Lanka slams Nordic claim that truce saved 10,000 lives
Colombo, January 7: Sri Lanka has slammed a claim by the Nordic countries that the now abrogated Ceasefire Agreement with the Tamil Tigers had saved 10,000 Sri Lankan lives.
Karuna group quits anti-LTTE alliance in Batticaloa
Colombo, January 7 (IANS): The recently forged anti-Tamil Tiger political alliance in the eastern Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking district of Batticaloa has split.
Rajapaksa wants to liberate Tamils from LTTE
Colombo, January 8: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appealed to the people of the country to help him liberate the Tamil-speaking people of north Sri Lanka from the clutches of the Tamil Tigers. "Kindly grant me the opportunity to liberate the innocent and miserable masses of the north who are in grave and imminent danger at the hands of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)," the state-owned Daily News quoted the president as saying at Hungama in southern Sri Lanka on Monday.
Obama calls Sri Lanka's civil war vicious
Colombo, January 9 (IANS): The Sri Lankan ethnic issue has entered the US presidential campaign with Democratic Party contender Barack Obama saying that the conflict in the island is a "vicious civil war". In an interview to candidates@google, Obama said that conflicts, such as those in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland, stemmed from the inability of people to accommodate others who were not like them.
Spiking Sri Lanka peace pact will have 'consequences': Norway
New Delhi, January 3: Sri Lanka's decision to scrap its ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the Tamil Tigers will have "negative consequences" and only spark more violence, warned a Norwegian minister who helped broker the truce in 2002.
US stops military supplies to Sri Lanka, Colombo unfazed
Colombo, January 4: The US said Thursday that it had stopped the supply of military equipment and services to Sri Lanka under the Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriation Act 2008. But an unfazed Colombo said that its critical needs could still be met under exemptions provided by the act.
Colombo snubbed as PM Singh declines I-Day invitation
Colombo, January 6: India has officially told Sri Lanka that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unable to accept the invitation to attend the island's 60th independence day celebrations on February 4, because of prior commitments.
Sri Lanka to re-define Norway's role in peace process
Colombo, January 4: Sri Lanka has said that Norway will continue to be part of the peace process but its role will have to be "re-defined" following the abrogation of the ceasefire agreement (CFA) Oslo helped draft in 2002.
Truce saved 10,000 Sri Lankan lives, say Nordic minister
Colombo, January 5: Foreign ministers of five Nordic countries, which had contributed truce monitors to Sri Lanka, have claimed that the ceasefire agreement (CFA), which the Sri Lankan government abrogated earlier this week, had saved an estimated 10,000 lives in the first three years of its existence.
Only military might will correct situation, says LTTE
Colombo, January 4: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has indicated that only a demonstration of its military might will change the present international climate in its favour.
Sri Lanka will consider talks if LTTE lays down arms
Colombo, January 3: The Sri Lankan government said Thursday that it would consider peace talks if the guerrillas laid down arms and came to the negotiating table.
"We have not closed the door for talks," cabinet spokesman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told the media here.
Sri Lanka gained upper hand over LTTE in 2007
Sri Lanka's failure to unveil a political package to end years of war and its military successes against the Tamil Tigers marked the highlights of one of the world's longest running conflicts in 2007.
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