Category: Politics

Jan 3, 2008 (AFP) – Two Sri Lankan government soldiers were killed and three others wounded Thursday when their truck was hit by a roadside bomb in a north-central part of the island, police said.“The truck was hit by a Claymore mine,” a police official in the district of Anuradhapura said by telephone. “We can […]

Jan 2, 2008 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a powerful roadside bomb in the Sri Lankan capital Wednesday, killing at least five people and wounding another 28, police said.The powerful fragmentation mine targeted an army bus transporting wounded soldiers, although hospital officials said most of the victims were civilians. A police official […]

Jan 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition party Wednesday called for impartial investigations with foreign support into the killings of Tamil parliamentarians and accused the government of operating goon squads. . The United National Party (UNP) demanded the government prosecute those responsible for the killings of Tamil parliamentarians and called for more security […]

Jan 02, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal to pull out of a ceasefire agreement with the Tamil Tigers, state television reported Wednesday. . The proposal was submitted by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wikremenayake and it was unanimously approved the state-owned Independent Television Network (ITN) said. Either party could pull […]

Jan 2, 2008 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government Wednesday announced it was formally withdrawing from the Norwegian-arranged ceasefire agreement with Tamil Tiger rebels, presidential spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage told AFP.The move also followed a call by the United States to revive stalled peace talks between the government and the Tamil Tigers. “The cabinet of ministers […]

Jan 01, 2007 (LBO) – Gunshots were heard inside a Hindu temple in the Kotahena area of the Sri Lanka capital Colombo, eyewitnesses said. A witness at the scene said he had heard half a dozen gunshots sending devotees stampeding for cover. .. For updates on this story go to the news front page at […]

Jan 01, 2008 (LBO) – Gunmen shot a Tamil parliamentarian inside a Hindu temple in the Sri Lankan capital Tuesday morning, eyewitnesses and police said. T. Maheshwaran was rushed to hospital, police said. He had previously survived an assassination attempt by the Tamil Tigers when he represented the United National Party, now in the opposition. […]

Jan 01, 2008 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan Tamil parliamentarian has died after being shot inside a Hindu temple in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo Tuesday morning, police and hospital officials said. T. Maheshwaran was rushed to hospital in a critical condition but succumbed to his injuries soon after, Colombo hospital director Hector Weerasinghe told […]

Jan 01, 2008 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan Tamil parliamentarian who was assassinated Tuesday morning had not asked for additional protection, the island’s top defence bureaucrat has said. T. Maheshwaran, an opposition United National Party (UNP) lawmaker, was gunned down by unknown gunmen at a Hindu temple in a suburb north of the capital Colombo. […]

Jan 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan police have arrested a suspected gunman alleged to have shot dead a Tamil parliamentarian at a Hindu temple in the capital Colombo Tuesday, the defence ministry said. The suspected gunman had been wounded when a bodyguard of assassinated lawmaker T Maheshwaran returned fire during the attack, the ministry […]

COLOMBO, Dec 31, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s top military commanders have vowed to escalate attacks against Tamil rebels in the New Year to achieve a “turning point” in the decades-old separatist war, a state-run daily said Monday. Army chief Sarath Fonseka expressed the hope that government forces would be able to dislodge the Liberation […]

Dec 31, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan media rights group Monday slammed President Mahinda Rajapakse for not taking action against a junior minister who allegedly rampaged through a state television station and assaulted its news director. It also urged the government to free the state print media from its control and to “re-establish state […]