Category: Politics
UN rights council divided over Sri Lanka
GENEVA, May 26, 2009 (AFP) – Asian and Western members of the UN Human Rights Council failed to find a common voice on the situation in Sri Lanka before they were due to hold a special session on the issue Tuesday. Switzerland, with the support of about 30 mainly Western states, has tabled a draft […]
Sri Lanka to hold local elections in north
May 25, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is to hold local elections later this year in parts of northern areas formerly held by the Tamil Tigers for the first time in 15 years, an official said Monday. A spokesman for the local government ministry said voting will be held between August 4 and 17 to […]
Tigers admit leader dead; UN presses Sri Lanka over access
May 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers on Sunday admitted for the first time that their leader was killed by government forces a week ago as the UN demanded better access for civilians displaced in recent fighting. Almost a week after the government said its troops had killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, in an […]
Sri Lanka says aid access only after screening
May 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Sunday it would allow UN aid workers access to civilians who remain in camps after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, but only once rebels hiding among the refugees had been weeded out.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on a visit to one camp housing 200,000 Tamils, had […]
Sri Lanka to restrict aid until rebels screened out
May 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Sunday it would not allow aid workers complete access to civilians who remain held in camps after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers until rebels hiding among the refugees had been weeded out.United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on a visit to one camp housing 200,000 Tamils, […]
UN chief in Sri Lanka amid fears for civilians
May 22, 2009 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived Friday in Sri Lanka to press for humanitarian access to civilians displaced by the separatist conflict, as the island’s president dismissed international concerns.Ban is the first world leader to visit since Colombo’s assertion earlier this week that the Tamil Tigers’ bloody decades-long crusade for an […]
Sri Lanka needs help to meet refugee challenge: UN chief
May 23, 2009 (LBO) – The UN chief Ban Ki-moon who pressed for access to camps housing nearly 300,000 refugees in northern Sri Lanka says more help is needed to meet their needs while a longer term solution is needed to permanently solve the conflict. “If equality is not delivered history could repeat itself,” Ban […]
US calls for reconciliation, access to refugee camps
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2009 (AFP) – The United States pressed Sri lanka Thursday to lift restrictions on access to refugee camps in a strip of land where government forces this week crushed a three-decade-old Tamil insurgency. “We urge the government to allow the ICRC, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the UN immediate […]
Top UN official visits Tamil refugee camps: UN
UNITED NATIONS, May 21, 2009 (AFP) – A senior UN official was allowed to visit camps in Sri Lanka housing refugees from intense fighting that earlier this week ended in the defeat of a 30-year-old Tamil insurgency. Vijay Nambiar, chief of staff of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, visited camps around Vavuniya that are housing […]
UN chief to urge humanitarian access in Sri Lanka
May 22, 2009 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon was due to land in Sri Lanka later Friday on a 24-hour mission to press its government for unfettered humanitarian access to an estimated 250,000 civilians displaced by conflict.The secretary general was expected in the evening ahead of talks Saturday with President Mahinda Rajapakse and Foreign […]
Sri Lanka lost over 6,200 troops to beat Tigers: report
May 22, 2009 (AFP) – More than 6,200 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and nearly 30,000 wounded in security forces’ final offensive to completely defeat Tamil Tiger separatists, state television reported Friday. Rajapakse, who is also President Mahinda Rajapakse’s brother, said a total of 23,790 military men and women had been killed since 1981. He […]
Sri Lanka president dismisses threat of war crimes charges
May 22, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday brushed off calls for an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by government troops in their offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels.“There are some who tried to stop our military campaign by threatening to haul us before war crimes tribunals,” Rajapakse said in a […]