Category: Politics
Sri Lanka jets hit Tiger positions as ground battles rage: military
December 6, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s airforce staged a series of bombing raids against suspected Tamil Tiger targets as ground troops fought fierce battles on several fronts, the defence ministry said on Saturday.The battle zone is inaccessible to journalists and aid workers, meaning claims and counter-claims are impossible to verify independently. Security forces, waging […]
Sri Lanka moves to take key highway inside Tiger territory: military
December 5, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops leading a heavy offensive against Tamil separatists have secured parts of a key highway running through rebel-held territory, the defence ministry said on Friday. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Security forces cleared a stretch of 21 […]
Sri Lankan troops take key Tiger sea base: military
December 4, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Thursday captured a key Tamil Tiger naval base as part of an offensive to dismantle the rebels’ northern fiefdom, the defence ministry said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Security forces leading a major offensive to […]
Sri Lanka opposition to take cabinet, central bank to task over oil hedge
Dec 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’ main opposition United National Party says the cabinet of ministers and the central bank is also responsible for a hedging deal that has gone wrong, and would use parliamentary powers to take them to task. Zero cost instruments had been recommended by a study group formed in 2006, […]
Sri Lanka takes another town in battle for Tiger capital: military
December 1, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government forces on Monday wrested control over another town from Tamil Tiger rebels in their offensive to capture the political capital of the guerrillas, the defence ministry said.The guerrillas, who began their struggle for a separate Tamil homeland in 1972, are facing the Sri Lankan army’s biggest ever […]
Sri Lanka resumes advance on Tiger HQ
November 30, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces have resumed their offensive to capture the political capital of Tamil Tiger rebels after heavy monsoon rains began subsiding, the defence ministry said Sunday.“The air sorties were made in support of the advancing 57th division infantry battalions,” the ministry said. Flooding had stalled the military push […]
Sri Lanka Tigers could go back to guerrilla war as mini state crumbles
November 28, 2008 (AFP) – A pledge by Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebel leader to fight on despite a military onslaught raised fears Friday of a return to a hit-and-run guerrilla war as his mini-state faced potential collapse. Separatist chief Velupillai Prabhakaran vowed Thursday the rebels would “continue with our struggle until the alien Sinhala occupation […]
Sri Lanka Tiger leader appeals for Indian Tamil support
Nov 27, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has sought the sympathy of Tamils in south India in an apparent effort to get a ceasefire with Indian intervention and ward off an army onslaught on his stronghold. In his annual ‘Heroes’ Day’ speech to commemorate rebel war dead, Prabhakaran acknowledged his […]
” to self-rule
NUUK, November 26, 2008 (AFP) – More than 75 percent of Greenlanders voted Tuesday in favour of self-rule in a referendum that paves the way for independence from Denmark, final results showed. A total of 75.54 percent voted “yes” to greater autonomy, while 23.57 percent said “no,” the local government said. A self-rule proposal hammered […]
Tamil Tiger chief to make annual speech as fiefdom crumbles
November 25, 2008 (AFP) – The reclusive leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers is to deliver his annual policy address this week from a besieged jungle hideout that could soon be totally overrun by government troops.With his northern fiefdom shrinking fast in the face of a massive onslaught, Velupillai Prabhakaran is expected to use Thursday’s […]
Sri Lanka poised to take Tiger HQ despite rains: military
November 25, 2008 (AFP) – Security forces ambushed and killed scores of Tamil Tigers in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, the defence ministry said, adding its troops were poised to take the rebels’ political capital. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Government soldiers occupying a […]
Greenlanders go to the polls to decide on self-rule
NUUK, November 25, 2008 (AFP) – Some 39,000 people in Greenland vote on Tuesday in a referendum on self-rule for the Danish territory, a move that could pave the way for total independence for the Arctic island.Public opinion polls in the run-up to the referendum have suggested that a large majority plan to vote in […]