srilanka1998
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Sri Lanka postpones local polls in rebel northeast
[ Reuters ] [ 00:51 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka will postpone local government elections in and near rebel Tamil Tiger territory by six months, an official statement said on Monday just 10 days before voting was due to start. The Elections Commissioner did not give a reason for his decision to postpone the March 30 vote across areas in the north and east, but an official source said poor security was to blame. "The elections of two municipal councils, six urban councils and 27 Pradeshiya Sabhas (village councils) have been postponed," the statement said, listing towns and villages including the municipal councils in the army-held towns of Jaffna and Batticaloa.
Sri Lankan Rebels Accuse Navy of Firing at Coastal Villages
[ Bloomberg ] [ 00:52 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels accused navy vessels of firing shells at coastal villages, an incident that threatens the resumption of peace talks scheduled to be held next month in Geneva. The villages of Sampoor, Soodaikuda, Koonitivu and Kadatkaraichchenai in the rebel-held region of Muttar in eastern Sri Lanka came under fire yesterday, said S. Elilan, political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Trincomalee, according to TamilNet. He didn't give any details of casualties. The Sri Lankan military hasn't commented on the allegation. Navy units came under fire from rebels at the weekend and on March 17 in the Trincomalee area, the army said on its Web site.
Gunmen kill one person in Sri Lankan capital
[ AP ] [ 02:38 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Unidentified gunmen fatally shot a man in a Tamil-majority neighborhood in Sri Lanka's capital, police said. "We are still investigating who were the killers," police spokesman Rienzie Perera said of the slaying in Colombo's Wellawatta neighborhood. He said the identity of the victim was also not yet known. No other details were immediately available.
Norway get out: National Bhikku Front
[ Daily Mirror ] [ 02:48 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Norway, yesterday refuted allegations that it accorded “special” treatment to the LTTE peace delegation that visited Oslo recently for talks with the country’s Foreign Minister and other officials, following the successful round of peace talks with the Sri Lankan Government, in Geneva. The spokesperson for the Royal Norwegian embassy in Colombo, Tom Knapskog, speaking to the Daily Mirror, said that the reception meted out to the LTTE was similar to that given to other parties, including rebel groups visiting Oslo, while pursuing peace under Norwegian facilitation.Meanwhile, the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Patriotic National Movement have voiced strong opposition to Norway’s presence in Sri Lanka, monks representing the National Bhikku Front will take to the streets today and stage a protest march from the Vihara Maha Devi park in Colombo, to the Norwegian embassy, to demand Norway’s removal from Sri Lanka.
Tamil party boycotts Sri Lanka parliament
[ Xinhua ] [ 11:06 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's main Tamil minority political party stayed out of Tuesday's parliamentary session to highlight alleged inaction by the government to implement agreements reached in Geneva with the Tamil Tigers, the party sources said. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel proxy political party has 22 MPs in the 225- member assembly. The Tigers and the government met in Geneva on Feb. 22-23 to discuss ways to implement the ongoing fragile cease-fire. The TNA MPs said that the government had failed to disarm paramilitary groups operating in the Northern and Eastern provinces in violation of the accord reached in Geneva. The government denies any links to paramilitary groups whom the LTTE accuses of perpetrating violence against them. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake presenting the motion to extend the state of emergency in parliament said that Geneva talks had contributed positively to reduce the violence in the north and east.
European Union presses Sri Lanka on peace process
[ TCNR ] [ 11:14 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
The European Union has urged Sri Lanka to persevere with efforts to make progress in the island state's peace process, despite recent warnings of a resurgence of violence. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner made the appeal yesterday after talks in Brussels with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who took office last November. "I see an opportunity for real progress which should not be missed," said Ferrero-Waldner, noting that the EU was a co-chair of a 2003 international donor conference on Sri Lanka held in Tokyo. "The test now is to ensure that commitments are implemented on the ground so as to build confidence and a conducive environment leading up to the next round of talks scheduled for April and beyond," she added. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have said the fate of the next round of talks, after a first meeting with the new Colombo government last month, was in doubt because the administration was yet to deliver on promises.
