Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Lankan rebels deny accusation they kidnapped 24 Tamil teenagers

Colombo, Dec. 19 (AP): Tamil Tiger rebels kidnapped 24 Tamil teenagers, mostly girls, while they were attending class ahead of annual examinations, the Sri Lankan military said on Tuesday.

Hours later, the rebels said the teenagers wanted to join the rebel movement and had come voluntarily to insurgent-held areas. When the guerrillas found they were underage, they were asked to return home, rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said from rebel headquarters in Kilinochchi.

The reported kidnapping took place in eastern Ampara on Monday evening, according to military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. He blamed the country's main separatist rebel group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. More >>

Friday, December 15, 2006

Sri Lanka government says APRC expert panel draft is not a final document

Thursday, December 14, 2006, 14:43 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Dec 14, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government today said that the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) expert panel draft is not a final document and it is only a study paper.

“The paper in question was a preliminary observation report submitted by the expert committee,” Cabinet spokesman, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said. The 17 member expert panel was established to provide specialized knowledge and guidance to the APRC, he said.

There was the danger of the expert committee recommendations being interpreted as the ‘final’ stand of the government or the APRC while they only served as discussion papers for the APRC to work on, the Minister said.




Thursday, December 14, 2006

Sri Lankan judge sentence two men to death for causing death to tsunami victim


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: A Sri Lankan court has sentenced two men to die for causing the death of a woman, who survived the first waves of the 2004 tsunami but was pushed back into the sea by the duo after snatching her gold chain, a police officer said Thursday.

After yanking her necklace, the two let Dineti Deshika fall back into the torrent on Dec. 26, 2004. Her body was found after the waters receded.

The incident in the southern port city of Galle got wide publicity and condemnation in Sri Lanka, where the tsunami killed at least 35,000 people and affected 1 million.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Sri Lankan workers in Board of Investment companies to get a wage hike in Jan

Dec 12 (LBO) – Sri Lankan workers in Board of Investment approved companies within and outside industrial zones are to get a wage hike with effect from January 01 next year.


In line with a recent Board of Investment circular, monthly wages are to go up by 600 rupees within the Katunayake and Biyagama free trade zones and by 500 rupees outside the zones. More

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Clashes continue in the East- LTTE positions its cannons close to Vakarai hospital

The LTTE terrorists launched a fresh artillery attack at the security forces detachments at Kirimichchiya, Panichchnkerni and Kdjuwatta in the Eastern province since 10.30 this morning (Tuesday the 12th of December).
According to the defence sources, the terrorists are pounding 122mm and 152mm heavy artillery on the military establishments and nearby civilian settlements from the Vakrai area. more >>

Monday, December 11, 2006

Army to silence terror cannons; a limited operation undertaken in the East

Sri Lanka Army troops undertook a limited operation in the Eastern Province this morning to neutralize the LTTE's heavy artillery and mortar positions located in the un-liberated areas.

The defence sources said that Army had destroyed two enemy gun positions where 120mm and 81mm heavy mortar launchers had been placed.

Since Thursday the 7th of December, the LTTE terrorists started shelling civilian settlements in Kallar, Somapura, Serunuwara , Kaddimuravikulam, Kadjuwatta, Kirimichchiya and Madurankerni in Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts. The terrorists targeted a government school and attacked indiscriminately at the civilians killing 5 people including two children in these attacks. Hospital sources said, over 45 civilians suffered injuries . The injured civilians are being treated at General Hospitals at Kantale, Kurunagala and Kandy. More >>

Friday, December 08, 2006

Sri Lankan school shelled

At least three people were killed and 10 teenagers injured when Tamil Tiger Terrorist shelled a school and a nearby area in the eastern district of Trincomalee, the Sri Lankan military has said.

The attacks came a day after an anti-terrorism law giving security forces greater powers to arrest, search and interrogate suspects.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Possible LTTE infiltration in the Sri Lankan army


Colombo, Dec 6 (ANI): The LTTE has reportedly infiltrated the Sri Lankan military, making the army more vulnerable to the attack from the rebels.

