srilanka1998
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News vom 22.01.2006
The tsunami legacy - One year on... where is the relief?
[ The Socialist ] [ 00:58 GMT, Jan. 22, 2006 ]
Part of the funds raised for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka have reached the country but never got any further than the pockets of the politicians and their cronies. The Sri Lankan executive director of 'Transparency International', J.C Weliamuna, announced publicly that: "Tsunami funds have been used for party political purposes and new houses given to people with political affiliations who were not affected by the Tsunami." The ruling United People's Front Alliance (UPFA) government and its some time ally, the Sinhala chauvinist JVP (People's Liberation Front) have been releasing relief only in those areas where they have political support. The JVP wants to exclude the minority Tamils from tsunami relief. The new president Mahinda Rajapaksa made a pact with the JVP that they will not deliver tsunami relief to those victims who live in the areas controlled by the LTTE.
Back to war
[ The News ] [ 03:18 GMT, Jan. 22, 2006 ]
Unlike Indonesia Sri Lanka has failed to usher in peace. Every opportunity for rapprochement has been squandered after the Tsunami. The news from Sri Lanka is not good. The new government and its nemesis the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are home alone and trashing the house again. The 2002 ceasefire agreement is in tatters and Sri Lanka is at the brink of civil war. The head of LTTE's political wing S.P Thamilselvan told Reuters the LTTE will defy international opinion if necessary. The rebels, says Thamilselvan "have come of age". His statements are ominous.
Sri Lanka offers compromise as Norway moves to save peace bid
[ AFP ] [ 12:22 GMT, Jan. 22, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka offered a compromise to end a deadlock in peace moves with Tamil rebels when a Norwegian envoy visits this week, following violence that has claimed 140 lives in two months. The government said it was ready to make concessions on a venue for talks when Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim launches a mission Monday to salvage a 2002 ceasefire, in the face of almost daily killings of rebel supporters and government troops. Proposed talks on shoring up the ceasefire between the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had been held up over a bitter dispute on a possible venue, with the rebels calling for Oslo and the government backing an Asian capital.
S.Lanka's navy, fishermen nervously eye each other
[ Reuters ] [ 12:27 GMT, Jan. 22, 2006 ]
Off Sri Lanka's east coast, navy fast attack boat crews nervously eye local fishermen through heavy machinegun sights, worried they may soon be fighting Tamil Tiger rebels for control of crucial sea-lanes. The navy says a Black Tiger suicide attack sank one of its patrol vessels earlier in the month, and many fear that if Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim -- due to arrive Monday -- cannot revive peace talks, war might not be far away. "Now, the navy won't let us go far out to sea," said Tamil fisherman K. Uhandaraja, who like many on the east coast had only recently resumed fishing after the 2004 tsunami devastated the industry. "We can only fish in a small area. If we cannot fish, there is no future for us," said Uhandaraja, 47.
The tsunami legacy - One year on... where is the relief?
[ The Socialist ] [ 00:58 GMT, Jan. 22, 2006 ]
Part of the funds raised for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka have reached the country but never got any further than the pockets of the politicians and their cronies. The Sri Lankan executive director of 'Transparency International', J.C Weliamuna, announced publicly that: "Tsunami funds have been used for party political purposes and new houses given to people with political affiliations who were not affected by the Tsunami." The ruling United People's Front Alliance (UPFA) government and its some time ally, the Sinhala chauvinist JVP (People's Liberation Front) have been releasing relief only in those areas where they have political support. The JVP wants to exclude the minority Tamils from tsunami relief. The new president Mahinda Rajapaksa made a pact with the JVP that they will not deliver tsunami relief to those victims who live in the areas controlled by the LTTE.
Back to war
[ The News ] [ 03:18 GMT, Jan. 22, 2006 ]
Unlike Indonesia Sri Lanka has failed to usher in peace. Every opportunity for rapprochement has been squandered after the Tsunami. The news from Sri Lanka is not good. The new government and its nemesis the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are home alone and trashing the house again. The 2002 ceasefire agreement is in tatters and Sri Lanka is at the brink of civil war. The head of LTTE's political wing S.P Thamilselvan told Reuters the LTTE will defy international opinion if necessary. The rebels, says Thamilselvan "have come of age". His statements are ominous.
Sri Lanka offers compromise as Norway moves to save peace bid
[ AFP ] [ 12:22 GMT, Jan. 22, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka offered a compromise to end a deadlock in peace moves with Tamil rebels when a Norwegian envoy visits this week, following violence that has claimed 140 lives in two months. The government said it was ready to make concessions on a venue for talks when Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim launches a mission Monday to salvage a 2002 ceasefire, in the face of almost daily killings of rebel supporters and government troops. Proposed talks on shoring up the ceasefire between the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had been held up over a bitter dispute on a possible venue, with the rebels calling for Oslo and the government backing an Asian capital.
S.Lanka's navy, fishermen nervously eye each other
[ Reuters ] [ 12:27 GMT, Jan. 22, 2006 ]
Off Sri Lanka's east coast, navy fast attack boat crews nervously eye local fishermen through heavy machinegun sights, worried they may soon be fighting Tamil Tiger rebels for control of crucial sea-lanes. The navy says a Black Tiger suicide attack sank one of its patrol vessels earlier in the month, and many fear that if Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim -- due to arrive Monday -- cannot revive peace talks, war might not be far away. "Now, the navy won't let us go far out to sea," said Tamil fisherman K. Uhandaraja, who like many on the east coast had only recently resumed fishing after the 2004 tsunami devastated the industry. "We can only fish in a small area. If we cannot fish, there is no future for us," said Uhandaraja, 47.