Category: Politics

February 2, 2009 (AFP) – Shells hit a crowded hospital in northeast Sri Lanka, killing at least nine people and raising fears Monday for thousands of civilians caught in a final military push against cornered Tamil Tiger rebels. The hospital, which is in rebel-held-territory and houses around 500 patients, took direct hits in two separate […]

February 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka issued a stark warning to civilians trapped in fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels Monday, a day after shells hit a crowded hospital in the northeast combat zone, killing at least nine people.A government statement said the fight against the cornered Tigers was at “the decisive stage” and that […]

LONDON, January 31, 2009 (AFP) – More than 50,000 demonstrators marched through London in a Tamil rally on Saturday demanding an end to the fighting in Sri Lanka.“More than 50,000 were at the demonstration,” a spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police said. “There has been one arrest for possession of an offensive weapon.” The spokesman said […]

February 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels failed to let hundreds of thousands of civilians leave the island’s northeastern war zone before a government deadline, the defence ministry said Sunday.President Mahinda Rajapakse had given until Saturday night for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to allow the civilians to move to […]

CHENNAI, February 1, 2009 (AFP) – India’s large Tamil population is demanding that New Delhi ensure the safety of 250,000 of their brethren boxed into the battle zone in Sri Lanka’s north. Protesters have poured into the streets in Tamil Nadu state, home to 62 million Indian Tamils, in the past week to call for […]

February 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military said Sunday it would move to “liberate” civilians trapped by fighting with Tamil Tiger forces, after a deadline expired for the rebels to allow non-combatants to leave the war zone.International concern over the fate of tens of thousands of men, women and children stuck in the encircled […]

January 31, 2009 (AFP) – The Red Cross said Saturday it was in talks with Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels to release more wounded civilians trapped in the island’s embattled north.Sri Lanka’s government, which denies it targets civilians, has rejected international calls for a ceasefire and says the military is in the final phase of […]

January 31, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan military reported a lull in fighting Saturday with cornered Tamil Tiger rebels, as the Red Cross tried to negotiate the evacuation of more civilian wounded from the conflict zone. “There have been no incidents, no casualties, no terrorist killed or military items recovered from terrorists,” in the […]

LONDON, January 28, 2009 (AFP) – The chief of the Tamil Tiger rebels in Britain helped supply military equipment to the Sri Lankan separatist group, a London court heard Wednesday.Laidlaw added that Chrishanthakumar had headed the United Tamil Organisation in Britain before it became outlawed in 2001. The LTTE, which is fighting for a separate […]

January 29, 2009 (AFP) – International rights groups pressed for urgent action to save up to 250,000 civilians trapped in northern Sri Lanka where government forces Thursday fought to secure final victory over Tamil rebels.Human rights bodies called for immediate steps by both the Colombo government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) […]