Sri Lanka: 300,000 public sector workers strike for higher pay
[ WSWS ] [ 11:57 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lankan public sector workers held a one-day strike on March 16 throughout the island to demand a 65 percent pay increase to make up for rising prices and deteriorating living standards. An estimated 300,000 workers took part across many departments, including postal, health, education, local government and technological services, railways and state-owned factories. Nearly 10,000 striking workers assembled in Viharamahadevi Park in central Colombo and marched three kilometres to the presidential secretariat near Galle Face. The trade unions had planned to hand over a memorandum to President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Sri Lanka suspends lavish perks of former president
[ AFP ] [ 11:59 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ordered the withdrawal of extra cars and staff serving former president Chandrika Kumaratunga after a complaint that her retirement benefits are excessive, a court official said. Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva made the order Monday after launching an investigation into a complaint by three lawyers that the former president was too much of a burden on taxpayers, the official said. He said a three-judge bench ordered the immediate suspension of cars, staff and the gift of a prime plot of land to Kumaratunga pending the completion of the hearing. The ex-president is said to have retained a staff of over 200 and more than 30 vehicles after she stepped down in November at the end of the maximum two terms allowed under the constitution.
Violence down, but Sri Lanka extends state of emergency
[ Reuters ] [ 12:00 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka on Tuesday extended a state of emergency first imposed after the assassination of its foreign minister six months ago, but said violence had fallen sharply since talks with Tamil Tiger rebels in February. Introduced after Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was gunned down by a suspected Tiger assassin last year, the state of emergency gives the police and army wide powers. It was extended first for a November presidential election and then again every month as violence rose. Some two hundred people died in less than two months in December and January as suspected Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacks on the military almost destroyed a 2002 ceasefire, but officials say violence has since slumped.
Victims of Crimes in Sri Lanka
[ Daily Mirror ] [ 21:23 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Violence in Sri Lanka appears so common place that never does a day pass without the media , both electronic and print, reporting of cases of murder , assault , robbery, rape, extortion and a varied range of criminal activity ranging from the loss of life to the loss of one’s possessions. Often the media splashes the more sensational crimes and highlights human interest stories of the weeping and distraught family members, but then media focus is necessarily limited and soon the publicity moves on to some other more eye catching incident or often to a sensational political situation. In the process the problems facing the victims who have suffered due to the crime are forgotten. It also happens that seldom are all situation of violence and crime reported and a multitude of persons suffering from the consequences of some brutality or other suffer in silence with no helping hand to guide or assist them.
[ Reuters ] [ 00:51 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka will postpone local government elections in and near rebel Tamil Tiger territory by six months, an official statement said on Monday just 10 days before voting was due to start. The Elections Commissioner did not give a reason for his decision to postpone the March 30 vote across areas in the north and east, but an official source said poor security was to blame. "The elections of two municipal councils, six urban councils and 27 Pradeshiya Sabhas (village councils) have been postponed," the statement said, listing towns and villages including the municipal councils in the army-held towns of Jaffna and Batticaloa.
Sri Lankan Rebels Accuse Navy of Firing at Coastal Villages
[ Bloomberg ] [ 00:52 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels accused navy vessels of firing shells at coastal villages, an incident that threatens the resumption of peace talks scheduled to be held next month in Geneva. The villages of Sampoor, Soodaikuda, Koonitivu and Kadatkaraichchenai in the rebel-held region of Muttar in eastern Sri Lanka came under fire yesterday, said S. Elilan, political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Trincomalee, according to TamilNet. He didn't give any details of casualties. The Sri Lankan military hasn't commented on the allegation. Navy units came under fire from rebels at the weekend and on March 17 in the Trincomalee area, the army said on its Web site.
Gunmen kill one person in Sri Lankan capital
[ AP ] [ 02:38 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Unidentified gunmen fatally shot a man in a Tamil-majority neighborhood in Sri Lanka's capital, police said. "We are still investigating who were the killers," police spokesman Rienzie Perera said of the slaying in Colombo's Wellawatta neighborhood. He said the identity of the victim was also not yet known. No other details were immediately available.
Norway get out: National Bhikku Front
[ Daily Mirror ] [ 02:48 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Norway, yesterday refuted allegations that it accorded “special” treatment to the LTTE peace delegation that visited Oslo recently for talks with the country’s Foreign Minister and other officials, following the successful round of peace talks with the Sri Lankan Government, in Geneva. The spokesperson for the Royal Norwegian embassy in Colombo, Tom Knapskog, speaking to the Daily Mirror, said that the reception meted out to the LTTE was similar to that given to other parties, including rebel groups visiting Oslo, while pursuing peace under Norwegian facilitation.Meanwhile, the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Patriotic National Movement have voiced strong opposition to Norway’s presence in Sri Lanka, monks representing the National Bhikku Front will take to the streets today and stage a protest march from the Vihara Maha Devi park in Colombo, to the Norwegian embassy, to demand Norway’s removal from Sri Lanka.