This could be a worst spy scandal to hit the Sri Lankan army which is already facing bloody war against Tamil rebels in its eastern and north-eastern provinces. More >>

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Norway may not give up peace efforts

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Government on Monday claimed that at least six Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres were killed in a `retaliatory fire' atSangaman in Amparai district in the east. It said the LTTE men attacked a group of Special Task Force personnel.

The incident occurred even as Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer called on leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Rauff Hakeem to review the security and political situation in the country. Diplomatic and political observers here noted that though the envoy, on the advice of the Government, deferred his visit to Kilinochchi for talks with the LTTE leadership, he has neither decided to leave Sri Lanka nor given up his peace efforts. More >>

Sri Lanka to crack down on terror but no rebel ban

COLOMBO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will introduce tough emergency regulations to curb terrorist activities amid escalating civil war with the Tamil Tigers, but will not ban the rebels outright, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

"There will be strong curbs, punishing curbs on terrorist activities, which will involve LTTE activities and all persons who in anyway help them," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity after the cabinet made the decision.

"They will be emergency regulations," he added. "A ban was never on the table."

He did not specify what kind of regulations would be imposed, but officials have said the government will likely reinforce the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has been dormant since a now-tattered 2002 truce, following a failed suicide attack on President Mahinda Rajapakse's brother.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Victims of London's property boom


Thousands are trapped between spiralling prices and desperate lack of council housing

Larry Elliott
Friday November 24, 2006
The Guardian


Vicky Walsh is a typical Islington resident. Typical but not stereotypical. The stereotypical Islington resident is a well-heeled trendy liberal who takes a surreptitious peek in the windows of estate agents on Upper Street, tut-tuts at dinner parties about the lunacy of the property market and picks up tips from television programmes providing owner-occupiers with advice on how to add value to their homes.

Ms Walsh does none of these things because she doesn't own her own home. Like more than 13,000 other families she is on Islington council's waiting list to be rehoused. She needs rehousing because she and her partner live with their two seven-month old twin boys in a one-bedroom flat that an estate agent would call compact and everybody else would call small.


Norwegian envoy honors govt's request, postpones visit to northern Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Cabinet is reviewing the government’s relationship with the Tigers.

Dec 04, Colombo: Visiting Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer has postponed his planned visit to LTTE-held Kilinochchi to meet the LTTE leadership today.

A spokesperson for the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo said, "We had to postpone the scheduled visit of the visiting envoy to Kilinochchi after the government request to do so."

Yesterday, Government Peace Secretariat head Dr. Palitha Kohona asked Norway to suspend all contacts with the LTTE until the Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers reviewed the government’s relationship with the Tigers.

“I have told Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar and Hanssen-Bauer that all contacts with the LTTE are under review by the government, and the Cabinet will decide on these issues on Wednesday,” Dr. Kohona said.

Monday, December 04, 2006

EU urges LTTE to immediately cease recruiting child soldiers

Dec 03, Colombo: In a statement issued on Friday, the European Union strongly deplored the practice of recruiting child soldiers by both LTTE and the breakaway rebel faction Karuna group and urged the LTTE to immediately cease recruiting child soldiers and release the recruited children without delay.

Expressing concern that Karuna group is also abducting children, the EU urged the Sri Lankan government to take immediate steps to release all the children being held by the Karuna group and credibly investigate the alleged involvement of certain elements of government security forces and bring the responsible persons to justice.

The statement said that EU is deeply concerned about the situation of children affected by armed conflict in Sri Lanka and stressed the need to protect children in all circumstances.

“The deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka has left children in a growingly insecure situation. The recruitment of children to hostilities has continued as have abductions of children from their families in order to recruit them, both of which are in violation of applicable international law,” it said. City B



Friday, December 01, 2006

Sri Lanka minister survives blast

Last Updated: Friday, 1 December2006, 08:06 GMT
Sri Lanka minister survives blast
Sri Lankan Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse (l) is hugged by elder brother Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse (C) in Colombo, 01 December 2006 after the explosion
Gothabaya Rajapakse (l) is hugged by his brother after the blast
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's brother has escaped a suspected suicide bomb attack in the capital, Colombo, officials said.

Gothabaya Rajapakse, who is also the defence secretary, was "safe", a military spokesman said.

The government has blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the blast, which killed at least one person and hurt 14 others.