Category: Politics

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2007 (AFP) – About 50 US lawmakers have written to President George W.Bush asking him to step up American efforts to help resolve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.“The United States has the opportunity to serve as a leader” in renewed international efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict, […]

July 4, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan air force jets on Wednesday carried out a second straight day of bombing raids against Tamil Tiger rebels positioned in jungles in the east of the island, the military said. The raids were part of a months-old effort aimed at dislodging the ethnic rebels from their hideouts in […]

July 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces are on high alert as Tamil Tiger rebels this week mark the 20th anniversary of their first-ever suicide attack with the threat of unleashing more deadly strikes.“We are also seeking public cooperation for information regarding suspicious activity in their neighbourhoods.” The island’s prime minister has underlined […]

July 3, 2007 (AFP) – Four suspected Tamil Tiger rebels and three soldiers were killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka’s embattled north, military officials said Tuesday. There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who have been locked in combat with the government since 1972 in a conflict that has […]

July 2, 2007 (LBO) – The UK mission in Colombo will become more involved in Sri Lanka’s peace process after being asked represent the European Union’s Presidency in the country, the British High Commission said Monday. The rotating EU presidency has shifted to Portugal took over the EU presidency, but the country does not have […]

July 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government has asked Norway to help revive a moribund peace process amid an escalation of fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, a press report said Sunday.More than 5,000 people have been killed in the new wave of fighting since December 2005 despite a truce in place since […]

July 1, 2007 (AFP) – Gunmen have shot dead two civilians in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula, officials said Sunday as the government and Tamil Tigers blamed each other for the latest in a string of such killings.The men were murdered Saturday in two separate incidents on the government-controlled peninsula, situated at the northern tip […]

June 30, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected rebels in Sri Lanka shot dead seven civilians and security forces discovered a truck packed with powerful explosives, the country’s defence ministry said on Saturday. Tamil Tiger rebels gunned down four farmers in the eastern town of Serunuwara late on Friday, the military said. Two Tamil civilians were shot […]

BAGHDAD, June 30, 2007 (AFP) – Following this week’s foiled car bombs in central London, the British media raised the spectre of “Iraq-style attacks”, but what exactly would be the hallmarks of such a campaign?On Friday, London police defused explosives in two Mercedes cars that had been loaded with gas canisters and nails and left […]

COLOMBO, June 29, 2007 (AFP) – The United States has voiced concern about the fate of 355 Sri Lankans who “disappeared” in recent months amid an escalation of the island’s ethnic conflict, the government here said Friday.US ambassador Robert Blake gave a list of 355 names of people whose whereabouts were unknown, the foreign ministry […]

June 29, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to bring back a tough criminal defamation law that was scrapped five years ago, reports said on Friday, drawing fire from media rights activists.Under the earlier law, journalists could be sentenced to two years in jail, but it was scrapped after local and international pressure. The reports […]

June 29, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities Friday discovered a huge truck bomb in the north-eastern port district of Trincomalee, three days after finding a powerful mine in the capital, officials said.About 1,000 kilos (2,200 pounds) of explosives packed into a freezer truck was found at a fishing village in Trincomalee, 260 kilometres (160 […]