Tamil party boycotts Sri Lanka parliament
[ Xinhua ] [ 11:06 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's main Tamil minority political party stayed out of Tuesday's parliamentary session to highlight alleged inaction by the government to implement agreements reached in Geneva with the Tamil Tigers, the party sources said. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel proxy political party has 22 MPs in the 225- member assembly. The Tigers and the government met in Geneva on Feb. 22-23 to discuss ways to implement the ongoing fragile cease-fire. The TNA MPs said that the government had failed to disarm paramilitary groups operating in the Northern and Eastern provinces in violation of the accord reached in Geneva. The government denies any links to paramilitary groups whom the LTTE accuses of perpetrating violence against them. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake presenting the motion to extend the state of emergency in parliament said that Geneva talks had contributed positively to reduce the violence in the north and east.
European Union presses Sri Lanka on peace process
[ TCNR ] [ 11:14 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
The European Union has urged Sri Lanka to persevere with efforts to make progress in the island state's peace process, despite recent warnings of a resurgence of violence. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner made the appeal yesterday after talks in Brussels with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who took office last November. "I see an opportunity for real progress which should not be missed," said Ferrero-Waldner, noting that the EU was a co-chair of a 2003 international donor conference on Sri Lanka held in Tokyo. "The test now is to ensure that commitments are implemented on the ground so as to build confidence and a conducive environment leading up to the next round of talks scheduled for April and beyond," she added. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have said the fate of the next round of talks, after a first meeting with the new Colombo government last month, was in doubt because the administration was yet to deliver on promises.
Sri Lanka: 300,000 public sector workers strike for higher pay
[ WSWS ] [ 11:57 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lankan public sector workers held a one-day strike on March 16 throughout the island to demand a 65 percent pay increase to make up for rising prices and deteriorating living standards. An estimated 300,000 workers took part across many departments, including postal, health, education, local government and technological services, railways and state-owned factories. Nearly 10,000 striking workers assembled in Viharamahadevi Park in central Colombo and marched three kilometres to the presidential secretariat near Galle Face. The trade unions had planned to hand over a memorandum to President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Sri Lanka suspends lavish perks of former president
[ AFP ] [ 11:59 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ordered the withdrawal of extra cars and staff serving former president Chandrika Kumaratunga after a complaint that her retirement benefits are excessive, a court official said. Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva made the order Monday after launching an investigation into a complaint by three lawyers that the former president was too much of a burden on taxpayers, the official said. He said a three-judge bench ordered the immediate suspension of cars, staff and the gift of a prime plot of land to Kumaratunga pending the completion of the hearing. The ex-president is said to have retained a staff of over 200 and more than 30 vehicles after she stepped down in November at the end of the maximum two terms allowed under the constitution.
Violence down, but Sri Lanka extends state of emergency
[ Reuters ] [ 12:00 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka on Tuesday extended a state of emergency first imposed after the assassination of its foreign minister six months ago, but said violence had fallen sharply since talks with Tamil Tiger rebels in February. Introduced after Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was gunned down by a suspected Tiger assassin last year, the state of emergency gives the police and army wide powers. It was extended first for a November presidential election and then again every month as violence rose. Some two hundred people died in less than two months in December and January as suspected Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacks on the military almost destroyed a 2002 ceasefire, but officials say violence has since slumped.
Victims of Crimes in Sri Lanka
[ Daily Mirror ] [ 21:23 GMT, Mar. 21, 2006 ]
Violence in Sri Lanka appears so common place that never does a day pass without the media , both electronic and print, reporting of cases of murder , assault , robbery, rape, extortion and a varied range of criminal activity ranging from the loss of life to the loss of one’s possessions. Often the media splashes the more sensational crimes and highlights human interest stories of the weeping and distraught family members, but then media focus is necessarily limited and soon the publicity moves on to some other more eye catching incident or often to a sensational political situation. In the process the problems facing the victims who have suffered due to the crime are forgotten. It also happens that seldom are all situation of violence and crime reported and a multitude of persons suffering from the consequences of some brutality or other suffer in silence with no helping hand to guide or assist them.