Category: Politics

Sept 29 (LBO) – A leading member of the Marxist-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna has resigned his position in the party. Nandana Gunathilake told a local radio station that he has finally resigned his positions in the JVP because the party failed to reform. He said has taken a backseat in the party since February but […]

Sept 29 (LBO) – The simmering power-struggle within the JVP, or People’s Liberation Front, came out into the open today with a stalwart disclosing his differences with the leadership of Somawansa Amarasinghe.Nandana Gunathilake, a politburo member of the Marxist-nationalist party said he sent in his resignations from the high party positions on February 7, but […]

Sept 28, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s peace broker Norway stepped up moves to arrange face-to-face talks after the government accepted a pledge by the rebel Tamil Tigers to resume negotiations, diplomats said Thursday.The renewed effort came as truce monitors said that intensified fighting between government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) […]

Sept 28, 2006 (AFP) – Fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels has caused the deaths of at least 200 civilians in the past two months, Norwegian-led truce monitors said Thursday.The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said both the Colombo government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had openly violated […]

OSLO, Sept 27, 2006 (AFP) – Norway on Wednesday welcomed an announcement by the Sri Lankan government that the leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels was committed to resuming talks on ending decades of ethnic bloodshed.“We see this as a very positive development and we are hopeful both parties will meet for talks as soon […]

Sept 27, 2006 (AFP) – Hopes for peace in Sri Lanka rose Wednesday after the government revealed Tamil Tigers have agreed to resume face-to-face negotiations and end a seven-month deadlock in talks.Over the past three decades more than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka’s drawn out ethnic conflict. Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has […]

GENEVA, Oct 27, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s warring parties are to meet in Geneva Saturday amid international pressure to stop a new spiral of killings in Asia’s bloodiest civil strife. Tamil Tiger reels who took up arms in 1972 want a separate state for the island’s ethnic Tamil minority. Political talks on power-sharing remain […]

COLOMBO, Sept 27, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed a suspected Tamil Tiger training camp as the two sides exchanged artillery attacks across a de facto front line in the island’s north, the defence ministry said Wednesday. Mani Shankar Aiyar said here late Tuesday at a public lecture. Aiyar said India supported moves […]

Sept 26, 2006 (AFP) – An airman was killed and another wounded in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday when a mine blew up as they underwent routine physical training exercises, the defence ministry said. More than 60,000 people have died since the rebellion began in 1972. The Claymore mine exploded in the district of Vavuniya, […]

COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy and Tamil Tiger rebels fought a fierce sea battle on Monday, with both sides giving conflicting casualty figures ranging from three to 70 killed. A navy vessel detected several boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) off the coast of Mullaitivu sparking a battle […]

COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Monday denied forcing minority Muslims to quit a coastal town where 17 aid workers of a French charity were massacred last month. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they were not responsible for distributing leaflets among thousands of Muslims in the […]

NEW YORK, Sept 23, 2006 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged her Sri Lankan counterpart here Saturday to make a concerted effort in planned peace talks with rebels from the country’s Tamil minority, a senior US official said.Meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaweera on the sidelines of the UN General […]