Category: Politics

Aug 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops facing heavy resistance halted an advance Tuesday into territory held by the rebel Tamil Tigers, as the death toll from recent fighting hit 119, officials and guerrillas said.More than 60,000 people have been killed in the Sri Lankan conflict.Political talks on ending the violence stalled in April […]

Aug 29, 2006 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan radio journalist was kidnapped near the capital Colombo on Tuesday, police said, prompting appeals by colleagues for his safe return.Nadaraja Guruparan, a member of the minority Tamil community, was forced out of his car by at least two people and taken away as he drove to his […]

Aug 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse left here Tuesday on a sudden visit to London for talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair, official sources said.Rajapakse and Blair were expected to discuss Sri Lanka’s collapsing ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels, officials here said. The trip comes amid international efforts to salvage the […]

Aug 28, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police said Monday they were hunting alleged fugitive executive Jacob “Kobi” Alexander after reports he fled fraud charges in the US for a fishing village hideaway in the island nation.Detectives were investigating a claimed sighting of the 54-year-old after he failed to appear in court in the United […]

Aug 28, 2006 (AFP) – At least four Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and 41 wounded as security forces launched a ground offensive Monday to push back guerrilla artillery threatening a strategic naval port, officials said.More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka’s drawn out Tamil separatist conflict and political talks on ending […]

Aug 27, 2006 (AFP) – The Red Cross ferried 150 foreign nationals to safety from the embattled Jaffna peninsula Sunday as the Sri Lankan military claimed fresh fighting left 12 Tamil Tiger rebels dead.Aid agencies complained they have been unable to reach many of the 200,000 who have fled fighting from across the island’s northeast […]

Aug 27, 2006 (AFP) – The new head of Sri Lanka’s truce monitors takes over a team cut by nearly half this week amid warnings by his predecessor of “mission impossible” to satisfy both sides in the vicious separatist conflict. Former Norwegian army chief Lars Solvberg will run a 30-strong group after members from the […]

Aug 26, 2006 (AFP) – A bomb killed six Sri Lankan soldiers and wounded 11 Saturday as they cleared up after fierce fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels in the besieged northern Jaffna peninsula, a military source said. In some areas fuel was being sold at four times the normal price and piped water was available […]

26, 2006 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan policeman was released Saturday after being held for nearly a year by Tamil Tigers when he pursued a suspected British paedophile into rebel-held territory, ceasefire monitors said. The officer and two others were seized in September last year after they went into the jungle and crossed into the […]

Aug 25, 2006 (AFP) – A food relief ship began unloading in northern Sri Lanka Friday to lift a two-week siege of the Jaffna peninsula as fresh clashes left five rebels dead, the defence ministry said.Workers began the slow task of unloading 1,500 tonnes of food for the 350,000 civilians trapped by fierce fighting between […]

Aug 25, 2006 (AFP) – The United Nations said Friday food was running out in strife-torn parts of Sri Lanka with the government stalling the entry of the organisation’s aid convoys into rebel-held areas.The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it was unable to get to northern parts of the country held by the Liberation […]

Aug 24, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan warplanes bombed a suspected base used by seaborne Tamil Tigers on Thursday as aid groups were hit in continuing violence that left at least three dead, the military and charities said.A 29-year-old Sri Lankan working for a New Zealand agency involved in tsunami relief was abducted and shot […]