srilanka1998
Member
- Registriert
- 26. Juli 2005
- Beiträge
- 511
Talks, Talks and More Talks Canada: Earthquake shakes Ottawa
[ The Ottawa Citizen ] [ 12:18 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
An earthquake rattled Ottawa on Friday evening. Residents reported the ground shook for about 30 seconds. Natural Resources Canada said the magnitude 4.5 earthquake occurred at 8:39 p.m. and struck seven kilometres north of Thurso, Que., about 40 kilometres east of downtown Ottawa. The U.S. Geological Service said the quake occurred about 15 kilometres underground. Robert Chaffers said he thought snow was sliding off the steel roof of his Chelsea home. "We could here it coming for several seconds before the house shook," he said, adding that it was "like a gigantic truck or something coming down the road." There were no immediate reports of any damage or injury.
Lankans cautious about new peace pact
[ DH News ] [ 15:37 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
While welcoming the agreement reached between the warring parties after the two-day tough negotiations in Geneva to take steps “to stop violence, abductions and killing” and to meet again in April to continue the dialogue at the same venue, the people in the war-ravaged North-East expressed cautious optimism whether the agreement reached would be implemented in its right spirit. The Tamil Tigers have promised to stop attacks on the government security forces and police and President Rajapakse’s government has pledged to take relevant steps against the armed groups, whom the LTTE accused of being harboured and used by the military against the Tigers.
Sri Lankan peace talks stagger on to another round
[ WSWS ] [ 15:37 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
Two days of talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)—the first in nearly three years—broke up in Geneva on Thursday without any substantive agreement. A brief official statement declared that both sides were committed to upholding the current ceasefire agreement signed in 2002 and to meet again on April 19-21. Erik Solheim, the head of the Norwegian facilitation team, told the media: “This is above my expectations. Confidence has been built.” But the fact that Solheim greeted such an outcome as “above expectations” is an indication of just how bitter the closed-door negotiations were.
Talks, Talks and More Talks
[ TamilCanadian ] [ 20:58 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
The message that must go out to the international community, especially to the crucial aid-donors, is that so-called ‘Peace-talks’ in Geneva could be meaningless. Unless firm pressure is exerted on the GOSL to come up with some realistic solutions that will address the basic problems faced by the Tamils, and then see that they are implemented, the Talks will only provide breathing space for the Sri Lankan Government to militarily equip its Armed Forces to destroy a part of its own population. The undeclared strategy of the GOSL is blindingly obvious - “We talk when we must (a shortage of men and weapons), we fight when we can (when these are replenished)”. If the international community cannot see this, they are not in the realm of reality. In an unguarded moment President Rajapakse said just that. When questioned by the Sinhala extremists as to why he was talking with the Tigers (instead of ‘smashing’ them), he said, with disarming honesty, that he was doing so only till his Armed Forces are properly equipped (by courtesy of Western countries). Let us be clear about this. The Geneva Talks are merely a side show to keep the crucial aid-donors happy.
Thousands march through Sri Lankan capital to mark anniversary of truce with Tamil Tiger rebels
[ AP ] [ 21:05 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
Thousands of people paraded through the streets of Sri Lanka's capital on Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of a truce that halted the island's civil war. The marchers, carrying lighted candles, also celebrated an agreement last week between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, to salvage the truce, which had been threatened by a recent spike in attacks. The two sides agreed at the negotiations in Switzerland to restrain violence and to meet again in April. "We are urging the government and LTTE to commit themselves to strengthen the cease-fire and to respect the agreements reached in Geneva with a view to bring lasting peace," said Rev. Madampagama Assagi, a Buddhist priest and secretary of National Anti-War Front, which organized the event.
Government accepts CFA in toto and agrees to disarm paramilitary groups
[ The Sunday Leader ] [ 21:34 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
We said these armed groups are working with the army and since they are working with the army under the control of the army, they are being supported and sustained and given sanction by the armed forces. They are undeniably paramilitary forces. I said, ‘Don’t bring any legal arguments, Mr. Silva, because this is the ground reality I am talking about.’ The IGP, Chandra Fernando came out with a list of killings from various times. I told him it is not the question of individual killings that we are discussing here. It is a question of an armed conflict coming down for the last 25 years. Of course, the LTTE has killed several soldiers. There have been communal riots. And the army has killed a lot of civilians. So if we go through the history of the entire armed conflict I can say 70,000 Tamils have been killed by the security forces. We also killed. Our cadres – 20,000 – were also killed in battle. Therefore I said don’t pick up individual cases and say Alfred Duraiappah was killed, Amirthalingam was killed, etc.
