Category: Politics
‘s final council poll
October 10, 2009 (AFP) – Voting got underway in southern Sri Lanka Saturday in the final local council poll before national elections due next year, officials said.Some 1.7 million people are eligible to vote for the 55 members of the Southern Provincial Council, a stronghold of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance. “Voting started […]
Sri Lanka Tamil refugees should move freely: US
WASHINGTON, October 9, 2009 (AFP) – The United States on Friday called on the Sri Lankan government to allow Tamil refugees displaced by recent fighting to move freely around the country.Assistant US Secretary of State Robert Blake, who is focussed on US relations with central and southern Asia, “emphasized the importance of the government allowing […]
Sri Lanka wraps up final council poll ahead of national elections
October 10, 2009 (AFP) – Vote counting got under way in southern Sri Lanka Saturday after nine hours of polling for the final local council before national elections due next year, officials said.Nearly two thirds of the 1.7 million eligible voters turned out to elect the 55-member Southern Provincial Council, a stronghold of President Mahinda […]
Sri Lanka, India in joint navy training exercise
Oct 10, 2009 (LBO) – The Indian and Sri Lankan navies held a three-day joint exercise in the seas off Colombo earlier this week to train officer cadets and practice manoeuvres for maritime security operations.The manoeuvres included flights by an Indian navy light helicopter which dropped supplies on two Sri Lankan navy patrol vessels to […]
Sri Lanka raises defence budget by 20 percent: report
October 9, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has raised its defence expenditure by another 20 percent this year following its military victory over separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. Parliament late Thursday approved an additional 33 billion rupees (287 million dollars) to pay for hardware and beef up security in former conflict zones. At the beginning of […]
Britain says Sri Lanka war victims should be freed
October 6, 2009 (AFP) – Britain on Tuesday expressed disappointment with Sri Lanka’s handling of war-displaced civilians and demanded that they be given the freedom to leave state-run camps. “Freedom of movement is critical if a humanitarian crisis is to be averted,” visiting British Development Minister Mike Foster said after touring the camps, where over […]
US responds to Sri Lanka protest over Clinton remark
WASHINGTON, October 4, 2009 (AFP) – The United States, responding to protests from Sri Lanka over remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said it had no recent evidence of women being raped while in Sri Lankan government custody.Colombo faced condemnation for its handling of the final stages of the war against Tiger rebels and […]
Sri Lanka seeks foreign cash for war-displaced
October 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will tap foreign donors to raise more cash to look after over 250,000 people displaced by its offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels, a minister said Monday.“We are drawing up a fresh appeal to meet our running costs next year that will include funds for livelihood support and resettlement […]
Sri Lanka arrests bomb disposal soldier over school van blast: police
October 3, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested a soldier from a bomb disposal unit over the bombing of a school van which killed a student and wounded 12 others, an official said.The soldier was taken into custody following Friday’s attack in Kurunegala, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the capital Colombo, […]
Wife of jailed Sri Lankan reporter accepts Peter Mackler Award
WASHINGTON, October 2, 2009 (AFP) – J.S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil reporter and editor serving a 20-year prison sentence in Sri Lanka, was awarded the first Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism on Friday.The Peter Mackler Award rewards journalists who fight courageously and ethically to report the news in countries where freedom of the […]
‘s rape remark
October 3, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka lodged a protest over US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks that rape had been used as a war tactic on the island, officials said Saturday.Colombo’s displeasure over a statement by Clinton to the United Nations Security Council was conveyed to US diplomats in the Sri Lankan capital, […]
Sri Lanka bomb kills student, wounds 11: officials
October 2, 2009 (AFP) – An explosion ripped through a school bus in northwestern Sri Lanka on Friday, killing one girl and wounding 11 other students and their driver, police said. The incident took place in Kurunegala district, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the capital Colombo, a police spokesman said, adding an investigation was […]