Category: Politics
Sri Lankan troops capture key rebel town: defence ministry
May 9, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government forces captured Friday a key guerrilla town in the north of the island killing 15 Tamil rebels, the defence ministry said. Two soldiers also died in the fierce fighting as government troops took Adampan town in Mannar district, the ministry said. There was no immediate comment from […]
‘s east coast holds key polls
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, May 9, 2008 (AFP) – A heavy security blanket was thrown over eastern Sri Lanka ahead of Saturday’s local polls, seen as a key test for the hawkish government as it escalates the war against Tamil rebels. President Mahinda Rajapakse is hoping the east’s first provincial council elections in 20 years will […]
”Karuna released into immigration detention
May 9, 2008 (AFP) – A former leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebel splinter group, jailed in Britain since January, has been released and transferred to an immigration detention centre, officials said Friday.Vinayagmoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Colonel Karuna, was released Thursday following his imprisonment for possessing false documents, the British High Commission (embassy) […]
Sri Lanka attack helicopters support army offensive
May 9, 2008 (AFP) – Helicopter gunships provided air cover Friday for ground troops advancing into rebel areas of northern Sri Lanka where at least 30 rebel guerrillas were killed, the defence ministry said.Airforce Mi-24 helicopters flew support as soldiers moved on Alankulam, in Mannar district, killing 15 rebels and injuring 20, a ministry statement […]
Thai police seize nearly 21,000 fake passports
BANGKOK, May 9, 2008 (AFP) – Thai police Friday seized nearly 21,000 fake passports and arrested 12 people in what they described as their biggest-ever bust of a counterfeiting ring, a senior official said.Most of the 20,904 documents seized were fake passports that not yet been completed, Lieutenant General Chatchawal Suksomjit, commander of Immigration police […]
Britain charges four with helping Sri Lanka Tigers
LONDON, May 8, 2008 (AFP) – British police have charged four men with conspiring to support Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels, Scotland Yard said Thursday. The four were arrested under anti-terror laws and are accused of owning computers, radio equipment and high-power magnets for terrorist purposes. They were to appear in court in London later […]
Iraq, Sri Lanka, Pakistan on journo killer list: rights body
VIENNA, May 8, 2008 (AFP) – Ninety-three journalists were killed in 2007, almost half of them in Iraq, the International Press Institute media watchdog said in its annual press freedom review published Thursday.The figure was the second highest in a decade after 2006, which saw 100 journalists’ deaths, according to IPI figures. Forty-two journalists died […]
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, unfit for Human Rights Council: rights bodies
UNITED NATIONS , May 6, 2008 (AFP) – Gabon, Bahrain, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zambia do not deserve a seat on the Human Rights Council, the United Nations’ top rights body, two non-governmental organizations said Tuesday.In a joint report, UN Watch and Freedom House, which champion human rights worldwide, lamented that Gabon and Zambia were […]
Sri Lanka plans medical help to Myanmar
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to send a team of medical doctors and nurses to Myanmar, the foreign ministry said. Media reports said around 22,000 people are believed to have been killed by a cyclone that raged through the country last week. The government was also making a donation of 25,000 […]
British police arrest fourth Sri Lanka Tiger activist
LONDON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – British police said they arrested a man under anti-terror laws Tuesday as part of their long-running probe into the Tamil Tiger guerrillas in Sri Lanka. The 51-year-old was arrested in the Swindon area of south-west England under the Terrorism Act and is in custody. Three others are being held […]
‘s defence chief urges censorship
COLOMBO, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main media rights group on Monday voiced alarm after the island’s hawkish defence chief reportedly branded some journalists “traitors” and called for sweeping censorship. The Free Media Movement said Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who has long demanded strict controls on how news organisations are allowed to cover the war […]
Sri Lanka clashes claim 19: military
May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Heavy fighting in northern Sri Lanka killed at least 18 Tiger rebels and one soldier, the defence ministry said Sunday.Government troops battled the rebels in the Mannar district on Saturday and claimed to have killed 18 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres and wounded 10 guerrillas, the statement said. […]