[ The Ottawa Citizen ] [ 12:18 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
An earthquake rattled Ottawa on Friday evening. Residents reported the ground shook for about 30 seconds. Natural Resources Canada said the magnitude 4.5 earthquake occurred at 8:39 p.m. and struck seven kilometres north of Thurso, Que., about 40 kilometres east of downtown Ottawa. The U.S. Geological Service said the quake occurred about 15 kilometres underground. Robert Chaffers said he thought snow was sliding off the steel roof of his Chelsea home. "We could here it coming for several seconds before the house shook," he said, adding that it was "like a gigantic truck or something coming down the road." There were no immediate reports of any damage or injury.
Lankans cautious about new peace pact
[ DH News ] [ 15:37 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
While welcoming the agreement reached between the warring parties after the two-day tough negotiations in Geneva to take steps “to stop violence, abductions and killing” and to meet again in April to continue the dialogue at the same venue, the people in the war-ravaged North-East expressed cautious optimism whether the agreement reached would be implemented in its right spirit. The Tamil Tigers have promised to stop attacks on the government security forces and police and President Rajapakse’s government has pledged to take relevant steps against the armed groups, whom the LTTE accused of being harboured and used by the military against the Tigers.
Sri Lankan peace talks stagger on to another round
[ WSWS ] [ 15:37 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
Two days of talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)—the first in nearly three years—broke up in Geneva on Thursday without any substantive agreement. A brief official statement declared that both sides were committed to upholding the current ceasefire agreement signed in 2002 and to meet again on April 19-21. Erik Solheim, the head of the Norwegian facilitation team, told the media: “This is above my expectations. Confidence has been built.” But the fact that Solheim greeted such an outcome as “above expectations” is an indication of just how bitter the closed-door negotiations were.
Talks, Talks and More Talks
[ TamilCanadian ] [ 20:58 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
The message that must go out to the international community, especially to the crucial aid-donors, is that so-called ‘Peace-talks’ in Geneva could be meaningless. Unless firm pressure is exerted on the GOSL to come up with some realistic solutions that will address the basic problems faced by the Tamils, and then see that they are implemented, the Talks will only provide breathing space for the Sri Lankan Government to militarily equip its Armed Forces to destroy a part of its own population. The undeclared strategy of the GOSL is blindingly obvious - “We talk when we must (a shortage of men and weapons), we fight when we can (when these are replenished)”. If the international community cannot see this, they are not in the realm of reality. In an unguarded moment President Rajapakse said just that. When questioned by the Sinhala extremists as to why he was talking with the Tigers (instead of ‘smashing’ them), he said, with disarming honesty, that he was doing so only till his Armed Forces are properly equipped (by courtesy of Western countries). Let us be clear about this. The Geneva Talks are merely a side show to keep the crucial aid-donors happy.
Thousands march through Sri Lankan capital to mark anniversary of truce with Tamil Tiger rebels
[ AP ] [ 21:05 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
Thousands of people paraded through the streets of Sri Lanka's capital on Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of a truce that halted the island's civil war. The marchers, carrying lighted candles, also celebrated an agreement last week between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, to salvage the truce, which had been threatened by a recent spike in attacks. The two sides agreed at the negotiations in Switzerland to restrain violence and to meet again in April. "We are urging the government and LTTE to commit themselves to strengthen the cease-fire and to respect the agreements reached in Geneva with a view to bring lasting peace," said Rev. Madampagama Assagi, a Buddhist priest and secretary of National Anti-War Front, which organized the event.
Government accepts CFA in toto and agrees to disarm paramilitary groups
[ The Sunday Leader ] [ 21:34 GMT, Feb. 25, 2006 ]
We said these armed groups are working with the army and since they are working with the army under the control of the army, they are being supported and sustained and given sanction by the armed forces. They are undeniably paramilitary forces. I said, ‘Don’t bring any legal arguments, Mr. Silva, because this is the ground reality I am talking about.’ The IGP, Chandra Fernando came out with a list of killings from various times. I told him it is not the question of individual killings that we are discussing here. It is a question of an armed conflict coming down for the last 25 years. Of course, the LTTE has killed several soldiers. There have been communal riots. And the army has killed a lot of civilians. So if we go through the history of the entire armed conflict I can say 70,000 Tamils have been killed by the security forces. We also killed. Our cadres – 20,000 – were also killed in battle. Therefore I said don’t pick up individual cases and say Alfred Duraiappah was killed, Amirthalingam was killed, etc.