Category: Politics
Human rights on decline in Sri Lanka: US
WASHINGTON, February 25, 2009 (AFP) – Human rights are on the decline in Sri Lanka with the government and Tamil Tiger rebels both committing violations as the three-decade war intensifies, the US State Department said Wednesday. In an annual global report, the State Department also said that media freedom was deteriorating on the island with […]
Sri Lankan Tamil editor arrested: police
February 26, 2009 (AFP) – A Tamil newspaper editor was arrested in Sri Lanka’s capital Thursday, police said, after colleagues and family members complained that he had been abducted while attending a funeral.Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Ranjith Gunasekara said N. Vidyatharan was taken in for questioning by the police crime division in connection with activities […]
Sri Lanka re-opens land route to Jaffna
February 25, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops has opened the main highway to the northern Jaffna peninsula for the first time in nearly two decades after wresting the route from rebel control, the military said Wednesday.Government troops operated a food convoy Tuesday along the A-9 highway that had been under rebel control since 1990, […]
Sri Lankan Tamil war protester sets himself ablaze
CHENNAI, February 25, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan Tamil committed suicide by setting himself on fire to protest civilian casualties in Colombo’s military offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels, Indian police said Wednesday.The Sri Lankan army claims to have driven back the rebels into less than 75 square kilometres (28 square miles) of jungle […]
Sri Lanka probes origin of Tiger aircraft
February 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military said Tuesday it was trying to establish how the Tamil Tigers managed to buy light planes abroad, smuggle them onto the island and establish a rebel air force.According to the island’s defence ministry, the raid was the last air attack likely to be carried out by the […]
Sri Lanka troops advance on last Tiger hold-out: military
February 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops were Tuesday advancing on the last urban area in the north of the island still in the hands of Tamil Tiger rebels, the military said.Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said soldiers were “on the fringes of Puthukkudirirppu,” a small town on a narrow strip of land in the […]
Sri Lanka Tiger chief unlikely to surrender: defence chief
February 24, 2009 (AFP) – The elusive leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels is not expected to surrender despite losing his de facto state and may instead try to flee by boat, the country’s top defence official said Tuesday. Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, could use a human smuggling ring to escape by boat, […]
Sixth Indian Tamil self-immolates over Sri Lanka war
CHENNAI, February 22, 2009 (AFP) – An ethnic Tamil activist committed suicide by setting himself on fire in protest against the war in Sri Lanka, Indian police said on Sunday. Siva Prakasam, 55, set himself ablaze during an anti-war rally on Saturday in Chennai, capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a police spokesman […]
‘s Tamil Tigers say ready for ceasefire
February 23, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Monday said they were ready to comply with international calls for a ceasefire but would not lay down their arms.With rebel forces cornered in the northeast of the island by government troops, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) appealed to foreign powers to step […]
Sri Lanka army rejects Tiger truce call
February 23, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers appealed Monday for international action to halt a major offensive against their shrinking fiefdom, but the island’s military rejected any talk of a truce. With rebel forces cornered in the northeast of the island by a massive attack by government forces, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil […]
EU urges humanitarian truce in Sri Lanka
BRUSSELS, February 23, 2009 (AFP) – European Union foreign ministers issued a joint call Monday for an immediate ceasefire between Sri Lankan security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels to allow aid in and civilians out of the conflict zone.“The EU is deeply concerned about the evolving humanitarian crisis and vast number of internally displaced people,” […]
Sri Lanka says 65 Tamil Tigers killed; territory shrunk
February 22, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces killed at least 65 Tamil Tigers in a week of intense fighting that further reduced the territory under rebel control, the military said on Sunday. The Tigers have been driven back into just 73 square kilometres (28 square miles) of jungle, military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said, […]