Sri Lanka to hold victory parade to mark crushing of rebels

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka would hold a national victory parade Wednesday to mark the crushing of the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), officials said.

Britain sold weapons to help Lankan army defeat LTTE

LONDON/COLOMBO - Britain approved commercial weapon sales of over 13.6 million pounds, including armoured vehicles, machinegun components and semi-automatic pistols to the Sri Lanka Army, official records show.ccording to The Times, Slovakia provided 10,000 rockets worth .1 million pounds, while Bulgaria approved sales of guns and ammunition worth 1.75 million pounds.
Only Slovakia has confirmed delivery of rockets, but the approval of the sales raises the question of whether weapons from the EU were used in the last five months of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war, during which UN officials estimate that 20,000 civilians were killed.

Rights group urges UN to publicize civilian death toll from Sri Lanka civil war

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A leading human rights group has asked the United Nations to publicize its estimate of civilian deaths in the final weeks of Sri Lanka’s civil war amid escalating reports over how many died.

Sri Lanka Government disputes report of 20,000 dead

COLOMBO - The Government of Sri Lanka has denounced a report by The Times of London on Friday that said “more than 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final throes of the Sri Lankan civil war, most as a result of government shelling.”

Sri Lankan military: Tamil Tiger leader’s parents found in displacement camp

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The parents of the Tamil Tigers’ slain rebel chief have been found in a government-run displacement camp and will be separated from the others there for their safety, the Sri Lankan military said Friday.

Over 20,000 Tamil civilians killed in final Lanka offensive against LTTE

COLOMBO - Over 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final throes of the Sri Lankan civil war, most of them victims of indiscriminate government troop shelling, an investigation by The Times has revealed.

DNA tests on Prabhakaran’s body matched: Sri Lankan Army

COLOMBO - DNA tests carried out on the bodies believed to be of Tamil rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his son have matched, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Prabhakaran’s parents in government custody

COLOMBO - The parents of the now dead Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran are in the “protective custody” of the Sri Lankan government, a media report said Thursday.

Birth marks, scars helped to identify Prabhakaran’s body

COLOMBO - Slain LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran’s body was identified by his two former aides with the help of certain scars and birth marks.

11 Tamil rebels killed in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO - A week after the Sri Lankan government declared the Tamil rebels crushed, army commandos killed 11 rebels in the eastern part of the country and recovered a haul of weapons, the army said Wednesday.

Post-LTTE, President Rajapaksa assumes cult status in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO - Having successfully wiped out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) through a sustained military offensive, President Mahinda Rajapaksa is fast emerging as a cult figure in Sri Lanka, reports the Globe and Mail newspaper of Canada.

Lanka Defence Secretary seeks international support to arrest key LTTE operative

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has appealed to the international community to help Colombo arrest key LTTE operative Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP.

IDPs identifying LTTE cadres in Lanka refugee camps: Army

COLOMBO - The spokesman of the Sri Lankan Army, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, on Monday said that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in welfare camps are identifying several former Tigers hiding among them and handing them over to the Army.

Sri Lanka to hold elections in north

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government plans to hold local council elections in regions formerly controlled by the Tamil Tigers, a minister said here Monday.

Tamil rebels make conflicting claims over Prabhakaran’s death

COLOMBO - Tamil rebels have made conflicting claims over the reported death of their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, with one saying he was still alive and another confirming his death.

Sri Lanka to rehabilitate child soldiers recruited by LTTE

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government has said it will rehabilitate the child soldiers who were recruited by the Tamil Tigers to reintegrate them into the society.

LTTE admits finally that Prabhakaran is dead (Lead)

NEW DELHI/COLOMBO - The Tamil Tigers admitted Sunday “with heavy hearts” the death of their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, almost a week after Sri Lanka announced he had been killed.

Lanka Government says aid access only after screening LTTE rebels

COLOMBO - The Government of Sri Lanka on Sunday said that it would allow UN aid workers access to Tamil refugees housed in camps after weeding out elements suspected of links with the LTTE.

The truth about Lanka’s secret refugee camps revealed

COLOMBO - They squat in a circle, grinding their tiny hands nervously into the mud behind the six foot high barbed wire fence that imprisons them. And their little eyes stare wide open in fear at what lies on the other side. This is the Pulmoddai refugee camp in war-torn northern Sri Lanka, where soldiers sit, each one ten yards apart, their AK47 assault rifles trained at the 6,000 terrified refugees huddled inside.

UN chief urge humanitarian access to displaced refugees in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived here to press Sri Lanka Government for unrestricted access to the estimated 250,000 refugees displaced by the army’s conflict with the Tamil Tigers, which came to a bitter end this week.

UN secretary general arrives in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Sri Lanka late Friday night on a one day to assess the humanitarian needs of around 300,000 people displaced in the recent conflict with Tamil rebels in the north of the island, government officials said.

Prabhakaran’s body cremated

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan military spokesperson Brigadier Udaya Nanyakkara said that LTTE Supremo Prabhakaran’s body was cremated in Mullaithivu on Wednesday.

Families in Lanka camps search for missing children

COLOMBO - A report by the Save the Children charity has suggested that a fifth of all children were either missing or separated from one or both of their parents in northern Sri Lanka.

UN to offer Sri Lanka more assistance

COLOMBO - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is to offer further assistance to people displaced by Sri Lanka’s war, a senior UN official in Colombo said Friday as the government for the first time released updated military casualty figures.

Ex-LTTE commander-turned minister admits army killed civilians

COLOMBO - A former Tamil Tiger leader who defected to become a Sri Lankan government minister has officially admitted that a significant numbers of civilians were killed during the final offensive against the rebels.
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, alias Colonel Karuna, told The Telegraph that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had made a mistake when he claimed no one had died at the hands of the army.

After military victory, Sri Lanka promises political solution

COLOMBO/NEW DELHI - After decimating the Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka assured India Thursday that it was committed to a political solution to overcome long-standing Tamil grievances in the country.

Sri Lanka calls Pakistan ‘true friend’

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka has described Pakistan ‘as a true friend’ after Islamabad congratulated Colombo following the decimation of the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lanka assures it would push political solution

COLOMBO/NEW DELHI - With the end of a decades-long insurgency led by the Tamil Tigers, India and Sri Lanka Thursday agreed that the time was ‘opportune’ to focus attention on relief, the resettlement of over 200,00 displaced civilians and finding a lasting political solution that addresses aspirations of Tamils in the island country.

Indian envoys meet Sri Lankan President

COLOMBO - India’s National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Thursday met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and sought a political solution to the Tamil question.

Tamil refugees face two-year wait to return home

COLOMBO - Thousands of Tamil civilians who had been forced from their homes by the conflict in Sri Lanka could be interned in refugee camps for up to two years before they are permitted to return, authorities in Colombo have said.