Colombo - Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that the suffering of civilians in the northern part of the country was the "sole responsibility of the Tamil rebels who are holding them as a human shield," the president's office said Friday. The president conveyed his position during a telephone conversation with the UN secretary general on Thursday during Rajapaksa's official state visit to Libya.
Colombo - A Turkish ship transporting sulphuric acid sank off Sri Lanka's north-eastern coast Thursday, three days after attempts to repair a leak in the vessel failed, a navy spokesman said.
Sulphuric acid is widely used for lead-acid batteries for vehicles.
The ship's 19-member crew was rescued by the Sri Lankan navy after the MT Granba reported a leak off the Trincomalee area on Monday and attempts were made to carry out the repairs.
Geneva - A water technician for the International Committee of the Red Cross was killed in shelling Wednesday morning while trying to fetch water for his family in coastal belt held by the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Paul Castella, the head of the ICRC delegation in Colombo, said he was "devastated" by the death of Sinnathurai Kugathasan who was married with three children.
It was unclear whether government forces or rebels fired the shell.
London - Hundreds of Tamils Tuesday protested outside parliament in London demanding an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka and an end to alleged human rights abuses by the government in its offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels.
Minor scuffles broke out as police moved protestors into the centre of Parliament Square and an adjoining green to clear traffic after demonstrators had occupied nearby Westminster Bridge overnight.
But the protest, which started off involving about 3,000 Monday, had dwindled to several hundred by Tuesday.
Colombo – Government troops are moving to rescue civilians trapped in what has been described as a "no fire zone" in northern Sri Lanka, after capturing some of the last rebel strongholds in the area, military officials said Monday.
The military said that the next move was to rescue civilians who remain in an area of 17 square kilometers in a coastal area of Mullaitivu district, 395 kilometres north-east of the capital.
Colombo - Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that the suffering of civilians in the northern part of the country was the "sole responsibility of the Tamil rebels who are holding them as a human shield," the president's office said Friday. The president conveyed his position during a telephone conversation with the UN secretary general on Thursday during Rajapaksa's official state visit to Libya.
Colombo - A Turkish ship transporting sulphuric acid sank off Sri Lanka's north-eastern coast Thursday, three days after attempts to repair a leak in the vessel failed, a navy spokesman said.
Geneva - A water technician for the International Committee of the Red Cross was killed in shelling Wednesday morning while trying to fetch water for his family in coastal belt held by the Tamil Tiger rebels.
London - Hundreds of Tamils Tuesday protested outside parliament in London demanding an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka and an end to alleged human rights abuses by the government in its offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels.
Colombo – Government troops are moving to rescue civilians trapped in what has been described as a "no fire zone" in northern Sri Lanka, after capturing some of the last rebel strongholds in the area, military officials said Monday.
